The Wildcat fad may be as out of date as your MySpace page, but every once in a while, a non-quarterback takes a handoff and plunges off-tackle for a yard or two. There were 54 Wildcat plays last season, as defined by an offensive snap to a non-quarterback. The Wildcat netted 5.2 yards per play, three plays of 20-plus yards and 12 stuffs for no gain or a loss (plus two incomplete passes).

The Wildcat results are even worse than they look. Two runs by one player resulted in 80 yards, meaning that everyone else averaged just 3.9 yards per play. The table below shows who the Wildcat superstar was and lists the results for other direct-snap recipients.

The Rams often cut out the quarterback middleman late in the 2015 season and let Todd Gurley take direct snaps and either keep them or hand off to Tavon Austin. As the table suggests, other teams used the Wildcat the same way the Rams did: as a desperation tactic when their quarterback situation was in shambles. Le'Veon Bell took his direct snaps when Michael Vick and Landry Jones were the Steelers quarterbacks. Cecil Shorts III and others took direct snaps for the Texans when T.J. Yates was the quarterback or Brian Hoyer was playing through injuries.

So if you are down to your third or fourth quarterback and just need something to diversify your scaled-down game plan, the Wildcat won't kill you. Otherwise, there are better ways to average 5.2 yards per play.