With the NFL not outlawing the quarterback push play, teams other than the Eagles likely will be using it this year. And one of them quite possibly will be the Broncos.
On Wednesday, Denver coach Sean Payton was asked whether quarterback Russell Wilson is comfortable running the quarterback sneak.
“I know he is comfortable with running quarterback sneaks,” Payton told reporters. “We talked about it offensively when we were going through short yardage. We talked about how much do we want to dive into that and study it. You don’t get a lot of chances to replicate it and practice it. I think it’s something we can build on when the season starts.
“We’ll have a short yardage package and things we feel like we can go to when it’s third and a yard and you’re really looking to run it and everyone knows you’re going to run it. I think the key is being efficient. I know Philadelphia was very efficient with that [last year]. I do think Russ is someone that’s strong, athletic and has traits where he certainly could have success. The key would be, ‘Do we feel like it fits us right now?’ We’ve discussed it, but I don’t know that I could say that we’re going to see a lot of it. Certainly we’re going to discuss it more.”
The problem is that Wilson has lost weight, versus last year. The lack of natural body armor could make it harder to run the sneak (especially if he’s getting pushed from behind) without getting injured.
Still, the push-and-shove short-yardage play can work, and it can work well. The question is whether defenses will unleash a response to it that takes advantage of the free shot at a player who ordinarily is placed in bubblewrap by the rulebook.
