Is AKs play a concern?

[Spaulding!No!]

My heart pains to see the Mitch Leidner and Athan Kaliakmakis comparisons. I wish Athan had Mitch's ability to QB sneak into the end zone at will (minus that one MI game.) Other than that Athan is far superior, Mitch couldnt throw at all. I think he will be as good as Adam Weber.

QB success requires the QB to be able to read a defense.

 

[denguegopher]

Going to go out on a limb and guess that things started changing sometime around the explosion of the internet....

Absolutely agree. Everyone is an expert on the internet. Not just football and sports either, politics, medicine, you name it there are experts coming out of the woodwork.

 

[Go Gophs]

He will be fine, but still looks raw. The talent is easy to see, the decision making just isn't there yet.

IT WILL HELP, if this Taylor kid is the real deal and can give us 20-25ish carries a game and 100+.
Overall, he feels like a + from Tanner other than the 2019 year he had.

 

[touchdownvikings]

in order to throw medium and deep routes, the QB needs time. I have a nagging feeling that the coaches don't necessarily trust the O-line in pass blocking - at least not long enough to allow longer routes to develop.

maybe I'm wrong, but I also have an idea that they are keeping BSF in to block more often instead of letting him release and get downfield - which could also be tied to concerns about pass-blocking.

hopefully this is something that can improve as the new O-linemen have more time to gel as a unit.

I don't think that's the issue.

Right now, I think they are trying to assemble the pieces into a machine and figure out how the machine works.

From a passing perspective, I think they are trying to figure out philosophically what they want their passing attack to do. Is it a surrogate for rushing the ball and moving the chains that way? If you think you have home run hitters for RBs that can threaten to go all the way, but lack the physicality to pick up 5-6 yards regularly, then you have to answer the question: how do we keep the chains moving in between home runs? Short passes that are proxies for rushes? I think that's what you saw in Game 1.

I think Saturday was about figuring out whether we have a rushing game or not. Can Darius pick up tough yards in between the tackles regularly? (Certainly looked that way to me.). If so, then the passing attack will be used opportunistically, according to defensive alignment. In other words, you use it in a manner similar to how it was used in 2019. But if you don't have a rushing attack, your goals for your passing game are simply different, and it will present differently.

On top of all of that, all the pieces are basically new. Kaliakmanis has not started very often. Crooms and Spencer are new to Kaliakmanis and new to the system. Daniel Jackson is veteran, but he doesn't have much game-time history with Kaliakmanis.

Give it time. It'll come together. ...Although for the above-stated reasons, I really think next year is The Year. If it comes together faster, great. For now, I'm really just trying to watch it come together and not worry about wins and losses.

 

[Go Gophs]

Give it time. It'll come together. ...Although for the above-stated reasons, I really think next year is The Year. If it comes together faster, great. For now, I'm really just trying to watch it come together and not worry about wins and losses.

Good post. And I don't need it to come together this year to be happy either. What I do want is a win over Iowa, and I am sick of playing Ohio State well and not getting a win. This is PJ's year to take down the mighty Buckeyes whether we do much against anyone else on our schedule or not.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Absolutely agree. Everyone is an expert on the internet. Not just football and sports either, politics, medicine, you name it there are experts coming out of the woodwork.

I mean to be fair the # of experts out there probably hasn't changed that much but with the internet they now have an easy means to share their expertise with the rest of the world

 

[Mr. 131]

For now, I'm really just trying to watch it come together and not worry about wins and losses.

Aside from your thoughtful post in general, I really appreciate this.
The Gophers are the "last man standing" in terms of sports teams that can get into my emotions.

I am doing my best to remind myself that I have season tickets to make memories with friends...victories are just the icing when they come.

 

[touchdownvikings]

Good post. And I don't need it to come together this year to be happy either. What I do want is a win over Iowa, and I am sick of playing Ohio State well and not getting a win. This is PJ's year to take down the mighty Buckeyes whether we do much against anyone else on our schedule or not.

Thanks.

I'm not an offensive coordinator. That said, here's how I think about things.

Ibrahim's rushing stats were this:
-Mode: 2
-Median: 4
-1-in-3 carries: 6+ yards

So, in any given random grouping of 3 plays (leading up to fourth down), you'd expect the mode (because it comes up most often), the median, and a 1-in-3 result. So... 2 + 4 + 6 = 12 yards. In other words, a first down with room to spare.

Tyler (last year):
-Mode: 2
-Median: 3
-1-in-3 carries: 4+ yards.

2 + 3 + 4 = 9 yards. He hits home runs, but you can't organize an offense around him. (He had a good number of 40+ yard carries -- more than Mo.)

Darius last night:
-Mode: 2
-Median: 4
-1-in-3 carries: 6+ yards

2 + 4 + 6 = 12. This is identical to Ibrahim. Moreover, he never lost a yard on a single play. You can base a rushing attack on Darius.

With that knowledge, you know what you want out of your passing attack.

Make sense?

 

[Panthadad2]

Thanks.

I'm not an offensive coordinator. That said, here's how I think about things.

Ibrahim's rushing stats were this:
-Mode: 2
-Median: 4
-1-in-3 carries: 6+ yards

So, in any given random grouping of 3 plays (leading up to fourth down), you'd expect the mode (because it comes up most often), the median, and a 1-in-3 result. So... 2 + 4 + 6 = 12 yards. In other words, a first down with room to spare.

Tyler (last year):
-Mode: 2
-Median: 3
-1-in-3 carries: 4+ yards.

2 + 3 + 4 = 9 yards. He hits home runs, but you can't organize an offense around him. (He had a good number of 40+ yard carries -- more than Mo.)

Darius last night:
-Mode: 2
-Median: 4
-1-in-3 carries: 6+ yards

2 + 4 + 6 = 12. This is identical to Ibrahim. Moreover, he never lost a yard on a single play. You can base a rushing attack on Darius.

With that knowledge, you know what you want out of your passing attack.

Make sense?

The nerd in me loves this post.

 

[touchdownvikings]

I should probably add (for 100% accuracy). If you only count yesterday's game, Darius' top 1-in-3 rushes were actually 7 yards or more. I added in his single carry of 3 yards against Nebraska, which moved that stat down by one yard. For those interested:

He carried the ball 33 times. So his best 11 carries constitute his top 1-in-3 rushes:

7 yards: 2 times
8 yards: 2 times
11 yards: 2 times
14 yards: 1 time
15 yards: 1 time
19 yards: 1 time
21 yards: 1 time
22 yards: 1 time

Those were his best 11 carries. So, technically, if you only counted Saturday, it would be 7 yards. But I added in the one more carry, meaning you'd have to look at his best 11.333 caries. That moved it down to 6 yards.

Also, if you look at his 11.333 worst carries, it is 2 yards or less, with 2 yards being the mode.

And, in 34 carries, he has not had a negative carry. His style is like Mo's: he doesn't retreat and give up yards.

So:
1/3 of the time he gets 2 yards or less (with a mode of 2 yards).
1/3 of the time he gets 3-5 yards (with a median carry of 4 yards).
1/3 of the time he gets 6+ yards.

That'll move chains, thank you very much.