Will The St. Louis Rams Pull Out The Pistol?

The St. Louis Rams held their annual Fan Fest on Saturday, which is when they not only hold a scrimmage for the fans, but also a chance where families can escape the summer heat, get some autographs and have a good time. Looking through the tweets, you see the usual: rookie Tavon Austin does something amazing, insert random offensive weapon making a special catch, and 2nd year defensive tackle Michael Brockers making dominating offensive linemen look like a piece of cake.

The Rams' newest backfield treat... Michael Brockers? The Fridge 2.0? #Rumblerumble #RamsFanFest pic.twitter.com/fC1zlEjYFd

— The Pigskin Arch (@ThePigskinArch) August 3, 2013

@Austin_Pettis with amazing one handed touchdown grab in back of endzone in tight coverage at #RamsFanFest.

— Shane Gray STL Rams (@ShaneGmoSTLRams) August 3, 2013

Tavon Austin's speed & wiggle are as impressive in person at the next level as his college YouTube highlight videos. #ramsfanfest #rams

— T. Shields, Esq. (@Shields3L) August 3, 2013

RT @RamsHerd: Tavon Austin does the classic Top Gun move... Puts on the brakes, TJ McDonald as the MiG flies right by. #RamsFanFest

— Chris Blood (@vinblood) August 3, 2013

But only one thing surprised me when I was reading through the excited tweets about the scrimmage and that was the Rams using the Pistol offense.

Rams using a bunch of Pistol formation plays. Very interesting.

— " Matt Fritsche " (@WoozyVirtuoso) August 3, 2013

Yes, the pistol offense - popularized by Chris Ault, when he was the head coach at the University of Nevada. For those who don't know, the QB isn't under center. Unlike in Shotgun, the running backs will be behind the QB, so they can go north and south, similar to the under center concepts.

This is same offense the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins used this year. Can you picture Sam Bradford running the read option, reading the defensive end, pulling the ball away from Isaiah Pead when the defensive end crashes down, and running for a 55 yard touchdown? Yeah, I can't picture that either.

Throughout the off season, it has been mentioned the Rams will use spread concepts this season, and this offense will be a good new wrinkle to throw in. The Rams could use shotgun, and then no huddle, to a pistol offense or vice versa, shuffling players around, and gaining the valuable mismatches the team couldn't get last year.

If the Rams do employ some of the pistol offense, it just shows how much the team is willing to adapt their schemes to fit their players.