Do Our QB and RB's compliment each other or work against each other?

I was thinking about this today and I feel like Gore and Kaepernick do not compliment each other in the style of offense we run. Hear me out.

Ok. Harbaugh runs a power running attack offense with a intermediate to long passing game with Kaepernick at the helm. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like we mostly operate the offense out of the pistol and shoutgun formation. That means we are running the ball out of those formations more than say an I formation or split back formation.

Kaepernick is a spread offense type of passer most comfortable in a pistol and shotgun formation.

Frank Gore is a power runner most comfortable in running formations.

Frank gore does not seem to like the pistol formation.

Kaepernick does not seem as effective under center as out of the pistol/shotgun.

This unorthodox duo imo makes us predictable and ineffective on offense, I think I read something here in the zone about a stat stating that we were dead last in runs stuffed. That is due to the mixing of a Spread offense QB and a power runner RB. It seems like a majority of the time Frank Gore runs out of the pistol formation he is ineffective. See Seattle NFCCG. When he runs out the I formation or with Bruce Miller blocking for him he is one of the best in the game.Defense's know when we are gonna run the ball because we mostly run out of power formations and they know when we are gonna pass it if we are in the pistol or shotgun.

Now with all the talk of Lattimore taking over for Gore as the RB of the future(assuming he takes over for Gore), I don't get why he would be our #1 back? He is the same style of runner as Frank Gore. I think he will be great, but damn we are basically continuing the same cycle of what is going on now with the offense.

I would rather see what Hunter can do as the #1 as he seems like he would operate well mostly out of the pistol/spread formation. Or draft a RB in the mold of a LeSean McCoy/CJ Spiller. Those guys would compliment Kaepernick well in the style of offense he is mostly comfortable with, assuming we keep Kaep as our QB of the Future. I believe in making the QB the one who is comfortable with the style of offense you run and plugging in a star RB to fit that style of offense. Not the other way around.

Look at other past and present dynamic offensive QB and RB duos: Drew Brees/Darren Sproles, Joe Montana/Roger Craig, Troy Aikman/Emmitt Smith, Peyton Manning/Edgerrin James, just to name a few. The coaches and GMs of these teams put together a QB/RB duo who complement each other to keep the well oiled machine running and not mixing water with oil to make the machine ineffective.

There is no reason for our offense to be so ineffective in the redzone and in the passing game in general. We have Kaepernick, Gore, Hunter, Crabtree, Boldin, Davis, Patton. God, most GM's and coaches would kill to have this lineup. That is the definition of TALENT.

So Harbaugh either needs to dump his Running attack philosophy and get a RB who can run/block out of the pistol/shotgun so we are more effective running and passing the ball OR if you want to continue the Power running game, get a QB who is comfortable in a pro style offense.It is making the offense predictable and ineffective. What do you guys think?

Quite

Ok I'll play. Yes I agree.
I think the reason gore suffers in the pistol is because, he's not sure if kaps is handing it off or keeping it so he's kind of having to hesitate.

Well thing here is Gore is a free agent, and I believe Hunter is as well after this season. So we have to decide do we pay hunter to be a feature back, or do we try to see if we can get some more out of gore.

Hunter can run in the spread he ran that in college at Osu. I also think giving the chance LMJ would also be a really good fit in the season, aka Chip Kelly, and his fast paced spread style.

Finally, I think it comes down to Kap, he's still growing as a qb, I remember when Alex(Spread Qb) was put into a Iform system, he end up learning how to do it and looking like he's done it all his life. Possible Kap will improve in this area, to be honest I already think he has, remember when he couldn't handle a snap from under center. Still young and plenty of room to improve his game.

It's a fair point. Running out of the shotgun means Gore has to run 4-5 yards JUST to get to the LOS and it gives the stacked box plenty of time to shed their blocks and stuff Gore. Also, Gore has next to no lateral ability (or speed) so teams never bother to worry about off-tackle runs. Another part that plays into this, along your lines, is the predictability of the runs. They are always on first downs...add in the obvious "jumbo packages" and you've literally thrown your running game out of the window and now have to resort to your QB for any running game (sad). 12 yards. That's the result of the aforementioned in the NFCCG. And you are right, Hunter and James would probably be more ideal for running out of the Q formation. But we are trying to trade James and we expect Lattimore to start assuming the same role Gore currently holds. So in short, don't expect any changes anytime soon except for the fact that Miller should be back to health and we may now get a viable FB behind him should he ever go down again (i.e. FB Alex Debniak).

Sounds like a job for the Offensive Coordinator.

[drumroll]

Fire Roman.

Good point! One of Gore's strengths is hitting a hole quickly and making really good decisions--great vision. If he has to wait and pick his spots slowly he loses momentum. That's why I thought James might be a better fit with Kaepernick and the...whatever offense this is called. Hunter might be a better choice as well. If they went to more QB under center it would help Gore but might hinder CK...so a dilemma.

But the main problem, whoever the running back is, will continue to be a stacked box until Kaepernick is able to crush it by throwing over the box with medium length passes. Requires WRs and/or TEs and RBs who can read a defense and adjust...isn't just on Kaepernick. Having an offensive coordinator who can adjust and outthink the D would be great too!

.Harbaugh

they go together like cock n balls

I was really excited with the 12' draft because it seemed like Harbalke was trying to build around Kaep for the future(even though he wasn't the starter yet). A spread offensive plan with Jenkins as your speedy deep threat with James and Hunter as the explosive backfield that had a chance to use their speed to make plays. Just pure Explosiveness.

Of Course, reality set in and they weren't used in the fashion they were drafted for. It doesn't help that one was a weakling and the other is emo and a complainer.

So, I liked the vision, but in the end they picked the wrong guys.
I hope Harbaalke do not give up trying to make the offense explosive. We have the QB, now we just need to add to it.

Lattimore was almost exclusively a spread back out of the shotgun.

The long term QB and heir apparent at RB blend really well.

Nvm.

Originally posted by pahlerbj:

alex smith

Heh, as much as I think you were joking, I think you are actually on to something. There is a big difference between Alex and Kaepernick. For example, LMJ is actively being traded. Why? He no longer fits in the offense that is being designed for Colin. I think he would have been used more in our offense if Alex was still our QB.

Also Colin is still transitioning from the Nevada college offense to the drop back offense that Harbaugh is designing for him. So I really don't see any struggles or bad design on our offense, but rather a transition from Alex to Colin, and a continued redesign of the offense to fit Colin's talents better as Harbaugh finds out more about what Colin can do.

Originally posted by QBguru:

I was really excited with the 12' draft because it seemed like Harbalke was trying to build around Kaep for the future(even though he wasn't the starter yet). A spread offensive plan with Jenkins as your speedy deep threat with James and Hunter as the explosive backfield that had a chance to use their speed to make plays. Just pure Explosiveness.

Of Course, reality set in and they weren't used in the fashion they were drafted for. It doesn't help that one was a weakling and the other is emo and a complainer.

So, I liked the vision, but in the end they picked the wrong guys.
I hope Harbaalke do not give up trying to make the offense explosive. We have the QB, now we just need to add to it.

Yeah, the 2012 Draft was a learning experience for both Baalke and Harbaugh. Also, I think a big reason LMJ hasn't been used more in this offense is his lack of inside running ability. He's definitely no Tony Dorsett, unfortunately.

Nice one QBguru. But I do not think that Gore got problems that he does not exactly know whether Kaep hands off or scrambles because I am sure the make a decision in the huddle. Further, you usually see the shotgun formation when we need to make plays, not yards. I mean, we/you have seen how important Bruce Miller is - particularly for Gore. If we use Miller and Gore then we are going to make good runs. But, of course, you also need to run in shotgun formations to be unpredictable and as versatile as possible even if these runs are not always effective. In my mind, Miller is more important and as same as underrated as Andy Lee.



By the way, I guess the huge Gore run against Seattle came out of a shotgun....