Inside The Huskies

Diving Into Washington's Offensive Scheme

Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb have brought an impressive offense to Montlake

Roman Tomashoff

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Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has stated in multiple videos that he and Kalen DeBoer have been refining their offensive system for the better part of 15 years. Now at Washington, they are finally getting an opportunity to display it on a national level.

After setting the college football world on fire, leading the nation in passing yards per game, the Husky coaches have put the country on notice. Below are just a few play-action designs that DeBoer and Grubb installed during the 2022 season.

Right away, this shows a huge difference from former offensive coordinator John Donovan's scheme in 2021. Most plays do an excellent job of clearing out safeties or forcing them to make a tough decision.

With this play in particular, having two deep crossing routes over the middle of the field can cause confusion in the back end of the defense. However, the ball goes to the double-move route on the outside, which has single coverage.

Compared to 2021, the amount of verticality Grubb and DeBoer have introduced is both exciting and stunning to study. This second play provides verticality, levels and safety.

With the running back leaking out of the backfield after the play fake and rolling to Michael Penix's arm side, he's provided with an easy bailout in case the play breaks down. The safeties once again have to make a tough choice with two receivers running at different depths over the middle of the field.

The ball goes to the deeper of the two levels here, but Penix can also choose the deep post if he wants to go for it all.

Finally, we get to the only play that doesn't come from 11 personnel, also known as a three-receiver set. Running from 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends), there's a fake jet sweep and a naked bootleg. 

As Penix rolls to his right, he has only the left guard and man in motion in front of him. The running back sells the fake behind the offensive line before leaking out on a wheel route up the far sideline while the tight end, who lined up off the left tackle, runs a post up the middle to split the safeties.

This provides Penix, who is rolling to his non-throwing arm's side with options all over the field. He has a receiver running a corner route if he can get open, the safety valve in front of him, as well as the tight end over the middle. However, Penix stops and chooses the tight end on the crossing route this time around.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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