ESPN Interview with CPJ

[Eastman]

Our problems in the rain extend far beyond our QB play. After the first week of preseason practice I say turn the sprinklers on and figure out how to play in the rain.

If I was an away opponent I’d soak the field soggy 2 hours before kickoff against us.

Shhhhh!

 

[Skeptic]

You'll be hard pressed to find many passes that your referring to by any of our QBs in the CPJ era. Our wideouts rarely face double coverage because most of the opposing safeties are in the box unless its on a blatantly obvious passing down. You have reason to be sceptical about TaQuon's ability to make the throw you're suggesting, but not because he can't. He just really has had to. If our receivers are being cover by a corner and shaded by a safety that would mean we are throwing far more than 10 times a game, and if our offense is clicking that's simply never going to be the case.

Actually they don't see double coverage by design: Johnson's offense always has four WRs in the game, every play, so you have to pick your poison. Being able to hit them is for another argument, but it's awful hard to double both sides with a safety and CB -- the LB in theory is going to be outrun easily enough -- and you run out of numbers if a hurry. I gather that is run and shoot football.

 

[jgtengineer]

Actually they don't see double coverage by design: Johnson's offense always has four WRs in the game, every play, so you have to pick your poison. Being able to hit them is for another argument, but it's awful hard to double both sides with a safety and CB -- the LB in theory is going to be outrun easily enough -- and you run out of numbers if a hurry. I gather that is run and shoot football.

That is basically it. It is also why it seems like our qbs don't go through progressions, on passing downs they shift primary based on a presnap read and usually that primary read is open.

 

[iceeater1969]

That is basically it. It is also why it seems like our qbs don't go through progressions, on passing downs they shift primary based on a presnap read and usually that primary read is open.

IS OPEN IS TOO LATE.
if the qb is too short to easily see db and receiver and read in advance WHEN HE WILL BE OPEN he will just throw and hope. What is needed is to pass (read, set up, throw) so ball arrives as receiver is GETTING OPEN. That kind of pass can burn the defense for 6. If the ball arrives as the defender catches up, its a big gain but not a game changer. W
If we hit 1 long td pass a game our run game will be much more effective.

This year I think tqm should be a lot more accurate, but i hope lucas is competing right there with him.
2018 Its time!

 

[tmhunter52]

IS OPEN IS TOO LATE.
if the qb is too short to easily see db and receiver and read in advance WHEN HE WILL BE OPEN he will just throw and hope. What is needed is to pass (read, set up, throw) so ball arrives as receiver is GETTING OPEN. That kind of pass can burn the defense for 6. If the ball arrives as the defender catches up, its a big gain but not a game changer. W
If we hit 1 long td pass a game our run game will be much more effective.

This year I think tqm should be a lot more accurate, but i hope lucas is competing right there with him.
2018 Its time!

What happens to our run game if we hit 2, 3, 4 or 5 long TD passes a game?

 

[vamosjackets]

Check 1:40 in this video. TM cannot make that pass and it isn’t THAT difficult of a pass to make. It’s also a necessary one on 3rd and long.



Our passing game needs to be more than deep lobs. You need medium passing too. That’s why 2014 was unstoppable. We could convert 3rd and long. We can’t effectively do it with TM.

Dang, Smelter was a great player.
But, what that video reminded me of was his (and Justin's) ability on the medium comeback route. It's really an option route where the WR is reading what the DB is doing and has the option of beating the guy deep or cutting the route off as a comeback. This is EXTREMELY hard to stop as a DB if you've got a WR and QB who are in sync with each other and who have the kind of ability Smelter (and JT) had. JT's best asset as a passer was his quick-release. He had almost no wind-up, as soon as he saw it he fired it within a quarter-second. Pretty much every throw on that video is a throw I think TQM could make - he would especially benefit from a physical beast like Smelter, and being very-much in sync with that guy. Again, where Justin has him beat is that quick-release (which gets the ball there quicker even without better arm strength) ... the arm strength may be a little in JT's favor, but I don't think that's the difference maker in our offense and the types of throws he's making.

 

[vamosjackets]

What happens to our run game if we hit 2, 3, 4 or 5 long TD passes a game?

It suffers because we just wasted a possession with a long TD pass and don't have the ball as much. Also the defense suffers because they've got to be on the field longer. We should all be anti-long-TD-pass. (/sarcasm )

 

[vamosjackets]

Marshall's problem, and it will continue to be, is he has issues throwing a wet ball. GT had a higher than normal amount of games in the rain, and when TQM had to throw, the ball just sailed (and that's being nice).

DC's know Marshall can't throw in the rain, and if you go back and watch the tape, they sold out on the run because they saw what we all saw.

In decent to good conditions, Marshall can make pretty much all the throws required in our offense. The hope is GT plays in better conditions next season.

That's probably an underappreciated point. An abnormal amount of games in the rain may very well have had a significant effect on the 37% completion stat. More analysis needed.