Penn State Week Pressers

[Archy1221]

Athleticism can be plainly seen on the field by any of us watching the game. But a player's knowledge of the playbook and system, not so much.

We've got a lot of armchair quarterbacks in here who see a QB like Martinez make a throw that seems to have been way off the mark, or even to no one in particular, and they scream for him to be benched. In reality, when plays like that happen, it's often the fault of a receiver who ran the wrong route, and wasn't where the QB expected him to go.

Likewise, some will see a defender who got there a little too late to make a play, and boo him for being so slow. In reality, often the reason he got there late is because he isn't even the guy who was supposed to be defending that offensive player - he was just trying to cover for someone else's screwup.

Know who's in a much better position to judge how well a player knows the playbook and system than we are? I'll give you a hint: his name is Scott.

Martinez is not a very good passer at this point in his career and to suggest it is the receivers fault is just not correct.  All you have to do is watch the out routes and RB screens/check downs. Look where the ball ends up.  
 

also, I would challenge you to watch the game from the back angle see how late Martinez delivers the ball.  Often he waits until the receiver hits the open window vs throwing the ball into the open window prior to the receiver getting there.  Go back and see how many times the receiver ends up slowing or stopping to catch the ball.  AM does not have very good anticipation vision that a QB needs.  

 

[Archy1221]

Omar doesn’t know the offense. If he knew the playbook and was a go physically/mentally from the start he would already be out there. 

Not sure how much of the offense you need to know in order to run a deep fade and give him a 50/50 ball 2 times a game.  Let his talent out-talent the cornerback.   Also helps loosen up the defense.  
 

also, he should be the one getting the Corner end zone back shoulder fade and not our TE’s.  

 

[Decked]

Not sure how much of the offense you need to know in order to run a deep fade and give him a 50/50 ball 2 times a game.  Let his talent out-talent the cornerback.   Also helps loosen up the defense.  
 

also, he should be the one getting the Corner end zone back shoulder fade and not our TE’s.  

I’m not saying you aren’t correct but he certainly needs to dial it in. If he has no idea what he’s doing he’s not going to be able to utilize his talents. You’re gonna see a heavier dose of Fleming & Betts. 

 

[FrantzHardySwag]

Not sure how much of the offense you need to know in order to run a deep fade and give him a 50/50 ball 2 times a game.  Let his talent out-talent the cornerback.   Also helps loosen up the defense.  
 

also, he should be the one getting the Corner end zone back shoulder fade and not our TE’s.  

Yeah his JUCO coaches apparently figured out how to get him on the field and be effective enough to be the #1 JUCO receiver in the entire country. Hell give him a wristband with a numbered route tree and signal him in the damn play for all I care. Dude has NFL size and talent, get him on the field anyway you can. 

 

[bugeater17]

Aside from the QB and receiver position, I'll be intrigued to see how inside linebacker shakes out. Honas by far played the best in the first game against OSU (Reimer was injured). Reimer by far played the best in the second game gains NW (Honas was injured). Miller has played pretty good as well and is a Captain. Rudd is in a quandary (in a good way). Assuming all are healthy the three will rotate, but do you not start your captain or one of the best performers from weeks 1 and 2? Probably not a big deal overall just an interesting situation and observation. 

 

[Husker in WI]

Not sure how much of the offense you need to know in order to run a deep fade and give him a 50/50 ball 2 times a game.  Let his talent out-talent the cornerback.   Also helps loosen up the defense.  
 

also, he should be the one getting the Corner end zone back shoulder fade and not our TE’s.  

Yeah, maybe Vokolek is really a beast and it just hasn't clicked. But he feels like the 4th or 5th best option* for a fade, and that requires natural ability more than playbook knowledge. I don't care if it tips the defense off to what's coming, are they going to double cover him? If so, he can run the fade and we can throw it somewhere else. If not, he's got to be able to win some one on ones.

The prettiest throw from Martinez all day was a deep shot to Vokolek, the problem was he had a DB draped all over him that broke it up because he doesn't seem to be that fast. Sort of questioning the Hickman move at this point if we're not getting him on the field at WR - I like Vokolek running downfiled more than Stoll or Allen, but I'm not seeing the explosiveness at all to this point. 

*Give me Omar, Betts, Hickman, and maybe even Liewer first. There's a balance between the height and athleticism, and it feels like despite being 6'6/6'8 Vokolek and Allen maybe don't have the body control for jump balls. The first fade from Martinez had promise too, but Vokolek fell down. 

 

[Archy1221]

Yeah, maybe Vokolek is really a beast and it just hasn't clicked. But he feels like the 4th or 5th best option* for a fade, and that requires natural ability more than playbook knowledge. I don't care if it tips the defense off to what's coming, are they going to double cover him? If so, he can run the fade and we can throw it somewhere else. If not, he's got to be able to win some one on ones.

The prettiest throw from Martinez all day was a deep shot to Vokolek, the problem was he had a DB draped all over him that broke it up because he doesn't seem to be that fast. Sort of questioning the Hickman move at this point if we're not getting him on the field at WR - I like Vokolek running downfiled more than Stoll or Allen, but I'm not seeing the explosiveness at all to this point. 

*Give me Omar, Betts, Hickman, and maybe even Liewer first. There's a balance between the height and athleticism, and it feels like despite being 6'6/6'8 Vokolek and Allen maybe don't have the body control for jump balls. The first fade from Martinez had promise too, but Vokolek fell down. 

Counts agree more with the analysis.   In those 50/50 jump ball scenarios, height plays a factor definitely, but athleticism and ability to control/contort body while catching the ball is just as important.  TR’s are TR’s for a reason.  They don’t have the same athleticism as a wideout.  
 

 

[MyBloodIsRed16]

Aside from the QB and receiver position, I'll be intrigued to see how inside linebacker shakes out. Honas by far played the best in the first game against OSU (Reimer was injured). Reimer by far played the best in the second game gains NW (Honas was injured). Miller has played pretty good as well and is a Captain. Rudd is in a quandary (in a good way). Assuming all are healthy the three will rotate, but do you not start your captain or one of the best performers from weeks 1 and 2? Probably not a big deal overall just an interesting situation and observation. 

Reimer needs to be in on obvious passing downs.  He has more speed than Honas and Miller and probably much better ball skills.  there are plenty of snaps to go around for all 3 especially the way our offense plays.

 

[Toe]

Yeah his JUCO coaches apparently figured out how to get him on the field and be effective enough to be the #1 JUCO receiver in the entire country.

Except that didn't happen right away. In his first year there, he had only 15 catches all season - not exactly #1 in the country material. But people here are expecting him to be fully ready to play right away, despite missing a ton of time when he should've been learning and practicing.

@Archy1221 See previous post. Not gonna repeat myself.

 

[lo country]

Aside from the QB and receiver position, I'll be intrigued to see how inside linebacker shakes out. Honas by far played the best in the first game against OSU (Reimer was injured). Reimer by far played the best in the second game gains NW (Honas was injured). Miller has played pretty good as well and is a Captain. Rudd is in a quandary (in a good way). Assuming all are healthy the three will rotate, but do you not start your captain or one of the best performers from weeks 1 and 2? Probably not a big deal overall just an interesting situation and observation. 

By this game or the next you could see 3 captains on the bench in Warner, AM and Miller........Wow.

 

[RedDenver]

Not sure how much of the offense you need to know in order to run a deep fade and give him a 50/50 ball 2 times a game.  Let his talent out-talent the cornerback.   Also helps loosen up the defense.  
 

also, he should be the one getting the Corner end zone back shoulder fade and not our TE’s.  

Yeah his JUCO coaches apparently figured out how to get him on the field and be effective enough to be the #1 JUCO receiver in the entire country. Hell give him a wristband with a numbered route tree and signal him in the damn play for all I care. Dude has NFL size and talent, get him on the field anyway you can. 

I rewatched the game, and Omar was in a lot more than I originally thought. Not sure on his exact snap count but definitely was in during the 1st quarter. But I didn't notice Omar getting open any more than the other WR (but the camera doesn't show much downfield either). Does anyone know how much playing time Omar actually got?

 

[Husker in WI]

By this game or the next you could see 3 captains on the bench in Warner, AM and Miller........Wow.

That is pretty crazy to think about, and illustrates the point of a lot of our talent being really young. Warner and Miller will play a lot either way, they want to rotate ILB and WR. But usually captains are the guys you don't want to ever rotate out, so it would still be weird.

 

[Huskers93-97]

What has happened to Hickman. He is a big body and I figured we would see him more. It is a coaches job to figure out how to adjust your game plan to accomodate talent on the talent. 

Talent on the field = Wins

Figure out how to dummy some s#!t down for Omar to get on the field. So many of the times I saw Omar on the field Adrian never even looked at him. He was staring down some other guy.

 

[bugeater17]

I rewatched the game, and Omar was in a lot more than I originally thought. Not sure on his exact snap count but definitely was in during the 1st quarter. But I didn't notice Omar getting open any more than the other WR (but the camera doesn't show much downfield either). Does anyone know how much playing time Omar actually got?

Rivals had Omar's snap count at 4 (with 0 targets). 

 

[MyBloodIsRed16]

I rewatched the game, and Omar was in a lot more than I originally thought. Not sure on his exact snap count but definitely was in during the 1st quarter. But I didn't notice Omar getting open any more than the other WR (but the camera doesn't show much downfield either). Does anyone know how much playing time Omar actually got?

I made the same comment the other day.  It seemed to me that besides the one time he actually got targeted the play was moving away from him.  Like he was lined up to the right and the play was rolling left.