Playmakers on Offense

[Just1More]

_ Well here we go...

It has everything to do with how much trust is placed on the reading and playcalling skills of the QB. I have no idea whether or not our QB's can read and audible properly, never seen it happen... Not judgement. I truly have no idea one way or the other...

On the other hand, it's been a while since I have seen Peyton Manning line the Colts up in the Meerkat :-) _

Although the Meercat is annoying... that isn't what I dislike about it. I think there are downsides to it. Defenses are starting to decoy more now than ever. They are almost in constant motion so I really wonder what the true value of a set... then Meercat... then call a play based on this motion defense... truly buys you.

I understand the concept of the Meercat. But, I see some intangibles taken away from the boys on the field.

And before I get attacked... I used to have one of those vibrating board football games with the little plastic football players... so I know my football. The Meercat never worked with those guys no matter how hard I tried.

[Damon]

_ Although the Meercat is annoying... that isn't what I dislike about it. I think there are downsides to it. Defenses are starting to decoy more now than ever. They are almost in constant motion so I really wonder what the true value of a set... then Meercat... then call a play based on this motion defense... truly buys you.

I understand the concept of the Meercat. But, I see some intangibles taken away from the boys on the field.

And before I get attacked... I used to have one of those vibrating board football games with the little plastic football players... so I know my football. The Meercat never worked with those guys no matter how hard I tried. _

You need to upgrade.

[VObserver]

_ You and I saw the same thing. Our O-line was way overrated last year imo. This unit must improve significantly for a 7 win season to occur. _

The problem did not rest with the OL.

What you and J1M saw was a Quarterback in Masson who is absolutely HORRIBLE in the running game. He consistently made the wrong read on the Zone Read, and as a result, the RBs consistently had the ball handed to them with defenders blocked into their path. Now, my sources tell me that Masson is quite capable of making the correct read, but has delicate sensibilities about getting his uniform dirty.

That is why his teammates do not play for him with the same intensity that they play for Brad or Blaine, and why one of them should be the starter at QB this fall.

[zephyr]

_ You and I saw the same thing. Our O-line was way overrated last year imo. This unit must improve significantly for a 7 win season to occur. _

I agree. The problem is it refutes his logic that its always the coaches fault. This type of mentality usually comes from someone who did not play a lot of competitive sports, especially on higher levels of even high school and/or beyond that. By his logic, the inability of the offensive line to open up holes last year lies solely on the coaching ( which is complete B.S.). However, these are the same linemen who were considered to be the strength of our team last year and were coached the same way the previous 4 years of their careers! Were they coached differently last year rather than before? NO. They didn't get the job done and that is cold hard fact. How do you theorize that? You don't. They didn't get the job done, in large part because Fisher and Bustle fought injury throughout the last couple of years of their career but the bottom line is that I'm supposed to believe that the coaching was subpar for a unit that was considered one of the best in the country going into last year in an offense that we've run for several years now? That's crazy.

I'm not saying that I haven't seen some bonehead coaching here in the past either. I've been very critical of coach Bustle and certain members on staff when I feel they've really missed something. However, to say that because a young man doesn't do his job on the field or progresses slower than we feel he should doesn't mean that the coaching has failed him. That takes away the accountability of the player.

[ManAboutTown]

_ The problem did not rest with the OL.

What you and J1M saw was a Quarterback in Masson who is absolutely HORRIBLE in the running game. He consistently made the wrong read on the Zone Read, and as a result, the RBs consistently had the ball handed to them with defenders blocked into their path. Now, my sources tell me that Masson is quite capable of making the correct read, but has delicate sensibilities about getting his uniform dirty.

That is why his teammates do not play for him with the same intensity that they play for Brad or Blaine, and why one of them should be the starter at QB this fall. _

I've been told virtually the same thing.. and if this is the case. its a big problem

[CajunZ1]

What you and J1M saw was a Quarterback in Masson who is absolutely HORRIBLE in the running game. He consistently made the wrong read on the Zone Read, and as a result, the RBs consistently had the ball handed to them with defenders blocked into their path. Now, my sources tell me that Masson is quite capable of making the correct read, but has delicate sensibilities about getting his uniform dirty.

That is why his teammates do not play for him with the same intensity that they play for Brad or Blaine, and why one of them should be the starter at QB this fall. _

We cannot win more than 6 games without a consistent passing game. That has been proven many times throughout Bustle's tenure. The coaches know this, so they have to pick who they believe is the best passer/decision maker.

We as fans are perhaps the least qualified in having an educated opinion about who's better, especially when the talent differences are so minor. Remember last spring? Who was going to be quarterback?? The answer was, "there is no real answer."

[zephyr]

_ The problem did not rest with the OL.

What you and J1M saw was a Quarterback in Masson who is absolutely HORRIBLE in the running game. He consistently made the wrong read on the Zone Read, and as a result, the RBs consistently had the ball handed to them with defenders blocked into their path. Now, my sources tell me that Masson is quite capable of making the correct read, but has delicate sensibilities about getting his uniform dirty.

That is why his teammates do not play for him with the same intensity that they play for Brad or Blaine, and why one of them should be the starter at QB this fall. _

The true problem rests with all of the above. This OL played subpar last year and its not real hard to see that. I do not doubt that Masson was not as comfortable running the ball in the zone read as Brad or Blaine but that didn't mean he made the wrong reads. The problem was stated often by our coaches in the quarterback club luncheon. They were asked this question several times and I asked coach Hudson about it twice on separate occasions with the same answers. He mentioned that most teams took away the QB keeper option knowing that we didn't have the speed or burst in those RB's like we did before. He pointed out a few things he and the staff looked for when the QB was doing the read and after he made those points, I was watching teams as they played the run and often it became clear. When Chris did get the opportunity, he ran well at times as he had 6 TD's last year himself. This line did not play as expected last year but that inconsistency was coupled with many issues such as a lack of firepower and explosiveness at RB, an obsolete gameplan that refused to acknowledge that Chris had certain talents that could be enhanced through other formations and playcalls rather than continuously running the zone read and even when we started using Joseph and Miller in the reverse plays, there was still little room to maneuver. Bottom line is that we simply didn't have the firepower or athleticism to beat people last year. I think this year will be a little different.

[CajunZ1]

_ I've been told virtually the same thing.. and if this is the case. its a big problem _

For the sake of our teams' chemistry, let's hope it's just a few disgruntled fans hyperbolizing a bit.

[VObserver]

_ I've been told virtually the same thing.. and if this is the case. its a big problem _

It is the case and it is a big problem; one that the staff will lose their jobs over if they continue to allow it. I firmly believe that the staff's insistence on keeping Masson as the starter cost us at least 2 games last year, perhaps more; and I also believe that our injury problem at RB was due in large part to Masson hanging them out to dry on 'bad' reads.

[zephyr]

_ We cannot win more than 6 games without a consistent passing game. That has been proven many times throughout Bustle's tenure. The coaches know this, so they have to pick who they believe is the best passer/decision maker.

We as fans are perhaps the least qualified in having an educated opinion about who's better, especially when the talent differences are so minor. Remember last spring? Who was going to be quarterback?? The answer was, "there is no real answer." _

Actually, going into last spring, the firm answer was that the job belonged to McGuire, even when he had his surgery. Masson kept playing really well and Brad was struggling both before and after his surgery. The answer wasn't finally made until mid fall when Masson was more consistent running the offense.