NEW Thoughts on the Pistol Entering the 2024 Season

I'm close to caving and adding the Pistol to my offense. Here's why.

I have been pretty vocal in my opinions in the past about the Pistol not being a great fit for my version of the Shanahan/McVay offense, but after doing some more research and workshopping throughout summer camp, I have to confess that I might be wrong.

Why NOT the Pistol?

Originally, I didn’t think that the Pistol really had anything to offer this offense that couldn’t be found elsewhere, outside of the less sexy alignment of being under center. Want to RPO or Read Option? Get in the gun. Want the downhill element of an RB in-line with the QB & Center? Get under center. Don’t want the defense to have any keys related to the RB alignment in the gun? Either get under center or add same-side runs to your gun package.

I have long thought that the best offense for a Pistol team would be one based off of Inside Zone read/RPOs. One of my issues with that for my offense is that Inside Zone is designed to be a counter to when a defense is overflowing to stop Outside Zone, but in order to create the necessary flow for a large cutback, the play has to present as Outside Zone, specifically the backfield movement. On the Inside Zone read, the RB works away from where he would on an Outside Zone to allow the QB to open up to the read, but that action doesn’t present as Outside Zone and likely gets a more downhill run fit from the defense.

I also think drop back pass protection from the Pistol can be clunky, getting the RB out of the QB’s drop but still in the protection has some very specific mechanics. My other con for the Pistol was that I could get the same downhill run game from under center with a secure snap since it doesn’t have to travel from Center to Gun QB.

So…what changed in my mind that I now think the Pistol is a worthwhile add right in the middle of the pre-season?