Just reading through the responses to this thread it is apparent and obvious to me that most of our fanbase has a better realization of our problems and possible solutions than our coaching staff do, (or if they do, they are too stubborn to address them).
For me, the elephant in the room is our poor offensive line performance. I know we have limitations in talent and now more with injuries but you have to acknowledge that and plan around it. Many of the suggested formation changes and revised play calls seem to me obvious things our coaches should have already been doing. This is not a short-term problem that will fixed. It will take years of recruiting and development to resolve this problem. It is apparent that those in the pipeline are not in a position to provide any immediate relief and that concerns me greatly. I would have expected this position to be in a much stronger position based on the perceived quality of recruiting acumen and the development skills of the current coaching staff.
One of our true strengths is the running game. We are not maximizing the potential and talent we have there. This one is simple. Feature Sims as a runner and play off of that
We are. You have to get Gibbs in space. He can not create his own holes
This is not true and is not capable of running between the tackles
this is not true, so let's forget that. You could put him in the slot or just use him on screens and wheel routes, but for God's sake, no more inside hand-offs
he's actually been very successful in inside runs. He's also been stuffed a little lately, but that's because the defenses have been run blitzing. Do what it takes to stop the run blitz and all of a sudden Gibbs starts making those guys miss up the middle again. So would JP and Dontae. Smith needs more playing time.
Smith has been getting more playing time. He's also been less productive, just like the rest of the backs. It's more how the defenses are playing us that our RB's. I think he has demonstrated to this point, he has the best ability to make something out of a play even with the limitations of our offensive line.
I disagree with this. Each has their own skillset and they're different from each other. Dontae is a slippery runner and can make players miss in space, just like Gibbs. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the acceleration or top speed Gibbs has. He's a fantastic back in his own right. Unfortunately for Mason, I think he has been relegated to the position of being a protector in our passing game and a red zone short-yardage option. That is still a problem, even with his talent due to our lack on a dependable offensive lineman that we can absolutely rely on to make a block when we absolutely have to have it. I think Griffin might be as effective as Smith but it looks like we may never find out. It just seems like a huge waste of talent not to utilize his ability in some manner.
We're not in practices, nor do we know the injury status of all the players.
The other issue is the play calling.
Really? Based on what? Are you sure it's not execution that's the problem? Just asking because I don't think I can tell the different between poor playcalling and poor execution of good playcalling. Both are going to result in ineffective plays Something needs to change here.
I agree. But I think it's more about execution than play calling. When the players execute we seem to be pretty successful. Coach P certainly has the experience and qualifications to be in his position. I'm not sure what he is thinking sometimes.
That's why you're a fan and he's an OC at a P5 school. He knows much more than we do. He's also with the players every day, so he knows what they can do. I know he probably runs some plays he knows have a low percentage of success to set up other plays and improve their chances of succeeding but it just has gotten to the point where his calls are preventing successes as opposed to enhancing our chance of success. If I were Coach Collins I would consider changing the play-calling responsibilities to someone else on the staff.
A fresh set of eyes if you will. This could even be done by someone on the staff that is in the current position of an offensive analyst. We just can not continue to call plays that prevent our team from realizing the outcomes we need to be successful.
The fan is always the smartest guy in the room.
On the Defensive side, my main issue continues to be our inability to generate pressure on the opponents' quarterback and our overall inability to attack as opposed to playing bend don't break, keep everything in front of us defense. I will continue my thoughts on our defense in another post.
Go Jackets!
