WR blocking

[CrabHusker]

Totally agree. I think too that it’s hard to make players understand that if they do miss or have a bad fit, don’t go bad to worse. Don’t grab. Don’t chase. Find the next guy in your line of vision and take him out of the play. It’s not ideal. But it saves the penalty yards and may lead to something special if the RB can make someone miss.

Agree, but the bolded seems to be another unicorn we’re chasing right now.

 

[ReasonablyRed]

Totally agree. I think too that it’s hard to make players understand that if they do miss or have a bad fit, don’t go bad to worse. Don’t grab. Don’t chase. Find the next guy in your line of vision and take him out of the play. It’s not ideal. But it saves the penalty yards and may lead to something special if the RB can make someone miss.

Exactly!
OSU's left tackle Zen Michalski was getting beat like a rented mule, got away with some holding calls and limited his damage ( with a little help from the stripes).

 

[Huskerthom]

What are reasons:

My theory, DBs don't respect or fear the speed/routes so they can sit and the run keys longer.

Fins some speed and burn them deep, plants, and good man beaters and they will have to backpedal or open their hips inviting some blockingyo work.

Thoughts?

I agree with your overarching point. (WR blocking stinks) Do not agree with the why. At least I believe that is not the biggest reason. Remember when the coaches were talking about no block, no rock. Yeah they have not stuck to that. The only WR I have seen throw a block all year was Chi in one of the preseason videos. So if no blocking is happening. Whay are these WR playing?

 

[HuskerBred]

I agree with your overarching point. (WR blocking stinks) Do not agree with the why. At least I believe that is not the biggest reason. Remember when the coaches were talking about no block, no rock. Yeah they have not stuck to that. The only WR I have seen throw a block all year was Chi in one of the preseason videos. So if no blocking is happening. Whay are these WR playing?

The short answer is that they need the best pass catchers on the field at all times, or the offense will grind to a halt. In a perfect world — with a deep WR room, which they don’t have yet — a missed block gets you some pine time. But they need to trade B receiving skills for D+ blocking on the perimeter.

 

[Brew City Husker]

The short answer is that they need the best pass catchers on the field at all times, or the offense will grind to a halt. In a perfect world — with a deep WR room, which they don’t have yet — a missed block gets you some pine time. But they need to trade B receiving skills for D+ blocking on the perimeter.

If they know they have D+ blockers on the perimeter, why are they running plays where perimeter blocking is so important? Doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[HuskerBred]

If they know they have D+ blockers on the perimeter, why are they running plays where perimeter blocking is so important? Doesn’t make sense to me.

I think they’re all more capable than D+ but struggling with it, obviously. Fill in the blank on any combo of a dozen reasons we’ve been discussing, from effort to “too much” effort to coaching, etc. and they keep running it imho because, like a starting pitcher, they need to at least show the breaking ball once in a while. Even if it’s not very good. They’re trying to slow down the A/B gap blitzes and take some heat off DR.

 

[Brew City Husker]

I think they’re all more capable than D+ but struggling with it, obviously. Fill in the blank on any combo of a dozen reasons we’ve been discussing, from effort to “too much” effort to coaching, etc. and they keep running it imho because, like a starting pitcher, they need to at least show the breaking ball once in a while. Even if it’s not very good. They’re trying to slow down the A/B gap blitzes and take some heat off DR.

Need to be really careful showing a bad curve to a good hitter.

 

[HuskerBred]

100%. I’d start walking up backers A gap, drop them, and jump the bubble. But they seem to be working on it. I actually think it’s as much about the timing and accuracy of the snap to DR and DR’s throw as it is the block. Every .1 second counts.

 

[Scrollsker]

I’ll give us a breather from picking on the WR coach — without really knowing what we’re talking about — to point out that the blocking on the perimeter by WRs is about as difficult as it gets. Huskers were spoiled for decades by wideouts who blocked first, second, and third — and then ran a pass pattern a few times per game. And some of the better receivers were terrific blockers too.

Three factors make it a chore: 1) you’re in space; 2) the guys getting blocked are often the best athletes on the field; and 3) the blocks generally need to be held for a longer time. When I watch the tape, guys are being “grabby” when they start losing contact. What I’d like to see the WRs do (and the TEs on the edge) is not worry about direction and focus on contact. If the guy wants to go left, take him left at 100 mph. Don’t try to do anything else with him because you’ll lose him and start clutching. Just make contact, stay squared up, and dance with him close until the whistle. Let the ball carrier figure it out.

If it's Barney....he'll still cut outside. Our runners make some head scratching choices when it comes to taking yardage that's there vs. What they want to do with the ball.

 

[HuskerBred]

If it's Barney....he'll still cut outside. Our runners make some head scratching choices when it comes to taking yardage that's there vs. What they want to do with the ball.

Definitely another factor. I also think it wouldn’t hurt for the WRs (or TEs) to just go north/south most of the time, aiming for three yards+ and the blocking WR just get a piece of the DB. It’s not glamorous but the whole point is that the running game struggles at times and they need to take heat off/to change up and work the perimeter. A short gain mostly accomplishes what a better running game against pressure would do anyway. It’s just a long handoff. So, how about 2nd and 8 instead of 2nd and 20, after a grab and a flag. Just to mix it up. I don’t think it’s a home run play unless the guy catching it is really special and gets space.

 

[Captkenny]

If they know they have D+ blockers on the perimeter, why are they running plays where perimeter blocking is so important? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Well, the reason they are calling these perimeter plays, especially the screens, is to slow down the pass rush. They continue to try to run those plays even when they get shut down because they don’t really have a viable alternative that they can run better. The screens are the right play for the circumstance, they just have not executed. If they could execute another type of play to combat the blitzes, or just the pass rush, they would.

 

[Brew City Husker]

Well, the reason they are calling these perimeter plays, especially the screens, is to slow down the pass rush. They continue to try to run those plays even when they get shut down because they don’t really have a viable alternative that they can run better. The screens are the right play for the circumstance, they just have not executed. If they could execute another type of play to combat the blitzes, or just the pass rush, they would.

Is running the ball an effective way to slow down the pass rush? Are we that bad at running it that this isn’t an alternative to consider. (I”nm afraid of the answer)

 

[WhataboutBob99]

Well if you watch the Ohio State game again you can see that our #4 is really struggling to block again. I really like him but we should not be throwing to his side with our screen passes. Poor kid is really struggling.

 

[Nehunter88]

Definitely another factor. I also think it wouldn’t hurt for the WRs (or TEs) to just go north/south most of the time, aiming for three yards+ and the blocking WR just get a piece of the DB. It’s not glamorous but the whole point is that the running game struggles at times and they need to take heat off/to change up and work the perimeter. A short gain mostly accomplishes what a better running game against pressure would do anyway. It’s just a long handoff. So, how about 2nd and 8 instead of 2nd and 20, after a grab and a flag. Just to mix it up. I don’t think it’s a home run play unless the guy catching it is really special and gets space.

Didn't they change or adjust the screen game in the second half of the Ohio State game. They still did some screen passes but not the bubble screen they couldn't block. Hitting the screen but cutting up inside of the WR. I seem to remember something like that.

 

[Captkenny]

Is running the ball an effective way to slow down the pass rush? Are we that bad at running it that this isn’t an alternative to consider. (I”nm afraid of the answer)

Absolutely it would be an effective way to slow down the pass rush. But when there is any kind of pressure, we can’t run the ball. It will come with time, but it’s just not there. So we try sweeps and screen passes to get the ball away from the LOS.

But remember, OSU is a pretty good defense. Just because they can blow up our run and our screens doesn’t mean everyone will. I will be holding my breath from the opening kickoff Saturday to the final play.