TEMPE, Ariz. -- Mike LaFleur is a football coach, not a magician, but his offense in his first year as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach will be based on a primary tenant of magic.
Illusion.
"The reason this does so well is it thrives off complimentary looks and simplicity with the illusion of complexity through motions, similar formations," quarterback Gardner Minshew II said. "We really don't do a ton off each look, but just enough to put a seed of doubt, and the idea is that we're going to get really good at what we do."
The phrase "illusion of complexity" was a buzz phrase for the Cardinals throughout OTAs and minicamp. The goal in LaFleur's version of the West Coast offense is to make defenses think they're doing one thing but they'll do something else, players explained. It seems elementary at its core, something that every team strives to do.
However, pulling it off is harder than it seems. Everything, to a point, that Arizona will do will look the same, tight end Trey McBride said.
"Maybe we're going to run a play-action off of it, and the next one we're going to run the actual run," he said. "So, it's really cool to see how he's able to utilize that, how he's able to move people around."
The Cardinals may run a play in back-to-back games with just one slight adjustment with a motion or formation, LaFleur said.
Motions will be a core principle of LaFleur's "illusion of complexity," but he said there won't be wasted movements.
"I always say you don't want to just motion to motion," LaFleur said. "There should always be a reason to why you're motioning. Whether you're changing leverages, changing matchups."
He compared motions to the current state of basketball, where offenses are using a number of screens to get the matchups they want. It's the the same thing in football, LaFleur said.
"It used to be when you're going against defenses, you motion and maybe that guy would run with them," he added. "The best corner would run with the best receiver. It's not necessarily like that anymore because people don't want to tell you what they're doing. They want to keep their guys anchored. They want to keep their nickel anchored. Not everybody, but I mean, that's where the league has been trending a little bit."
That leads to a counter move by the offense with a primary question: "How can we get guys fitted up?" LaFleur asked.
It could look like this: Instead of asking a player who's lined up outside the numbers to to come inside to block, which, LaFleur said, wouldn't be as strong of a block as he wants, he could short motion that blocker so when the snap is made, he's in position to have his feet anchored and make a cleaner block.
"That can be the difference between one yard, five yards, 10 yards, however, it gets sprung," LaFleur said. "So, there's a ton of different ways, ton of different reasons, but again, I hope these guys know we're not just doing it to look cute.
"There's always a reason."
By not doing a lot off each formation, what the Cardinals will do is put a "seed of doubt" in the defense, Minshew explained. And then, he said, Arizona needs to get "really good at what we do."
"[It's] been a blast getting in this offense," Minshew said. "I think it gives the players a ton of confidence when, 'Hey, we have these things, this is what we're going to do. It's your job to make it come to life.' And I think we got the guys to do that."
What does that "seed of doubt" look like?
"It probably screws the defense up more than anything where you're motioning down and you're inserting a guy to block a safety and then you're motioning a guy down, now he's fake blocking, now he's running a corner," McBride said. "And, for the defense, it looks the exact same for them. They look like, 'Is he blocking me? Is he going to run by me? What's the deal?' So, I think it presents more of a challenge on the defense than it does changing anything we do.
"We're just going to be really good at what we do and then present different looks to the defense and hopefully screw them up a little bit and catch them off guard and be able to get a cheap one."
Learning a new offense has come with its challenges, namely the terminology, McBride said.
When he first started looking at the playbook, McBride thought he'd struggle to learn it. With repetition, however, came a comfort and familiarity, and now it feels natural moving in the system and he has all the verbiage down.
"His ability to get guys open, move people around and the play calls are hitting my brain perfectly right now," McBride said. "So, it's getting good."
