CadaverDawg
09-20-2015, 02:59 PM
I have now watched 3 weeks of college football, and a few things have jumped out at me. First was our inability to move the ball early on LSU, and the lack of Dak in our run game. Another was seeing how most teams try to get the ball in their playmaker's hands as much as possible. And then yesterday, I noticed just how many playmakers we have on our team.
Now before I get into this, I define playmakers in different ways, but today I'm talking about guys that can take over a game or take any touch to the house.
When you look at our team right now, I see the following guys as offensive "playmakers"...
Dak Prescott
DeRunnya Wilson
Fred Ross
Gabe Myles
Donald Gray
Malik Dear
A few guys I would put just on the verge of playmaker status, but in different ways....
Dontavian Lee
Brandon Holloway
Gus Walley/Justin Johnson
Fred Brown
Notice there are roughly 5-6 "playmakers" on our offense, and think about how many of them get touches each game.
Notice one of the guys NOT on the "playmakers" list, is Ashton Shumpert. Yet we have given Shumpert the ball on the ground or through the air about 10-12 times PER GAME so far this season. When you only have a certain number of offensive touches each game, why would you waste so many of those touches on guys that do not have the ability to make a big play? I'm not saying we should never throw to Gus Walley, for example, or people like that, because we do need to mix it up, and they are playmakers in certain spots......but giving a non-playmaker 10-12+ touches per game is minimizing our offensive output.
Basically, we should want the 5-6 guys on that first list being the main ones touching the ball each game, and we want them ALL to at least get SOME touches each game. The crazy thing about that, we can start 5 of those 6 at the same time if we want to, but we don't. Gray, Myles, and Dear got their 1st meaningful touches all year in game THREE, and our #1 playmaker has been handcuffed for the majority of the first 3 games as well.
Dan Mullen is a great coach, and I'm not saying he isn't. However, it concerns me that we have guys on our team like Donald Gray that Mullen sees daily in practice, and it takes 3 games for him to touch the ball for the first time. That's borderline insanity.
I do not want guys starting that aren't "ready".....but then again, define ready. Do I want Dear in there if we are going to be calling a lot of pass plays that require RB protection, if he isn't a good blocking RB? Of course not. But at the same time, can we not game plan around his weaknesses if it means getting a playmaker on the field and putting the ball in his hands some?
Do I want Donald Gray out there trying to run pass routes that he doesn't have knowledge of yet, risking an INT? Of course not. But can we not game plan around the routes that he DOES know, and put him in there for those plays each game?
It's time for us to quit handcuffing our offense and to get our best playmakers on the damn field. Bring in Shumpert on obvious passing downs if you need a good blocking RB....who cares if the defense knows we're passing when he comes in...that's why it's an "obvious passing down". Bring in Fred Brown if you're about to call a few complex routes in a key moment to try and string a few first downs together....he isn't going to hurt us one bit (and is a decent playmaker himself). But during the course of the game when you are just needing to score, and make plays, get Dear and Gray in there, because they have the ability to do something big every time they touch it.
I know it's early, and I know we just played a cupcake. So this could possibly change throughout the season. But right now, If we are truly trying to maximize our offensive output, this should be the starters at the skill positions...
QB - Dak
RB - Dear/Lee
TE - Walley/Johnson
WR - Wilson
WR - Gray
Slot - Ross
I know that Mullen knows a lot more than I do, However, we ALL know that Shumpert isn't lightning in a bottle, so why are we letting him have a quarter of our offensive snaps each game? Can you imagine what we do early against LSU if the first 8 touches by Shumpert were spread out amongst those "playmakers" in space?
Just my thoughts. This isn't the old MSU where you have to grind it out because you don't have a guy that can take over a game. We have more than one of those guys, so let's let them do it. Did I mention I like Malik Dear and Donald Gray?
Hail Damn State.
Now before I get into this, I define playmakers in different ways, but today I'm talking about guys that can take over a game or take any touch to the house.
When you look at our team right now, I see the following guys as offensive "playmakers"...
Dak Prescott
DeRunnya Wilson
Fred Ross
Gabe Myles
Donald Gray
Malik Dear
A few guys I would put just on the verge of playmaker status, but in different ways....
Dontavian Lee
Brandon Holloway
Gus Walley/Justin Johnson
Fred Brown
Notice there are roughly 5-6 "playmakers" on our offense, and think about how many of them get touches each game.
Notice one of the guys NOT on the "playmakers" list, is Ashton Shumpert. Yet we have given Shumpert the ball on the ground or through the air about 10-12 times PER GAME so far this season. When you only have a certain number of offensive touches each game, why would you waste so many of those touches on guys that do not have the ability to make a big play? I'm not saying we should never throw to Gus Walley, for example, or people like that, because we do need to mix it up, and they are playmakers in certain spots......but giving a non-playmaker 10-12+ touches per game is minimizing our offensive output.
Basically, we should want the 5-6 guys on that first list being the main ones touching the ball each game, and we want them ALL to at least get SOME touches each game. The crazy thing about that, we can start 5 of those 6 at the same time if we want to, but we don't. Gray, Myles, and Dear got their 1st meaningful touches all year in game THREE, and our #1 playmaker has been handcuffed for the majority of the first 3 games as well.
Dan Mullen is a great coach, and I'm not saying he isn't. However, it concerns me that we have guys on our team like Donald Gray that Mullen sees daily in practice, and it takes 3 games for him to touch the ball for the first time. That's borderline insanity.
I do not want guys starting that aren't "ready".....but then again, define ready. Do I want Dear in there if we are going to be calling a lot of pass plays that require RB protection, if he isn't a good blocking RB? Of course not. But at the same time, can we not game plan around his weaknesses if it means getting a playmaker on the field and putting the ball in his hands some?
Do I want Donald Gray out there trying to run pass routes that he doesn't have knowledge of yet, risking an INT? Of course not. But can we not game plan around the routes that he DOES know, and put him in there for those plays each game?
It's time for us to quit handcuffing our offense and to get our best playmakers on the damn field. Bring in Shumpert on obvious passing downs if you need a good blocking RB....who cares if the defense knows we're passing when he comes in...that's why it's an "obvious passing down". Bring in Fred Brown if you're about to call a few complex routes in a key moment to try and string a few first downs together....he isn't going to hurt us one bit (and is a decent playmaker himself). But during the course of the game when you are just needing to score, and make plays, get Dear and Gray in there, because they have the ability to do something big every time they touch it.
I know it's early, and I know we just played a cupcake. So this could possibly change throughout the season. But right now, If we are truly trying to maximize our offensive output, this should be the starters at the skill positions...
QB - Dak
RB - Dear/Lee
TE - Walley/Johnson
WR - Wilson
WR - Gray
Slot - Ross
I know that Mullen knows a lot more than I do, However, we ALL know that Shumpert isn't lightning in a bottle, so why are we letting him have a quarter of our offensive snaps each game? Can you imagine what we do early against LSU if the first 8 touches by Shumpert were spread out amongst those "playmakers" in space?
Just my thoughts. This isn't the old MSU where you have to grind it out because you don't have a guy that can take over a game. We have more than one of those guys, so let's let them do it. Did I mention I like Malik Dear and Donald Gray?
Hail Damn State.