American Football: King of the Bay Area

Brylen Edwards was a Wide Receiver who had been in the Alliance for six years. He had just joined the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. He had a decent start to his career, but after a series of injuries, he gradually faded into obscurity.

This was the third team of Brylen’s career, and he knew full well that for a Wide Receiver, the most important thing was to build a good relationship with the quarterback. In a clutch moment, a quarterback always chooses the receiver he trusts most—not to mention how that trust affects route assignments on every down. And so, Brylen chose Colin Kaepernick.

It wasn’t a difficult choice. The injured Alex Smith still hadn’t returned to the team, while Lu Ke, who had just joined today, was merely an undrafted Chinese-American rookie. Colin was the team’s future. It was obvious.

Looking from the livid Colin to the utterly foolish Lu Ke, Brylen realized this was a golden opportunity to get on Colin’s good side. He stood up with a swagger, looking down his nose at Lu Ke, smugly trying to remind the stupid Chinese-American kid that he had become a laughingstock. It would be best for him to shut his mouth in shame, hide in a corner, and stop making a fool of himself.

He glanced around. The room was silent. This made Brylen even more smug; apparently, he was the only one to stand up for Colin. Everyone else had missed their chance. ’Colin will definitely owe me for this,’ he thought.

Brylen decided to push it a little further. ”Rookie, what was your Fonderick test score, anyway? You don’t seem too bright, can’t even get a sarcastic joke. Don’t you know that quarterback is a position that requires intelligence and wisdom? An idiot can’t be the starting quarterback for the team. Just look at Kaepernick—his Fonderick test score was a solid thirty-seven!”

Finished, Brylen triumphantly jerked his chin up and repeated, ”Thirty-seven points!” as if he himself had earned the score.

A score of thirty-seven was among the top at this year’s Rookie Training Camp—if not in the top three, then at least in the top five.

Watching Brylen look down his nose at everyone, Logan almost burst out laughing. He strongly suspected that Brylen’s mediocre career performance probably had something to do with his IQ.

Colin’s face fell instantly, and he wished he could crawl into a hole and disappear. He had been at the Rookie Training Camp too. Even though he’d never interacted with Lu Ke—hadn’t exchanged a single word with him—how could he not know about the legendary perfect score on the Fonderick test, or about the embarrassment and frustration Cam Newton had suffered because of it?

Colin shot Brylen a furious glare, trying to shut him up. But it was too late. You can’t take back words once they’re spoken. The only thing he could do now was lower his head, cover his face with his hands, and pretend he didn’t know the clown.

”Fifty. No more, no less,” Lu Ke replied with a warm and friendly smile.

Brylen exploded with derisive laughter, clutching his stomach as he mocked him. ”Haha, only fifty? That’s embarrassing…” But a second later, he froze. ”Fifty…”

’Why did that feel a little off?’

PFFT. Logan couldn’t hold it in any longer and started snickering. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Marcus, Aldon, and the others all clutching their stomachs, shaking with silent, stifled laughter. It was a real struggle to keep it in.

”What is going on in here!” A stern, sharp voice cut through from the doorway. The players all turned to see Jim Hubble’s stiff, wooden expression. ”Everyone, get to your seats. The strategy meeting is about to begin. The preseason is just around the corner. You’d all better be damn sure you know every play by heart, or else it won’t just be my wrath you’ll be dealing with, but the fans’ too.”

Jim paced to the table at the front and, with a SLAP, threw down the folder in his hands. ”You. What’s the deal with your clothes? Where’s your practice uniform?”

The target of his question was Lu Ke, who was wearing a white T-shirt. Lu Ke turned to face the head coach and saw Jim frowning, his anger seemingly on the brink of erupting. Lu Ke smiled and explained, ”A welcome gift from my teammates. A little greeting.” With that, Lu Ke took off the T-shirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on his chair.

Jim blinked, stunned for a second, and then the entire room could no longer hold back, erupting into a roar of laughter. Clearly, they weren’t laughing about the T-shirt, but at the bewildered Brylen.

But Jim didn’t know the backstory. Seeing the cheerful atmosphere in the strategy meeting room, he couldn’t help but shake his head in resignation.

Jim had experienced his fair share of the locker room’s unwritten rules back when he was a player. It was just that this Chinese-American quarterback hadn’t escalated the conflict; on the contrary, he had livened up the atmosphere. This surprised Jim.

Jim knocked on the table. His tone was still stiff, but he didn’t continue scolding them. ”Quiet. Focus up. The strategy meeting is forty-five minutes. We’re starting now.”

Right after, the rest of the coaching staff filed into the room, and the day’s strategy meeting officially began.

In his very first strategy meeting, Lu Ke immediately felt the profound difference between college football and the Professional Alliance.

In college, teams had tactics, of course, but the core playbook only had a few hundred plays. The route combinations and personnel groupings were relatively simple. For the most part, success relied on the players’ individual talent; the strategy was built around the players.

But in the pros, the permutations of different positions were dizzying. Players had to adjust based on the specific tactic, and they were there to execute the strategy, not the other way around.

For every down, the coach would set the formation according to the play’s intent. Perhaps two players would be on the field for one down, only to be swapped out for two others on the next. If you wanted to survive on the field, you not only had to sharpen your strengths but also had to shore up your weaknesses and be as versatile as possible.

In the professional arena, talent was the most common, most basic skill.

”...Now, we’re in the Shotgun Formation. Before the snap, the opposing defensive players shift their positions...” Jim stood before the whiteboard, using magnetic pieces to lay out the play and demonstrate the changes on the field. ”...So, how should the Offense Line respond? What about the Wide Receivers’ routes? And if the quarterback reads the defense, how should he adjust?”

The Shotgun Formation is one of the most common and widespread offensive formations in football, used primarily for passing plays.

The so-called Shotgun Formation can be simply understood as this: the Offense Line forms a wide arc, and the quarterback stands about five to seven yards directly behind them, creating distance from the defensive players. Meanwhile, all the eligible receivers are spread out, like buckshot from a shotgun, with the pass potentially targeting any one of them.

The pros and cons of such a formation are stark. The advantage is that the pocket is more secure and the Observation Field of View is wider, allowing the quarterback’s passing skills to be maximized. The disadvantage is that the defense knows it’s a passing play. The positions of the receivers and the quarterback are exposed, making the paths for a sack or defensive coverage relatively clear.

In short: all-out firepower.

Jim was demonstrating the Shotgun Formation, emphasizing the variations within the play. Even with the same Shotgun Formation, the thirty-two teams in the Alliance could run hundreds, if not thousands, of different variations. In an actual game, the possibilities were even greater.

Turning, Jim looked at the players, waiting for an answer. But the room remained silent. It seemed everyone had zoned out, their minds a million miles away.

”First, I’d like to know what movement from the opposing Defense Team revealed their defensive intentions?” Lu Ke’s voice broke the silence. ”Also, are they in zone or man-to-man coverage? If our routes haven’t been compromised, we could stick with the Shotgun Formation, get a quick snap, and use the Wide Receiver’s speed or the Tight End’s size to win the matchup against their defenders and complete the pass. That’s a viable option.”

Jim didn’t speak, but simply nodded for him to continue.

Lu Ke continued, ”But if our routes are compromised, or if their top cornerback is playing tight press coverage, the quarterback could move up three yards and call the running back to his side instead of behind him. This creates a pseudo-Pistol Formation, but we’d still execute a Shotgun play, using the running back’s receiving ability to pick up a short gain.”

The Pistol Formation was an advanced tactic in modern, versatile offenses, created in 2005 and only rising to prominence in the last couple of years.

The so-called Pistol Formation evolved from the Shotgun and single-back sets. In this formation, the quarterback is only four yards from the Offense Line, while the running back stands directly behind the quarterback. This alignment compresses the passing pocket but opens up more options for the running game.

Typically, the quarterback moves toward the Offense Line at the snap, creating misdirection. It could be a run, with the running back bursting forward unexpectedly to gain yards; or it could be a pass, with the quarterback finding the best route from within the tight protection of the pocket. For this reason, the Pistol Formation is considered a more flexible and versatile offensive weapon.

However, because the quarterback is in closer proximity to the defenders, it places higher physical demands on him. It also requires the quarterback to have some mobility. He might fake a handoff and then pass, fake a pass and then run, or even run the ball himself, making it extremely difficult for defenders to diagnose the actual play.

It was precisely because of the rise of the Pistol Formation that mobile quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton began to enter the spotlight.

However, what Lu Ke had just proposed was not a true Pistol Formation, but a disguised one that was, in practice, still a Shotgun play. It would confuse the defensive players’ reads while still keeping the passing options open. The only risk was that the quarterback would have to handle more pressure—after all, he would be closer to the Offense Line, making the pass rush far more ferocious.

An intrigued expression appeared on Jim’s face. He crossed his arms. ”Why a pseudo-Pistol? Why not just run a real Pistol Formation?”