I'm going to try an attempt to give a laymen's critique of Dak and his performance. Feel free to add comments, agree, give a dissenting opinion, whatever you feel. These are the things I noticed:
- Overall, it's obvious to everyone in the stadium and beyond that Dak fits the offense Mullen wants to run much better than Russell. I will say, I absolutely HATE it for Russell. The kid is a hard worker and an all around good guy. He also has talent. The biggest issue to me is he needed to have been developed in a pro-style, drop back, timing pattern type offense (see Tom Brady and Kurt Warner for examples of this offense).
- Dak stood in the face of pressure well. He also has a much better feel for the pocket. He knew when to step up, he knew when to bail out, and he felt those lanes well. At full potential, sacking him will be the equivalent of Atlanta's lineup getting a hit off Cliff Lee. I was impressed with that aspect.
- Moving the quarterback is an essential element to this offense. There will be many times we have to negate the pressure coming at the QB, and Dak seems to be more natural at this.
- To piggy-back off the previous point, it's also obvious that a mobile QB that the defense has to respect is also a vital element to this offense. Dak has that. Play action was also an element that we utilized a lot more with Dak. Not sure why we didn't with Russell...
- I may be getting wooly, but I thought Dak did a very good job of understanding what the defense was giving him. He utilized the underneath patterns and the iso matchups. The second 4th down play (4th and long... right after the WTF timeout call) was beautiful. One of the best executed plays of the day.
- Dak made a couple of errors reading the DE. They didn't hurt us too bad, but against a stout DE, you have to make correct reads at the right time. He's getting there, but there were a few misreads.
- I still think he holds the ball too long. The ultimate threat Dak can bring is mobility, pocket vision, ability to quickly work progressions, and then hit quick hot routes. Dak showed a lot of potential in all those areas. He's not there yet, though.
Overall, great experience yesterday for him. I don't know if he would have had this chance had Russell not gotten hurt, but I imagine Dak got a huge boost of much-needed confidence running the entire offense. Glad Mullen gave him the opportunity to let the leash out and let his backups do their thing.
Now, my thoughts on the controversy... if Russell is healthy, he gets the nod. I don't think its time to pull him, but if it were me, this performance by Dak really gives me reason to shorten the leash on Russell if he does not perform well. I would also begin to use Dak more than just a Brunetti-type QB that only comes in to run right up the middle. If it were me, it would be time for Russell to step up, or we work Dak in more and more as the year goes on (much like we did with Ralph 1.0 and Tyson Lee).
Lastly, from here on, Williams will be referred to as Ralph 2.0. Good Grief, I had a severe case of deja vu seeing him work yesterday. He's much better than freshman Ralph 1.0. Excited to see him challenge for PT down the road.
Flame away... Go.
- Overall, it's obvious to everyone in the stadium and beyond that Dak fits the offense Mullen wants to run much better than Russell. I will say, I absolutely HATE it for Russell. The kid is a hard worker and an all around good guy. He also has talent. The biggest issue to me is he needed to have been developed in a pro-style, drop back, timing pattern type offense (see Tom Brady and Kurt Warner for examples of this offense).
- Dak stood in the face of pressure well. He also has a much better feel for the pocket. He knew when to step up, he knew when to bail out, and he felt those lanes well. At full potential, sacking him will be the equivalent of Atlanta's lineup getting a hit off Cliff Lee. I was impressed with that aspect.
- Moving the quarterback is an essential element to this offense. There will be many times we have to negate the pressure coming at the QB, and Dak seems to be more natural at this.
- To piggy-back off the previous point, it's also obvious that a mobile QB that the defense has to respect is also a vital element to this offense. Dak has that. Play action was also an element that we utilized a lot more with Dak. Not sure why we didn't with Russell...
- I may be getting wooly, but I thought Dak did a very good job of understanding what the defense was giving him. He utilized the underneath patterns and the iso matchups. The second 4th down play (4th and long... right after the WTF timeout call) was beautiful. One of the best executed plays of the day.
- Dak made a couple of errors reading the DE. They didn't hurt us too bad, but against a stout DE, you have to make correct reads at the right time. He's getting there, but there were a few misreads.
- I still think he holds the ball too long. The ultimate threat Dak can bring is mobility, pocket vision, ability to quickly work progressions, and then hit quick hot routes. Dak showed a lot of potential in all those areas. He's not there yet, though.
Overall, great experience yesterday for him. I don't know if he would have had this chance had Russell not gotten hurt, but I imagine Dak got a huge boost of much-needed confidence running the entire offense. Glad Mullen gave him the opportunity to let the leash out and let his backups do their thing.
Now, my thoughts on the controversy... if Russell is healthy, he gets the nod. I don't think its time to pull him, but if it were me, this performance by Dak really gives me reason to shorten the leash on Russell if he does not perform well. I would also begin to use Dak more than just a Brunetti-type QB that only comes in to run right up the middle. If it were me, it would be time for Russell to step up, or we work Dak in more and more as the year goes on (much like we did with Ralph 1.0 and Tyson Lee).
Lastly, from here on, Williams will be referred to as Ralph 2.0. Good Grief, I had a severe case of deja vu seeing him work yesterday. He's much better than freshman Ralph 1.0. Excited to see him challenge for PT down the road.
Flame away... Go.
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