STrib: Gophers passing attack is lagging. So what's been going wrong?; No WR has caught at TD pass in more than a month

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BleedGopher

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per Randy:

The contrast is glaring.

On Nov. 9, 2019, wide receivers Rashod Bateman, Tyler Johnson and Chris Autman-Bell combined to catch 17 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns as the Gophers beat No. 5 Penn State 31-26. Fans stormed the field in P.J. Fleck's signature win as Minnesota's coach.

Then last Saturday, Mike Brown-Stephens and Le'Meke Brockington were the only Gophers wide receivers to catch the football, combining for three receptions for 88 yards in a 45-17 loss at No. 16 Penn State. This time, it was Nittany Lions fans reveling.

Minnesota's offense has dried up during its three-game skid, scoring only 10, 14 and 17 points in losses to Purdue, Illinois and Penn State. The passing game has produced only one touchdown, on a catch by tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. Gophers wide receivers haven't visited the end zone since Daniel Jackson had two TD catches on Sept. 24 at Michigan State.

What's happened with the Gophers wideouts? There's not one simple answer, rather a combination of circumstances that make that November Saturday seem like so long ago.

"We've gotta be able to create separation, and then we've gotta be able to make the plays that present themselves,'' said Fleck, whose team is host to Rutgers on Saturday. "When we're able to catch the ball in traffic and make plays, we're really good.''

www.startribune.com

Gophers passing attack is lagging. So what's been going wrong?

No Minnesota wide receiver has caught a touchdown pass in more than a month, a shortcoming even more glaring when fans look back only a few years to when Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson were stars.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Wright and CrAB are only 2 WR's over 6'0" that have played. With them out we have no options.

We have no other WR's over 6'0 on the roster except for a Walk-on FR from Fairmont and Athan's brother Dino.
 





A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
My concern is if you line up with an obvious passing set-up ... the OL melts immediately and the QB has like half a second to make a throw.
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you can still run inside/outside zone in spread formations it can actually help an o line because less guys are in the box
 

BigGopher69 said:
you can still run inside/outside zone in spread formations it can actually help an o line because less guys are in the box
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If QB is not a threat to pull and keep -- ie, Tanner -- then backside DE can fly in and chase it down.

In such formations, the DE can also line up really wide, and that's a really tough ask to make the OT reach that guy on an outside zone to let the RB actually get around it.
 


Gophers_4life said:
If QB is not a threat to pull and keep -- ie, Tanner -- then backside DE can fly in and chase it down.

In such formations, the DE can also line up really wide, and that's a really tough ask to make the OT reach that guy on an outside zone to let the RB actually get around it.
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You don't need a speedster to pull on a zone play to keep the defense honest! Really wide DEs= inside zone or get a body on him push him to the sideline and cut off the block. In formations with multiple TEs more guys are in the box the safetys walk down, OLB move to the edge of the LOS basically turning to a wide DE anyway.
 



BigGopher69 said:
you can still run inside/outside zone in spread formations it can actually help an o line because less guys are in the box
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Yeah I'm not opposed to it. I just don't know how adaptable our players really are at this point.

I'm kinda back to where I was before the season started and thinking we lost a lot more last year than we thought and these guys aren't as flexible / need more work.
 

Someone needs to do their best impersonation of "Slant Master" Chris Autman-Bell. Spann-Ford made hay when he got behind the linebackers.
 

BigGopher69 said:
You don't need a speedster to pull on a zone play to keep the defense honest! Really wide DEs= inside zone or get a body on him push him to the sideline and cut off the block. In formations with multiple TEs more guys are in the box the safetys walk down, OLB move to the edge of the LOS basically turning to a wide DE anyway.
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Heck, borrow from the Cowboys. Split the TE(s) wide and send the TE(s) in motion and have them slant off when the ball is snapped. We already send them in motion to assist in sealing off the DT's/ DE's.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Wright and CrAB are only 2 WR's over 6'0" that have played. With them out we have no options.

We have no other WR's over 6'0 on the roster except for a Walk-on FR from Fairmont and Athan's brother Dino.
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I don't buy that as an excuse. Charlie Jones is listed at 6 foot and he has 72 receptions in 8 games so far this year. I believe he was also a 2 star player coming out of high school. Rondale Moore was listed at 5'7" and had 114 receptions as a freshman at Purdue. The great David Bell (again Purdue) was only listed at 6'1".
 




cjbfbp said:
I don't buy that as an excuse. Charlie Jones is listed at 6 foot and he has 72 receptions in 8 games so far this year. I believe he was also a 2 star player coming out of high school. Rondale Moore was listed at 5'7" and had 114 receptions as a freshman at Purdue. The great David Bell (again Purdue) was only listed at 6'1".
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While I agree with you, Bell and Moore have great quickness/ speed.
 

One thing that I do see missing from the "healthy" receivers is the ability to play through contact. In 2019, all three were great at this. Dare I say T.J. was elite!
 

STPGopher said:
Someone needs to do their best impersonation of "Slant Master" Chris Autman-Bell. Spann-Ford made hay when he got behind the linebackers.
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Crab has never caught more than 36 balls in a season and was on pace for 44 this season when he went down.

For comparison
In 2019
Bateman had 60 and Johnson had 86 (in 13 games mind you)

We may have ended up having these issues even with Crab
Not to this severity. But I’m not convinced the Crab injury is the whole problem. Bigger problem O Line and that Crab was our #1, not our #2
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't buy that as an excuse. Charlie Jones is listed at 6 foot and he has 72 receptions in 8 games so far this year. I believe he was also a 2 star player coming out of high school. Rondale Moore was listed at 5'7" and had 114 receptions as a freshman at Purdue. The great David Bell (again Purdue) was only listed at 6'1".
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That’s true, If we had 2 nfl caliber sub 6’ wideouts we wouldn’t have this issue. I agree with you
 
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Our sub 6’ WRs this year seem to wait for the pass to find their hands. They don’t often climb the ladder to grab the pass at it’s highest point. KJ Mays wasn’t a tall receiver, but he went up and fought for the ball. Football is a game of inches. If TJ didn’t go up to high point a few dozen balls, 2019 might have had a few more losses.

The TD PSU scored against Terrell in an example. Terrell had great position and went up very well for the ball. But the PSU guy jumped “out of the gym” and got the ball a few inches above Terrell’s fingertips. Maybe CAB or Dylan W make that catch for us, but none of our other WRs do.
 
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Some guy said:
That’s true, If we had 2 nfl caliber sub 6’ wideouts we wouldn’t have this issue. I agree with you
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Well, Charlie Jones may not be an NFL receiver. We'll see.
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't buy that as an excuse. Charlie Jones is listed at 6 foot and he has 72 receptions in 8 games so far this year. I believe he was also a 2 star player coming out of high school. Rondale Moore was listed at 5'7" and had 114 receptions as a freshman at Purdue. The great David Bell (again Purdue) was only listed at 6'1".
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They’re elite. And I’m not saying it’s the #1 reason, but a factor.

The #1 issue is we can’t get any rhythm or consistency. Non of our guys are elite.
 

Speed isn't everything, but it helps to have at least one deep threat. If you don't have a guy who can stretch the defense, that allows the defense to creep up and take away the shorter routes - the slants, drags and crossing patterns. in 2019, the threat of Bateman deep opened up routes for Johnson and CrAB.

#1 job in the portal is to find a WR with legit 4.4 level speed. Hopefully, find a guy with speed who can also run routes and catch the ball.
 

cjbfbp said:
Well, Charlie Jones may not be an NFL receiver. We'll see.
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High draft pick. Same skills as a guy in Purple who has had a very productive NFL career. Charlie's a little quicker though, or at least younger.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Speed isn't everything, but it helps to have at least one deep threat. If you don't have a guy who can stretch the defense, that allows the defense to creep up and take away the shorter routes - the slants, drags and crossing patterns. in 2019, the threat of Bateman deep opened up routes for Johnson and CrAB.

#1 job in the portal is to find a WR with legit 4.4 level speed. Hopefully, find a guy with speed who can also run routes and catch the ball.
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A guy like Dylan Wright who's not like Dylan Wright.
 


Beyond zero TDs, our WRs caught only one pass against Illinois and three passes against PSU. A total of four completed passes to our WR group in the past two games. Something has gone off the rails.
 

Who is in charge of recruiting these slow, short wide receivers who also can’t catch the ball? :)
 


Dakota2 said:
High draft pick. Same skills as a guy in Purple who has had a very productive NFL career. Charlie's a little quicker though, or at least younger.
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You do realize Thielen at one point ran a 4.44 40 yard dash? He was legit fast. Maybe not at his current age, but at his peak he was very fast.
 

PJ is making the same mistakes that got Chryst made redundant.
Not being adaptable to take what the defense gives you and stubbornly sticking to TOP and "establishing the run" despite the defense being stacked at the line of scrimmage.
Then only passing on obvious passing downs with an OL that has problems protecting the passer.
Mertz and the WI offense have thrived by having Chryst gone.
 

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