Watching the game last night, I was (like most of us) pretty upset about what I was seeing. Then I thought to myself, "Ok, genius, you can yell at the coaches and players, but what would YOU do to make this better?"
Well...here goes (and, for the more nitpickiesh among us..this IS only my personal cogitations upon these subjects and bears no resemblance to anything a real football coach might do): Oh...and it's gonna be LONG:
1) Move Throckmorton back to RT. Put Capra or Jaramillo in at RG. Put Steven Jones in at LT. Object: give us our Right side blocking back again while keeping a power blocking combo on the left side. Jones has played LT already this year and did a good job. He's also received compliments on multiple occasions about how good he's looking and how fast he's progressing.
2) Look VERY closely at finding another center. Hanson is good. He is NOT great, and he's had more bad snaps this year than I can remember from the rest of his career combined. That, and his blocking has been average at best makes it a point to find out if we have a better option for our new style than a smaller OL who was recruited to be a zone blocker instead of a man up power blocker.
3) Try Addison, Collins or Tucker at WR. Johnson is STILL having issues dropping the ball and, while the other three might not be the blocker JJ3 is, they all have decent size and speed and can catch. Addison, especially, gives us a big target on curls, slants, short posts and comebacks. Lined up opposite Mitchell, maybe that would force Herbert to look at both sides of the field.
4) Running back rotation: Verdell, Dye, Cyrus, TBJ...in that order and with Verdell getting the VAST majority of the carries. Depending on the situation, Dye could be another receiving threat or Cyrus gives us another big body plowing into the line. Both are better blockers than TBJ, too.
5) Let Niu keep the ILB spot as the starter beside Dye. He performed well and has a chance to keep improving. He's taller than Apelu, heavier than Apelu and has 3 more years of playing to get better. Likewise, go with AJax and Winston on the outside instead of Hollins and Jelks. They have the speed to cover, the speed to blitz and the size to take on lead blockers. They aren't 6'6, but they are linebackers, and that seems like a good thing for someone playing that position. Their extra speed could allow us to avoid having our ILBs vacating to cover sideline fades and giving up short crossing patterns instead. I'm a traditionalist...I like my ILBs to play the middle of the field (predominantly) and the OLBs to cover the edges, flats and containment on the QB.
6) Use all our players. Our TEs aren't perceived as weapons right now....make them become threats by throwing to them early to shut down the blitzes. Our RBs are excellent receivers out of the backfield...use short flair passes to stretch the offense horizontally when we don't have the wherewithall to block off-tackle runs effectively.
7) Make Justin go through his progressions. If he's locking on to one receiver or one side of the field (as he has been), make calls that force him to scan the other side of the field (wheel routes to that side or combo plays with the TE and slot). Spread the targets around and MAKE the defense at least keep an eye on all our receivers.
8) Finally, if Justin is having a problem with pressure or with getting "blinders" on...pull him for a few plays and let Shough in (I know that goes against what the common wisdom says, but we pull a PG who's having issues...it's not permanent and it could help clear his head). Tyler can hand off just as well as Herbert and he should be able to throw to a back or a WR on a short/intermediate route, too. Show Justin what's going on and then put him back in the game. He's still learning...help him accelerate that curve.
Well...here goes (and, for the more nitpickiesh among us..this IS only my personal cogitations upon these subjects and bears no resemblance to anything a real football coach might do): Oh...and it's gonna be LONG:
1) Move Throckmorton back to RT. Put Capra or Jaramillo in at RG. Put Steven Jones in at LT. Object: give us our Right side blocking back again while keeping a power blocking combo on the left side. Jones has played LT already this year and did a good job. He's also received compliments on multiple occasions about how good he's looking and how fast he's progressing.
2) Look VERY closely at finding another center. Hanson is good. He is NOT great, and he's had more bad snaps this year than I can remember from the rest of his career combined. That, and his blocking has been average at best makes it a point to find out if we have a better option for our new style than a smaller OL who was recruited to be a zone blocker instead of a man up power blocker.
3) Try Addison, Collins or Tucker at WR. Johnson is STILL having issues dropping the ball and, while the other three might not be the blocker JJ3 is, they all have decent size and speed and can catch. Addison, especially, gives us a big target on curls, slants, short posts and comebacks. Lined up opposite Mitchell, maybe that would force Herbert to look at both sides of the field.
4) Running back rotation: Verdell, Dye, Cyrus, TBJ...in that order and with Verdell getting the VAST majority of the carries. Depending on the situation, Dye could be another receiving threat or Cyrus gives us another big body plowing into the line. Both are better blockers than TBJ, too.
5) Let Niu keep the ILB spot as the starter beside Dye. He performed well and has a chance to keep improving. He's taller than Apelu, heavier than Apelu and has 3 more years of playing to get better. Likewise, go with AJax and Winston on the outside instead of Hollins and Jelks. They have the speed to cover, the speed to blitz and the size to take on lead blockers. They aren't 6'6, but they are linebackers, and that seems like a good thing for someone playing that position. Their extra speed could allow us to avoid having our ILBs vacating to cover sideline fades and giving up short crossing patterns instead. I'm a traditionalist...I like my ILBs to play the middle of the field (predominantly) and the OLBs to cover the edges, flats and containment on the QB.
6) Use all our players. Our TEs aren't perceived as weapons right now....make them become threats by throwing to them early to shut down the blitzes. Our RBs are excellent receivers out of the backfield...use short flair passes to stretch the offense horizontally when we don't have the wherewithall to block off-tackle runs effectively.
7) Make Justin go through his progressions. If he's locking on to one receiver or one side of the field (as he has been), make calls that force him to scan the other side of the field (wheel routes to that side or combo plays with the TE and slot). Spread the targets around and MAKE the defense at least keep an eye on all our receivers.
8) Finally, if Justin is having a problem with pressure or with getting "blinders" on...pull him for a few plays and let Shough in (I know that goes against what the common wisdom says, but we pull a PG who's having issues...it's not permanent and it could help clear his head). Tyler can hand off just as well as Herbert and he should be able to throw to a back or a WR on a short/intermediate route, too. Show Justin what's going on and then put him back in the game. He's still learning...help him accelerate that curve.
