I for one was losing all faith in this offense yesterday--and there is good cause but they are very correctable issues in my opinion. I re-watched every offensive snap (in slow-motion even) to grab an idea of what's really not working right now.
Air Force gave VERY unique looks for our offense and were absolutely begging us to beat them in the passing game (which we couldn't do..and didn't really try). Air Force sent 6 or 7 guys on most every pass. I actually thought all in all, blitz pickup was OK--not as bad as my initial thought.
It's obvious but this offense is stuck and until we can start testing defense downfield--it's going to hurt the run game. Air Force had their safeties flying downhill so even when we had everyone blocked up front, we didn't have enough hats to break off much past 3 yards.
Also, this was a VERY vanilla gameplan. We ran Gun Doubles with a Wing or TE on 27.5% of our plays. And overall only used (to my count) about 9 different sets in this game which I believe is much lower number than usual. Shifts and motions as well was very simple in comparison to a typical Harbaugh offense. I think we will see things look quite a bit different in the coming weeks.
Apologies in advance for the rambling..
The OL:
Of all the inefficiencies up front, Bredeson is actually the most disappointing for me. His pad level is not where it needs to be and yesterday there were several mix-ups between him an Kugler while picking up crossing LB's. Kugler does a decent job of getting in the way.
Cole played well, one pressure credited to him was from a stunt that came his way with an additional edge blitzer...someone was going to come free. He's easily our most consistent player on offense.
Ulizio is rough right now. He has moments where he's a mauler in the run game but he struggles quite a bit with any stunting or blitz pickup. I tallied 5 different moments where we executed everything nicely in the run game and he just needed to pickup a blitzer and misses or gets beat inside by his guy. I'm sure it will come in time but he has a ways to go. Beat badly on the one sack, came right around his outside shoulder--too slow to react.
Onwenu I thought had solid moments and is pretty good in the run game but has issues finding his target when he pulls. He was beat early on a stunt in the pass game. Coaches seem to want him removed first with Runyan but I think he's going to be alright. Can Runyan play RT? Or move Runyan to LG and Bredeson to RT?
TEs/WRs:
Mckeon is a moose. Going to be a hell of a player, such an important part of our run game right now. Great at kickouts and chip blocks--also killing dudes on the edge. I had one truly negative play for him on a fly sweep to McDoom he got beat outside but those are becoming too predictable anyways.
Gentry is soft. Real soft. I guess these are desperate measures for us to need him in-line..should only be used in FLEX formations. I'd say move Poggi to that role until Wheatley can be back because it costs us too much in the run game. We really miss Asiasi at this point.
Bunting is what he is, which is a hard nosed blocker and he is a fine #2/3 TE in these stacked formations.
Hard to really get a feel for our WR's with the chemistry being off right now with Speight. Perry was open on several occasions but a couple of air-mailed balls cost us some opportunities. DPJ is learning but works well on these crossers where he can just use his athleticism to create plays.
Black is a nice player obviously and I think people are too hard on Crawford. I think he we will become a usable piece in the slot after Perry is gone. Skillset isn't built to be on the outside in my opinion.
RBS:
Short and sweet. I think Higdon is our most complete back but Isaac had some very good moments Saturday. He was actually making people miss in the backfield and creating something out of nothing and then other moments where his feet looked stuck in mud. The short yardage moments are most glaring, if we could put De'veons mentality into his body---wow...but that's been said a hundred times.
Higdon's pass protection was great, and clearly on that big first down pass to Black in the mid-4th quarter to help seal the game. Isaac was beaten earlier in the game on a similar blitz. Evans is still our purest runner and we will need him more and more as the year goes on so hopefully that fumble hasn't put him too deep in the doghouse.
QB:
Speight...patience is running thin but I think he's still our best option. He can help us win a conference title this year but right now the chemistry is off and his comfort in the pocket is as bad as it's ever been.
He clearly lost his comfort late in the 2nd quarter and didn't recover it the rest of the game. There were clear pockets most of the 2nd half (i know, didn't seem like it, but there was) and he flushed early or became locked on with a primary receiver. The throw in the 3rd where he forced a ball to Black (was almost picked) was tunnel vision in a nice pocket, Isaac was wide open underneath for a first down and he recklessly wobbled one down field.
Air Force was bringing all types of blitzes our way and sending safeties crashing on run downs. This is the way things will be until Wilton can prove the ability to make a play downfield. Whether it's a lack of trust or something Harbaugh teaches too strictly---he doesn't give receivers a chance on downfield throws. Redzone in particular isn't always going to provide wide open targets, I understand not turning the ball over in those situations but you need to take calculated chances. We have not done that.
All that said, he is a guy that can lead our offense to a conference title (believe it or not). But he needs to relax and start building back some confidence.
Air Force gave VERY unique looks for our offense and were absolutely begging us to beat them in the passing game (which we couldn't do..and didn't really try). Air Force sent 6 or 7 guys on most every pass. I actually thought all in all, blitz pickup was OK--not as bad as my initial thought.
It's obvious but this offense is stuck and until we can start testing defense downfield--it's going to hurt the run game. Air Force had their safeties flying downhill so even when we had everyone blocked up front, we didn't have enough hats to break off much past 3 yards.
Also, this was a VERY vanilla gameplan. We ran Gun Doubles with a Wing or TE on 27.5% of our plays. And overall only used (to my count) about 9 different sets in this game which I believe is much lower number than usual. Shifts and motions as well was very simple in comparison to a typical Harbaugh offense. I think we will see things look quite a bit different in the coming weeks.
Apologies in advance for the rambling..
The OL:
Of all the inefficiencies up front, Bredeson is actually the most disappointing for me. His pad level is not where it needs to be and yesterday there were several mix-ups between him an Kugler while picking up crossing LB's. Kugler does a decent job of getting in the way.
Cole played well, one pressure credited to him was from a stunt that came his way with an additional edge blitzer...someone was going to come free. He's easily our most consistent player on offense.
Ulizio is rough right now. He has moments where he's a mauler in the run game but he struggles quite a bit with any stunting or blitz pickup. I tallied 5 different moments where we executed everything nicely in the run game and he just needed to pickup a blitzer and misses or gets beat inside by his guy. I'm sure it will come in time but he has a ways to go. Beat badly on the one sack, came right around his outside shoulder--too slow to react.
Onwenu I thought had solid moments and is pretty good in the run game but has issues finding his target when he pulls. He was beat early on a stunt in the pass game. Coaches seem to want him removed first with Runyan but I think he's going to be alright. Can Runyan play RT? Or move Runyan to LG and Bredeson to RT?
TEs/WRs:
Mckeon is a moose. Going to be a hell of a player, such an important part of our run game right now. Great at kickouts and chip blocks--also killing dudes on the edge. I had one truly negative play for him on a fly sweep to McDoom he got beat outside but those are becoming too predictable anyways.
Gentry is soft. Real soft. I guess these are desperate measures for us to need him in-line..should only be used in FLEX formations. I'd say move Poggi to that role until Wheatley can be back because it costs us too much in the run game. We really miss Asiasi at this point.
Bunting is what he is, which is a hard nosed blocker and he is a fine #2/3 TE in these stacked formations.
Hard to really get a feel for our WR's with the chemistry being off right now with Speight. Perry was open on several occasions but a couple of air-mailed balls cost us some opportunities. DPJ is learning but works well on these crossers where he can just use his athleticism to create plays.
Black is a nice player obviously and I think people are too hard on Crawford. I think he we will become a usable piece in the slot after Perry is gone. Skillset isn't built to be on the outside in my opinion.
RBS:
Short and sweet. I think Higdon is our most complete back but Isaac had some very good moments Saturday. He was actually making people miss in the backfield and creating something out of nothing and then other moments where his feet looked stuck in mud. The short yardage moments are most glaring, if we could put De'veons mentality into his body---wow...but that's been said a hundred times.
Higdon's pass protection was great, and clearly on that big first down pass to Black in the mid-4th quarter to help seal the game. Isaac was beaten earlier in the game on a similar blitz. Evans is still our purest runner and we will need him more and more as the year goes on so hopefully that fumble hasn't put him too deep in the doghouse.
QB:
Speight...patience is running thin but I think he's still our best option. He can help us win a conference title this year but right now the chemistry is off and his comfort in the pocket is as bad as it's ever been.
He clearly lost his comfort late in the 2nd quarter and didn't recover it the rest of the game. There were clear pockets most of the 2nd half (i know, didn't seem like it, but there was) and he flushed early or became locked on with a primary receiver. The throw in the 3rd where he forced a ball to Black (was almost picked) was tunnel vision in a nice pocket, Isaac was wide open underneath for a first down and he recklessly wobbled one down field.
Air Force was bringing all types of blitzes our way and sending safeties crashing on run downs. This is the way things will be until Wilton can prove the ability to make a play downfield. Whether it's a lack of trust or something Harbaugh teaches too strictly---he doesn't give receivers a chance on downfield throws. Redzone in particular isn't always going to provide wide open targets, I understand not turning the ball over in those situations but you need to take calculated chances. We have not done that.
All that said, he is a guy that can lead our offense to a conference title (believe it or not). But he needs to relax and start building back some confidence.
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