So why not do it like last year?

[Mr. Scot]

Mr. Scot, your threads and posts always sound so intelligent and they make you think. I swear I am not being glib. I imagine you being a university professor or a counselor (idk why I picked those two necessarily) which means you are probably a Hell's Angel.

 

In reality, I don't even own a bicycle

 

I wouldn't consider myself the smartest guy in the room.  I've just been watching / playing / studying / coaching / everything football for over forty years and love to talk about it.

 

Now if you ask me, one of the better football minds I've talked to in my time is my old online friend Magnus (who responded above).

[KendrickPanther]

Interesting.  I recall him only having the one big gain which is great but inconsistent.  While not terrible I think that Olsen's YAC ability hasn't been his strength while here. 

 

After looking it up Olsen has just over 100 YAC with 5.1 YAC/r.  I think about 40 of it came off of one play.  Not sure that qualifies as great YAC ability or not.  What say you?

 

Olsen has gotten plenty of YaC over the years. He doesn't truck people like Gronk or juke people like a Sproles. He usually goes down on first contact so people say he's not a great ball carrier. 

 

But what he does do is run great routes and turn up field for extra yards. Sometimes if the corner back is small enough he shakes off the hit and gains extra yards. 

 

I think the people that complain about Olsen hold him to a standard of a Jimmy Graham or Vernon Davis. But he is a different player and valuable in his own ways.

[Daeavorn]

What is there to complain about Olsen? He's one of our most consistent players. 

[Mr. Scot]

Olsen has gotten plenty of YaC over the years. He doesn't truck people like Gronk or juke people like a Sproles. He usually goes down on first contact so people say he's not a great ball carrier. 

 

But what he does do is run great routes and turn up field for extra yards. Sometimes if the corner back is small enough he shakes off the hit and gains extra yards. 

 

I think the people that complain about Olsen hold him to a standard of a Jimmy Graham or Vernon Davis. But he is a different player and valuable in his own ways.

 

Coaches and teammates have called Olsen one of the smartest players on the field.

[Guild]

Olsen has gotten plenty of YaC over the years. He doesn't truck people like Gronk or juke people like a Sproles. He usually goes down on first contact so people say he's not a great ball carrier. 

 

But what he does do is run great routes and turn up field for extra yards. Sometimes if the corner back is small enough he shakes off the hit and gains extra yards. 

 

I think the people that complain about Olsen hold him to a standard of a Jimmy Graham or Vernon Davis. But he is a different player and valuable in his own ways.

 

I'm not hating on Greg sheesh.  He's great.

 

4.7; 3.9; 4.8; 5.1

 

That is his YAC average over every season with Carolina.  Which as it turns out is on par with the other best TEs in the league for the most part.  Guess I'm wrong.  Glad I looked at the stats.

[KendrickPanther]

I believe so.

 

 

And that is why I don't believe we can be as successful with a short/quick pass approach this season.

 

Even with WCO veteran Avant, this retooled batch of receivers isn't ideally suited to that type of attack.  This is not a group that includes guys likely to take a short pass and turn it into a huge gain. 

 

Now, you could argue that having guys with better overall hands than last season could help facilitate a WCO, but the lack of a true home run threat (like sadly, Steve Smith could conceivably have been) makes me think it'd turn into the 'horizontal' variety.

 

That's my analysis at least.  Feel free to add your take.

 

Well I will say this, the only route Tiquan Underwood consistently ran well in camp was a short drag. He could move horizontally with great speed but beating someone vertically is a bit of cat and mouse. He couldn't do it, when he did, he dropped the pass.

 

Steve Smith still gets behind guy with his old man speed because he understands route running. It's like Jordan developing the Jumper in his 30s.

[magnus]

Oh, I thought they did, at least as opposed to the way Chudzinski had run things. 

 

At the very least, that was what it had been stated they were planning to do in some early reports.  The idea was to go to more quick passes as opposed to the longer developing routes.  And yeah, that was how it looked in practice to me.  Certainly far from pure WCO, but not as longball as before.

 

We can agree to disagree on that part.

 

I think that approach might not work this year though.

 

And yeah, I'm doing good Mags.  Hope you are too.

they still threw up the longball, but not as often.  Shula did go to a safer, more Norv-like Coryell, though again kinda eschewing the backs (you know, it's weird that way, mid-12 and on the O got safer, more efficient, but we threw to the backs less), which meant you didn't get that shitty 2nd and 9 4 verticals deep in Carolina territory, and instead they built drives, but still not a lot to the backs, outside the screens to the WRs or backs not much quick dump. 

[Mr. Scot]

Well I will say this, the only route Tiquan Underwood consistently ran well in camp was a short drag. He could move horizontally with great speed but beating someone vertically is a bit of cat and mouse. He couldn't do it, when he did, he dropped the pass.

 

Steve Smith still gets behind guy with his old man speed because he understands route running. It's like Jordan developing the Jumper in his 30s.

 

I'm nothing but thrilled that we drafted Kelvin Benjamin this season.  I firmly believe he's gonna be a star.

 

I do hope that next season though, we draft or sign a speed receiver like a Brandin Cooks to play on the opposite side.

 

Imagine the damage a receiving tandem like that could do.

 

[Mr. Scot]

they still threw up the longball, but not as often.  Shula did go to a safer, more Norv-like Coryell, though again kinda eschewing the backs (you know, it's weird that way, mid-12 and on the O got safer, more efficient, but we threw to the backs less), which meant you didn't get that shitty 2nd and 9 4 verticals deep in Carolina territory, and instead they built drives, but still not a lot to the backs, outside the screens to the WRs or backs not much quick dump. 

 

Threw some screens to Olsen last year too as I recall.  Tended to be a good play.

 

Curious: What's your overall opinion of Shula?  How do you see his performance this year as compared to last?

[toldozer]

Stephen Hill ftw

[Daeavorn]

Stephen Hill ftw

 

I think Ron is really hoping Proehl turns this guy into KB 2.0 but so far it seems Zod isnt very impressed. And if he isn't then he's probably still not very good.

 

That is to say because I assume he's seen the guy move in person?

[magnus]

Threw some screens to Olsen last year too as I recall.  Tended to be a good play.

 

Curious: What's your overall opinion of Shula?  How do you see his performance this year as compared to last?

he and the younguns have put together a good passing game.   Team is efficient and, honestly, somewhat powerful, and doing a heck of a job with no line, running game, or deep threat. 

The running game?  Kinda trashy, mostly on line errors and back injuries.  

 

 

That's not to say he's incredible or hasn't made any mistakes.  But he calls a pretty even, fairly conservative game.  It's never going to have a billion yards, but we're a lot more progressive (75% shotgun, 50% of the time a TE is split out) and spread than I figured he'd be over time. 

 

Throw in some quicker stuff, just to stretch things horizontally, and that could be a sub for the run game that's so bad, but given the circumstances behind these backs and the crummy line, it's amazing the pass isn't an absolute disaster.  And here it is, probably the best part of this team so far. 

[Mr. Scot]

Hill's faster than Benjamin if I remember correctly.

 

Would be ideal if he developed into that complementary receiver so we could turn attention elsewhere.

 

Whether that happens?  Unknown.

[Mr. Scot]

he and the younguns have put together a good passing game.   Team is efficient and, honestly, somewhat powerful, and doing a heck of a job with no line, running game, or deep threat. 

The running game?  Kinda trashy, mostly on line errors and back injuries.  

 

That's not to say he's incredible or hasn't made any mistakes.  But he calls a pretty even, fairly conservative game.  It's never going to have a billion yards, but we're a lot more progressive (75% shotgun, 50% of the time a TE is split out) and spread than I figured he'd be over time. 

 

Throw in some quicker stuff, just to stretch things horizontally, and that could be a sub for the run game that's so bad, but given the circumstances behind these backs and the crummy line, it's amazing the pass isn't an absolute disaster.  And here it is, probably the best part of this team so far. 

 

Nothing there I'd disagree with.  The line is where it all starts.  And injuries?  Ugh

 

I think the team believes that by season's end, Bell and Chandler will be better than what they are now, which would solve an awful lot of the current deficiencies.

 

Wish I were confident in that happening.  Plain truth is I'm anything but.

 

My best hope is that we're somehow in position to draft a really good left tackle in next year's first round.