First 2020-21 Scrimmage

[Sizzle 3,909]

4 hours ago, McLoofus said:

He actually said it's a whole new offense, right?

Did he? Idk how much it could change. Looking at some Arkansas games from last year and I don’t see any difference from what Gus and Chad do. Only difference I seen was a pass to a TE at little more frequently 

[AUFriction 1,179]

14 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Did he? Idk how much it could change. Looking at some Arkansas games from last year and I don’t see any difference from what Gus and Chad do. Only difference I seen was a pass to a TE at little more frequently 

Morris’s passing concepts are more complex. Gus wants to just run the football really well to open up easy passes down the field and/or to the perimeter. Morris, though still more run first, shows a lot more balance. Because of that, he does more with his passing game than Gus has traditionally done. If I had to guess, he probably has done a lot of interesting stuff with running back passing routes, getting guys like joiner and worm into space with the ball. That will really stress out a linebacker, so that’s probably what he’s been blown away by.

You could also be on to something about the TE though as well. Our linebackers haven’t had to worry about covering them the past few years.

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 hours ago, Sizzle said:

Did he? Idk how much it could change. Looking at some Arkansas games from last year and I don’t see any difference from what Gus and Chad do. Only difference I seen was a pass to a TE at little more frequently 

I don't know that Morris was ever able to do what he wanted to do with what he had to work with at Arkansas. But I'll defer to the actual football strategists for specifics. 

But even just throwing to the TE more often is a meaningful shift. TEs don't run the same routes we've been primarily running since 2014- screens, outs and downfield routes. They do a lot more intermediate stuff, and a lot more in the middle of the field. They also tend to be used on downs and distances where we've been doing other things. For example, all the times that we were up against, say, a Clemson pass rush and we did crap like just run it up the gut or a long developing downfield throw, we could have just been throwing quick slants to the TE. That's the kind of normal, logical football Chad has had success with at most places he's been. 

You're also going to see WRs run a greater variety of routes- individually and collectively. We haven't thrown to the middle of the field much at all the last 5 years. Chad will. And his receivers won't be locked up in silos where there's "the bubble screen guy" and "the deep ball guy" and "the sweep guy". If you look at the guys we've been recruiting, they're just about all 6'1-6'4, 190-210 lbs. They'll still bring different skill sets- Jet Johnson is an obvious outlier- but they're all guys who could probably run every route in the book. Instead of one Seth Williams and a bunch of specialists, they're all Seth Williams "types". And we've had plenty of guys who could have done more- Darius Slayton jumps to mind- but it just hasn't happened.

Here's an illuminating quote from Stove (shout out @aubiefifty). He talks a lot about downfield balls but I highlighted my favorite parts:

Quote

“We’re very excited,” Stove said of the wide receiver group as a whole.”We have a lot of explosive plays. Coach Morris is bringing in a lot of good plays and deep balls and intermediate plays to get everybody open. We’re really excited in the receiver room right now.

“I would say his plays just get people open a lot more. We’re going to have more explosive plays down the field, of course. We’re going to be throwing the ball a little bit more. I think everybody does (like the offense). We’re doing good in practice. We’re learning.”

One of the biggest areas of improvement needed for Auburn’s offense is having the ability to attack down the field with speed guys like Stove and Anthony Schwartz. Making explosive plays in the passing game is one of the keys to having a high-scoring offense. That’s a big priority at the moment, said Stove.

“I guess everybody, including myself, needs to work on down the field balls because that’s what we’re going to be doing a lot,” he said. “Just deep balls and catching, basically all the time. Not just me and him. Really just Shed Jackson and Seth as well, and more receivers. Everybody's going to have more opportunities to go down the field and catch some. I think that's what everybody has to improve on and make sure and constantly be a thing.”

 

[ArgoEagle 1,767]

On 8/23/2020 at 7:24 AM, Zeek said:

I think it's more that it seems to be the only thing Joiner does or gets to do.

I'm with you. Joiner was impressive looking running and catching the ball. Would like to see him continue the wheel routes, but also get at least 5-6 carries per game too.