A quick mention about deep ball stated that accuracy was 'inconsistent'. TBH, I don't really care. Seems we fell in love with throwing the bomb the past few years and it was, for the most part, a wasted play. Here and there we'd hit one but I'd guess we connected on <20% of those types of throws. I'd MUCH prefer seeing WRs and TEs hit in stride in the seam or in space and go for YAC rather than airing it out several times a game with very limited success. Yes, I know you have to threaten a defense with a long throw every now and then to keep them honest. But, imo, we were not very effective in the long game and tried it way too often. Are you threatening the defense by very rarely connecting on a long throw more than not throwing long except once in a blue moon? I don't know. But, I'd much rather be very effective in the midrange passing game to entice safeties to creep up and then throw over them maybe 3 or 4 times a game. I may be exaggerating, but it seemed like Coen called 6+ long throws every game and it just wasn't effective for the most part.
KSR comment on deep ball accuracy in open practice
- Thread starter gamecockcat
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What really sucked was on numerous occasions on 3rd and short - 3rd & 5 or less - we would throw an incomplete bomb & kill the drive.
I would think 1st and 10 and 3rd and short would be about equal. However, very few coaches throw a lot bombs on 3rd and short. Instead, they try to make the 1st down rather than a low percentage big play. I'm sure I'm exaggerating a bit, but as the other poster above stated, I, too, remember many times when we had a manageable 3rd and distance situation and opted for a long pass, which Leary was plainly not very good throwing. And, to your question, if 3rd and 5 has the highest chance but, as we saw last year, the 'highest' chance was only 20%, wouldn't it be smarter to try to pick up the 1st down instead of going for a HR? With our receiving corps, I feel we'd be better off getting the ball into their hands with room to run vs trying to blow past the deep coverage and complete a long throw. JMHO
Brock throws alot of wobblers.....and I don't see a cannon of an arm....Barion is our deep threat and we'll have to see if his ball skills have improved on deep shots....I'd be fine canning the deep stuff a bit.
I like Barion a ton more on post deep routes vs. sideline deep balls.....he tends to track those much better than deep balls.
I like Barion a ton more on post deep routes vs. sideline deep balls.....he tends to track those much better than deep balls.
Ideally you'd try a shot play on a 2nd and 2 or 3. Or maybe when you get a penalty and make it 1st and 5 etc.
Another good opportunity is after sudden change like a turnover.
Seems Liam coen called them like I do in NCAA except Barion has a lot better sideline deep skills in the game than he does in real life.
Barion could be/ should be a absolute menace on some middle crossers against the LB unit of almost every team out there but somehow the OC that makes millions of dollars keeps trying stuff that wasn't working and never attempting the obvious.
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ThI whole world is immersed in analytics and I’m sure UK coaches are too.
On 3rd and 5 the numbers say run the ball and then run it on 4th and short. The numbers say you should almost never punt but that shows how risk averse football coaches are.
On 3rd and 5 the numbers say run the ball and then run it on 4th and short. The numbers say you should almost never punt but that shows how risk averse football coaches are.
I noticed that too in the videos I’ve seen on Vandergriff. Not wounded ducks per se, but definitely wobblers. But in contrast, Boley throws a nice spiral, with touch and accuracy. Really impressed with what film I’ve seen on him. And when I think he reclassified and should be a senior this year, I become more impressed.
I read so much “elite arm talent, elite arm talent, elite arm talent” descriptions of BV when he signed. I watched some tape and definitely was a little concerned with his long, wind up release. Lots of people here assured me it’s no concern this guy has legit 5* arm talent. So I said cool, love it. Now I watch these practice videos and not only do I see a release I don’t love but also a lot of balls wobbling and not a tight spiral. Can’t help but be a little concerned by that.
I doubt we connected 20% of the time. I’d say closer to 10% and I cussed every time.
Did read where Wimsatt has been impressive and could push for a starting spot.
That is baloney…he’s not going to play u less Brock is injured
I think the point was focused at whomever said that. Sounds like obvious click bait to me. No way a guy completing an abysmally low rate of passes is pushing bvg.
Jmo but like last year my bet is deep ball accuracy issues has alot of focus on the qb when its actually the wr at fault.
On deep balls, wr has to get off the line, give enough room on the sideline, find the ball, make adjustments, and sometimes high point. Many times the qb is going to throw to an open space so you can adjust and make the catch much easier. Other than key (who I dont think we threw one to), our guys (mostly brown) were awful last year.
Several examples of deep passes that could've easily been completed had he not had been awful at adjusting to the ball and doing a weird backpedal instead of over the shoulder. That doesn't even take into account the constant poor release and never working/fighting away from the sideline giving your qb more room to work. Leary had to make pinpoint passes 60 yards downfield that would still get broken up due to weird backpedaling.
So we'll see but i wonder if we aren't just seeing a replay of last year where the wrs are constantly making the qb look bad.
I haven't seen much film on BVG so I don't know if he throws a perfect spiral or a duck. IMO, Hamden will figure out where his strengths are and call plays accordingly. For whatever reason (and I was very excited when Coen came back), LC seemed to have a plan of what he wanted the offense to do and called plays accordingly even if they weren't exactly a good fit for Leary's skillset. Seems like Leary performed better with hurry up, quick release, short-to-medium passes (not outstanding but pretty darn good) and, yet, we ignored the middle of the field for long stretches, threw deep passes at BB who rarely exhibited outstanding technique in hauling those in, eschewed the checkdowns to RBs out of the backfield, etc. We rarely seemed in sync with the plays called and the skillset of the QB and receivers. I found that extremely disappointing and drastically cooled on LC as the season dragged on.
Not a starter but Wilmsatt will get plenty of snaps running the wildcat offense.
I don’t think there is any doubt vandagriff will indeed start. The article I read mentioned that Wimsatt was very impressive however and could offer competition and at the very least be used to mixup the style of play as he has a lot more running capability.
Back to the deep ball, I dont mind taking shots down field and regardless of who is at fault when it fails it’s more of when those shots are taken. We seemed to throw deep way more often than we should have last year on 3rd and manageable yardage with little success or even close. It was akin to throwing the ball out of the endzone on a 4th down play.
I agree that we took too many shots last year without much success. Even Brown had difficulty getting separation. But you still have to have that as part of your plan to stretch the defense so that the middle of the field and underneath stuff is open. Just be smart about it.
And the biggest thing is this . . . To have a successful long game you have to drill your QB's to not overthrow on them. The natural tendency is to lead the receiver ahead of everyone else but in todays game the underthrown ball has almost become a weapon of its own. The WR always has the advantage on underthrows as the can see it and react to it before the DB and it puts the DB in almost an impossible position to stop and defend without fouling. Everybody always says "turn around and find the ball" to the DBs but if you've ever tried that you know its damn neary impossible to do because you dont know where it is and if you turn around too soon you lose contact with the WR, and if you turn around too late you run into the guy and get the flag.
The pass interence rate on underthrown deep balls is really high and I dont know about you but I cringe everytime we are on defense and you see the ball go long. I'm praying for an overthrow because the underthrow is going to result in something bad usually a yellow flag on a big third and long.
So you have to drill the QB's to not throw away from the defense but alwasy get the ball in a position to let our guy make a play because two out of three things can turn out good for us (Catch or Penalty)
1. We don’t have WRs who can run routes. At all.
2. We don’t have WRs who can catch. At all.
That’s what we know as fact based on last year. It’s not hyperbole. Our WRs were some of the worst in the entire nation.
What we don’t know.
1. Have our WRs improved?
2. Can Brock play QB? He never has.
2. We don’t have WRs who can catch. At all.
That’s what we know as fact based on last year. It’s not hyperbole. Our WRs were some of the worst in the entire nation.
What we don’t know.
1. Have our WRs improved?
2. Can Brock play QB? He never has.
Oh no..... more of the wildcat offense.... this just tells me what I feared, stoops will run a ground and pound O and only worry about protecting the defense. The best runner will end up starting at qb imo.
The was 50/50 run pass ratio. Bush called a lot of plays for the QB to run.
Y’all being pretty hard on Brown and Key here. I’m excited for their junior year.
Both Key and Brown went backwards statistically from their freshman year and the offensive coordinator that produced Wandale Robinson came back. I hear ya. I got hammered at spring day last year when I said they both looked smaller and weaker than the year before. It showed. Maybe they got the message. Key has gained twenty pounds this year. Hopefully Brown put in some work too.
I really think our new WR coach will go a long way in addressing this issues going forward. Not to mention, this is essentially Brown and Keys “contract year”. I really expect to see improvement in our passing game this year and granted, a lot of improvement is needed.
The lat time I remember a Kentucky receiver making contested catches is so long ago I can’t remember one. Key made one of the best in years in the Louisville game. Funny thing is. Most teams , that’s a routine catch. I actually couldn’t believe he caught it. Routine catch for our opponents. There was a picture I saw last year aT Tennessee when key and brown were shaking hands after our annual loss. They looked like middle school kids standing next to the Tennessee receivers. They are both Tiny, Tiny for the SEC. Especially brown.
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