Editing Shotgun formation (section)

==Recent use==

In recent years, the shotgun has become vastly prevalent. Many college quarterbacks&mdash;such as [[Tim Tebow]], who almost exclusively used the shotgun at [[Florida Gators football|Florida]]&mdash;have difficulty adapting to NFL offenses where about a third of snaps are taken under center. However, with the [[spread offense]] increasingly used in the NFL, the shotgun is more popular, since the spread allows for more effective running.
[[File:Patriots on offense at Super Bowl XXXIX 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tom Brady]] in the shotgun at [[Super Bowl XXXIX]].]]
The shotgun formation is often run during 2nd-and-long or 3rd-and-long situations to give the quarterback enough time to allow the receivers to run deep routes. However, [[Peyton Manning]], formerly of the [[Indianapolis Colts]] and [[Denver Broncos]], often [[Quarterback#Special_tactics|audibled]] to plays that use this formation in order to better read defenses and to take advantage of fast receivers like [[Marvin Harrison]] and [[Reggie Wayne]] and gain extended yardage in a single play. In 2007, the [[New England Patriots]] used the shotgun with great effectiveness as a base formation for the offense that scored the then-record 587 points in a 16-game season<ref>{{cite web|access-date=11 December 2012|url=http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/content/greatest-scoring-offenses-all-nfl-history/6100/|title=Cold Hard Football Facts - Greatest Scoring Offenses, all of NFL history|publisher=Cold Hard Football Facts}}</ref> (since broken by the [[Denver Broncos]] in [[2013 Denver Broncos season|2013]]); in fact, the 2007 Patriots were the first team in NFL history to use it for the majority of their offensive plays.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/sports/football/articles/2008/08/24/players_must_pull_together/?page=full Players must pull together] Boston.com Football Notes</ref> The Patriots have also used the formation to directly snap the ball away from the quarterback, snapping it instead to a running back (usually [[Kevin Faulk]]); the Patriots scored a [[two-point conversion]] via such a direct snap to Faulk in [[Super Bowl XXXVIII]] and again against the [[2006 San Diego Chargers season|Chargers]] in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

[[File:ShotgunFormationAFAvCSU.jpg|thumb|right|330px|Side view of the shotgun formation]]

Though the shotgun is a pass-dominated formation, a cleverly designed halfback [[draw play]] can put defenses off guard and a fast halfback can get good yardage before the defense recovers from their mistake. A further development of the play is a [[halfback option pass]], with the [[quarterback]] being one of the eligible receivers. [[Roger Staubach]]'s backup and successor, [[Danny White]], twice caught such a pass for a touchdown. It was noted at the time that he was only eligible because of the shotgun formation (an NFL quarterback who takes a snap from underneath the center was and still is an ineligible receiver, a rule not found in any amateur level of American football). 

The shotgun is also used in college, but running is used more often than in the NFL. Most offenses in college who run in the shotgun have a fast quarterback. They often use a play where the quarterback has an option of handing the ball off to the running back who runs to the side opposite the side he was lined up on. The quarterback can also run the opposite way depending on how the defense reacts. [[Urban Meyer]] and the [[Florida Gators football|Florida Gators]] used this effectively from 2006 to 2009 with [[Tim Tebow]].