I'd be interested in knowing how much of the blame for the lack of explosive passing plays goes in the following buckets : 1. lack of talent (specifically speed) at the WR position 2. A poorly constructed offense that either doesn't stress defenses with its route combinations or confuses them with motion/formation/tempo changes or 3. Overall offensive philosophy.
I thought a lot of this was honestly speed until I saw some combine testing. The Big 12 did something new this year and had a pro day/ combine in Dallas where players from all member schools could attend. A lot of the WR times there were not impressive from guys who made explosive plays for schools like Kansas, TCU, West Virginia, K State, etc. At the Gophers pro day, CrAB ran a 4.59 and Corey Crooms ran a 4.63. The best time from a WR who actually got playing time at that Big 12 combine was 4.51 and that was by a Kansas State kid who was only 5'7. These certainly are not wow times for WR's by any means but they were in line and/or faster than many of the times I saw across the country. Looking at the NFL combine and CrAB would have only finished ahead of 2 of the 30 invited participants. Gopher killer Isaiah Williams ran a 4.63 (identical to Crooms) and Keon Coleman ran a 4.61. This was CrAB after multiple serious injuries too. I still think a guy running say 4.45 or better is more of a need than a want, but I think you can make some big plays against all but the Alabama's and tOSU's of the world with guys running in the 4.6 range if your offense is creative enough.
Very wordy way of trying to answer my own question but my own thought is maybe 20% lack of talent/speed, 50% offensive construction and 30% philosophy in that we just don't even try to stress the defense by throwing deep. I am not at all confident in that answer though and am open to other thoughts. If we were trying to get from the middle to the top quarter or FBS teams in explosive plays instead of from at/near the bottom of all FBS teams to the middle of the pack, I'd put significantly more of the "blame" on a lack of speed/talent at WR.
As for Daniel Jackson, I think he's a very good wide receiver who is miscast in trying to make plays outside the numbers/down the side lines. He's a technician who gets open with his route running skills. He's not a guy who is just going to run a 9 route and either out run somebody or box them out and outleap/bully them for a 50/50 ball. He's the guy who makes someone look silly in the red zone in a short area like he did against Nebraska. I don't think the Gophers try to make him their deep option that often, but those who don't think he's very good are probably referring to those types of plays.
I thought a lot of this was honestly speed until I saw some combine testing. The Big 12 did something new this year and had a pro day/ combine in Dallas where players from all member schools could attend. A lot of the WR times there were not impressive from guys who made explosive plays for schools like Kansas, TCU, West Virginia, K State, etc. At the Gophers pro day, CrAB ran a 4.59 and Corey Crooms ran a 4.63. The best time from a WR who actually got playing time at that Big 12 combine was 4.51 and that was by a Kansas State kid who was only 5'7. These certainly are not wow times for WR's by any means but they were in line and/or faster than many of the times I saw across the country. Looking at the NFL combine and CrAB would have only finished ahead of 2 of the 30 invited participants. Gopher killer Isaiah Williams ran a 4.63 (identical to Crooms) and Keon Coleman ran a 4.61. This was CrAB after multiple serious injuries too. I still think a guy running say 4.45 or better is more of a need than a want, but I think you can make some big plays against all but the Alabama's and tOSU's of the world with guys running in the 4.6 range if your offense is creative enough.
Very wordy way of trying to answer my own question but my own thought is maybe 20% lack of talent/speed, 50% offensive construction and 30% philosophy in that we just don't even try to stress the defense by throwing deep. I am not at all confident in that answer though and am open to other thoughts. If we were trying to get from the middle to the top quarter or FBS teams in explosive plays instead of from at/near the bottom of all FBS teams to the middle of the pack, I'd put significantly more of the "blame" on a lack of speed/talent at WR.
As for Daniel Jackson, I think he's a very good wide receiver who is miscast in trying to make plays outside the numbers/down the side lines. He's a technician who gets open with his route running skills. He's not a guy who is just going to run a 9 route and either out run somebody or box them out and outleap/bully them for a 50/50 ball. He's the guy who makes someone look silly in the red zone in a short area like he did against Nebraska. I don't think the Gophers try to make him their deep option that often, but those who don't think he's very good are probably referring to those types of plays.
