Receivers coming back to the ball...

[Dawgpile]

Re-watched a bit of a few games tonight. Our receivers are running good routes, and they're mostly open when they make their cuts. Then they break down and wait for the ball. No movement back towards the QB at all. Fast DB's have time to recover and make a play. </p>

 

[jeremyrbrown]

nmnm

 

[Nugdawg]

As I watched the game and the replay, I saw the WR run his route, get open, make his cut and then have to stand in a spot and wait on the damn QB to throw the ball. Relf is standing there trying to decide if he's a) open b) the WR he want's to throw too or c) does he have time to get take a smoke.

Relf has got to make FASTER decisions when making his checkdowns and reads and get rid of the ball quicker. The ball needs to be thrown when the WR is breaking open after his cut and not after he has ran and down and out and is standing patiently on the sideline as the DB reads the route and recovers. I saw this at least 3-4 times in the replay vs UGA. It just goes along with the theme I have heard from several other people that say Relf just looks like he's in slow-motion this year.

 

[Dawgpile]

Aaaaannd, if Relf can't get it there when they make their cut, they shouldn't sit. That's my point. </p>

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

but doesn't that fall on mirando too? doesn't he teach them their routes and how to run them?<div>another thing, is it me or does it seem like relf's throwing power isn't there? he doesn't have much zip on his passes. it looks like he just hangs them up there most of the time. maybe it's just an illusion of his slow throwing motion</div>

 

[Todd4State]

if they came back to the QB, they would be two feet from Relf by the time he decided to throw it.


Then we would wonder why the hell we were calling screen passes every pass play.

 

[Irondawg]

Something is clearly wrong with Relf, I'm thinking it's something with the shoulder b/c he's not lowering it like he did last year and his throws seem to have less RPM's on them than in the past.

That said, I'm glad you bring up the WR's b/c I think they and Mirando have been taking needless punishment on the board. Are any of these guys 1st round NFL picks? Heck no. But it's the best corps we've had at MSU in ages. Our passing game isn't hitting b/c our QB is a below average throwing and/or we aren't calling plays to each of their strenghts.

As Coach has said numerous times the past few weeks - if we aren't going to commit the running game via the option attack then Relf doesn't need to be in there. If we want to sling it more it's time to see if Russell can handle it or not.

Personally I think we need to stick to the ground and pound b/c Relf has proven he can be quite effective against average defenses and Ballard can be a stud when he's fed the ball. That might get us to 7 wins although some might be a little ugly. Relf can generally throw well enough on rollouts and stuff when we get the ground game working.

But if we can't run the ball again this week it may be time to dial up Tyler and see what happens.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

him looking 'off'. It doesn't look all mental. Yes, he does look like he is in a fog but if he is injured maybe we are getting as much as we can out of him and just have no relief whatsoever behind him. He hasn't looked the same since Auburn.

 

[dudehead]

if they came back to the QB, they would be two feet from Relf by the time he decided to throw it.


Then we would wonder why the hell we were calling screen passes every pass play.

I think he lacks the confidence that he can make the throw, so he throws late and timidly (lack of pop). Having said that, I do agree with you that his problem centers in the mind and not his physical ability.