Pre-snap motion is an important element of the Matt LaFleur offense and something we should anticipate seeing more of with Jordan Love at quarterback in 2023.
According to Sports Info Solutions, Kansas City, Miami, and San Francisco had the most dropbacks in 2022 where pre-snap motion was utilized. Perhaps not coincidentally, these three teams were also the best against disguised defensive coverages by EPA (expected points added).
So what does this have to do with the 2023 Green Bay Packers? Well, during an interview with Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic for the Playcallers podcast, Rodrigue noted that the three offenses that LaFleur was studying on his screen during her visit were Kansas City, Miami, and San Francisco.
Using pre-snap motion can do wonders for an offense, helping to create that illusion of complexity we’ve often heard LaFleur speak about, which in short, keeps defenses off-balanced and guessing by running a variety of plays from the same personnel packages and looks.
Putting a man in motion can change the defense’s responsibilities at the last second, creating potential mismatches for the offense, and stress the defense laterally. At the snap, this can give the offense a numbers advantage to one side of the field, and cause hesitation from the defense, as they are forced to make adjustments on the fly and decipher who has the ball, whether that be the quarterback or the motion man. In the NFL, that split-second of hesitation is all it takes to open up a running or passing lane. This, in turn, can help take some of the playmaking burden off Love’s shoulders by creating relatively easier throws and opening up opportunities for others within the offense.
The data referenced above shows a connection between using motion and finding success against defenses who disguise their coverages with late movement. Of particular interest to the Packers is the success Brock Purdy and Tua Tagovailoa had, neither of whom are near Patrick Mahomes’ level of play, and also come from similar offenses that LaFleur runs. As a first-time starting quarterback this season, Love will likely see a lot of this as opponents try to confuse him with different looks, but a heavy usage of pre-snap motion could be one way to simply things for him, as it disarms the defense, to a degree, and allows the offense to dictate with last second movement.
Although the Packers’ offense this year may be inexperienced at the skill position group, what they do have to compliment their usage of motion is speed. Returning is Christian Watson, who ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash. Green Bay also added Jayden Reed, who they clocked at 4.37-seconds during the pre-draft process, and Luke Musgrave, who recorded the fastest 10-yard split in what was a very athletic tight end class. Romeo Doubs also has the ability to run a wide variety of routes, while Tucker Kraft was very good after the catch in college.
The obvious benefit of having this speed element in the offense is the big play potential that each of these players has. But it also creates better spacing by spreading out the defense, creating more one-on-ones and catch and run opportunities, along with matchup problems and can magnify everything else already mentioned when these players are moved around pre-snap.
Aaron Rodgers made it clear that he was never a big fan of motion, although the Packers still used it at a pretty good clip in 2022 at 61% of the time. As he explained last summer, the change of tempo, late movement, and complicating pass protection calls were apart of his frustration.
Studying the film of other offenses is not an uncommon practice for LaFleur, or really any coach in the NFL. I imagine he’s looked at plenty of other teams during this offseason. Given the importance of motion in his offense and the help it can provide a young quarterback, seeing how it was utilized by other teams and the trickle down effect to the rest of the offense can be extremely valuable.
