Question about 'feeding' certain players to the team's detriment

[gamecockcat]

I get that it seems like we force the ball to BB and others at times. But, don't pretty much all passing plays have multiple options? Is it really Coen who is telling Leary to throw the bombs to BB or is Leary misreading the play? Sure, we seem to call a lot of plays with BB as first option. But, if he's not open, shouldn't Leary be coached to find the guy who is open?

The bomb on 3rd and 4 late in the game had no chance. But, if you saw the replay, Key was open in the middle of the field with no one within 2-3 yards of him for an easy first down. Is Leary being told to throw to BB regardless? If so, that's totally on Coen. Is Leary not reading the play/coverage correctly and throwing to the wrong guy? If so, that's on Leary and Coen for not coaching him up.

One consistent failure I've seen in the passing game this season has been the inability or unwillingness to TAKE WHAT THE DEFENSE IS GIVING! We force the ball downfield and ignore the flat and middle of the field where we could pick up a handful of yards. Our opponents have certainly had a lot of success throwing 5 yards passes to the flat and steadily moving the ball. But we throw an inordinate number of long passes that are unnecessary and unsuccessful.

Is that the QB (who perhaps isn't being coached well) or is it the OC telling the QB who to throw to?

 

[BC_Wader]

I think it's our QB with his long delivery and an inability to go through his reads. With each passing game, Leary seems more pressed. I think he tries the homerun too much to try and get us back in the game quickly. Something that stuck with me that could be nothing was before the season ever started. He seemed nervous to me in interviews. Like he knew we were wanting him to be our "savior" so to speak. He never had that pressure at NCState. I just don't think he's cut out to be a good qb in this league. As crazy as that sounds, he's 2nd in the league in TD passes. But he locks on one guy and throws a flat ball.

 

[Rockfly78]

I feel like we were sold on a totally different qb than what we got. He doesn’t seem like a strong leader and it seems like he and coen just don’t jive. I’m baffled that the tempo is so slow when we have seen Leary perform better running faster. None of it makes sense

 

[catben]

Coen won't come out and say it, but Leary has been the problem with the offense the ENTIRE season!!!

He has been NOTHING like what he was billed to be!!!

-He can't read a defense either post OR pre-snap
-His ball projectary is TOO FLAT for a SHORT QB which is why his passes have been deflected at the LOS so often
-He doesn't go through his checkdowns quick enough and locks on certain routes(deep sideline to BB)
-He doesn't show ANY sense of URGENCY when needed
-He is SLOW to either get rid of the ball OR take off and run
-He doesn't have the MOXY needed to be a game changer.

Coen REALLY messed this entire situation up by taking Leary over Mertz. The Gators have been bad, but Mertz has been REALLY good this season.

 

[bluecoon1]

In Stoops’ post game presser, he admitted several of those throws to Brown were by design, especially early on.

https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article282052088.html

 

[gamecockcat]

Coen won't come out and say it, but Leary has been the problem with the offense the ENTIRE season!!!

He has been NOTHING like what he was billed to be!!!

He can't read a defense either post OR pre-snap, his ball projectery is TOO FLAT for a SHORT QB which is why his passes have been deflected at the LOS so often, he doesn't go through his checkdowns quick enough and locks on certain routes(deep sideline to BB), doesn't show ANY sense of URGENCY when needed, is SLOW to either get rid of the ball OR take off and run and doesn't have the MOXY needed to be a game changer.

Coen REALLY messed this entire situation up by taking Leary over Mertz. The Gators have been bad, but Mertz has been REALLY good this season.

But is Leary not being coached to go through his reads, check the ball down, etc? If he is and just not getting/doing it, our backups must be awful because the staff keeps Leary out there to underperform. If he's not being taught what to do, then that's on Coen.

 

[gamecockcat]

In Stoops’ post game presser, he admitted several of those throws to Brown were by design, especially early on.

https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article282052088.html

Then that's bad coaching. I totally believe that you identify a matchup you want to exploit but BB would never be the guy I'd use to exploit it. Too inconsistent, runs lazy routes, will not fight for 50/50 balls, drops, etc. If those passes were designed for BB, that's poor coaching. If he's not open on those plays, is Leary still supposed to throw to him? Makes no sense to me.

 

[NoDef]

We have been open some on these deep throws and Leary is just inaccurate. Why keep running those plays? If he was going to hit on them he would of by now.

 

[catben]

But is Leary not being coached to go through his reads, check the ball down, etc? If he is and just not getting/doing it, our backups must be awful because the staff keeps Leary out there to underperform. If he's not being taught what to do, then that's on Coen.

2 things going on with Leary:

We gave him so much NIL that we were STUCK with him. He is NOTHING now like he was pre-injury and he doesn't go through the progressions fast enough against SEC Defenses. But, saying that, YES it is on Coen to stress the routes he likes from watching the opposing defenses before AND during the game. Leary just isn't doing what Coen wants and that is on Coen!!!


And, YES, Coen has ZERO confidence in the backups. That was MORE THAN evident during the MSU game when he put Sheron in and DIDN'T allow him to work on the passing game.

Coen struck GOLD with Levis and then WHIFFED on Leary!!

 

[WildCard]

There are lots of aspects to the "passing game" involving lots of players. IOW, a more complicated offense than the "run game". I'm just not sure if anyone on the staff (and especially the HC) truly "accepts" how much practice time a passing game requires. JMO.

Peace

 

[gamecockcat]

There are lots of aspects to the "passing game" involving lots of players. IOW, a more complicated offense than the "run game". I'm just not sure if anyone on the staff (and especially the HC) truly "accepts" how much practice time a passing game requires. JMO.

Peace

Which I also mentioned in another thread that the scheme needs to be simplified. I agree with you 100%.

 

[tf4fun]

Coen won't come out and say it, but Leary has been the problem with the offense the ENTIRE season!!!

He has been NOTHING like what he was billed to be!!!

-He can't read a defense either post OR pre-snap
-His ball projectary is TOO FLAT for a SHORT QB which is why his passes have been deflected at the LOS so often
-He doesn't go through his checkdowns quick enough and locks on certain routes(deep sideline to BB)
-He doesn't show ANY sense of URGENCY when needed
-He is SLOW to either get rid of the ball OR take off and run
-He doesn't have the MOXY needed to be a game changer.

Coen REALLY messed this entire situation up by taking Leary over Mertz. The Gators have been bad, but Mertz has been REALLY good this season.

Only problem with QB not reading the defenses, is it doesn't matter who the QB is. The last 10 years our QB can't read defenses. This is the biggest issue with Stoops. Not sure why, but it could be that his mentality just doesn't allow QB to get in a rhythm and stay in a rhythm! I don't know... But stoops has never had a QB/WR leading the offense. His only success was Benny/Crod!

 

[catben]

Only problem with QB not reading the defenses, is it doesn't matter who the QB is. The last 10 years our QB can't read defenses. This is the biggest issue with Stoops. Not sure why, but it could be that his mentality just doesn't allow QB to get in a rhythm and stay in a rhythm! I don't know... But stoops has never had a QB/WR leading the offense. His only success was Benny/Crod!

I'll go one step further and say that the deep ball is ALL Stoops is concerned about and STRESSES his OC and QB to look for it because it is the least likely to be intercepted and loosens up the opposing DB's to help the run game. Stoops, IMHO, influences his OC's to AVOID the middle 3rd of the field. So many other high powered offenses utilize the inside crossing routes that are so tough to cover, yet we RARELY use them. You would think that Barion and Dane would be great in those.

Defenses are CONSTANTLY bringing heat up the middle because SEC DC's KNOW that UK will NOT throw it over the LB's and in front of the Safeties between the hashes. EVERY OC we've had has avoided those passing routes. Most of our underneath stuff is toward the sidelines.

All of this makes our offense MUCH easier to defend. After 11 seasons, even CRAPPY defenses like South Carolina's can hold us to 14 pts.

SAD

 

[K_TIME]

We’ll likely never get an answer on if the script is to Barion or Leary decides it

But it’s beeen happening all yeer end kills drives…so it’s on Coen and Stoops

 

[Emarc]

Defenses are CONSTANTLY bringing heat up the middle because SEC DC's KNOW that UK will NOT throw it over the LB's and in front of the Safeties between the hashes. EVERY OC we've had has avoided those passing routes. Most of our underneath stuff is toward the sidelines.

And UGA feasted on this Vs UT yesterday. All day.

 

[catben]

Defenses are CONSTANTLY bringing heat up the middle because SEC DC's KNOW that UK will NOT throw it over the LB's and in front of the Safeties between the hashes. EVERY OC we've had has avoided those passing routes. Most of our underneath stuff is toward the sidelines.

And UGA feasted on this Vs UT yesterday. All day.

And if you want to run Play-Action-Passes, that area of the field is the MOST vulnerable!!! So it is BEYOND RIDICULOUS that our offense utilizes it so little!!! UGA runs a TRUE Pro-Style offense, I don't know WHAT you would call what we are attempting to run!!!

We make our ability to score even HARDER than it should be because of the CHICKEN CRAP decisions of our HC!!!!

 

[bigblueinsanity]

In Stoops’ post game presser, he admitted several of those throws to Brown were by design, especially early on.

https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article282052088.html

Was this way all season. I cringed preseason when I heard coen mention the touch sheet to make sure certain guys see enough touches. It played out all season and killed countless drives along with morale.

Then I remember before the UT game, after the bye, stoops on the radio said he addressed the team and asked the guys to stop being concerned about personal stats and goals. Guess that didn't happen since we targeted barion 11 times for 30 yards.

The craziest part is the type of touches. Last year barion burst onto the scene with special teams, overs and crosses, and screens. We absolutely should feed him the ball in those ways. Instead we constantly go to him deep. He's an awful route runner, has zero ball skills, and doesn't fight for the ball.

 

[Eccain01]

Leary hasn’t been what we expected but it’s obvious those are designed to brown. He doesn’t need that many targets and on top of that we aren’t even using him correctly. Let him work the middle of the field

 

[gamecockcat]

If we have some scoresheet that tracks how many touches a player 'should' get, that's beyond stupid. Run the play, whoever is open is who gets the ball - not that difficult. You want ten targets? Get open ten times then. If not, shut your pie hole and get better.

 

[El Gato Calvo]

Coen has been getting guys open all year.

Its either been dropped , inaccurate pass or a stupid penalty that negates a good play and puts them behind the chains.

 

[CatPhight]

Leary struggles on deep routes because he tries to throw seeds instead of balls where the receivers can find and run under...there's no finding 100mph fastballs with no arc needed to adjust.