Film Study: What Frank Gore brings to the Colts' offense (Patience and Vision vs. San Diego)

[Dustin]

Been meaning to do this for a few days and have some time so I thought I'd knock this out. Sorry for the crappy video quality, but I don't have any capture cards and am just recording this off of my phone.

 

I'll do a few parts to this. Today I'm going to focus on arguably the most important traits in a runner. 

 

Patience and Vision: 

 

Clip 1 

 

As we see in the clip above, the 49ers are running a classic power-O play (offset FB and a pulling-guard to the run side) out of their 21 grouping (2 RB, 1 WR, 1 TE). 

 

Gore patiently awaits for the pulling guard (Iupati) to come down and seal off (or at least throw himself in the way) the ILB who comes crashing down. When Gore sees the opening, he powers through the hole and manages to "break" two tackles from San Diego's DBs and manage a 52 yard TD run. 

 

Clip 2

 

Gore is again running out of the same play as clip 1 (power-O out of 21 personnel). This time an unaccounted for blitzing ILB (Manti Te'o) comes unblocked through the A-Gap and Gore is able to recognize this and use his (still very good) lateral agility to avoid the TFL and continue following his pulling guard to the edge for a 15 yard gain. 

 

Clip 3

 

The 49ers are running a counter-run play. Gore again waits for his pulling FB to come down and seal off the ILB before getting skinny in the hole and powering through for a gain of 8. "He of which we don not speak" would have probably lost 3 on the same play because of lack of patience. 

 

Clip 4

 

This is beautiful. Gore keeps himself square to the LOS until the very last second. As soon as #74 blocks off the the safety (#32- Eric Weddle), Gore again shows off that lateral agility and burst to get to the 2nd level. 

 

Clip 5

 

This is a play where Gore is designed to run behind the pulling guard. He had other ideas. You can basically see halfway through the run where he changes his mind and powers through the A-gap (the center did an absolutely amazing job taking the NT out of the play) for a gain of 8. 

 

Clip 6

 

This isn't exactly a very noteworthy clip, it's just a good illustration of Gore's "see hole; hit hole" running style. No hesitating.

 

Clip 7

 

Gore was lucky that the edge rusher (#91) fell down (or was subtly tripped by Boldin) otherwise this may have been a tackle for a loss. Regardless, Gore takes an advantage of this opportunity and turns up the field for a gain of 13.  

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Notes: 

 

Pep Hamilton runs a very similar running scheme to the 49ers. Lots of power and pulling guards. I'm sure that is a big reason Gore wanted to play in Indy. 

 

My favorite thing about Gore is that he understands his own limitations as a runner. He knows he's not going to outrun or run over anyone out there. He understands how to use defenders own momentum and aggressiveness against them to maximize his yardage. 

 

I plan to do a few more of these so stay tuned. 

[CR91]

nice job dustin. good stuff

[Hammer]

Very nice.

[krunk]

I'm sure this time with Gore we will make a greater commitment to running the football versus last year.

[ProblChld32]

He will surely provide an adequate rushing attack to take the pressure off of Lucks arm.

[A8bil]

Great post, and very astute observations about who Gore is as a runner.  Not the fastest, not the most powerful, but he has good burst and great vision and patience.  He uses his blockers like few others have.  He's a coaches dream, because he runs the play like it was drawn up and only abandons it when he sees it break down or sees a way to better exploit the play.

 

The one thing about Gore's style, however, is that if the line isn't blocking, he's not going to get yardage.  Some less astute fans will say he's lost it, he doesn't have the speed, yada, yada, but what they don't appreciate is that Gore's patience has him basically at low speed/power UNTIL the hole opens...if it doesn't, he's a sitting duck.

 

That said, as you note, Gore is great at recognizing when that happens and understanding his limitations.  His default is to find a crease and dive forward, rather than try to go backwards and outrun a lineman....typically ending in a larger loss.  Gore rarely loses yardage on a play.  In my mind one of the most underrated backs ever. 

[Superman]

Good work, though.

[Superman]

 

Clip 1 

 

As we see in the clip above, the 49ers are running a classic power-O play (offset FB and a pulling-guard to the run side) out of their 21 grouping (2 RB, 1 WR, 1 TE). 

 

Gore patiently awaits for the pulling guard (Iupati) to come down and seal off (or at least throw himself in the way) the ILB who comes crashing down. When Gore sees the opening, he powers through the hole and manages to "break" two tackles from San Diego's DBs and manage a 52 yard TD run. 

 

 

Here's a gif of that run:

 

[Dustin]

Good work, though.

 

LOL I promise everyone that I tried to find a better way to record it. 

[jabbanobadda]

Great job! I love this signing along with AJ.

Side note: Am I the only one that was thinking WWTRD (What would T-Rich do?) during those runs? Yep, straight into his own linemen's backs...

[Superman]

Gore is the type of runner who will find the smallest sliver of daylight and sneak through it. He turns 1 yard gains into 5 yard gains, and every once in a while, he'll pop a huge one. And he's a complete back.

 

Pair him with Boom, who has more long speed, and the backfield is much different. Don't mess around and let us get our hands on Corey Grant...

[Trace Pyott]

His patience reminds me of how edge used to play. Edge wasn't the fastest or strongest guy either and Edge rarely gained more than 20 yards at a time max but it seemed he would pick up 4 or 5 yards every time he touched the ball.

[southwest1]

I just appreciate a RB with excellent vision, patience, & agility who can generate yardage in open space & letting your linemen take you to the next level before he turns the afterburners on. Plus, our o-line will be motivated to create holes because they know Gore can take it to the house on any given down. 

 

Nice work Dustin & a good summary of each clip too. You definitely know what the hades you are talking about. Well done Dustin AKA "The Prophet." 

 

I'll just be glad not to see Trent Richardson take 5 steps for a loss over & over again. Frank Gore is just what INDY needs a productive back that defenses must fear & respect. Thank you Jesus! Amen...

[zibby43]

My favorite post of 2015. Aside from the Gore/AJ signing confirmation posts/threads.

Thanks.

[Coltsfanman1953]

I just wonder if our OL is as good as SF's line. TBH, I'm not sure if their line is better or worse than ours but I'm hoping with the new additions that ours will be better.

[bananabucket]

I just wonder if our OL is as good as SF's line. TBH, I'm not sure if their line is better or worse than ours but I'm hoping with the new additions that ours will be better.

 

 

I have some bad news

[ColtRider]

Been meaning to do this for a few days and have some time so I thought I'd knock this out. Sorry for the crappy video quality, but I don't have any capture cards and am just recording this off of my phone.

 

I'll do a few parts to this. Today I'm going to focus on arguably the most important traits in a runner. 

 

Patience and Vision: 

 

Clip 1 

 

As we see in the clip above, the 49ers are running a classic power-O play (offset FB and a pulling-guard to the run side) out of their 21 grouping (2 RB, 1 WR, 1 TE). 

 

Gore patiently awaits for the pulling guard (Iupati) to come down and seal off (or at least throw himself in the way) the ILB who comes crashing down. When Gore sees the opening, he powers through the hole and manages to "break" two tackles from San Diego's DBs and manage a 52 yard TD run. 

 

Clip 2

 

Gore is again running out of the same play as clip 1 (power-O out of 21 personnel). This time an unaccounted for blitzing ILB (Manti Te'o) comes unblocked through the A-Gap and Gore is able to recognize this and use his (still very good) lateral agility to avoid the TFL and continue following his pulling guard to the edge for a 15 yard gain. 

 

Clip 3

 

The 49ers are running a counter-run play. Gore again waits for his pulling FB to come down and seal off the ILB before getting skinny in the hole and powering through for a gain of 8. "He of which we don not speak" would have probably lost 3 on the same play because of lack of patience. 

 

Clip 4

 

This is beautiful. Gore keeps himself square to the LOS until the very last second. As soon as #74 blocks off the the safety (#32- Eric Weddle), Gore again shows off that lateral agility and burst to get to the 2nd level. 

 

Clip 5

 

This is a play where Gore is designed to run behind the pulling guard. He had other ideas. You can basically see halfway through the run where he changes his mind and powers through the A-gap (the center did an absolutely amazing job taking the NT out of the play) for a gain of 8. 

 

Clip 6

 

This isn't exactly a very noteworthy clip, it's just a good illustration of Gore's "see hole; hit hole" running style. No hesitating.

 

Clip 7

 

Gore was lucky that the edge rusher (#91) fell down (or was subtly tripped by Boldin) otherwise this may have been a tackle for a loss. Regardless, Gore takes an advantage of this opportunity and turns up the field for a gain of 13.  

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Notes: 

 

Pep Hamilton runs a very similar running scheme to the 49ers. Lots of power and pulling guards. I'm sure that is a big reason Gore wanted to play in Indy. 

 

My favorite thing about Gore is that he understands his own limitations as a runner. He knows he's not going to outrun or run over anyone out there. He understands how to use defenders own momentum and aggressiveness against them to maximize his yardage. 

 

I plan to do a few more of these so stay tuned.

An absolutely incredible post! Info - there. Evidence - there. Non argumentative - there. Creativity - there. Colorful - there.

And MOST importantly - Sensible Colts Fan - THERE!

[Exodus]

Been meaning to do this for a few days and have some time so I thought I'd knock this out. Sorry for the crappy video quality, but I don't have any capture cards and am just recording this off of my phone.

 

I'll do a few parts to this. Today I'm going to focus on arguably the most important traits in a runner. 

 

Patience and Vision: 

 

Clip 1 

 

As we see in the clip above, the 49ers are running a classic power-O play (offset FB and a pulling-guard to the run side) out of their 21 grouping (2 RB, 1 WR, 1 TE). 

 

Gore patiently awaits for the pulling guard (Iupati) to come down and seal off (or at least throw himself in the way) the ILB who comes crashing down. When Gore sees the opening, he powers through the hole and manages to "break" two tackles from San Diego's DBs and manage a 52 yard TD run. 

 

Clip 2

 

Gore is again running out of the same play as clip 1 (power-O out of 21 personnel). This time an unaccounted for blitzing ILB (Manti Te'o) comes unblocked through the A-Gap and Gore is able to recognize this and use his (still very good) lateral agility to avoid the TFL and continue following his pulling guard to the edge for a 15 yard gain. 

 

Clip 3

 

The 49ers are running a counter-run play. Gore again waits for his pulling FB to come down and seal off the ILB before getting skinny in the hole and powering through for a gain of 8. "He of which we don not speak" would have probably lost 3 on the same play because of lack of patience. 

 

Clip 4

 

This is beautiful. Gore keeps himself square to the LOS until the very last second. As soon as #74 blocks off the the safety (#32- Eric Weddle), Gore again shows off that lateral agility and burst to get to the 2nd level. 

 

Clip 5

 

This is a play where Gore is designed to run behind the pulling guard. He had other ideas. You can basically see halfway through the run where he changes his mind and powers through the A-gap (the center did an absolutely amazing job taking the NT out of the play) for a gain of 8. 

 

Clip 6

 

This isn't exactly a very noteworthy clip, it's just a good illustration of Gore's "see hole; hit hole" running style. No hesitating.

 

Clip 7

 

Gore was lucky that the edge rusher (#91) fell down (or was subtly tripped by Boldin) otherwise this may have been a tackle for a loss. Regardless, Gore takes an advantage of this opportunity and turns up the field for a gain of 13.  

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Notes: 

 

Pep Hamilton runs a very similar running scheme to the 49ers. Lots of power and pulling guards. I'm sure that is a big reason Gore wanted to play in Indy. 

 

My favorite thing about Gore is that he understands his own limitations as a runner. He knows he's not going to outrun or run over anyone out there. He understands how to use defenders own momentum and aggressiveness against them to maximize his yardage. 

 

I plan to do a few more of these so stay tuned. 

Thank you for doing this Dustin! I've been pulling for Gore since day one. I'm glad to see someone REALLY do an analysis of what he'll bring to this team.

 

Now, I wonder where all the Frank Gore "nay Sayers" ran off too? 

[Grigs build the lines plz.]

The last few years of RB injuries and a useless RB that is heading to the black hole 'who's name I won't 

mention' has been tough on us all. So here's to a healthy and functional running game next season. 

[chad72]

Great stuff, Dustin!!!

 

The RB getting skinny through gaps and being more elusive than fast using his vision maximizes an O-line's abilities too and Frank Gore is an outstanding example of that.

[csmopar]

Great post, and very astute observations about who Gore is as a runner. Not the fastest, not the most powerful, but he has good burst and great vision and patience. He uses his blockers like few others have. He's a coaches dream, because he runs the play like it was drawn up and only abandons it when he sees it break down or sees a way to better exploit the play.

The one thing about Gore's style, however, is that if the line isn't blocking, he's not going to get yardage. Some less astute fans will say he's lost it, he doesn't have the speed, yada, yada, but what they don't appreciate is that Gore's patience has him basically at low speed/power UNTIL the hole opens...if it doesn't, he's a sitting duck.

That said, as you note, Gore is great at recognizing when that happens and understanding his limitations. His default is to find a crease and dive forward, rather than try to go backwards and outrun a lineman....typically ending in a larger loss. Gore rarely loses yardage on a play. In my mind one of the most underrated backs ever.

Still an upgrade. Plus I actually think our line wasn't as bad as we thought running it, we just didn't have confidence doing so. I mean other than 2 yard and sit 2 games Trich, the rest of our backs averaged neatly 5 yards a carry. That's not terrible.

[bap1331]

I always thought the niners were wasting his talent. Why was he a backup? I like carlos hyde but gore was much better.

[A8bil]

I always thought the niners were wasting his talent. Why was he a backup? I like carlos hyde but gore was much better.

He wasn't.  Gore was always the primary back.  However, the 49ers weren't willing to pay up for Gore's contract given their salary cap situation.  The 49ers "think" that Hyde can replace Gore, but I"m not convinced.  He's more powerful, but he didn't show a lot of vision in moderate usage last season.

[Dustin]

I always thought the niners were wasting his talent. Why was he a backup? I like carlos hyde but gore was much better.

 

You are the best troll ever. 

[throwing BBZ]

 The only guard who has done ANY decent pulling the last 2 years is Thornton.
 He has pretty much stunk drive blocking and in pass protection.

[OLD FAN MAN]

gore will need a lot of patience as he waits for mewhort to pull and block for him, this o-line is not what the niners had, if we don't get some monsters on the line he will need a lot of patience and vision

[BleedBlu8792]

#DATVISIONTHO

 

His read and react (fast twitch) abilities at his age are still remarkable. To be honest I'm not sure SF has that much better of an OL. Gore was getting skinny quite a few times, and that's really all your top tier backs need. Mewhort wasn't horrible at pulling but he wasn't Lupati either. However, where I think we gain an advantage over SF is our TE's. Allen and Doyle, with Fleener in there a little bit, will help him tremendously. Hell, Luck alone is going to do wonders for Gore.

[A8bil]

#DATVISIONTHO

 

His read and react (fast twitch) abilities at his age are still remarkable. To be honest I'm not sure SF has that much better of an OL. Gore was getting skinny quite a few times, and that's really all your top tier backs need. Mewhort wasn't horrible at pulling but he wasn't Lupati either. However, where I think we gain an advantage over SF is our TE's. Allen and Doyle, with Fleener in there a little bit, will help him tremendously. Hell, Luck alone is going to do wonders for Gore.

Good post...truth be told is that the 49ers offensive line was terrible last year.  Iupati in particular had health problems all year long.

 

And yes, Gore should benefit from having Luck.  Kaepernick regressed so badly this year passing that most teams just stuffed the box to make sure neither Gore nor Kaepernick could run.  it was painful to watch.  Just having a functional passing game should give Gore opportunities to run.

[JPFolks]

I am not a naysayer so much as concerned with all these players at the end of their productive careers who we are attaching ourselves to for at least 2 years.  What happens if he gets hurt during pre-season?  We're back to the same guys as the playoffs all season?  They don't seem interested in Bradshaw (and tho I really am a fan of his, he doesn't typically last long each year).  I would be fine with Gore if we drafted an outstanding RB to go with them who is another level up from Boom who was great compared to TR, but who wasn't really? 

 

Showing clips of him doing his best work is one sided as well.  I imagine if you were so motivated, you could find his very worst plays and make an opposite point.  I think he's a short term bandaid who we all hope has 2 seasons left in the tank.  But we all know he doesn't have 4 seasons left in the tank right?  Or are we thinking he'll be outstanding past his mid 30's? 

 

Great effort though.  I appreciate the time and work you put into this.  

[A8bil]

I am not a naysayer so much as concerned with all these players at the end of their productive careers who we are attaching ourselves to for at least 2 years.  What happens if he gets hurt during pre-season?  We're back to the same guys as the playoffs all season?  They don't seem interested in Bradshaw (and tho I really am a fan of his, he doesn't typically last long each year).  I would be fine with Gore if we drafted an outstanding RB to go with them who is another level up from Boom who was great compared to TR, but who wasn't really? 

 

Showing clips of him doing his best work is one sided as well.  I imagine if you were so motivated, you could find his very worst plays and make an opposite point.  I think he's a short term bandaid who we all hope has 2 seasons left in the tank.  But we all know he doesn't have 4 seasons left in the tank right?  Or are we thinking he'll be outstanding past his mid 30's? 

 

Great effort though.  I appreciate the time and work you put into this.  

Don't sell yourself short--you're quite the naysayer.

 

True, Gore is near the end of his career, but what I think the purpose of this thread is to show that Gore is still quite capable, and the clips chosen show how he gets the job done.

 

I think your fear of injury is perhaps misplaced.  Injury can hit any player, at any time.  Some players, however, are more injury prone than others...think McFadden or DeMarco Murray.  If anything, Gore has proven over his career that he is not injury prone.  One of the most durable backs out there.  So while anything is possible, worrying about Gore getting injured should not be high on your list.

 

Of course, if you take "lowlights" of any player and show them the player will not look good, but I can tell you what you would see of a Gore lowlights film:  Gore would take the handoff and hesitate waiting for his blockers to set their blocks off of which he can cut and shoot through a crevice.  But the block never gets set, the crevice doesn't come open and Gore dives into the line for a 1 yard game.  That's basically a "bad" Gore run.  He's not going to make something of nothing, but he will do a lot with a little.

 

But what you should take from the clips shown above, is that even at Gore's ripe old age, he doesn't need much of a crevice to squeeze through for a big gain.  Gore almost never gets the kind of running lanes that Arian Foster gets, but he has still been effective.  Should be for the Colts as well.

[OLD FAN MAN]

Don't sell yourself short--you're quite the naysayer.

 

True, Gore is near the end of his career, but what I think the purpose of this thread is to show that Gore is still quite capable, and the clips chosen show how he gets the job done.

 

I think your fear of injury is perhaps misplaced.  Injury can hit any player, at any time.  Some players, however, are more injury prone than others...think McFadden or DeMarco Murray.  If anything, Gore has proven over his career that he is not injury prone.  One of the most durable backs out there.  So while anything is possible, worrying about Gore getting injured should not be high on your list.

 

Of course, if you take "lowlights" of any player and show them the player will not look good, but I can tell you what you would see of a Gore lowlights film:  Gore would take the handoff and hesitate waiting for his blockers to set their blocks off of which he can cut and shoot through a crevice.  But the block never gets set, the crevice doesn't come open and Gore dives into the line for a 1 yard game.  That's basically a "bad" Gore run.  He's not going to make something of nothing, but he will do a lot with a little.

 

But what you should take from the clips shown above, is that even at Gore's ripe old age, he doesn't need much of a crevice to squeeze through for a big gain.  Gore almost never gets the kind of running lanes that Arian Foster gets, but he has still been effective.  Should be for the Colts as well.

I hope you are right, unless we get some monsters on the o-line it will be tough for him, time for our o-line to monster up

[A8bil]

I hope you are right, unless we get some monsters on the o-line it will be tough for him, time for our o-line to monster up

That would help...but what the Colts have that the 49ers didn't is an effective passing game.  Under Harbaugh, the 49ers had a bottom 4 passing offense every year, and most of their offensive threat came from Gore and Kaep running.  To counter this, teams routinely put 8-9 guys in the box trying force the 49ers into passing.  Running against 8-9 man fronts is not easy.  Having a good passing offense should soften things up a bit for Gore, even if the Colts running blocking is not dominant.