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First off, I have to complain. I have a new DVR and I couldn't figure out how to get it in slow motion so I had to watch plays in full speed. It had a nice replay feature that made it easy to see each play a hundred times, but I prefer seeing the action slowed down.
I think Wofford had a good plan that was simple for their guys to execute on defense. They came out with a 3-4 defense with the OLBs pushed up to the outside shoulder of the DEs, essentially creating a 5 man line. Their two MLBs were 5 yards off the ball lined up with the OGs. The safeties were about 9 yards back and lined up with the OTs. For those who don't like to count, that makes a 9 man box. The safeties were totally focused on the run and had very little influence on the passing game. The only thing that pulled them out of this alignment was when we put 2 WRs to the field side. They just simply moved 1 safety over to cover the slot and had the empty CB pinched in with the remaining safety playing a couple steps deeper and towards the middle. If it was third and long or we were in 2 minute offense, they would just roll the OLBs back and have the safeties line up at a conventional depth. That was their entire plan. It was pretty obvious they planned to stop the dive as the OLB (give key) pretty much took the dive every time. They cross charged a couple times, but not much.
One of my main questions after seeing the game from the upper north, was why didn't we really establish the dive as well as I would have hoped? After seeing each play a bunch of times, there were a few reasons. First and foremost were just plain bad QB reads. When you have the unblocked player slamming into the BB, it is a read problem. In half number 1 I counted 4 bad give reads. JT knows this, as he could be seen shaking his head after each one of them. In half 2 he failed to read a cross charge at least once, but I think it was twice. Such is life. This doesn't sound like a lot of plays, but when you consider we only ran about 50 snaps, it had an influence. A couple times we missed a block as well. So, it wasn't as I feared. Our OLs were not losing the one on ones. In fact it was quite the opposite. When we had every OL take a man and block everybody, we usually got a lot of movement. In a general sense, I was EXTREMELY pleased with the blocking on the edge by the skill guys. When coach talks about guys buying in, this is where it is evident to me. They just got after it. Plus there were fewer wtf moments with guys running around passing up would be tacklers. I think this bodes very well. So, with that, I will talk about some individual performances.
Justin Thomas: It is pretty hard to give him a high grade based on the number of misreads, but people, I cannot express the confidence I have in him going forward. The kid has matured and improved a great deal. His body language out there is phenomenal. He is focused and in control. There is no bravado at all. There are several things to be really excited about and I will try to list them all. First, he played very decisively, even if he was wrong, attacking every play. That was so refreshing after watching Vad stutter and stammer (with his feet) his way through running the option last year. He forced EVERYBODY to play fast, even his own teammates. If you didn't go 100%, there was no way you were going to keep pitch relation. He ran right at pitch reads and forced the action. LOVE IT! He held back a few pitches (that were there) in favor of ill fated keeps as well. But when he got the pitch out there, it usually went for yards. The only play that looked forced to me, that may have been a bad decision, was Snoddy's long run. However, it worked out so you can only get so mad. In the passing game, Justin has improved his mechanics on the roll to left. It is obvious. That teardrop he threw to Zenon was a thing of beauty. If you take away 3 consecutive loose throws in Q2, he was lights out the rest of the way. What was so good was the variety of throws he made. He whipped out a few smoke routes. He rolled both ways buying himself time to scan the field and dropped straight back for quality throws as well. He showed arm strength, easily over throwing Smelter on a deep ball that was flicked 53 yards in the air. He had touch and accuracy, but the most important thing in my eyes was the speed with which he got the ball out. He read the field well, made quick decisions and got rid of the ball in an eyelash. I can only think of one throw that should have gone to a different player. JT has a great feel for the pocket that Vad never had. He keeps his eyes down field but still maintains the peripheral vision input to his brain and moves his feet accordingly. His escapability is going to play well this year. It looks at times like he has eyes in the earholes of his helmet and he can sense people coming without moving his head. There is a lot to improve for him in this outing, but it is plain to see the potential is there for a new dimension to be added to the offense. The JT dream for the GT fan base, I feel very strongly, is becoming a reality. It won't be all peaches and cream when the level of competition ramps up, but he is going to be a nightmare for DCs to get ready for. Just get those reads down Justin!
DeAndre Smelter has made a big jump. He was a good looking athlete last year. This year he looks like a polished WR. I don't want to compare him to BayBay or Calvin because he is his own player, but he is the real deal. He ran routes better from what I can see, but he also just used his feet better. I'll bet he did a ton of agility and speed work over the off season. There is no sloppiness in his play right now at all. He is still physical and, quite frankly, he looks like a man among boys. At this point, I feel his NFL stock is way way on the rise. You have to buy Smelter Shares if you are a wise investor.
Freddie Burden impressed me a lot. He is really really quick off the ball and getting good leverage on his guy. He really sealed his man off to great effect. I can see why he beat out O'Reilly. He might not be quite a physical or punishing as some premier OLs, but his quicks are legit. He is a really good player, who knows how to get low and neutralize.
Overall the OL played well from what I could see. I still have an unresolved frustration level with Chamberlain though. First of, I do want to recognize that he has improved. I'll give him that. But there are still just too many moments where his guy is making the play. Either he would be a step late, or he wouldn't get his hands on a guy or he would lose leverage. He had some good moments, don't get me wrong. But he just looks like a guy we should be able to push to the bench. On a related note, I didn't see a lot of subs in the game at all. I guess the reduced number of snaps and the close scoreboard had an influence on that.
As I said before, I thought the skill guys blocked well. The AB group as a whole looked energized to me. NO stand outs, just a general high level of effort and enthusiasm. Bostic and Zenon looked apathetic last year. I liked what I saw from them yesterday. Perkins and Hill were both good too.
I like Laskey, don't get me wrong. He probably hits the hole faster than Days, but he runs too upright and he doesn't seem to stay on his blocks very well. There were a couple plays where he got his guy blocked and then just stopped only to see his guy make a tackle because the play was still alive. That drove me crazy. Never assume a guy is out of the play and fight to the whistle. Synjin, on the other hand flat out murdered a few guys. I saw him whiff once on the belly option going outside, but, other than that, he crushed people. I like Days' body lean and balance. Call me crazy, but I'm not sure this position battle is going to end well for ZL. SD is just hard to get off his feet and he is CLEARLY a better blocker. I'm sure those comments may stir up a turd storm on the board, because of the love we ALL have for Zach. That is just how I see it.
I think Wofford had a good plan that was simple for their guys to execute on defense. They came out with a 3-4 defense with the OLBs pushed up to the outside shoulder of the DEs, essentially creating a 5 man line. Their two MLBs were 5 yards off the ball lined up with the OGs. The safeties were about 9 yards back and lined up with the OTs. For those who don't like to count, that makes a 9 man box. The safeties were totally focused on the run and had very little influence on the passing game. The only thing that pulled them out of this alignment was when we put 2 WRs to the field side. They just simply moved 1 safety over to cover the slot and had the empty CB pinched in with the remaining safety playing a couple steps deeper and towards the middle. If it was third and long or we were in 2 minute offense, they would just roll the OLBs back and have the safeties line up at a conventional depth. That was their entire plan. It was pretty obvious they planned to stop the dive as the OLB (give key) pretty much took the dive every time. They cross charged a couple times, but not much.
One of my main questions after seeing the game from the upper north, was why didn't we really establish the dive as well as I would have hoped? After seeing each play a bunch of times, there were a few reasons. First and foremost were just plain bad QB reads. When you have the unblocked player slamming into the BB, it is a read problem. In half number 1 I counted 4 bad give reads. JT knows this, as he could be seen shaking his head after each one of them. In half 2 he failed to read a cross charge at least once, but I think it was twice. Such is life. This doesn't sound like a lot of plays, but when you consider we only ran about 50 snaps, it had an influence. A couple times we missed a block as well. So, it wasn't as I feared. Our OLs were not losing the one on ones. In fact it was quite the opposite. When we had every OL take a man and block everybody, we usually got a lot of movement. In a general sense, I was EXTREMELY pleased with the blocking on the edge by the skill guys. When coach talks about guys buying in, this is where it is evident to me. They just got after it. Plus there were fewer wtf moments with guys running around passing up would be tacklers. I think this bodes very well. So, with that, I will talk about some individual performances.
Justin Thomas: It is pretty hard to give him a high grade based on the number of misreads, but people, I cannot express the confidence I have in him going forward. The kid has matured and improved a great deal. His body language out there is phenomenal. He is focused and in control. There is no bravado at all. There are several things to be really excited about and I will try to list them all. First, he played very decisively, even if he was wrong, attacking every play. That was so refreshing after watching Vad stutter and stammer (with his feet) his way through running the option last year. He forced EVERYBODY to play fast, even his own teammates. If you didn't go 100%, there was no way you were going to keep pitch relation. He ran right at pitch reads and forced the action. LOVE IT! He held back a few pitches (that were there) in favor of ill fated keeps as well. But when he got the pitch out there, it usually went for yards. The only play that looked forced to me, that may have been a bad decision, was Snoddy's long run. However, it worked out so you can only get so mad. In the passing game, Justin has improved his mechanics on the roll to left. It is obvious. That teardrop he threw to Zenon was a thing of beauty. If you take away 3 consecutive loose throws in Q2, he was lights out the rest of the way. What was so good was the variety of throws he made. He whipped out a few smoke routes. He rolled both ways buying himself time to scan the field and dropped straight back for quality throws as well. He showed arm strength, easily over throwing Smelter on a deep ball that was flicked 53 yards in the air. He had touch and accuracy, but the most important thing in my eyes was the speed with which he got the ball out. He read the field well, made quick decisions and got rid of the ball in an eyelash. I can only think of one throw that should have gone to a different player. JT has a great feel for the pocket that Vad never had. He keeps his eyes down field but still maintains the peripheral vision input to his brain and moves his feet accordingly. His escapability is going to play well this year. It looks at times like he has eyes in the earholes of his helmet and he can sense people coming without moving his head. There is a lot to improve for him in this outing, but it is plain to see the potential is there for a new dimension to be added to the offense. The JT dream for the GT fan base, I feel very strongly, is becoming a reality. It won't be all peaches and cream when the level of competition ramps up, but he is going to be a nightmare for DCs to get ready for. Just get those reads down Justin!
DeAndre Smelter has made a big jump. He was a good looking athlete last year. This year he looks like a polished WR. I don't want to compare him to BayBay or Calvin because he is his own player, but he is the real deal. He ran routes better from what I can see, but he also just used his feet better. I'll bet he did a ton of agility and speed work over the off season. There is no sloppiness in his play right now at all. He is still physical and, quite frankly, he looks like a man among boys. At this point, I feel his NFL stock is way way on the rise. You have to buy Smelter Shares if you are a wise investor.
Freddie Burden impressed me a lot. He is really really quick off the ball and getting good leverage on his guy. He really sealed his man off to great effect. I can see why he beat out O'Reilly. He might not be quite a physical or punishing as some premier OLs, but his quicks are legit. He is a really good player, who knows how to get low and neutralize.
Overall the OL played well from what I could see. I still have an unresolved frustration level with Chamberlain though. First of, I do want to recognize that he has improved. I'll give him that. But there are still just too many moments where his guy is making the play. Either he would be a step late, or he wouldn't get his hands on a guy or he would lose leverage. He had some good moments, don't get me wrong. But he just looks like a guy we should be able to push to the bench. On a related note, I didn't see a lot of subs in the game at all. I guess the reduced number of snaps and the close scoreboard had an influence on that.
As I said before, I thought the skill guys blocked well. The AB group as a whole looked energized to me. NO stand outs, just a general high level of effort and enthusiasm. Bostic and Zenon looked apathetic last year. I liked what I saw from them yesterday. Perkins and Hill were both good too.
I like Laskey, don't get me wrong. He probably hits the hole faster than Days, but he runs too upright and he doesn't seem to stay on his blocks very well. There were a couple plays where he got his guy blocked and then just stopped only to see his guy make a tackle because the play was still alive. That drove me crazy. Never assume a guy is out of the play and fight to the whistle. Synjin, on the other hand flat out murdered a few guys. I saw him whiff once on the belly option going outside, but, other than that, he crushed people. I like Days' body lean and balance. Call me crazy, but I'm not sure this position battle is going to end well for ZL. SD is just hard to get off his feet and he is CLEARLY a better blocker. I'm sure those comments may stir up a turd storm on the board, because of the love we ALL have for Zach. That is just how I see it.
