LJS: State of the Huskers - Receivers

[Landlord]

A lot was wrong with our offense this season. Bad pass protection was a big one.

Nevermind that we were top 10 in sacks allowed.

 

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

Here's how I translate that personally. I realize it's not probably what you mean at all.

It means we have a QB so incapable of consistently finding his open man that his only hope is to improvise.

Tommy's throwing ability is not on par with a team that expects to live and breathe in the Top 25 with Riley's preferred offensive style. A game plan and his implementation like we saw against UCLA? That probably is good enough.

We'll see what happens next season. It's anyone's guess.

Ummmm....no.

People on here scream and whine and cry wanting Tommy to "go through his progressions"...."find the second and third receiver"....bla bla bla.....

Well, that takes time. He knows very well where his first receiver is and can find him. His problem is that he makes a poor decision sometimes and throws to that receiver even if he is covered. When he does try to find the second or third receiver...you know...like we want him to.....he many times has to avoid a pass rush.

A much less mobile QB would have had WAY more sacks this year.

Agreed. TAs problem isn't that he doesn't grasp the concepts of the offense or that he doesn't have the ability to run it imo. His shortcomings are mostly related to decision making along with some fundamental flaws in his throwing motion. Having all the weapons he does on the outside should make things a little easier on him but he needs a little help from the guys up front.

 

[Undone]

I keep going back to the Illinois game as probably the foremost example of what went wrong with the combination of Langsdorf and Tommy.

So many things just didn't work. Yes, the line was one of them.

Landlord - Tommy has a great ability to elude a sack. Just at face value, is that a true or false statement?

 

[Landlord]

I keep going back to the Illinois game as probably the foremost example of what went wrong with the combination of Langsdorf and Tommy.

So many things just didn't work. Yes, the line was one of them.

Landlord - Tommy has a great ability to elude a sack. Just at face value, is that a true or false statement?

More or less true, but he also caused a few of those sacks.

Look at our sacks allowed in 2015 compared to 2014 with Tommy, 2013 with Tommy/Taylor/Ron, etc.

 

[Undone]

I probably derailed the original topic of this thread.

The thread is about our receivers. They're extremely talented. For *whatever reason suits you*, we are not getting the ball to them probably as much as we should, given their talent. I suppose the reason doesn't matter.

This forum spent probably 3/4 of the season in complete dismay over the 'RUN THE BALL' campaign, but I do think there's merit in pointing out that as much as that might have been the immediate answer at many points in the season, it doesn't discount the fact that we're under-utilizing a very talented WR group. That's a shame, in my opinion.

Running the ball more next season might significantly change our W/L column. But effectively and consistently getting the ball to our receivers could probably win this team a conference title.

 

[NUance]

I don't think some realize how lucky we are to have a QB athletic enough to extend plays long enough to make some of the throws he does.

Yeah, that's one thing people don't appreciate about Tommy. He is incredibly elusive. How many times has he been back there and dodged a rusher, then taken off for a nice little gain? Tommy's feet cover a lot of issues with our leaky O-line.

=========================

Oops, it looks like I continued with the derailment. My bad. It's just that, with our receivers, they are such an incredibly talented group there's not much to discuss.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I probably derailed the original topic of this thread.

The thread is about our receivers. They're extremely talented. For *whatever reason suits you*, we are not getting the ball to them probably as much as we should, given their talent. I suppose the reason doesn't matter.

This forum spent probably 3/4 of the season in complete dismay over the 'RUN THE BALL' campaign, but I do think there's merit in pointing out that as much as that might have been the immediate answer at many points in the season, it doesn't discount the fact that we're under-utilizing a very talented WR group. That's a shame, in my opinion.

Running the ball more next season might significantly change our W/L column. But effectively and consistently getting the ball to our receivers could probably win this team a conference title.

We passed the ball right at 50% of the time. I don't see us passing it at a higher percentage.

We ended the year with a 55.5% completion rate. OK....60% is probably a nice goal to get to. With 439 attempts, that means we would need 19.7 more completions on the year. There were some drops by receivers.

So....as far as "getting the ball to them more" you're maybe talking 2 more times per game is realistic?????

I don't see the receivers having a valid complaint they weren't having enough opportunities to catch the ball.

 

[Enhance]

Here's how I translate that personally. I realize it's not probably what you mean at all.

It means we have a QB so incapable of consistently finding his open man that his only hope is to improvise.

Tommy's throwing ability is not on par with a team that expects to live and breathe in the Top 25 with Riley's preferred offensive style. A game plan and his implementation like we saw against UCLA? That probably is good enough.

We'll see what happens next season. It's anyone's guess.

Ummmm....no.

People on here scream and whine and cry wanting Tommy to "go through his progressions"...."find the second and third receiver"....bla bla bla.....

Well, that takes time. He knows very well where his first receiver is and can find him. His problem is that he makes a poor decision sometimes and throws to that receiver even if he is covered. When he does try to find the second or third receiver...you know...like we want him to.....he many times has to avoid a pass rush.

A much less mobile QB would have had WAY more sacks this year.

I think that's possible, but, I think it's also possible a less mobile QB (with better passing skills and ability to get through their progressions) could've found the open receiver quicker and avoided the pass rush. There were several times this year TA had to scramble after sitting in the pocket for 3-4 seconds, and it's generally understood among coaches that if a sack happens within the first 3 seconds that's on the line. If it happens 4-5 seconds later then that's more on the QB.

So, I guess personally, I don't know if it would've been 'way' more. I think there certainly could have been more, though. TA's scrambling ability certainly bailed the line out at times this year. No question.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I like NU's receivers, but they had times this past year where they struggled to get open. Teams would bracket Westerkamp and would challenge our wide-outs one on one. The Reilly catch against Michigan State is a perfect example. Yes, it counted, but 9 times out of 10, Reilly is deemed an ineligible receiver because he went out of bounds to avoid the contact by the DB.

The reason I would like an offense that emphasizes the run, because if NU is able to get the run game going, it forces the defense to bring an extra defender out of coverage. This creates more open spaces for the receivers and makes it easier for Armstrong to get the ball to the receivers. The overall receptions might go down slightly, but the pass plays would be bigger and have more impact. The pass to Stanley Morgan in the Foster Farms bowl was a perfect example. it's 1st and 10, and Morgan has one on one coverage. Armstrong knew his read right away, and Morgan made a great play.

 

[Sargon]

It's hard to boost rushing attempt numbers when you're busy throwing first down TD passes

Receivers and kickers are the only groups I expect high performance levels from next year. LB's might break through.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Just for the record, Tariq Allen and Jamal Turner are not significant losses.

 

[Enhance]

Just for the record, Tariq Allen and Jamal Turner are not significant losses.

I agree, at least from a statistical standpoint. Turner had 5 years, 73 receptions, 892 yards and four TD's. Allen's contributions, statistically, a blip for the most part. Only 18 career catches.

Turner also only had 13 catches the last two season.

Their departure may be felt in other ways, perhaps from a leadership standpoint. But, again, statistically speaking, not much of an impact.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Here's how I translate that personally. I realize it's not probably what you mean at all.

It means we have a QB so incapable of consistently finding his open man that his only hope is to improvise.

Tommy's throwing ability is not on par with a team that expects to live and breathe in the Top 25 with Riley's preferred offensive style. A game plan and his implementation like we saw against UCLA? That probably is good enough.

We'll see what happens next season. It's anyone's guess.

Ummmm....no.

People on here scream and whine and cry wanting Tommy to "go through his progressions"...."find the second and third receiver"....bla bla bla.....

Well, that takes time. He knows very well where his first receiver is and can find him. His problem is that he makes a poor decision sometimes and throws to that receiver even if he is covered. When he does try to find the second or third receiver...you know...like we want him to.....he many times has to avoid a pass rush.

A much less mobile QB would have had WAY more sacks this year.

I think that's possible, but, I think it's also possible a less mobile QB (with better passing skills and ability to get through their progressions) could've found the open receiver quicker and avoided the pass rush. There were several times this year TA had to scramble after sitting in the pocket for 3-4 seconds, and it's generally understood among coaches that if a sack happens within the first 3 seconds that's on the line. If it happens 4-5 seconds later then that's more on the QB.

So, I guess personally, I don't know if it would've been 'way' more. I think there certainly could have been more, though. TA's scrambling ability certainly bailed the line out at times this year, though. No question.

That is possible. It's possible some QBs can just sense and recognize what receiver is going to be open sooner which would allow for a quicker release and less problems with pass rush.

Going to the extreme, I'm sure someone like Brady can almost recognize which receiver is going to be open many times at the time of the snap compared to having to watch the play unfold for a couple seconds.