Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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Our best blockers on the line were not our interior blockers, especially once Saffell got hurt.

oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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We ran a spread, but with no speed at the WR positions, defenses could use man coverage, crowd the box and blitz, either filling the gaps and stoping the run at the LOS, or if it was a pass play, continuing on to the the QB to rush the throw or record a sack. Making it worse we ran the same unsuccessful running play on first down over and over, making us very predictable.

In 2017, Laird was able to take that play, see there was no space up the middle and bounce outside where no one was for a good gain.

This year, probably due to the injury that kept him out of Fall camp, Laird lacked the speed to make that play so he settled for diving forward between the defenders for 1 yard. Dancy, in the few carries he had, was able to wait for the defense to commit and then bounce outside, much as Laird did the year before. Baring a change in scheme of playcalling, Dancy's speed and improvisational ability is our best hope.

Other than relying on individual ability, the smart way to take advantage of the above is with play-action bootlegs (mixed in with reverses). Eventually the defense will no longer bite on playaction and will have to spread to defend the whole field, at which point the run up the middle will be effective (if you continue to mix it in with play-action).

Yogi Bear said:

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oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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Our best blockers on the line were not our interior blockers, especially once Saffell got hurt.

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Good point

calumnus said:

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oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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We ran a spread, but with no speed at the WR positions, defenses could use man coverage, crowd the box and blitz, either filling the gaps and stoping the run at the LOS, or if it was a pass play, continuing on to the the QB to rush the throw or record a sack. Making it worse we ran the same unsuccessful running play on first down over and over, making us very predictable.

In 2017, Laird was able to take that play, see there was no space up the middle and bounce outside where no one was for a good gain.

This year, probably due to the injury that kept him out of Fall camp, Laird lacked the speed to make that play so he settled for diving forward between the defenders for 1 yard. Dancy, in the few carries he had, was able to wait for the defense to commit and then bounce outside, much as Laird did the year before. Baring a change in scheme of playcalling, Dancy's speed and improvisational ability is our best hope.

Other than relying on individual ability, the smart way to take advantage of the above is with play-action bootlegs (mixed in with reverses). Eventually the defense will no longer bite on playaction and will have to spread to defend the whole field, at which point the run up the middle will be effective (if you continue to mix it in with play-action).

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I hear you, we've been calling for bootlegs and play action, and different formations all season but haven't seen much of it. Laird wasn't bouncing much to the outside either, I didn't know he wasn't 100%.

A slightly above average run offense is our best hope for next season, our offensive line should be better and deeper. I don't mind running wildcat three consecutive downs to keep the clock moving, win the time of possession, and maintain ball security.

With an improved OL & receivers who require the defense to at least occasionally cover them beyond 1:1 man, the running game will open up. Without these improvements we will continue to struggle, regardless of who the RBs are.

I'm curious, what makes you think he didn't want to do this? I remember a ton of runs up the middle, only they went for zero to two yards, not five.

oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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You're more likely to get 5 up the middle when you don't do it on every first down of every possession.

oskirules said:

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calumnus said:

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oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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We ran a spread, but with no speed at the WR positions, defenses could use man coverage, crowd the box and blitz, either filling the gaps and stoping the run at the LOS, or if it was a pass play, continuing on to the the QB to rush the throw or record a sack. Making it worse we ran the same unsuccessful running play on first down over and over, making us very predictable.

In 2017, Laird was able to take that play, see there was no space up the middle and bounce outside where no one was for a good gain.

This year, probably due to the injury that kept him out of Fall camp, Laird lacked the speed to make that play so he settled for diving forward between the defenders for 1 yard. Dancy, in the few carries he had, was able to wait for the defense to commit and then bounce outside, much as Laird did the year before. Baring a change in scheme of playcalling, Dancy's speed and improvisational ability is our best hope.

Other than relying on individual ability, the smart way to take advantage of the above is with play-action bootlegs (mixed in with reverses). Eventually the defense will no longer bite on playaction and will have to spread to defend the whole field, at which point the run up the middle will be effective (if you continue to mix it in with play-action).

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I hear you, we've been calling for bootlegs and play action, and different formations all season but haven't seen much of it. Laird wasn't bouncing much to the outside either, I didn't know he wasn't 100%.

A slightly above average run offense is our best hope for next season, our offensive line should be better and deeper. I don't mind running wildcat three consecutive downs to keep the clock moving, win the time of possession, and maintain ball security.

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Laird being slowed by injury is just my conclusion based on the fact he was held out of Fall camp with an undisclosed injury and a simple comparison of his highlights from last year, where he was "surprising fast" pulling away from defenders and this year where he looked slow, with no speed to the edge.

Here are his 2017 highlights

bearsandgiants said:

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oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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You're more likely to get 5 up the middle when you don't do it on every first down of every possession.

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Which Baldwin did not do - so I guess we are good in this regard?

AunBear89 said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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oskirules said:

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Why was this so hard to do? This is Beau's first problem to tackle in the offseason in my opinion.

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You're more likely to get 5 up the middle when you don't do it on every first down of every possession.

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Which Baldwin did not do - so I guess we are good in this regard?

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In some games he did it a majority of the time. You see it in the game threads, it was predictable. The other main play on first down is he would have the QB attempt a throw to a WR running up the sideline against single coverage to take advantage of the defense crowding the box. Though they started in the same formation, there was no deception between the two. The run began with a "mesh" flat footed delayed handoff to Laird, the pass had Laird pass blocking or flaring out for a pass. The problem is defenses learned to defend both plays the same waycrowd the box and blitz, if it is a run, hit the gaps and make the stop at the LOS, if it is a pass just continue on to the QB. The CB just has to stay with the WR for a few seconds and does not have to worry about the run. Often the sideline was a second defender. We did not have enough speed at WR for the QB to just throw the ball downfield and have the WR beat his man to it (though we tried that too).

So we had 2nd and 9 or 10. We would then repeat the above. 3rd and long too many times. Early in the season we would bring in McIlwain on 3rd and long and he would run for a first down. Naturally teams watch film and as the season progressed when McIlwain would come in they would expect the QB run and it became essentially the same as the 1 yard up the middle play.

The three and outs put tremendous pressure on our defense. People say the Air Raid was tough on our defense, but this was much worse. Imagine how good our defense would have been if the offense picked up first downs and the defense was not on the field all the time, constantly defending short fields?