Quarterback and Wide Receivers...

[swammi]

I got to thinking last night while watching the Missouri game exactly where our offense is......

At the quarterback position - i hope its the new offense and Arnaud is simply trying to make the perfect throws to the primary receiver, but, has he begun to evolve into another bret meyer that never looked off his primary. I loved Meyer and thought just like with Arnaud that he never got 100% comfortable in a system, but, his one year under Terry Allen was his best in my opinion. He would survey the field and find non primary receivers. After the changes that occurred in coaches, he never got back to that level. I'm starting to see a bit of that in Arnaud. Trust me, if i can see it, so can opposing defenses. I cannot remember any team that has more passes defended by a safety then ISU. That tells me, were telegraphing our offensive plays by the quarterbacks head.

Had anyone else noticed this or is it just me? When i've been at the games, i look at Arnaud and you can see the safety sliding based on his heads direction because they know that he will not look in a direction see the safety help and pull it down and either run it or look for another receiver....this is a really bad trait to have. For one, it brings your receivers that much closer to getting lite up like a x-mas tree and two, it causes turnovers or easy pass breakups. For me, the qb play has to start with his ability to look off a receiver and find the right guy. Watching Missouri and a redshirt freshman in Gilbert, he looked completely different then Arnaud. You can see his head moving through his progressions - that to me is a difference maker at the position. It takes advantage of whats there and does not force the ball or teammates into unnecessary coverage.

Wide Receivers - Is it possible that in Hermans offense that the receivers have a different job at hand then during the McFarland offense? The reason i ask this question is the spread is evolving into different styles based on offensive strengths. In some forms of the spread, it appears the wide receivers have to evaluate the location of the db or safety and change the route to get open rather then running to a spot - whether its defended or not?

What are the wide receivers responsiblities? Because, with all the athletic ability we have in Hamilton, Johnson, Darks, Reynolds and Williams, i don't see a lot of separation. Is that because the qb is throwing to his primary and of course with the qb telegraphing his throws, it only reasons that additional coverage will be blanketed on that receiver. Why are the wide receivers not getting wide open or at least separation enough to make easy throws and catches?

I think for our passing game to get going, its going to take quite a bit. Is it the qb or is it the wr - somebodys not making plays...curious to know what others think the problems with our offense really is and how to fix it....

IMO, the biggest problem has been turnovers. Vs Army, we fixed that. It needs to stay fixed for us to have any chance at a decent season. I think the biggest key is reading what the defense is giving you and taking it. We are getting better at that. I suspect a lot of our trouble connecting downfield is a) running good routes and b) Austen and his receivers making the same reads and executing from "the same page". I can't always tell because I am watching on TV and can't see the field. (I appreciate the Clonezone, but can't tell much when the cameraman is lying down in the end zone giving me a nightcrawler's perspective.)

 

[Rick]

Its got to come from the WR and QB reading what the defense is giving and taking advantage of it. Do they have to be stronger to get open or just smarter to find the seam they are supposed to into. I hope its the latter and they learn quickly