Clifford as a runner

[K-PATS]

Have you guys noticed through 3 games that Clifford has almost zero intention of keeping the ball himself instead of handing off? I remember a few running plays where you could see the DE crashing down on the RB handoff and Clifford could have easily picked up 6-8 yards if he had pulled the ball and kept it, but instead handed off for no gain.

Part of the success of this offense is the threat of a QB run, which the defense has to account for. It would have also been nice to see a couple of QB draws on a pass look, because honestly that looked open all day and would have been one more thing Pitt would have to account for, but never had to. Ultimately, the offense made it way to easy on the Pitt D by almost completely eliminating Clifford as a designed running option.

 

[Shadow99]

Have you guys noticed through 3 games that Clifford has almost zero intention of keeping the ball himself instead of handing off? I remember a few running plays where you could see the DE crashing down on the RB handoff and Clifford could have easily picked up 6-8 yards if he had pulled the ball and kept it, but instead handed off for no gain.

Part of the success of this offense is the threat of a QB run, which the defense has to account for. It would have also been nice to see a couple of QB draws on a pass look, because honestly that looked open all day and would have been one more thing Pitt would have to account for, but never had to. Ultimately, the offense made it way to easy on the Pitt D by almost completely eliminating Clifford as a designed running option.

Ironically, the first 2 weeks it seemed to be the complete opposite; Clifford keeping the ball when the RB would have had a better opportunity to make a play. Perhaps it was just an over-adjustment that will be improved as the QB continues to gain experience?

 

[kentuckycb]

Have you guys noticed through 3 games that Clifford has almost zero intention of keeping the ball himself instead of handing off? I remember a few running plays where you could see the DE crashing down on the RB handoff and Clifford could have easily picked up 6-8 yards if he had pulled the ball and kept it, but instead handed off for no gain.

Part of the success of this offense is the threat of a QB run, which the defense has to account for. It would have also been nice to see a couple of QB draws on a pass look, because honestly that looked open all day and would have been one more thing Pitt would have to account for, but never had to. Ultimately, the offense made it way to easy on the Pitt D by almost completely eliminating Clifford as a designed running option.

Wrong. Clifford has pulled the ball and ran multiple times...sometimes when he should have let the RB take the ball.

 

[royboy]

I suspect the coaches told him not to run as much himself, and he may have over-corrected.

The QB's judgement and running ability is a key part of running an RPO offense. Clifford will need to get better in this area (he is fast enough but needs to make good decisions quickly) or the coaches should strongly consider reducing use of the RPO.

 

[WPB_lion]

Have you guys noticed through 3 games that Clifford has almost zero intention of keeping the ball himself instead of handing off? I remember a few running plays where you could see the DE crashing down on the RB handoff and Clifford could have easily picked up 6-8 yards if he had pulled the ball and kept it, but instead handed off for no gain.

Part of the success of this offense is the threat of a QB run, which the defense has to account for. It would have also been nice to see a couple of QB draws on a pass look, because honestly that looked open all day and would have been one more thing Pitt would have to account for, but never had to. Ultimately, the offense made it way to easy on the Pitt D by almost completely eliminating Clifford as a designed running option.

I was thinking the same thing during the game. I have not rewatched the game to see if the correct decision was made each time but, given the overall inability to establish a consistent running game, I have to imagine at least a few times he should have kept the ball and run it himself. To the best of my recollection, most, if not all of the yards he gained were from scrambles, not the option. If teams key on the RB on the option, he needs to make them pay or this offense will not work.

 

[K-PATS]

Just a quick glance at last year's numbers vs this year's numbers shows that the QB position accounted for 39% of the total rushing attempts vs only 25% this year. Of course scrambles are part of both of those numbers and anecdotally it feels like a higher percentage of Clifford's attempts are from scrambles rather than designed runs when compared to McSorley. I would have to go back and actually count, which I don't have time to do, but I was screaming at him to pull the ball.

Clifford had 7 rushing attempts this past week. Unless it's been changed, sacks count as rushes in CFB and Pitt had 3, so that leaves 4 attempts and I'm pretty sure they were all scrambles.

 

[TheGLOV]

Ironically, the first 2 weeks it seemed to be the complete opposite; Clifford keeping the ball when the RB would have had a better opportunity to make a play. Perhaps it was just an over-adjustment that will be improved as the QB continues to gain experience?

+1,000,000

 

[83wuzme]

Clifford is an adequate runner. He is not Trace, who was an unusual QB.
I don’t think the staff wants Clifford running as much as Trace.

 

[TheGLOV]

I suspect the coaches told him not to run as much himself, and he may have over-corrected.

The QB's judgement and running ability is a key part of running an RPO offense. Clifford will need to get better in this area (he is fast enough but needs to make good decisions quickly) or the coaches should strongly consider reducing use of the RPO.

CJF to Clifford: Don't get hurt running out there!

 

[LaJolla Lion]

Just a quick glance at last year's numbers vs this year's numbers shows that the QB position accounted for 39% of the total rushing attempts vs only 25% this year. Of course scrambles are part of both of those numbers and anecdotally it feels like a higher percentage of Clifford's attempts are from scrambles rather than designed runs when compared to McSorley. I would have to go back and actually count, which I don't have time to do, but I was screaming at him to pull the ball.

Clifford had 7 rushing attempts this past week. Unless it's been changed, sacks count as rushes in CFB and Pitt had 3, so that leaves 4 attempts and I'm pretty sure they were all scrambles.

I believe that is correct that they were scrambles as I don't recall him actually keeping the ball on a read and running with it. I'm wondering if this was by design to mask an injury, but it's hard to run the RPO if he doesn't keep the DE's honest once in a while.

 

[K-PATS]

CJF to Clifford: Don't get hurt running out there!

It's hard to run an offense that is designed to have the QB used as a running threat if you are intentionally limiting that threat via fear of injury.

 

[K-PATS]

I believe that is correct that they were scrambles as I don't recall him actually keeping the ball on a read and running with it. I'm wondering if this was by design to mask an injury, but it's hard to run the RPO if he doesn't keep the DE's honest once in a while.

THIS^^^^^

 

[royboy]

And replacing it with.... what?

I'll leave that up to self-proclaimed geniuses like you.

 

[Richard the LIONhearted]

This is the missing element of this offense right now!!! Jalen Hurts is killing people with is running ability and he is then having wide open passing lanes. We really are missing the run threat right now.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

This is the missing element of this offense right now!!! Jalen Hurts is killing people with is running ability and he is then having wide open passing lanes. We really are missing the run threat right now.

There is a healthy balance. In the first 2 weeks, really in week 1 he forced it and took the ball when the read was to give it up. Hurts has started many HUGE games before and the game has already slowed down for him. It will for Clifford, but for him not to take any reads this weekend kind of leads you to believe that was maybe by design. That is just a guess, but it's the only thing that really makes sense.

 

[PS4814]

Someone correct my memory but if we're going back to where this offense came from with J.Mo the story went that his offense was adaptable to whatever kind of QB he had. One year the QB put up monster numbers through the air, and the next year was the same but on the ground.

The term RPO is being misapplied by a many folks thinking that in an RPO offense the QB has to be a threat run the ball. That wouldn't jive with J.Mo's results where the QB was slinging it all over the field in that season. I think the Read Option part of the playbook was increased significantly because of Trace's skills as a runner, but that doesn't necessarily mean that any other QB after him HAS to be a running QB. Now if Rahne has scrapped the parts of the playbook that have RPO concepts with a QB not running as much well then we best hope Clifford gets better at his reads going forward.

 

[Beachwineguy]

With us having the four RB rotation, he may have been told not to keep it. The RBs can’t argue that they didn’t get a chance to run with it because the QB kept the ball all the time. Now, we can see who has more rushes because they’ve been more successful with their opportunities. As I’ve said before, I think we’ll see two RBs get the bulk of the carries moving forward, and Clifford, the big red QB, will keep it more often.

 

[Nitwit]

Someone correct my memory but if we're going back to where this offense came from with J.Mo the story went that his offense was adaptable to whatever kind of QB he had. One year the QB put up monster numbers through the air, and the next year was the same but on the ground.

The term RPO is being misapplied by a many folks thinking that in an RPO offense the QB has to be a threat run the ball. That wouldn't jive with J.Mo's results where the QB was slinging it all over the field in that season. I think the Read Option part of the playbook was increased significantly because of Trace's skills as a runner, but that doesn't necessarily mean that any other QB after him HAS to be a running QB. Now if Rahne has scrapped the parts of the playbook that have RPO concepts with a QB not running as much well then we best hope Clifford gets better at his reads going forward.

Agree. While Clifford has the physical ability I don’t think he is quick enough on his reads yet. He needs to be able to find the open receiver quicker on his check downs to avoid getting sacks or chased out of the pocket, and to make better decisions as to whether to hand off or run it himself. He is still way behind Trace in that regard but it’s not unexpected from a first year QB.

 

[SR108]

Someone correct my memory but if we're going back to where this offense came from with J.Mo the story went that his offense was adaptable to whatever kind of QB he had. One year the QB put up monster numbers through the air, and the next year was the same but on the ground.

The term RPO is being misapplied by a many folks thinking that in an RPO offense the QB has to be a threat run the ball. That wouldn't jive with J.Mo's results where the QB was slinging it all over the field in that season. I think the Read Option part of the playbook was increased significantly because of Trace's skills as a runner, but that doesn't necessarily mean that any other QB after him HAS to be a running QB. Now if Rahne has scrapped the parts of the playbook that have RPO concepts with a QB not running as much well then we best hope Clifford gets better at his reads going forward.

A true RPO has three options:
Give
Pull and run
Pull and pass

If he was told not to run, he could have still pulled and thrown. I doubt he was told not to run. He most likely is still having trouble with his reads. He may have over compensated because he kept and ran a few times when he should have given during the first two games.

 

[blion72]

A true RPO has three options:
Give
Pull and run
Pull and pass

If he was told not to run, he could have still pulled and thrown. I doubt he was told not to run. He most likely is still having trouble with his reads. He may have over compensated because he kept and ran a few times when he should have given during the first two games.

IMHO Sean is significantly behind where Tommy Stevens was last year as it relates to this skill. we had a very significant part of the fan base on this forum who felt that Sean was a big upgrade over Tommy in terms of our chance to win this year. however, I think this read/run skill has become a key part of or offensive scheme since JoMo 2016 - as RR is using the same model. every time that Trace was not 100% to run our OFF suffered. maybe the staff are tweaking the model, but until it is working, we are going to see defenses stacking the line with stunts and run/pass blitzes.

 

[SR108]

IMHO Sean is significantly behind where Tommy Stevens was last year as it relates to this skill. we had a very significant part of the fan base on this forum who felt that Sean was a big upgrade over Tommy in terms of our chance to win this year. however, I think this read/run skill has become a key part of or offensive scheme since JoMo 2016 - as RR is using the same model. every time that Trace was not 100% to run our OFF suffered. maybe the staff are tweaking the model, but until it is working, we are going to see defenses stacking the line with stunts and run/pass blitzes.

Give it time, I would think the bye week should help. In the meantime, our Defense should keep us in every game and we still have big play capability. Our RB's did not play well in terms of pass protection. Bottom line, we are still a work in progress offensively, and have room to get even better defensively.