Panthadad2
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I really like that idea. Koi is certainly contributing this year, but I feel he would be much more valuable on offense this year, given how the offense is underperforming. I'd be pleased to see Koi take more reps, maybe the majority or all of his reps, on Offense at WR--especially against Oregon--to use his speed and dynamism. We need more downfield passes to open thing up a bit for our mediocre run game and to keep defenses honest. We've got a lot of talent at safety; we could really use more athleticism and football IQ at WR.
Our contested catch success ratio is ridiculously low. Koi has the ability to be an above 50/50 contested catch guy, and would no doubt draw some PI calls as well. Drake could have the green light to go downfield to Koi whenever there was single man coverage with no safety on top?? Deploying Koi this way (WR first) might change the whole WR set up, taking some pressure off of Javon Tracy (who has shown flashes) and raising up other talented newbies such as Jalen Smith and Malachi Colman, who might draw less attention from the defense.
This would be a radical mid-season shift, but it could be something really positive and jolt the offense awake. We've got one of the least effective offenses in the B1G. Move some more talent over to it. A more effective offense would help our defense, which is doing some amazing things on Sacks and TFLs, but is simply on the field for too long stretches as the game wears on. Our defense needs fewer three-and-outs from our offense. Mid-season shake-ups are rare, but the Robb Smith changed worked ... just sayin'.
In other news, I'd start to employ our true Frosh RBs now. They've got fresh legs and both are talented. Give them some meaningful battle reps. Use them against Oregon and NWern (which I think might preserve their red-shirts, if that is a deal for PJ). Rest them against the Badgers. God help us if we need them against the Badgers.
Receiver performance is definitely a huge issue this year. Brockington is the only WR that's had any success at catching contested balls. TEs Geers and Biber have been OK. Does PJ need to personally take over the receiver room over the bye and work on this?
If I'm a D Coordinator against MN, I'm playing tight physical man-to-man until the receivers prove they can catch a ball or the refs start throwing flags (hasn't happened much this year). Playing zone is a gift to MN as Lindsey has been throwing good balls for the most part.
