Ryan Davis Tribute

[StatTiger 3,188]

 

[johnnyAU 3,633]

Gonna miss that dude something fierce.

[SlocombTiger 106]

Gonna miss him too. Wish he could have been used more in a Julian Edelman  (sp?) type role. All the wr screens that he was used for made me cringe at times. 

No 1 all time reception leader

No 14 (correct me if I'm wrong) all time yardage 

 

Would have been great to see him running more quick slants

 

WAR EAGLE!!!

[AU64 10,122]

36 minutes ago, SlocombTiger said:

Gonna miss him too. Wish he could have been used more in a Julian Edelman  (sp?) type role. All the wr screens that he was used for made me cringe at times. 

No 1 all time reception leader

No 14 (correct me if I'm wrong) all time yardage 

 

Would have been great to see him running more quick slants

 

WAR EAGLE!!!

Those screens were a way to get the ball into the hands of a guy who could make yards.....really was a way to augment the running game when the OL was suspect and no way he would have touched to ball 70 times in a season if he were running conventional pass routes.

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this point, but what made him valuable to the team's offense was the number of "carries" he had...and most of the time was able to get plus yardage on the plays that involved him.      Take Davis's stats away from JS and I bet he was barely 50%....these were "sure thing" passes and with his quick first step, plays to him were more like an extension of the running game and not the passing game. 

We are going to miss him and his sure hands.....but I think many people underestimate the value of the role he played in our offense. JMO, but he was a specialist... if he been running conventional pass routes or slants the offense would have suffered as would he have suffered when one of he QBs hung him out to dry on a badly thrown pass. 

[SlocombTiger 106]

3 hours ago, AU64 said:

Those screens were a way to get the ball into the hands of a guy who could make yards.....really was a way to augment the running game when the OL was suspect and no way he would have touched to ball 70 times in a season if he were running conventional pass routes.

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this point, but what made him valuable to the team's offense was the number of "carries" he had...and most of the time was able to get plus yardage on the plays that involved him.      Take Davis's stats away from JS and I bet he was barely 50%....these were "sure thing" passes and with his quick first step, plays to him were more like an extension of the running game and not the passing game. 

We are going to miss him and his sure hands.....but I think many people underestimate the value of the role he played in our offense. JMO, but he was a specialist... if he been running conventional pass routes or slants the offense would have suffered as would he have suffered when one of he QBs hung him out to dry on a badly thrown pass. 

I understand completely what his role was. But he had the ability to take a short slant and create something. I guess the wr screen is my least favorite pass play because you have to catch the ball usually at a stand still and make someone miss that has a direct shot at you before you can cross the line of scrimmage. I was merely saying that of RD could have caught more passes " already in motion " his reception/yardage totals would not be so far apart. And if you were concerned about his qb hanging him out to dry that's a completely different conversation. 

I loved watching RD and wish him the very best. 

WAR EAGLE!!!

[JDUBB4AU 5,121]

Brady is stoked about this guy . War eagle RD

[SlocombTiger 106]

15 minutes ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Brady is stoked about this guy . War eagle RD

He has a chance to be a star in that passing game. 

WAR EAGLE!!!

[RunInRed 16,414]

Loving this stuff, @StatTiger!  Good to see you back around.  War Eagle!

[bigbird 60,534]

The shallow crosses should've been run so much more than they were. Hopefully Hastings and Schwartz can get a few more thrown to them this year. Clear with the deep routs and you have a LB trying to chase them through the zone. With their speed and quickness they would get 20+ easily.  

Dang! We have so many weapons. I really hope we actually put them in postions of success by attacking the entire field at all levels.

Imagine...come out in 10,  Twins Gun Rt

Wk #1: Seth runs a 12-15 drag

Wk #2: Hill runs a flag breaking at 12-15

Stg 1:  Hastings/Ja'Varrius Johnson runs a shallow cross

Stg 2: Schwartz runs a post breaking at 10-12

RB (Gun right): Chips LE and releases with a 5 yard flare/flat

 

[AUpreacherman22 3,887]

Thanks Stat!

Where does Ryan Davis fall into your all-time favorite AU WRs in your lifetime?

For me he’s top 5 along with Frank Sanders, Lawyer Tillman, Courtney Taylor, and Ronney Daniels.   (Terry Beasley was before my time)

[SlocombTiger 106]

6 hours ago, bigbird said:

The shallow crosses should've been run so much more than they were. Hopefully Hastings and Schwartz can get a few more thrown to them this year. Clear with the deep routs and you have a LB trying to chase them through the zone. With their speed and quickness they would get 20+ easily.  

Dang! We have so many weapons. I really hope we actually put them in postions of success by attacking the entire field at all levels.

Imagine...come out in 10,  Twins Gun Rt

Wk #1: Seth runs a 12-15 drag

Wk #2: Hill runs a flag breaking at 12-15

Stg 1:  Hastings/Ja'Varrius Johnson runs a shallow cross

Stg 2: Schwartz runs a post breaking at 10-12

RB (Gun right): Chips LE and releases with a 5 yard flare/flat

 

Thanks Bird. I know what I  mean to say but can't put it in coach speak like you can. 

WAR EAGLE!!!

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 hours ago, SlocombTiger said:

Thanks Bird. I know what I  mean to say but can't put it in coach speak like you can. 

WAR EAGLE!!!

Hahaha, me, this, all the time

[McLoofus 35,182]

23 hours ago, AU64 said:

Those screens were a way to get the ball into the hands of a guy who could make yards.....really was a way to augment the running game when the OL was suspect and no way he would have touched to ball 70 times in a season if he were running conventional pass routes.

Another way to augment the running game is to pick up easy first downs by throwing short passes across the middle. That's also a way to pick up chunk yardage as described by @bigbird. It's certainly a more reasonable way to get first downs when the OL is suspect than the deep passes that take 30 seconds to develop that Gus is so fond of. 

Quote

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this point, but what made him valuable to the team's offense was the number of "carries" he had...and most of the time was able to get plus yardage on the plays that involved him.      Take Davis's stats away from JS and I bet he was barely 50%....these were "sure thing" passes and with his quick first step, plays to him were more like an extension of the running game and not the passing game. 

Yes, that was what made him valuable. The point is, how much more valuable could he have been? How much more valuable could any number of the highly recruited AU WRs we've seen the last 5 years have been if they mostly hadn't been relegated to hyper-specific roles in this manner? 

Quote

JMO, but he was a specialist... if he been running conventional pass routes or slants the offense would have suffered as would he have suffered when one of he QBs hung him out to dry on a badly thrown pass. 

Clearly Gus agrees with you that RD is a "specialist".

As for the getting hurt thing, there are numerous WRs in the NFL who match RD's metrics but who are allowed to do sooooooo much more than he is, including going across the middle. Antonio Brown weighs 180 lbs. I really, REALLY hope that Gus doesn't actually share this mentality of protecting smaller guys. But I guess it makes as much sense as any other explanation for why he makes these bizarre decisions. 

[AU64 10,122]

16 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Another way to augment the running game is to pick up easy first downs by throwing short passes across the middle. That's also a way to pick up chunk yardage as described by @bigbird. It's certainly a more reasonable way to get first downs when the OL is suspect than the deep passes that take 30 seconds to develop that Gus is so fond of. 

Yes, that was what made him valuable. The point is, how much more valuable could he have been? How much more valuable could any number of the highly recruited AU WRs we've seen the last 5 years have been if they mostly hadn't been relegated to hyper-specific roles in this manner? 

Clearly Gus agrees with you that RD is a "specialist".

As for the getting hurt thing, there are numerous WRs in the NFL who match RD's metrics but who are allowed to do sooooooo much more than he is, including going across the middle. Antonio Brown weighs 180 lbs. I really, REALLY hope that Gus doesn't actually share this mentality of protecting smaller guys. But I guess it makes as much sense as any other explanation for why he makes these bizarre decisions. 

Did you watch our QB this year?  ....he was far more accurate on those quick outs than any other play....basically throwing to a guy who was standing still waiting on the ball....saw somewhere that JS had almost an 80% completion rate on those.  The main weakness for us was poor blocking by the WRs to give RD a moment to break with the ball. 

JS threw over the middle to other receivers with probably less than 50%  completion rate.   RD was the "sure thing"  for a handful or yards and an occasional break out.   Tunnel screens and things like it are widely used all over college football...not just by Gus. 

And nothing wrong with being a specialist....football is full of them,  third down pass receivers, third down pass rushers, punters, nickel backs,  kickers and even some guys like Stove who basically ran the sweep.   RD had a role with the team and did it well...congrats to him for his contributions. 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/college-football-washington-state-offense-so-dangerous-air-raid-luke-falk

[McLoofus 35,182]

57 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Did you watch our QB this year?  ....he was far more accurate on those quick outs than any other play....basically throwing to a guy who was standing still waiting on the ball....saw somewhere that JS had almost an 80% completion rate on those.  The main weakness for us was poor blocking by the WRs to give RD a moment to break with the ball. 

JS threw over the middle to other receivers with probably less than 50%  completion rate.   RD was the "sure thing"  for a handful or yards and an occasional break out.   Tunnel screens and things like it are widely used all over college football...not just by Gus. 

And nothing wrong with being a specialist....football is full of them,  third down pass receivers, third down pass rushers, punters, nickel backs,  kickers and even some guys like Stove who basically ran the sweep.   RD had a role with the team and did it well...congrats to him for his contributions. 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/college-football-washington-state-offense-so-dangerous-air-raid-luke-falk

So your take away is that we didn't throw across the middle because Jarrett stidham wasn't accurate enough at those passes? 

Interesting that a team that has constantly thrown to guys like Wes Welker and Julian Edelman across the middle for over a decade just drafted him and picked up Ryan Davis as an undrafted free agent. Interesting that a team like that would draft a quarterback who is inaccurate on those passes and sign a guy who is built similarly to several of their receivers and even one of their running backs but who is too small and fragile to catch those passes. A team, by the way, which is famous for finding guys that they can use in versatile ways. So versatile, in fact, that their tight ends block AND catch! Even across the middle! Kind of like CJ uzomah started doing once he got to Cincinnati.

And of course there are specialists in college football. And that has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with whether or not Ryan Davis should have been one at Auburn or if Gus has a tendency to oversimplify his players' roles on offense. You know this already, though.

Edited May 6, 2019 by McLoofus

[SlocombTiger 106]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

So your take away is that we didn't throw across the middle because Jarrett stidham wasn't accurate enough at those passes? 

Interesting that a team that has constantly thrown to guys like Wes Welker and Julian Edelman across the middle for over a decade just drafted him and picked up Ryan Davis as an undrafted free agent. Interesting that a team like that would draft a quarterback who is inaccurate on those passes and sign a guy who is built similarly to several of their receivers and even one of their running backs but who is too small and fragile to catch those passes. A team, by the way, which is famous for finding guys that they can use in versatile ways. So versatile, in fact, that their tight ends block AND catch! Even across the middle! Kind of like CJ uzomah started doing once he got to Cincinnati.

And of course there are specialists in college football. And that has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with whether or not Ryan Davis should have been one at Auburn or if Gus has a tendency to oversimplify his players' roles on offense. You know this already, though.

Ouch..

Drop the mic...

 

[StatTiger 3,188]

12 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

Thanks Stat!

Where does Ryan Davis fall into your all-time favorite AU WRs in your lifetime?

For me he’s top 5 along with Frank Sanders, Lawyer Tillman, Courtney Taylor, and Ronney Daniels.   (Terry Beasley was before my time)

He would not be in my top-5 but primarily the way he was utilized. As others have commented, I also believe Davis should have been utilized more on crossing routes, which would have certainly improved his yards per catch. It is what it is but I would place him in my top-5 of "role players". He was a hard-nosed player and certainly made the most of his opportunity. The fact I took the time to make this video clip should reveal how important I believe he was to Auburn.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Man, it would be something to see us use Stove and/or Hastings and/or Schwartz the way the Patriots used Welker and continue to use Edelman. 

 

[SlocombTiger 106]

31 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Man, it would be something to see us use Stove and/or Hastings and/or Schwartz the way the Patriots used Welker and continue to use Edelman. 

 

Yes yes yes. 

[toddc 13,194]

His yac was a thing of beauty and the purpose for using him in so many bubble screens! I think NEPats saw the same thing and I’ll bet they use him in similar ways when all is said and done.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, toddc said:

His yac was a thing of beauty and the purpose for using him in so many bubble screens! I think NEPats saw the same thing and I’ll bet they use him in similar ways when all is said and done.

They don't have guys that only do one thing. 

For example, they use their running backs for most of their screen passes. Dion Lewis did everything that RD did at Auburn plus a lot of other stuff.

Everybody knows why we used RD the way that we did. What nobody knows is why we didn't let him do other things, too. Especially things that we didn't use anybody to do.

[toddc 13,194]

11 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

They don't have guys that only do one thing. 

For example, they use their running backs for most of their screen passes. Dion Lewis did everything that RD did at Auburn plus a lot of other stuff.

Everybody knows why we used RD the way that we did. What nobody knows is why we didn't let him do other things, too. Especially things that we didn't use anybody to do.

I said “similar “ ways, not only one thing! I guess we’ll see how they use him when he starts playing. I’m one of those who wish we used him in more packages, but he still thrived and got drafted by the best team in NFL football. It’s only conjecture to say he would’ve done better if thrown to in the middle of the field. I don’t think he would’ve been drafted any higher than he was, and I think he hit his ceiling where he was drafted.

[SlocombTiger 106]

43 minutes ago, toddc said:

His yac was a thing of beauty and the purpose for using him in so many bubble screens! I think NEPats saw the same thing and I’ll bet they use him in similar ways when all is said and done.

His yac was NOT  a thing of beauty in the games that I watched. And it wasn’t his fault. RD was hung out to dry by play design. When he was able to break one it was a thing of beauty but he averaged 8.7 ypc. Think about that for a second. In AUBURN history...history...the top 20 receivers yards per catch RD 8.7...the next LOWEST yards per catch is 12.9. I'm trying to find RD stats for every game that shows EVERY catch. I had it pulled up before and it was amazing how many catches he had for 2,3,4 yards or negative yardage. There's a reason he is number 1 in receptions and number 14 in yardage. 

I HATE THE WR SCREEN!!!

WORST PLAY IN FOOTBALL!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!

[toddc 13,194]

9 minutes ago, SlocombTiger said:

His yac was NOT  a thing of beauty in the games that I watched. And it wasn’t his fault. RD was hung out to dry by play design. When he was able to break one it was a thing of beauty but he averaged 8.7 ypc. Think about that for a second. In AUBURN history...history...the top 20 receivers yards per catch RD 8.7...the next LOWEST yards per catch is 12.9. I'm trying to find RD stats for every game that shows EVERY catch. I had it pulled up before and it was amazing how many catches he had for 2,3,4 yards or negative yardage. There's a reason he is number 1 in receptions and number 14 in yardage. 

I HATE THE WR SCREEN!!!

WORST PLAY IN FOOTBALL!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!

Did you watch the video? That’s what the response I gave was to, the video which is the op of this particular post.

Strengths in his draft report—. He mainly operated in the short/quick pass game but showed good athleticism and elusiveness to gain yards after the catch.

Edited May 7, 2019 by toddc

[SlocombTiger 106]

28 minutes ago, toddc said:

Did you watch the video? That’s what the response I gave was to, the video which is the op of this particular post.

Strengths in his draft report—. He mainly operated in the short/quick pass game but showed good athleticism and elusiveness to gain yards after the catch.

My apologies if I misunderstood your point. 

WAR EAGLE!!!