With so many returning, plus new additions at TE and 10 deep on the offensive line...what could JoMo now incorporate that he couldn't in his first year?
Next years O
- Thread starter bkmtnittany1
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I think for the most part, what you saw this year, is what you will see next, except perhaps run at a faster pace, with more subs playing some on the OL. I don't except he would go to 2 TE's , or 2 RB's very often. I think he will stay pretty much 3 war's a TE and a RB on 90% of the snaps.
I think we'll see more wrinkles. How many depends on the ability of the opposition to stop what they've already seen. If they can't, Moorhead will go with what has been successful, gradually expanding the playbook.
I think we will see sets with Sanders and Barkley on the field at the same time....
Faster pace, more plays where Mcsorley looks like he's keeping around the edge but throws it outside just before he crosses the line of scrimmage. Probably more intermediate routes with defenses most likely worried about the deep ball. I think they'll have to be more patient as defenses won't want to give up deep pass plays but that should allow the running game to take off. And it should allow Gesicki and Barkley to have LBs covering them in the short passing game which will be complete mismatches.
we'll see more of a mid range passing attack. it will keep the deep threat in play and will really open up the running game.
JoeMo's offense is based on doing different things out of the same set, so I don't think we'll see anything exotic. However, I'd like to see more variety in our sets, but I don't think we will. Two running backs on the field at the same time would be awesome. Maybe some empty sets with an improved offensive line.
Some things that surprised me last year that I'd like to see improved were the low completion percentage and lack of short and intermediate passing game with YAC. I thought we'd see a lot more short passes to guys running away from defenders and getting significant YAC. Didn't happen, however. The biggest thing I'm looking for is a bit more consistency as evidenced by a significant increase in completion percentage and a significant reduction in negative running plays.
Some things that surprised me last year that I'd like to see improved were the low completion percentage and lack of short and intermediate passing game with YAC. I thought we'd see a lot more short passes to guys running away from defenders and getting significant YAC. Didn't happen, however. The biggest thing I'm looking for is a bit more consistency as evidenced by a significant increase in completion percentage and a significant reduction in negative running plays.
I think the depth, talent and experience on the offensive line make the sky the limit. It wasn't always an easy battle last year for the line because of youth and injuries but that experience should mean a lot going into 2017. I think JoeMo will do a lot of the same stuff but we will just be much better with the big guys up front.
First we ran the ball pretty well and Barkley had a ton of yards, Trace ran it well too but we weren't unstoppable running the ball. We just didn't have the line at the time due to experience, injuries, etc. I think you will see this years running game border on being nearly unstoppable. I believe Barkley will run for 2000 yards.
First we ran the ball pretty well and Barkley had a ton of yards, Trace ran it well too but we weren't unstoppable running the ball. We just didn't have the line at the time due to experience, injuries, etc. I think you will see this years running game border on being nearly unstoppable. I believe Barkley will run for 2000 yards.
Hopefully will see a better 3rd down conversion rate, that would be a good start.
We didn't see that happen in the passing game because:
1. It requires the OL to hold blocks
2. It requires precision timing between the receiver and QB (something that doesn't get built in a few weeks and certainly NOT behind the OL we had last year). The OL improvement we saw was due in part to the style of offense we played. It does not require the OL to hold their blocks and doesn't rely heavily on timing. The OL will be better next year (with a year in the system and a full year playing next to each other), so we should see more mid-range passing.
Just a couple responses to the above.. the o-line had come together vs Iowa. The running game was dominant but we lost more guys on the o-line and regressed some due to talent/experience loss at the tackle position.
As for 3rd down conversions, we were terrible the first half of the season but I believe we were closer to 40% on 3rd down the second half of the year which was a huge improvement.
The biggest improvements we'll see will be on the o-line and that should allow our offense to do pretty much whatever they want. I think we'll put 50 up on everyone including Michigan and our one true test of how good the offense is will be at OSU.
As for 3rd down conversions, we were terrible the first half of the season but I believe we were closer to 40% on 3rd down the second half of the year which was a huge improvement.
The biggest improvements we'll see will be on the o-line and that should allow our offense to do pretty much whatever they want. I think we'll put 50 up on everyone including Michigan and our one true test of how good the offense is will be at OSU.
Franklin mentioned several times that the line just couldn't get much push. Much of the rushing yards Barkley picked up were due to trickeration, misdirection, play action, or just his crazy athleticism.
I'd like to think the offensive line, on 3rd and 2, can start to just blow people off of the ball. You look at that Wisconsin offensive line, they could pick up seven yards and the back wouldn't even have to make a cut. Hope to see more of that. Because if you can do that, with the wide receivers and tight end we have, along with Trace delivering the ball....look out. We'll be putting up 50+ regularly.
I expect to see more running. Last year we were forced to throw more because our young and injured OL wasn't able sustain a consistent running attack. Kids like Bates & McGovern were young and Nelson & Mahon were injured.
This year Bates, McGovern, & Wright return with more experience. The OL should be much improved if Nelson & Mahon return healthy and kids like Menet & Fries can provide depth. If that happens PSU should be able to sustain more drives on the ground and get more RBs involved.
wrt the passing game I think Blacknall will be the replacement for Godwin. I expect him to make a lot of big plays against 1 on 1 coverage because opponents will be struggling to stop the run.
75 at the half.. I think we could approach 100.. at least I've been telling my Pitt friends that who think I'm crazy.. but after scoring tds on 7 straight drives vs USC, I honestly think we would put 14 tds on Pitt
Not too outside the box....early on, against Akron and Georgia State, I'd expect to see Sanders and Stevens get in some significant playing time.
I think Barkley's best chance at 2,000 yards is if he's in the Heisman race come late October. In that case Franklin will probably give him more touches in order to improve his chances. I think he realizes how much positive press that would give PSU and how much it would help recruiting.
I think Franklin will give Sanders and Robinson a lot more reps if Barkley isn't in the top of the Heisman race. In that case I predict somewhere around 1,600 yards.
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My dream scenario would be for us to be ahead 84 - 3 with 5 minutes to go and have Journey Brown run a punt back for a TD making it 90 - 3. Then have Franklin call for a 2-point conversion. That would be spectacular.
Great idea. An on-side kick with us winning 92 - 3. Love it. Then use a hurry up offense too to see if we can break 100.
Really this whole discussion might be kind of missing the point. MoMo's offense is going to be whatever it needs to be to win on a given Saturday. And the good news is, it looks like they have players to do a wide variety of things.
It was a big play passing offense last year largely because it had to be, because the OL was still getting legs and defenses were designed to stop Barkley. Fortunately PSU had players who could make a big play passing offense work.
But this year, who knows what will work. McSorley is a known quantity now and defensive coordinators in the B1G will spend all offseason studying his tendencies and devising ways to fool him and stop him, so McSorley's whole technique of stepping up to the LOS to release deep down field -- I would expect that will not be nearly as wide open this year. Plus, while Gesicki and Blacknall are terrific, Godwin was really the player who made the deep passing game so successful with his ability to consistenly win the 50-50 balls. Without Godwin those long balls will probably be a lot lower percentage plays.
So what does it look like? Almost certainly more run-pass balance. More use of the middle of the field and more 10-20 yard patterns because, with a whole offseason to prepare, the precision should be better on short and medium timing patterns.
Almost certainly a better short running and short passing game. Which will hopefully mean more long sustained drives than the team was able to do in 2017.
If they do somehow manage to strike lightning again in 2017, when they play in big, tight games, their chances of winning will be much greater if they can sustain drives and run the ball to set up the pass.
It was a big play passing offense last year largely because it had to be, because the OL was still getting legs and defenses were designed to stop Barkley. Fortunately PSU had players who could make a big play passing offense work.
But this year, who knows what will work. McSorley is a known quantity now and defensive coordinators in the B1G will spend all offseason studying his tendencies and devising ways to fool him and stop him, so McSorley's whole technique of stepping up to the LOS to release deep down field -- I would expect that will not be nearly as wide open this year. Plus, while Gesicki and Blacknall are terrific, Godwin was really the player who made the deep passing game so successful with his ability to consistenly win the 50-50 balls. Without Godwin those long balls will probably be a lot lower percentage plays.
So what does it look like? Almost certainly more run-pass balance. More use of the middle of the field and more 10-20 yard patterns because, with a whole offseason to prepare, the precision should be better on short and medium timing patterns.
Almost certainly a better short running and short passing game. Which will hopefully mean more long sustained drives than the team was able to do in 2017.
If they do somehow manage to strike lightning again in 2017, when they play in big, tight games, their chances of winning will be much greater if they can sustain drives and run the ball to set up the pass.
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