When Ronnie Brown, the Miami Dolphins' running back, set the NFL on fire last season when the Dolphins pulled a then-upset over the Patriots in Week 3, the football world began to take notice of the Wildcat formation on a big scale.
The formation draws from some of those made famous back in the days of leather helmets and the run-based Wing-T offenses of days past.
And teams in North Texas are no different, as many already employ the formation, which replaces the quarterback with another player -- usually a running back or wide receiver. That player offers a change of pace to the normal offensive flow and keeps defenses on edge, opening running lanes up for players who are much quicker than the normal quarterback and can read defenses while keeping them guessing.
As Carlos Mendez said in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it doesn't just take speed or vision to be a "Wildcat", it takes a special blend of the two.
Running backs are used to only watching the defense -- even pre-snap -- and might not have as good of hands. They also might not be able to read defenses as well when they have to look away for that split second to catch the ball in the shotgun formation.
So that would seem to make receivers the best candidates, but they're often not big and durable like running backs, who are used to carrying the ball in tight spaces and up where the big boys roam.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/award-winning blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's a Wildcat.
