Who is Kirk Cousins?

[NoCalHail]

I know a lot of people like to point to Jackson going out as the reason for the lack of downfield passing, but look around the league and you will see plenty of plays being made downfield that aren't to #1 WRs or guys considered "burners"

A lot of it is play design. I think in general a WCO is not a scheme with a ton of downfield passing. It's about WR's catching the football in space and racking up YAC. What this requires though is very good route running, timing, and the ball being delivered so the WR can catch the ball without breaking their running stride.

Watch the Pats offense and you will see what our offense should probably resemble. You will see Edleman catching most his passes at about 4-5 yards out, but he is running in full stride when the ball hits his hands.

DeSean Jackson adds an additional wrinkle to the offense because of his game breaking speed, but it's not like Gruden is re-designing the offense based on one WR.

It's interesting because a lot of modern WCO take the approach Reid did with the Eagles, which was the basic WCO principles but they added in a lot more downfield passing than what you would see from say a Bill Walsh offense. They also largely used running backs that could catch the ball and emphasized screen passes with more importance than running from behind the los. And it was interesting too because McNabb threw a a great deep ball and intermediate level ball, but struggled with accuracy on what were considered the typical "easy" short throws of a WCO, so go figure.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by NoCalHail

...It's interesting because a lot of modern WCO take the approach Reid did with the Eagles, which was the basic WCO principles but they added in a lot more downfield passing than what you would see from say a Bill Walsh offense....

"WCO" is a broad and often abused term.
But even the 'original' Bill Walsh WCO threw the ball downfield. And while throwing the ball quick and short is an aspect throwing the ball intermediate and downfield are certainly parts of the WCO. Deep outs, Digs, Comebacks, Post, Corners are all staples of Bill Walsh WCO.

Ironically it was Jay's brother that said ~'what do you call a coach and QB driving around throwing "hots"....dumb and dumber'

Bill Walsh even warned about "not being seduced by the relative ease of completing 3-step drop passes".

But you could argue that is exactly what this passing game is doing by design.

BTW 2 of top 5 offenses with passes 25 yards or more are WCO Green Bay #1 and KC #5.

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Bill Walsh even warned about "not being seduced by the relative ease of completing 3-step drop passes".

But you could argue that is exactly what this passing game is doing by design.

On the importance of screen passes:

“They’re important, especially if you’re playing some of these pass rush teams that like to get up the field and rush. It slows them down a little bit. We have some linemen that are very athletic and can get out in space. Last week was really our first time, we had a lot of success with those screen passes and I expect us to have more as the season goes on. Some teams are not as easy to run screen passes against as others. These guys have two outstanding linebackers that can get really get off blocks and run. But for the most part, screens are a big benefit. I like simple plays that have high reward and low risk. As long as I trust the quarterback to make good [decisions] — if it is covered to throw it in the dirt — then those are good plays.”

- jay gruden 11.20.15


Quotes: Jay Gruden And Sean McVay (11.20.15)

[30gut]

Not sure how Jay's comments about screens related to my post *shrugs*

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Not sure how Jay's comments about screens related to my post *shrugs*

Just adding to the discussion about whether Jay/mcvay are overly concentrated on "not taking sacks .. getting the ball out quick" mantra ... falling in love with the low risk throws like screens and short 3 step passes. your post reminded me of the quote i read from jay's presser. thats all. just adding to the discussion. discussing stuff.