Opposing coaches anonymously break down SEC

#1
YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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#1
It's an ESPN Insider article so I won't link.

QB Joshua Dobbs broke free for 27 runs of 10-plus yards in 2015, tied with Mississippi State's Dak Prescott for most among SEC QBs. Coach, can you talk about Dobbs the runner?

"He has good feet for a bigger guy, and he knows how to get skinny. You have to send four down linemen, and you may have to dedicate a linebacker to spy him to take away that avenue, because if he's going to throw, he's gonna get the ball out quick. If it ain't out quick, he's gonna scramble. That's when it's tough, because you have to have a 'backer that's fast enough to track him down." -- SEC defensive coach

The Vols never found a dominant vertical threat last year: No UT receiver reached 500 yards. Junior WRs Josh Malone and Josh Smith return, but the duo combined for 96 targets in 2015 -- just 24 more than RBs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara. Coach, can you talk about the downfield production?

"[Dobbs] can't throw the ball down the field. That's not his bag. His bag is for them to motion the back out of the backfield, throw it to him out in space, and then the guy makes defenders miss and goes 25 yards. That's a guy you want to make throw the ball and make play quarterback." -- Power 5 defensive coach

The D got burned for 30 plays of 25-plus yards in 2015, 10th most in the SEC. Coach, can you talk about how Bob Shoop can fix the leaks?

"His defenses have been among the best in the country in first- and second-down efficiency. They get off the field on third downs and eliminate the possibility of big-play opportunities. -- SEC head coach
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Hopefully that will change this year.
 
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#2
#2
That power 5 defensive coach sounds like a lot on here. I disagree that he "can't" throw it down field.
 
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#3
#3
QuickSmurf said:
That power 5 defensive coach sounds like a lot on here. I disagree that he "can't" throw it down field.
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I think it's a relative statement. I too believe Dobbs can throw it downfield, but it's not his strength, so this particular defensive coach, and other DCs scheme to encourage him or "make him beat them" throwing downfield and try to take away Josh's other strengths. Conversely, a guy like Chad Kelly is just the opposite....he's a guy who's very good throwing the ball vertically so you scheme him differently to keep him from hurting you over the top. I know this is likely a very obvious statement/point to most on here, sorry if this post elicits a "duh" response.
 
#5
#5
KBVol said:
I think it's a relative statement. I too believe Dobbs can throw it downfield, but it's not his strength, so this particular defensive coach, and other DCs scheme to encourage him or "make him beat them" throwing downfield and try to take away Josh's other strengths. Conversely, a guy like Chad Kelly is just the opposite....he's a guy who's very good throwing the ball vertically so you scheme him differently to keep him from hurting you over the top. I know this is likely a very obvious statement/point to most on here, sorry if this post elicits a "duh" response.
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i appreciate it. saves time.:)
 
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#6
#6
KBVol said:
I think it's a relative statement. I too believe Dobbs can throw it downfield, but it's not his strength, so this particular defensive coach, and other DCs scheme to encourage him or "make him beat them" throwing downfield and try to take away Josh's other strengths. Conversely, a guy like Chad Kelly is just the opposite....he's a guy who's very good throwing the ball vertically so you scheme him differently to keep him from hurting you over the top. I know this is likely a very obvious statement/point to most on here, sorry if this post elicits a "duh" response.
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No I understand what you mean and agree. Having said that, I also believe that he will improve this year. He can be an average passer and his mind and legs make him an elite Qb imo, in college. He makes good decisions and our offense isn't the easiest to run.
 
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#7
#7
KBVol said:
I think it's a relative statement. I too believe Dobbs can throw it downfield, but it's not his strength, so this particular defensive coach, and other DCs scheme to encourage him or "make him beat them" throwing downfield and try to take away Josh's other strengths. Conversely, a guy like Chad Kelly is just the opposite....he's a guy who's very good throwing the ball vertically so you scheme him differently to keep him from hurting you over the top. I know this is likely a very obvious statement/point to most on here, sorry if this post elicits a "duh" response.
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But, Dobbs tied Prescott, for 27 runs of 10-plus yards in 2015 -- so how was it that defenders took away his running strength?

What D4H seems to be saying (imo), is that playcalling and inopportune dropped-passes (+ OL learning curve) took away what otherwise is also a strength of Dobbs (an actual accuracy that we've just not fully seen yet / albeit, a possible weaker strength than his running and short-pass game).
 
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#8
#8
UT-Rex said:
To clarify -- we want that last point to remain the same (Shoops' ability, that is).
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To clarify I was talking about the bolded statement.


I think it's an accurate assessment. Dobbs has been inconsistent when throwing the ball down field.
 
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#9
#9
UT-Rex said:
But, Dobbs tied Prescott, for 27 runs of 10-plus yards in 2015 -- so how was it that defenders took away his running strength?

What D4H seems to be saying (imo), is that playcalling and inopportune dropped-passes (+ OL learning curve) took away what otherwise is also a strength of Dobbs (an actual accuracy that we've just not fully seen yet / albeit, a possible weaker strength than his running and short-pass game).
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Well that was the beauty of our running game last year....nobody outside of Oklahoma, Arky and Bama, maybe even SCar, really were able to take that strength away from Josh because 1. He's so damn good at it and 2. Our running scheme and personnel (Hurd and AK) are very difficult to deal with.

IMHO, any DC who doesn't play press man coverage and to some extent spy Dobbs, thereby trying to take away the short passing game, trying to limit/take away Josh's scrambling ability and daring Josh and our WRs to beat them by throwing the ball down the field, is committing coaching malpractice.
 
#11
#11
I think that it's important to keep in mind that our offense is predicated on being physical and running the ball. That is the most important thing we do on offense.
 
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#12
#12
if we start to prove we can beat 1 on 1 coverages, with any sort of regularity...it will make our running game....um...hard to deal with.

which is again, why i don't think we have to become the Dan Marion led Miami Dolphins.

we just have to be able to take advantage of those match ups....and we will get them.
 
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#13
#13
jakez4ut said:
if we start to prove we can beat 1 on 1 coverages, with any sort of regularity...it will make our running game....um...hard to deal with.

which is again, why i don't think we have to become the Dan Marion led Miami Dolphins.

we just have to be able to take advantage of those match ups....and we will get them.
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I think that most teams will be forced to stack the box and we will be able to take advantage this year more than we did last year.
 
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#14
#14
I blame the downfield passing woes on the shotgun spread as much as anything. We can't take full advantage of the running game with play-action. JMO
 
#15
#15
ntxVOL said:
I blame the downfield passing woes on the shotgun spread as much as anything. We can't take full advantage of the running game with play-action. JMO
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i'd agree with you if we lined up in single I, pro style sets designed around play action off the run.

but we're not. we run a spread, and you can run play action off of it.

the bigger sin we commit is lack of tempo. a) we weren't good enough on 1st down to increase the tempo and b) we wanted to protect the defense....TOP was a big deal i think.
 
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#16
#16
Who says "that's not his bag" in 2016. That's soooo late '60s/early '70s. Gotta be an older guy.

"[Dobbs] can't throw the ball down the field. That's not his bag. His bag is for them to motion the back out of the backfield, throw it to him out in space, and then the guy makes defenders miss and goes 25 yards. That's a guy you want to make throw the ball and make play quarterback." -- Power 5 defensive coach

Dobbs certainly has his issues with consistency in his passing, but he was also one of the most efficient passer in the SEC on 3rd downs, if not The most efficient. I understand what the DC is implying, but Dobbs can effectively move the chains with his arm, especially on 3rd and 5-9 yards, basically because of the threat of him running with the ball.
 
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#17
#17
jakez4ut said:
i'd agree with you if we lined up in single I, pro style sets designed around play action off the run.

but we're not. we run a spread, and you can run play action off of it.

the bigger sin we commit is lack of tempo. a) we weren't good enough on 1st down to increase the tempo and b) we wanted to protect the defense....TOP was a big deal i think.
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I will have to agree to disagree with you on that. Too many slow developing plays that look like a read option but really aren't (Who knows what the OC is thinking). The QB's eyes are always downfield so not really a true play-action IMO.


Maybe better utilization of the TE could help. CBJ hasn't really spread the field that much because they don't pass over the middle much at all.

I just hope CBJ either figures it out this season or moves on to something better. 2017 would be a good time to make a change if needed I think.
 
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#18
#18
ntxVOL said:
I will have to agree to disagree with you on that. Too many slow developing plays that look like a read option but really aren't (Who knows what the OC is thinking). The QB's eyes are always downfield so not really a true play-action IMO.


Maybe better utilization of the TE could help. CBJ hasn't really spread the field that much because they don't pass over the middle much at all.

I just hope CBJ either figures it out this season or moves on to something better. 2017 would be a good time to make a change if needed I think.
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either way, i think you and i both agree the offense hasn't looked like it's probably designed to look or intended to look since he's been here.

could be O line and qb issues in years 1 & 2, last year, WR's weren't productive enough and i think we really were trying to protect the defense.

i think this is the first year, we should, and should expect, to see what this offense is supposed to be all about.
 
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#19
#19
Crazy Ivan said:
Who says "that's not his bag" in 2016. That's soooo late '60s/early '70s. Gotta be an older guy.

"[Dobbs] can't throw the ball down the field. That's not his bag. His bag is for them to motion the back out of the backfield, throw it to him out in space, and then the guy makes defenders miss and goes 25 yards. That's a guy you want to make throw the ball and make play quarterback." -- Power 5 defensive coach

Dobbs certainly has his issues with consistency in his passing, but he was also one of the most efficient passer in the SEC on 3rd downs, if not The most efficient. I understand what the DC is implying, but Dobbs can effectively move the chains with his arm, especially on 3rd and 5-9 yards, basically because of the threat of him running with the ball.
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You quoted him then pretty much repeated what he said. Dobbs is bad at down field passing but is good at short range passes to RBs and WRs in space that they turn into big plays. Dobbs is never going to be an accurate deep passer, if he had that potential we would have seen a lot more flashes of it over the previous 3 years. He makes his 1st and sometimes 2nd read then takes off running. No WR has put up good #s when he's played and there is a reason for that. JG will fix that in 2017, but 2016 is Dobbs year
 
#20
#20
This from an old guy. There are stats for short, intermediate and long throws. Dobbs is not very efficient or guys aren't getting open on the long throws or both. I've seen the stat, maybe in Athlon or Lindys, but it's a horrible percentage. You can't keep taking those shots if you're not completing many.
 
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#21
#21
If you are an opposing defense, the goal is to force Dobbs to beat you from the pocket.

This isn't breaking news
 
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#25
#25
QuickSmurf said:
That power 5 defensive coach sounds like a lot on here. I disagree that he "can't" throw it down field.
Click to expand...

Dobbs can certainly throw it down field. He just can't hit his target when he does.

Footwork is a big issue for him. I really hope he gains some consistency with it this year. The slightest threat of a passing attack would spell trouble for opposing defenses against our run game.
 
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