Technical Question Re: Jeff Thomas

UMFarArcher

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I've heard a few times about the defensive tactic of bracketing Jeff Thomas - and pretty much neutralizing him.

And Enos says he want Jeff to get ten touches or so per game.

So what's the counter-tactic to negate the high/low bracketing Jeff was and will be exposed to?
 
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Putting him in pre-snap Motion forcing the Defense to show their hand & using him in shorter routes like quick screens, slants, flats, curls, comebacks & digs, instead of just running him on deep vertical routes all game.

You can also give him quick pitch handoffs & reverses to get him the ball. But him being double teamed will only open the field for KJ, Pope, Brevin, Mallory, Hightower, Payton & the rest. If Defenses are stupid enough to pull that Safety & put him on JT all game leaving KJ open on the outside they'll pay for it dearly.

But this is exactly what a real OC salivates over the opportunity to exploit mismatches in opposing Defenses, forcing them to play certain coverages out of fear of being beaten deep just so you carve them up over the middle & underneath. It actually plays exactly into our hand as an offense because we don't have the kind of OL that should have to hold a clean pocket for too long so it works in our favor to have a quick passing attack with short routes & force Defenses to pick their poison if they decide they won't get beat by the deep ball.

With our speed on the outside, most Defenses we see will play a lot of Zone on us early on, you'll see a lot of Cover 3, 4 & 5 Zone coverages, which means seam routes & shallow crosses will be open all day.
 
I've heard a few times about the defensive tactic of bracketing Jeff Thomas - and pretty much neutralizing him.

And Enos says he want Jeff to get ten touches or so per game.

So what's the counter-tactic to negate the high/low bracketing Jeff was and will be exposed to?
That was a tactic solely because defenses knew our limitations. Not only because of qb play but also because they knew our route tree better than most of our recievers... this is when I know our fan base may be a lil baffled by what they are watching. Did yall not see on numerous occasions where dbs would stay posted up **** near in specific spots while our recievers seemed to run their routes freely? Only to have the route and the throw progress to where the dbs were basically standing flat footed throughout... IT HAPPENED ALOT. Defenses didnt have to respect us at all. That wont happen anymore. Theres ur answer on bracketing Jeff. Weapons will be utilized in this offense. Well have to see just how fully well be capable of because atleast initially our QBs may have slight limitations. But that's why I've said this year is all on our oline. Our success or failure as a team will be entirely on that unit. Cause our defense will not be able to carry us anywhere near as much, especially early in the season while the secondary gels.
 
Putting him in pre-snap Motion forcing the Defense to show their hand & using him in shorter routes like quick screens, slants, flats, curls, comebacks & digs, instead of just running him on deep vertical routes all game.

You can also give him quick pitch handoffs & reverses to get him the ball. But him being double teamed will only open the field for KJ, Pope, Brevin, Mallory, Hightower, Payton & the rest. If Defenses are stupid enough to pull that Safety & put him on JT all game leaving KJ open on the outside they'll pay for it dearly.

But this is exactly what a real OC salivates over the opportunity to exploit mismatches in opposing Defenses, forcing them to play certain coverages out of fear of being beaten deep just so you carve them up over the middle & underneath. It actually plays exactly into our hand as an offense because we don't have the kind of OL that should have to hold a clean pocket for too long so it works in our favor to have a quick passing attack with short routes & force Defenses to pick their poison if they decide they won't get beat by the deep ball.

With our speed on the outside, most Defenses we see will play a lot of Zone on us early on, you'll see a lot of Cover 3, 4 & 5 Zone coverages, which means seam routes & shallow crosses will be open all day.
Only thing to point out in that is the emphasis pre snap and progression because if the line cant hold up at all we wont see much of that scheme. Only way a defense respects the deep ball is either if your line can atleast remain semi respectable or you can move the pocket effectively routinely. But I agree entirely. Alot of our offense will be underneath especially on sets with deejay or cam. Cant wait to see this offense once we get some cohesion. Think defenses in for some ****. Especially if cam & will keep getting better.
 
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Putting him in pre-snap Motion forcing the Defense to show their hand & using him in shorter routes like quick screens, slants, flats, curls, comebacks & digs, instead of just running him on deep vertical routes all game.

You can also give him quick pitch handoffs & reverses to get him the ball. But him being double teamed will only open the field for KJ, Pope, Brevin, Mallory, Hightower, Payton & the rest. If Defenses are stupid enough to pull that Safety & put him on JT all game leaving KJ open on the outside they'll pay for it dearly.

But this is exactly what a real OC salivates over the opportunity to exploit mismatches in opposing Defenses, forcing them to play certain coverages out of fear of being beaten deep just so you carve them up over the middle & underneath. It actually plays exactly into our hand as an offense because we don't have the kind of OL that should have to hold a clean pocket for too long so it works in our favor to have a quick passing attack with short routes & force Defenses to pick their poison if they decide they won't get beat by the deep ball.

With our speed on the outside, most Defenses we see will play a lot of Zone on us early on, you'll see a lot of Cover 3, 4 & 5 Zone coverages, which means seam routes & shallow crosses will be open all day.
Exactly. Move him around. Double tight ends.
Qb runs. Running back wheel routes.
He can be just as effective to our offense catching as not catching. Cmr failed miserably in giving defenses things to think about cause he gave them nothing to think about..
It’s also easy to bracket when your qb can’t hit the side of a barn and nobody is crossing the middle.
Fsu for 2 years had almost the entire line standing up fo most of the game. Teams basically keyed in in on Jt and have 0 fcks about anything else.
 
Only thing to point out in that is the emphasis pre snap and progression because if the line cant hold up at all we wont see much of that scheme. Only way a defense respects the deep ball is either if your line can atleast remain semi respectable or you can move the pocket effectively routinely. But I agree entirely. Alot of our offense will be underneath especially on sets with deejay or cam. Cant wait to see this offense once we get some cohesion. Think defenses in for some ****. Especially if cam & will keep getting better.
Regarding the o line, if they struggle to hold up in the pass this is where multiple TE sets can be Enos' saving grace.
 
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Putting him in pre-snap Motion forcing the Defense to show their hand & using him in shorter routes like quick screens, slants, flats, curls, comebacks & digs, instead of just running him on deep vertical routes all game.

You can also give him quick pitch handoffs & reverses to get him the ball. But him being double teamed will only open the field for KJ, Pope, Brevin, Mallory, Hightower, Payton & the rest. If Defenses are stupid enough to pull that Safety & put him on JT all game leaving KJ open on the outside they'll pay for it dearly.

But this is exactly what a real OC salivates over the opportunity to exploit mismatches in opposing Defenses, forcing them to play certain coverages out of fear of being beaten deep just so you carve them up over the middle & underneath. It actually plays exactly into our hand as an offense because we don't have the kind of OL that should have to hold a clean pocket for too long so it works in our favor to have a quick passing attack with short routes & force Defenses to pick their poison if they decide they won't get beat by the deep ball.

With our speed on the outside, most Defenses we see will play a lot of Zone on us early on, you'll see a lot of Cover 3, 4 & 5 Zone coverages, which means seam routes & shallow crosses will be open all day.

Been so long since I’ve seen a shallow cross get thrown with room to work with. Used to be our bread and butter. Roscoe comes to mind...
 
If they're double teaming JT, they're leaving a hole elsewhere. Once that hole gets exploited, the opposing DC has no choice but to close it, leaving an opportunity for JT.
 
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The good thing about college football is that talent can often overwhelm tactics. For example, LSU bracketed JT and he ran right past both guys for a deep bomb.
 
@Liberty City El had a pretty good write up. Basically get him open and create the separation on the first level before the double team can come into play. Stress the first level and backers and this is where someone like Cam Harris/Brevin will help him out.

However this is going to depend a lot on Jeff Thomas too. We have a guy who absolutely made his living getting open like we need to get Jeff open coaching him, but JT4 needs to become a more patient and precise route runner as well.
 
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Only thing to point out in that is the emphasis pre snap and progression because if the line cant hold up at all we wont see much of that scheme. Only way a defense respects the deep ball is either if your line can atleast remain semi respectable or you can move the pocket effectively routinely. But I agree entirely. Alot of our offense will be underneath especially on sets with deejay or cam. Cant wait to see this offense once we get some cohesion. Think defenses in for some ****. Especially if cam & will keep getting better.

We are going to be moving the pocket - I can almost guarantee it. Obviously not every passing play, but several times a game, I’m almost sure of it
 
We are going to be moving the pocket - I can almost guarantee it. Obviously not every passing play, but several times a game, I’m almost sure of it
Were gonna be doing plenty of that. What u seem to have missed when I was saying that though brother is doing it effectively. Your line is still intrical in that and moving the pocket really keys on the tight ends. Not just as simple as doing it if we want to set up routes. That was my only point.
 
Were gonna be doing plenty of that. What u seem to have missed when I was saying that though brother is doing it effectively. Your line is still intrical in that and moving the pocket really keys on the tight ends. Not just as simple as doing it if we want to set up routes. That was my only point.

No I got that part too.

I just think unless you’re Oline is straight dogshlt, moving the pocket, rollout passing, etc, can give the QB give an extra second or half second to make the throw, which might be the difference between a sack and a completion.

Clearly, it’s not an overall solution always, it’s always better to have a boss Oline, but sometimes games are determined by one or two plays. As you well know. All I know is, we’re going to be a little more creative in finding ways to try and keep the QB upright.

Also, is Irving still our best TE blocker?
 
We could even have 3 TE sets with Will, Brevin, and Michael II all in on the same play, allowing for max protection while still exploiting defenses with sending Will and/or Brevin out into routes. I too think we shall roll out the pocket but not as much per game as some may think, unless it’s Tate who wins out at the starting QB spot. If that occurs, I’m thinking we could utilize him like we did Rosier but with better route packages. I also have a hunch the OL will play better than we’re all thinking this season, leading to games we can grind out wins in the 4th quarter by pounding the rock and PA throwing over the top to crush the will of opponents.
 
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