News Flash

[Boomergump]

We are going to be a better passing team than last year.

Many on this site believe that going back to basics means that we will see very little passing. It is going to be run run and more run. I beg to differ. I believe that running the option better is going to have us passing better because we will be doing it on our terms. Play action will mean something. FWIW I will throw money down (metaphorically speaking, I don't really gamble) that we average at least as many attempts as the historical average under CPJ. Further more, I think we will find that JT does a good job of finding open guys and checking down while buying himself time. What say you?

 

[redmule]

I have visions of JT next year being like Tyrod Taylor (iirc) for vt a couple of years back. He will just stand back there and avoid the rush until someone comes open down field. This year, though, the WRs are going to make the difference in our passing game. JT just has to get it close or hit the open man for us to have a decent year passing because we will be running the TO better putting more pressure on opposing db's.

 

[CobbTech]

I was thinking about this the other day. Seems like if we become better at the option part, there should be plenty of opportunities for big plays in the passing game. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[33jacket]

Of course our attempts will be cpj historical avg cuz we are going to run his historical system. I mean come on stick your neck out a bit. How about 60 percent completion due to checkdowns? You willing to bet that? Never had that here under paul. I for one am not willing to bet it.

 

[Techster]

I'm going to what I've been saying for a while:

Our success passing will be more dependent on our OL, pass protection in this case, than who the QB is. Our offense almost ALWAYS has open guys on any given pass play...it's just whether the QB has 1. Good enough pass pro and 2. Know where to go with their reads. JT is a more than capable passer to the get the ball where he needs to. I think he'll get better with reading defenses and knowing where to go depending our passing concepts. He's a smart dude, and grasping our passing concepts comes with time...as we saw with Tevin.

If you remember the play where JT got blindsided against Miami, there were guys open but JT had to move around the pocket and avoid pass rushers so he couldn't go through his progressions. If we continue to have that kind of pass pro for our QBs (regardless if it's JT or someone else), talking about whether we're going back to basics or expanding out playbook is moot.

The beauty of our offense is it puts so much pressure on perimeter defenders to read the backfield that they have to make the proper read or you have guys running free all over the secondary (see the ACCCG versus FSU for examples of this). I want to see our OL give our QBs time to find those open guys because they will be there the majority of the time.

 

[00Burdell]

Many on this site believe that going back to basics means that we will see very little passing ...What say you?

I think going back to basics means we will see a much more effective passing game but not necessarily much more passing. CPJ passes the ball for one of two reasons: because he has to or because he wants to.

If he has to pass, its for one of two reasons: we are way behind (score-wise) or our running game on third-and-more-than-three is ineffective.

If he wants to pass, its because the defense is overplaying the run (which means the run game is effective).

So to make a long story short, if we are converting third downs on the ground, we are not playing from behind and the other team is playing straight-up D, I am expecting around 8 to 10 passes per game (but they will be devastating). The less true any of those statements is, the more passes I think we will see. The effectiveness of the passes will be a direct function of the extent to which we pass because we can as opposed to because we must.

 

[IronJacket7]

Many ifs, shoulds, and coulds. It's all speculation and educated guessing at this point. We will know what kind of team we have after a few games.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

We must avoid the 2nd and longs and third and longs when everyone knows what's coming. When we get 4+ on first down, we are historically a real good team.

 

[bke1984]

We must avoid the 2nd and longs and third and longs when everyone knows what's coming. When we get 4+ on first down, we are historically a real good team.

Not to pick on this too much, but every team in football that gets 4+ on first down consistently is very good.

I think we saw flashes with Tevin at times that showed how effective we can be passing the football, (and I love Tevin) but I don't think he hit the ceiling. We generally have someone open, but our QB may have to progress through the reads to get to him...something we have struggled with at times.

 

[gtg936g]

We are going to be a better passing team than last year.

Many on this site believe that going back to basics means that we will see very little passing. It is going to be run run and more run. I beg to differ. I believe that running the option better is going to have us passing better because we will be doing it on our terms. Play action will mean something. FWIW I will throw money down (metaphorically speaking, I don't really gamble) that we average at least as many attempts as the historical average under CPJ. Further more, I think we will find that JT does a good job of finding open guys and checking down while buying himself time. What say you?

I am kinda in the middle here. I think we will probably be better at it with more completions/attempt and more yards/attempt, but I think we may have less attempts. CPJ is not afraid to throw the ball, I actually think he likes putting the ball in the air as a coach. I just think that the ground game will be improved to the point we will not have to pass as much as we did last year. I am really excited to see Justin play as the starter. I think he may be the best athlete we have had at QB in a while. He strikes me as a Josh Nesbitt type of leader, quiet and reserved in interviews, but a warrior and competitor on the field.

 

[Longestday]

I have seen and heard about passing and receptions more in this camp than in previous camps. There were several 1st down conversion statements based on passing.

CPJ passes for 3 reasons...

• behind late in game or into the half
• 3rd and long
• and when the defense over defends the run

I also believe that Byerly>JT>Vad in passing.

The QB needs to be able to find an open guy in less than 3 seconds if our line is not going to "traditionally" pass block. JT and Byerly are much better at field scanning in shorter time. They see what is developing much quicker. JT and Byerly both keep cool under pressure. This statement is based on 2013 open spring scrimmages / 2013 and 2014 spring games.

There will be CPJ's normal amount of passing.... unless we are very good at passing and then CPJ will pass the ball more.

 

[Ash]

I don't care if we pass more or not.
I just want to be at a point where we pass when we want to, not because we have to like in recent years. Also, if we could develop another route besides deep flag jump ball, that would be nice.

 

[33jacket]

We must avoid the 2nd and longs and third and longs when everyone knows what's coming. When we get 4+ on first down, we are historically a real good team.

you know most teams can say this...who isn't better in this scenario. I can say though it is MORE important for techs scheme.

 

[InsideLB]

I agree with Techster that pass pro is the single largest determinant for efficacy in the passing game.

That said of course Boomergump is correct in that if we are running the triple really well it will open up the play action game considerably. However Justin will either have to have time or buy it with his legs to find open guys.

Reports out of the last scrimmage indicated we were struggling in pass protection and Justin didn't have time to check down. Of course he can use his legs to create. However creating also requires being able to understand when to just throw it away and live to fight another play/another drive. Young QBs with a lot of ability tend to have a learning curve in this regard that requires having some painful experiences.

One thing I think will help is having some experienced guys like Smelter & Waller who can go up and get some balls. This can help build a young QBs confidence. Also fewer drops helps to build confidence/allow a young QB to get momentum/rhythm. I feel like we are more sure-handed at AB & WR than we've been so that will help.

Putting it all together I think we'll have a reasonable passing threat for the offense from the play action game. On obvious passing downs we may struggle some. However I also think PJ will make good use of the QB draw which will make teams temper their rush some. JT will be hard for LBs to chase down if he takes off. Still, I think protection is going to cause some issues as our younger OL get their feet wet.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Of course our attempts will be cpj historical avg cuz we are going to run his historical system. I mean come on stick your neck out a bit. How about 60 percent completion due to checkdowns? You willing to bet that? Never had that here under paul. I for one am not willing to bet it.

Tevin was above 60% for the majority of his senior season. He fell just below it in the final weeks.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I think going back to basics means we will see a much more effective passing game but not necessarily much more passing. CPJ passes the ball for one of two reasons: because he has to or because he wants to.

If he has to pass, its for one of two reasons: we are way behind (score-wise) or our running game on third-and-more-than-three is ineffective.

If he wants to pass, its because the defense is overplaying the run (which means the run game is effective).

So to make a long story short, if we are converting third downs on the ground, we are not playing from behind and the other team is playing straight-up D, I am expecting around 8 to 10 passes per game (but they will be devastating). The less true any of those statements is, the more passes I think we will see. The effectiveness of the passes will be a direct function of the extent to which we pass because we can as opposed to because we must.

I disagree. Now if you're talking specifically about 3rd and long, then I agree. Boomer was talking about our overall passing game which is primarily play action. The problem there is if you can't run the ball effectively, you can't sell play action. Don't you agree a better running game will create better play action?

 

[33jacket]

Tevin was above 60% for the majority of his senior season. He fell just below it in the final weeks.

if i had a billion dollars in my bank account. I would be a billionaire

 

[dressedcheeseside]

One thing I think will help is having some experienced guys like Smelter & Waller who can go up and get some balls. This can help build a young QBs confidence. Also fewer drops helps to build confidence/allow a young QB to get momentum/rhythm. I feel like we are more sure-handed at AB & WR than we've been so that will help.

A young qb also needs his receivers to play db on occasion and knock balls down that are ripe for the picking.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I was thinking about this the other day. Seems like if we become better at the option part, there should be plenty of opportunities for big plays in the passing game. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

That has always been the theory--the option running game, when it is clicking, demands so much "sell-out" from the defense, that inevitably big play (running and passing) opportunities are there. We are a long way from realizing the full potential of this offense. Even in 2008 and 2009 when we had the horses, we had not fully installed the playbook. When our talent started to drop off, CPJ started playing things closer to the vest. Maybe this is the year to get it all together.

 

[GlennW]

I have visions of JT next year being like Tyrod Taylor (iirc) for vt a couple of years back. He will just stand back there and avoid the rush until someone comes open down field. This year, though, the WRs are going to make the difference in our passing game. JT just has to get it close or hit the open man for us to have a decent year passing because we will be running the TO better putting more pressure on opposing db's.

How about like Denard Robinson from his days at Michigan?