Brian Callahan Discusses Motion Movement Sweeping NFL: 'Not Created Equal'

Cincinnati ranks among the top teams in motion use this season.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Publish date:
Sep 28, 2023 3:46 PM EDT

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CINCINNATI — Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan spoke to the media this week and had a great long message about motion use by NFL offenses.

The Miami Dolphins have taken the league by storm offensively with its use of motion at the snap of the ball. It's something the Bengals do at a decent rate, but nowhere close to Miami.

"All motion is not created equal," Callahan said. "What are you motioning for is to me always the starting point. Are you motioning for a reason? Does the motion uncover something about the defense? Does it give you a pressure tell (showing) you when you're going to get a blitz? What are you trying to get out of it? And just saying that motion equals success, I think it's a very blanket way to look at motion.

"The advantage of being static sometimes is that now you know where everybody is going to be. You don't always know what the response is going to be to a motion. Some quarterbacks prefer that they prefer to see you lined up and see what it looks like. But there's a there's a time and a place for it."

Cincinnati is ranked in the top 10 among teams using motion at the snap on designed plays this season. Joe Burrow is acclimating to it as a guy who likes to play the chess board from a static point.

"It fits him. I would say that's a that's a fair statement. I mean, he likes to see the defense," Callahan said about static offense. "He likes to see it spread out. A lot of times when you're in motion formations, you're super condensed, everything's tight, and your motion in and out of type formations, and some guys prefer the opposite. And Joe would probably lean and say, 'If all things equal, I'd like to have everybody spread out, know everybody's out. And I can diagnose from there.' Not to say that he can't do the other, but that's probably a fair assessment."

A nice sprinkling of motion has proven to help offenses leaguewide, as Cincinnati mixes it in, while still letting their version of Garry Kasparov go to work.

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