So most folks are fire Coley, others are Fromm is to blame, others put blame on the WR, and honestly some probably should put blame on the OL as they were expected to be the top in the land.
So what is it, to me it is a combo of it all. First, Coley, his play calling has been very suspect much of the year, but quite honestly, lately-at least since UF, I think he has had some good calls-much of which was not executed. Second Fromm, considering his play the first two years, much was expected of him as a great field leader and very accurate passer. It appears he has regressed-can that be pointed to Coley or is that on Jake. Third, the WR's, this has been an issue without a doubt considering our leading WR has been on campus since the summer and our leading TE receiver has been on campus since summer as well. There is no doubt losing the WR that we did is a huge part of the issue, the fact that our top guys are either transfers or FR, that says a lot. Finally the OL, maybe the loss of Gaillard was a lot bigger than we thought, because the C position has been a weakness-really interior of the OL has been an issue-but to me that is because of the center more than anything.
So, if you ask me, it has been a combo of all these issues to make our offense really struggle-more than anything it is play calling and then players executing the plays. But, what I mentioned about the WR/TE position to me is probably the biggest issue, I say this because of two reasons-Fromm lost his top 4 WR targets that he had thrown to his first two years-Godwin, Ridley, Mecole and Holloman, on top of that you lose Nauta his target in the middle of the field more times than not. As mentioned, when your top WR this year and top TE this year were not on the team last year, that tells you that the cupboard was bare and we don't have great WR talent on campus. I think DRob has been hurt/hamstring most of the season or he would have been a weapon more, and I think you can see that Pickens and Blalock are studs right now and going to be special but they are still learning-getting better with each passing game. I think Kearis Jackson also has potential too, but guys like Simmons, Landers and Woerner are just not that good, they have been around and don't make plays, Woerner is Fromm's roommate, if the guy was truly a special TE, I think they would certainly have a connection.
When you don't have playmaking WR's, it makes it easy to crowd the box and stop our run, even with a RB like Swift. Honestly, the fact the guy has over 1K yards this year speaks to how special he is. But the OL can't do much when there are 7 guys in the box, sometimes 8, and when you have a weak link in the middle, it doesn't allow the guards or tackles to get to the second level of blocking because they have to help the weak link. So you combine teams stacking the box with a center that has really struggled, WR's that Jake doesn't trust, spells problems. But there is more, and it goes back to Fromm.
The OL has struggled with run blocking at times but for the most part, pass protection has been pretty good. Jake has missed the open WR or back so many times this season. This past Sat was a perfect example, he missed an uncovered Herrien on the wheel route, missed an open Pickens on the flea flicker, missed a wide open James Cook AND a wide open Jackson to the left, before turning and throwing a bad pass to a mostly covered Wolf to the right. There have been many time this season where it just appears Fromm has guys wide open and is missing them. That is not on the OL, that is not on the WR, that is not on the OC, that is on Jake. There are throws he is making where he has horrible fundamentals, throwing off his back foot, underthrowing,overthrowing, he has just really had a tough year, certainly a tough stretch here.
I think having Hot Rod is also a huge blessing but also sometimes a curse because I do think it plays into our philosophy of not taking a sure 3 off the board. We know 3 is almost a guarantee (except during the SCarolina game) so sometimes I think that causes the playcalling to get soft/predictable even more when in his range. I love knowing we have 3 but we have to have 7's instead going forward. You can't beat LSU, OSU, Clem offenses putting up FG's.
This board is pretty dead but since I am cheap SOB that doesn't pay for any subscription, decided to post my two cents just to throw it out there. I honestly believe this offense has a chance to explode and all it will take is 11 getting hot and our WR's making some plays, it backs the D off and then the run game will come alive like we thought it would this year. The good news is that I honestly don't expect Cager to play again this week, giving him two weeks to rest his shoulder-last time he had two weeks of rest, he had the UF game. You get him going along with the two talented FR and Jackson, and have Wolf dragging the middle of the field, the offense can erupt and that opens up Swift and our backs. Our D has been steady all year, granted we have not faced and offense like LSU this season, but that being said (assuming Stokes is able to play against them) they have not faced a defense like ours all year, one that has experience and talent in the secondary, a solid DL and LB group that stuffs the run. This is reminding me a lot of our game with LSU in 2005, and also reminds me a bit of last year against Bama, in both games, no one gave us a shot to win but we won one and should have won the other. The main thing now is to take care of Tech early, pull our starters and start to get ready for the elimination game on Dec 7th. And don't be surprised if A&M gives LSU fits because we stuffed the A&M running game but they do have a solid run game and a QB that can run, they can and will move the ball on LSU, and that defense is not bad either. We get to play at noon, they play at night, we play a small ACC team and they play a physical SEC team.
So what is it, to me it is a combo of it all. First, Coley, his play calling has been very suspect much of the year, but quite honestly, lately-at least since UF, I think he has had some good calls-much of which was not executed. Second Fromm, considering his play the first two years, much was expected of him as a great field leader and very accurate passer. It appears he has regressed-can that be pointed to Coley or is that on Jake. Third, the WR's, this has been an issue without a doubt considering our leading WR has been on campus since the summer and our leading TE receiver has been on campus since summer as well. There is no doubt losing the WR that we did is a huge part of the issue, the fact that our top guys are either transfers or FR, that says a lot. Finally the OL, maybe the loss of Gaillard was a lot bigger than we thought, because the C position has been a weakness-really interior of the OL has been an issue-but to me that is because of the center more than anything.
So, if you ask me, it has been a combo of all these issues to make our offense really struggle-more than anything it is play calling and then players executing the plays. But, what I mentioned about the WR/TE position to me is probably the biggest issue, I say this because of two reasons-Fromm lost his top 4 WR targets that he had thrown to his first two years-Godwin, Ridley, Mecole and Holloman, on top of that you lose Nauta his target in the middle of the field more times than not. As mentioned, when your top WR this year and top TE this year were not on the team last year, that tells you that the cupboard was bare and we don't have great WR talent on campus. I think DRob has been hurt/hamstring most of the season or he would have been a weapon more, and I think you can see that Pickens and Blalock are studs right now and going to be special but they are still learning-getting better with each passing game. I think Kearis Jackson also has potential too, but guys like Simmons, Landers and Woerner are just not that good, they have been around and don't make plays, Woerner is Fromm's roommate, if the guy was truly a special TE, I think they would certainly have a connection.
When you don't have playmaking WR's, it makes it easy to crowd the box and stop our run, even with a RB like Swift. Honestly, the fact the guy has over 1K yards this year speaks to how special he is. But the OL can't do much when there are 7 guys in the box, sometimes 8, and when you have a weak link in the middle, it doesn't allow the guards or tackles to get to the second level of blocking because they have to help the weak link. So you combine teams stacking the box with a center that has really struggled, WR's that Jake doesn't trust, spells problems. But there is more, and it goes back to Fromm.
The OL has struggled with run blocking at times but for the most part, pass protection has been pretty good. Jake has missed the open WR or back so many times this season. This past Sat was a perfect example, he missed an uncovered Herrien on the wheel route, missed an open Pickens on the flea flicker, missed a wide open James Cook AND a wide open Jackson to the left, before turning and throwing a bad pass to a mostly covered Wolf to the right. There have been many time this season where it just appears Fromm has guys wide open and is missing them. That is not on the OL, that is not on the WR, that is not on the OC, that is on Jake. There are throws he is making where he has horrible fundamentals, throwing off his back foot, underthrowing,overthrowing, he has just really had a tough year, certainly a tough stretch here.
I think having Hot Rod is also a huge blessing but also sometimes a curse because I do think it plays into our philosophy of not taking a sure 3 off the board. We know 3 is almost a guarantee (except during the SCarolina game) so sometimes I think that causes the playcalling to get soft/predictable even more when in his range. I love knowing we have 3 but we have to have 7's instead going forward. You can't beat LSU, OSU, Clem offenses putting up FG's.
This board is pretty dead but since I am cheap SOB that doesn't pay for any subscription, decided to post my two cents just to throw it out there. I honestly believe this offense has a chance to explode and all it will take is 11 getting hot and our WR's making some plays, it backs the D off and then the run game will come alive like we thought it would this year. The good news is that I honestly don't expect Cager to play again this week, giving him two weeks to rest his shoulder-last time he had two weeks of rest, he had the UF game. You get him going along with the two talented FR and Jackson, and have Wolf dragging the middle of the field, the offense can erupt and that opens up Swift and our backs. Our D has been steady all year, granted we have not faced and offense like LSU this season, but that being said (assuming Stokes is able to play against them) they have not faced a defense like ours all year, one that has experience and talent in the secondary, a solid DL and LB group that stuffs the run. This is reminding me a lot of our game with LSU in 2005, and also reminds me a bit of last year against Bama, in both games, no one gave us a shot to win but we won one and should have won the other. The main thing now is to take care of Tech early, pull our starters and start to get ready for the elimination game on Dec 7th. And don't be surprised if A&M gives LSU fits because we stuffed the A&M running game but they do have a solid run game and a QB that can run, they can and will move the ball on LSU, and that defense is not bad either. We get to play at noon, they play at night, we play a small ACC team and they play a physical SEC team.