Passing game questions for next year

[pascat]

(1) Out of the running backs we have returning, which shows the most promise at being able to catch passes out of the backfield? Typically, you want a lot of speed in that scenario and we have that, but it takes a special skill set to do it. This weapon has been missing from our arsenal for a few years now. It adds a lot, especially when plays break down.

(2) Coming off his knee injury, we know that Wilson will probably not have the same speed and quickness he had last year. But I'm more concerned about his timing. How do you think he will respond in this area? One school of thought says that timing is often helped after surgery because you need to rehab with a great deal of deliberate attention paid to your steps and progressions.

(3) Do you think we pass more to the TE position next year? This can be a nice bailout for a QB who sometimes struggles with short/timing routes.

(4) How big of a transition will there be for our line to incorporate a lot more pass blocking next year? Even if we are 70-30 on our run-pass ratio, this will be a big jump.

 

[The-Hack]

(1) Rose and Smoke.
(2) If fully healthy, his dedication to improvement was widely noted in the Spring/Summer of ‘19. He could have a great year.
(3) I hope so. We have a monster lurking at the TE spot!
(4) Schlarman will have them ready, and we will be as deep as ever, and as mature as ever.

 

[3kidsandme]

The swing passes to the RB and screens will be there when we can threaten times vertically. If 8 guys are on the Los those passes are not going to be very effective.

 

[3kidsandme]

The swing passes to the RB and screens will be there when we can threaten times vertically. If 8 guys are on the Los those passes are not going to be very effective.

Teams

 

[bigblueinsanity]

If fully healthy, his dedication to improvement was widely noted in the Spring/Summer of ‘19. He could have a great year

This is this far an unspoken part of why his injury has more impact than we can quantify. We know he may lose speed. But he also lost an entire season of development in the passing game. For a guy that was poised to have a big year last year, that really is a setback.

 

[adolph rollingover]

I tend to disagree that sitting out a year is a setback. Being able to learn structure of defenses, placement of routes and the overall ‘Why’ of each component of offense is what makes the good QB great. You can’t devote time to that during the season because of the weekly game planning and situational aspect of in season progression.

when the QB knows the why, the game is much slower and the QB is better able to manipulate the parts.

whether TW uses the time for this purpose, i do not know.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I tend to disagree that sitting out a year is a setback. Being able to learn structure of defenses, placement of routes and the overall ‘Why’ of each component of offense is what makes the good QB great. You can’t devote time to that during the season because of the weekly game planning and situational aspect of in season progression.

when the QB knows the why, the game is much slower and the QB is better able to manipulate the parts.

whether TW uses the time for this purpose, i do not know.

Agree with this and want to expound some... Lynn Bowden was extremely good and successful not only because he is a freak of nature, but also because when he ran the read option he almost always made the correct read. Wilson was not as skilled at this. Hopefully, Wilson has spent a lot of time in his recovery working on making that correct read and improving knowing when to give the ball to the RB versus when to run himself. If he gets this down then he becomes much more dangerous in the running game and the passing game will become easier as well because the defense will have fewer people out in coverage and will be stacking the box.

 

[jrburt]

I tend to disagree that sitting out a year is a setback. Being able to learn structure of defenses, placement of routes and the overall ‘Why’ of each component of offense is what makes the good QB great. You can’t devote time to that during the season because of the weekly game planning and situational aspect of in season progression.

when the QB knows the why, the game is much slower and the QB is better able to manipulate the parts.

whether TW uses the time for this purpose, i do not know.

Biggest difference in coaching is those that can teach the “why” we are doing something....makes a ton of difference than just teaching technique and responsibilities...

Dave

 

[K_TIME]

Great question to ponder and I think it will have mixed results as we transition to passing more vs. running 95% of plays:
1. I wish we threw more to the RBs but I don't see us as a big screen team, check downs, etc... We tend to keep our RB in to help pass block. We'll see if that changes going forward. But for thought Rose led RBs with only 11 catches and 67 yard in receiving.
2. I hope Terry Wilson can get his timing up on passing game. To be honest, he wasn't a high completion percentage kind of guy on intermediate and deep throws. He lived mostly off of short stuff to WR in screens and outs at times.
3. I believe our #1 targeted pass catcher should morph more into Keaton Upshaw. Wagner was really good when we were throwing but Keaton wasn't far behind as being a pure mismatch problem for the other team. He looks like a guy we can throw lob balls to on goalline, over the middle he's a problem for a LBer to keep up with and by throwing high balls...safeties can't deal with his size.

My biggest concern is we tended to run the ball and being so committed to it...the QB run was a huge weapon with Bowden. I think Terry is fast but not near as physical, can't run thru tackles and simply can't take that many hits. So if we don't run with the QB too much, then it's all on RBs but that takes another blocker out of rushing game (i.e. CRod, Smoke, etc.. tended to be good blockers for Bowden). Will our offense be less efficient at keeping the chains moving if we move to more passing plays vs. running the ball. I'm not 100% sure if we'll see a better offense as we were pretty effective down the stretch by running our QB so much,.

 

[Tskware]

I ask for 1 and 3 annually, especially in the red zone, would love to see us use more swing passes to RB and short passes to TE (like LB hit Rigg on in the Belk Bowl in our 2nd TD drive). We sure seem to have the weapons to throw to at RB and TE, no matter who is on the receiving end.

 

[Shew]

Love for us to make the TEs major weapons and please work the middle of the field.

 

[Cobb4uk]

Travis Tisdale, will be a RS Freshmen next year, with his speed, receiving abilities and vision should be a big surprise. He's probably the fastest/quickest player on offense also. Ali showed He's stepped his game up during the bowl game. We have weapons at TE, RB, Slot WR and WR's. If we can just get just average QB play with the weapons we now have, the defense has to play honest, can't key on anyone or get burned. Also we have RS FR that could be impact players not mentioned, like Crimes and Soph Harris, both able to stretch the field. IMHO we're just loaded and just need a game manager at QB. If our QB turns out to be above average it could be a historic year.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I ask for 1 and 3 annually, especially in the red zone, would love to see us use more swing passes to RB and short passes to TE (like LB hit Rigg on in the Belk Bowl in our 2nd TD drive). We sure seem to have the weapons to throw to at RB and TE, no matter who is on the receiving end.

One thing that I don't think we have done in a long time is just a quick slant. Seems like that play has just disappeared for us for whatever reason. You would think that when an opponent is playing off of our WR we could run that and be effective, but I can't really remember the last time we threw one.

 

[KentuckyTexan]

One thing that I don't think we have done in a long time is just a quick slant. Seems like that play has just disappeared for us for whatever reason. You would think that when an opponent is playing off of our WR we could run that and be effective, but I can't really remember the last time we threw one.

Wasn't the last slant we ran housed by Miss. St.?

 

[southindycat]

Rose got most of his snaps this year to keep him interested for next. Until someone picks it up, he is probably our best pass blocker and best set of hands at RB. Yes, he's a HR threat running the ball, but even at his best, he falls well short of Smoke and Rodriguez in physicality. IMO, he runs like a point guard driving to the rim. Still, he is much larger than Tisdale and McLain, so get him the ball in space more often, and good things should happen. Nothing would please me more than to see him leave as a proven every down back, drafted. He needs to keep working at finishing with violence. You can see he's trying, but it doesn't seem to come naturally.

 

[C5matt]

(1) Rose and Smoke.
(2) If fully healthy, his dedication to improvement was widely noted in the Spring/Summer of ‘19. He could have a great year.
(3) I hope so. We have a monster lurking at the TE spot!
(4) Schlarman will have them ready, and we will be as deep as ever, and as mature as ever.

my take—
1) Rose and Tisdale, who’s a scatback with speed!
2) I think Touchdown Terry will be ready and great
3) Yes our top 2 returning TE’s have big-time pro potential
4) I think the blocking schemes and toughness developed this year to make Bowden successful will bode well for our offense to be possibly prolific next season—and probably Gran’s best year ever!!

I truly believe the Cats have a great chance of upsetting both Florida and UT on the road and I’m pumped for next season!

 

[Comebakatz3]

Wasn't the last slant we ran housed by Miss. St.?

No. That wasn't a slant. That was actually a TE drag or maybe an up and out. Miss State TE Gay played in his first game of the season after a suspension got the pick 6 three plays into the game. The TE on the play, Rigg maybe? Ran a horrible route where he never squared it off... he ran his drag deeper up the field instead of across.

UK ran this play a good chunk last year. I personally hate it as it usually doesn't go for much because your TE isn't really going to run away from anyone in space. It is made worse when your TE runs a horrible route.

 

[KentuckyTexan]

No. That wasn't a slant. That was actually a TE drag or maybe an up and out. Miss State TE Gay played in his first game of the season after a suspension got the pick 6 three plays into the game. The TE on the play, Rigg maybe? Ran a horrible route where he never squared it off... he ran his drag deeper up the field instead of across.

UK ran this play a good chunk last year. I personally hate it as it usually doesn't go for much because your TE isn't really going to run away from anyone in space. It is made worse when your TE runs a horrible route.

Ah okay! I was in Starkville watching the game and my seats didn't allow me to have a good angle. All I saw was sling and then pop, guy is running the other direction.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Ah okay! I was in Starkville watching the game and my seats didn't allow me to have a good angle. All I saw was sling and then pop, guy is running the other direction.

I remembered the play and I was pretty sure it was the TE drag, but I googled the highlight just to be sure before posting. I will definitely agree that the slant is certainly a risky play that requires accuracy and timing to be effective. Still, with speed it can be a deadly play for big gains and we just don't seem to use it much. Heck, we don't use the middle of the field much it seems other than on deep throws.

 

[KentuckyTexan]

I remembered the play and I was pretty sure it was the TE drag, but I googled the highlight just to be sure before posting. I will definitely agree that the slant is certainly a risky play that requires accuracy and timing to be effective. Still, with speed it can be a deadly play for big gains and we just don't seem to use it much. Heck, we don't use the middle of the field much it seems other than on deep throws.

At the threat of sounding kind of terrible here. I think Gran and Stoops are a bit fearful of running it. I think they feel they don't have the kind of quarterback that has the timing down for it. But Ruggs and Jeudy made a living at Bama running those slants. Than can be absolutely devastating if you've got a kid that is just near olympic speed.

 

[gamecockcat]

VA Tech certainly used passes to the back effectively, not sure why we can't incorporate some semblance of same. With a true QB under center, defenses should be forced to play us more honestly, which should allow our running game to be very effective (again). I hope TW (or whoever) is working on high-percentage, chains-moving plays rather than throwing jump ball bombs that have almost no chance of being completed. SS needs time in the film room so that he makes better decisions and he can be a very serviceable backup. TW needs to concentrate on 5-15 yard area and be >65% completion and we'll be fine offensively. I think we have the weapons and OL to be a very hard team to defend. We should be versatile enough to exploit whatever the defense is giving us and/or their weaknesses, which we couldn't do this year.

 

[Shew]

Or maybe a lack of faith in the WRs to run good precise routes for successful slants.

 

[Comebakatz3]

At the threat of sounding kind of terrible here. I think Gran and Stoops are a bit fearful of running it. I think they feel they don't have the kind of quarterback that has the timing down for it. But Ruggs and Jeudy made a living at Bama running those slants. Than can be absolutely devastating if you've got a kid that is just near olympic speed.

Or maybe a lack of faith in the WRs to run good precise routes for successful slants.

Could be either of these, or a combo. Regardless, it needs to be something that we develop, IMO. They are short routes that can go for big gains, and sometimes they are just wide open because a defense is playing 8-10 yards off the LOS. So, when those opportunities arise we need to throw it out there and let someone like Thomas or Ali pick up what they can and basically take the free first down.

 

[Shew]

We used to run slants to Baker and he dropped so many it may have discouraged that particular play call. Ha

 

[Rembrandt90]

(1) Out of the running backs we have returning, which shows the most promise at being able to catch passes out of the backfield? Typically, you want a lot of speed in that scenario and we have that, but it takes a special skill set to do it. This weapon has been missing from our arsenal for a few years now. It adds a lot, especially when plays break down.

(2) Coming off his knee injury, we know that Wilson will probably not have the same speed and quickness he had last year. But I'm more concerned about his timing. How do you think he will respond in this area? One school of thought says that timing is often helped after surgery because you need to rehab with a great deal of deliberate attention paid to your steps and progressions.

(3) Do you think we pass more to the TE position next year? This can be a nice bailout for a QB who sometimes struggles with short/timing routes.

(4) How big of a transition will there be for our line to incorporate a lot more pass blocking next year? Even if we are 70-30 on our run-pass ratio, this will be a big jump.

My answers-

1) Rose is by far our best receiver out of the backfield, but Tisdale will also excel at this. If Michael Drennen signs with UK, he should play as a true freshman and I think it would a mistake to predict his exact role this early. But Drennen can catch the football and gain yards running in space.

2) It is simply too early for anyone to pretend to know what TW’s physical capabilities will be next September. But a full recovery has been predicted by his doctors, so I wouldn’t necessarily make any of the assumptions you made. It isn’t his plant knee, so it shouldn’t effect his passing.

3) TEs have been a component of UK’s passing game under Gran. Fans here pretend like they haven’t been, but that isn’t the truth. But some TEs are better at blocking and others are better at route running and catching the football. I think Upshaw is being groomed as a pass receiver.

4) There will not be a transition. Our OL was prepared for the passing game over the offseason, before TW was injured. They are good pass blockers.