Buried in another thread so I thought I’d repost it here. Thoughts?
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I think there are primarily three issues hindering the passing game (which imo isn’t bad but also isn’t as good as it could be):
1) JJ is still young. JJ often doesn’t see open receivers. And without knowing his progression and read that could be play design, but far too often (imo) it’s a guy sitting in the middle of the field at an intermediate depth (8-12 yards). Maybe he’s been told not to throw to the middle of the field. Maybe the play is designed for him to come off that read too quickly. Who knows? But it’s been happening all season and MSU’s cover 3 left it open a lot - they knew he wouldn’t throw there.
2) Over-reliance on crossing routes. I think UM’s route design too-often signals where the ball is going. The DBs are often switching off on crossing routes which negates why they’re used - to get the defender a step behind the receiver. And it’s not as if we’re using rub routes like Ohio State relies on (ignoring their blatant OPI 50% of the time). UM seems to be more successful on option routes as far as my eyes can see (of course, some of our receivers run options routes better than others which is an issue).
3) Refusal to throw so-called 50/50 balls. If our WRs are as good as we think they are, then you trust Wilson/Bell/Johnson/Anthony to go up and get a 50/50 ball a couple times a game. We seemingly refuse to throw them at all. You need to be willing to throw a “go up and get it” ball when faced with one-high or zero coverage. We aren’t wiling.
All things I think UM can improve - especially as JJ gets more experience (and sees more coverages). I do like that they’ve taken advantage of putting him on the run with multiple receivers in his window. He’s left a few yards on the field on those but that’s ok because they’re going for positive yards and first downs.
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I think there are primarily three issues hindering the passing game (which imo isn’t bad but also isn’t as good as it could be):
1) JJ is still young. JJ often doesn’t see open receivers. And without knowing his progression and read that could be play design, but far too often (imo) it’s a guy sitting in the middle of the field at an intermediate depth (8-12 yards). Maybe he’s been told not to throw to the middle of the field. Maybe the play is designed for him to come off that read too quickly. Who knows? But it’s been happening all season and MSU’s cover 3 left it open a lot - they knew he wouldn’t throw there.
2) Over-reliance on crossing routes. I think UM’s route design too-often signals where the ball is going. The DBs are often switching off on crossing routes which negates why they’re used - to get the defender a step behind the receiver. And it’s not as if we’re using rub routes like Ohio State relies on (ignoring their blatant OPI 50% of the time). UM seems to be more successful on option routes as far as my eyes can see (of course, some of our receivers run options routes better than others which is an issue).
3) Refusal to throw so-called 50/50 balls. If our WRs are as good as we think they are, then you trust Wilson/Bell/Johnson/Anthony to go up and get a 50/50 ball a couple times a game. We seemingly refuse to throw them at all. You need to be willing to throw a “go up and get it” ball when faced with one-high or zero coverage. We aren’t wiling.
All things I think UM can improve - especially as JJ gets more experience (and sees more coverages). I do like that they’ve taken advantage of putting him on the run with multiple receivers in his window. He’s left a few yards on the field on those but that’s ok because they’re going for positive yards and first downs.
