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3rd down % in 2022

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bshaw28 said:
% of carries that went for 1st downs in 2021

Thad - 48%
Chaney - 36%
Cam - 34%
Knighton - 27%

Thad is going to be really important for our short yardage situations this year.

Scheme will help - but sending a 240 lb RB vs a 180 lb RB through the hole also makes a big difference.
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Probably drove me crazy more than anything last year honestly. The whole stadium knew what was coming, and we refused to put Thad in there for those situations lol. **** him not knowing the playbook, not being trusted to pass block etc. Put him in there to gain us 1 yard, insanity.
 
bshaw28 said:
% of carries that went for 1st downs in 2021

Thad - 48%
Chaney - 36%
Cam - 34%
Knighton - 27%

Thad is going to be really important for our short yardage situations this year.

Scheme will help - but sending a 240 lb RB vs a 180 lb RB through the hole also makes a big difference.
Click to expand...
Those number are very inflated, Knighton carried the rock more
 
JHallCanes said:
Our defense was not great last year and those 20 second 3 and outs didn’t help them out either

For some reason this board can’t give Lashlee his props while also voicing concerns and seeing how in some ways Gattis could be better. Lashlee gets this moniker of being QB friendly, which I’m not saying is completely false, but not being able to run it isn’t very QB friendly either
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Loved the Lashlee passing game and when we were able to run his play-action off it was really solid. His run game consisted of the inside zone and that was about it, maybe the occasional pitch out, but a novice DC could stop our run game.
 
Hurricane23 said:
Those number are very inflated, Knighton carried the rock more
Click to expand...

I agree the small sample size probably inflates Thads %. But if you look at 2020 when Knighton had less carries, he was still behind the other RB's:

Cam - 32%
Chaney - 24%
Knighton - 19%

I'm not really making some bold statement by saying bigger RB's are generally more successful than smaller RB's in short yardage.

Just pointing out that using a small RB like Knighton exclusively for half our games probably contributed some in our lack of success in converting 1st downs. And with the Citizen & Chaney injuries, Thad stepping up is going to be important since he's our only big RB left. I think Thad may play a sizeable role this year.
 
bshaw28 said:
I agree the small sample size probably inflates Thads %. But if you look at 2020 when Knighton had less carries, he was still behind the other RB's:

Cam - 32%
Chaney - 24%
Knighton - 19%

I'm not really making some bold statement by saying bigger RB's are generally more successful than smaller RB's in short yardage.

Just pointing out that using a small RB like Knighton exclusively for half our games probably contributed some in our lack of success in converting 1st downs. And with the Citizen & Chaney injuries, Thad stepping up is going to be important since he's our only big RB left. I think Thad may play a sizeable role this year.
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Ok I can agree with that
 
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Without looking, haven't we been up and down on 3rd down the past few (Manny/Richt) years? I think one year we were near the top of the nation. Lots of fluctuation.

I could be wrong about this. Can't look it up at the moment.
 
Rush every Olineman we have onto the field - and TVD SHOULD be able to walk for a first down. If it's going to be a run . . . or walk . . .
 
scrantoncane said:
Without looking, haven't we been up and down on 3rd down the past few (Manny/Richt) years? I think one year we were near the top of the nation. Lots of fluctuation.

I could be wrong about this. Can't look it up at the moment.
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On offense, we've been consistently below average to horrific:

2016: 34.3%, 106th in nation
2017: 27.7%, 127th in nation
2018: 39.4%, 58th in nation
2019: 25.97%, 130th in nation
2020: 40.6%, 59th in nation
2021: 40.0%, 59th in nation

On defense, if I remember correctly, we were initially below average with Diaz as DC, then had an upswing, then went downhill. Later on, I can look at those stats.
 
Good breakdown and agee.

Only thing I would add is I can see Roberts (DT) and Kelly (DE) getting snaps on 3rd and long as well. Frierson also brings a lot of versatility so he might be in somewhere too.

So excited to see the defensive improvement across the board.
 
LuCane said:
This has to be one of the more improved categories across the board, right?

On offense in 2021, we converted 40% of our 3rd downs - good for 59th in the country. This was down from 40.63% the prior year. Best in the nation was 53.28%. A top 30 conversion % in 2021 would have been about 44% or better.

How we may get better: We're likely to have a far more diversified run game. Our control of down and distance should greatly improve with more manageable 2nd and 3rd downs.

On defense in 2021, we allowed our opponent to convert at a 41.14% rate - good for 83rd in the country. This was up from 38.27% the prior year. Best in the nation was 27.91%. A top 30 stop % in 2021 would have been about 36% or below.

How we may get better: We may actually play tighter zones this season. Better communication and more contested passes should lead to getting off the field more often.

My projected experimental "get the F off the field on 3rd and long" unit:

DE Agude
DT Mesidor
DT Taylor/Moultrie
DE Harvey

Hybrid James Williams
LB Chase Smith or Keontra

DB Couch
DB Porter
DB Tyrique
DB Kinchens
DB AWilliams
Click to expand...
I expect an improvement on both sides of the ball with respect to 3rd down conversion %. Defensively I expect a significant improvement over last year.

Offensively I also expect to improve based on improved OL play and the ability to run the ball more effectively than last year. TVD being in year 2 is a no brainer in that regard. The only thing giving me pause here and preventing me from expecting a very significant improvement is this WR issue. We won't know how to contextualize this issue properly until we see this offense in love game situations. This may be cliche but our efficiency on 3rd down should improve as the season progresses and the WRs work the kinks out allowing the entire offense to gel.
 
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bshaw28 said:
% of carries that went for 1st downs in 2021

Thad - 48%
Chaney - 36%
Cam - 34%
Knighton - 27%

Thad is going to be really important for our short yardage situations this year.

Scheme will help - but sending a 240 lb RB vs a 180 lb RB through the hole also makes a big difference.
Click to expand...
I’d be thrilled if Thad or anyone really stepped up this year, but pump the brakes. I’m fairly certain most of Thad’s playing time came late in games when running generally gets better. Let’s see how the kid does against fresher opponents. And Knighton had to abuse his tiny body wearing those defenses down. Kinda explains his numbers too.
 
LuCane said:
This has to be one of the more improved categories across the board, right?

On offense in 2021, we converted 40% of our 3rd downs - good for 59th in the country. This was down from 40.63% the prior year. Best in the nation was 53.28%. A top 30 conversion % in 2021 would have been about 44% or better.

How we may get better: We're likely to have a far more diversified run game. Our control of down and distance should greatly improve with more manageable 2nd and 3rd downs.

On defense in 2021, we allowed our opponent to convert at a 41.14% rate - good for 83rd in the country. This was up from 38.27% the prior year. Best in the nation was 27.91%. A top 30 stop % in 2021 would have been about 36% or below.

How we may get better: We may actually play tighter zones this season. Better communication and more contested passes should lead to getting off the field more often.

My projected experimental "get the F off the field on 3rd and long" unit:

DE Agude
DT Mesidor
DT Taylor/Moultrie
DE Harvey

Hybrid James Williams
LB Chase Smith or Keontra

DB Couch
DB Porter
DB Tyrique
DB Kinchens
DB AWilliams
Click to expand...
We're better on 3rd down if we stop getting so many stupid penalties on offense.
 
kryptonite said:
I’d be thrilled if Thad or anyone really stepped up this year, but pump the brakes. I’m fairly certain most of Thad’s playing time came late in games when running generally gets better. Let’s see how the kid does against fresher opponents. And Knighton had to abuse his tiny body wearing those defenses down. Kinda explains his numbers too.
Click to expand...
I agree - Thad played weaker opponents, and that 48% would be lower carrying a full load. We still need to see more from Thad.

But it wasn't when Thad was getting carries. Knighton wasn't wearing defenses down - it was defenses wearing Knighton down. He flamed out late in the year. That's why I think Thad will be important because he's our only big back and we'll need him to help keep the smaller Knighton/Parrish fresh.
 
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