Oregon's Defensive Line Prep vs. the Shotgun Spread Offense

In recent years, there has been a major shift back to the old-school principles of the past. More and more teams at the high school and college level are turning to athletic QBs and more option based systems to take advantage of the way defenses play against multiple WR formations. For coaches like Oregon D-Line Coach Michael Gray, it means new drills and rules to work on with his linemen. The premise behind these spread-type systems is that an offense can account for defenders by using the QB as an extra ball carrier. And by utilizing several WRs in the initial alignment, the defense is forced to commit defenders to cover more ground. By so doing, the offense can create mismatches with the defense since a QB and RB standing next to each other in the shotgun are basically the same as having two RBs behind the QB in a more traditional Pro-style offense. So while this new intricate