If you asked the New Orleans Saints wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., he might agree that pretty much every team in the NFL runs the same offense. After all, the only difference is which team could run these sets better to achieve great success. As a counterpoint, though, no other NBA team has implemented Phil Jackson's “triangle offense” ever since it brought multiple titles to the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NFL version of this system in recent years would be the offense devised by San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. Multiple teams have run a variation of his dynamic offense, including the Saints, who brought in Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator in the offseason. Kubiak is among many adherents of this offense in the league, which includes Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, and Zac Taylor.
During a press conference, Wilson Jr. effectively said that there was no such thing as “oversaturation.” There was nothing wrong with teams copying other teams' offensive systems, especially if they work.
“I mean I don't think it'll definitely go over,” he said during Saints training camp. “The offense is definitely unique for the last two years. Like I said, running it, and now seeing Klint's mind work with it, it's a great offense, when you know the masterminds behind them, the ones that's calling the plays are geniuses as well.”
“If everyone's trying to do it, it's just who can do it the best,” Wilson Jr. added. “It's definitely a copycat league anyway. Each team has their versatility or their guys, so that's when you'll see the differences in the offense.”
Cedrick Wilson Jr. and the Saints' offense
There's a reason for Wilson's confidence, though. The wideout had come from the Miami Dolphins whose head coach, Mike McDaniel, came from Shanahan's coaching tree, which gives him some experience and insight into the best ways to run the system.
Moreover, several NFL coaches, from the 49ers to the Rams, have adopted some form of the offense, changing only the terminology but keeping the core concepts intact. Maybe Wilson was right in that even if teams use the same system, its success still depends heavily on the personnel tasked to run it on the field.
No matter how efficient a coaching system is on paper, it still wouldn't work if the players can't run it well. Besides, coaches also put more than a little of their personality into the schemes they run, and it's up to the Saints to come up with their personal take on the NFL's trending offense.
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