Why are our WRs... underwhelming?

[Chip]

Which, to my point, doesn't mean that Pena has some ability to get open. It wasn't his skill that did it, it was Clemson's blown coverage.

I'm not sure what everyone sees in Pena other than he seems to have good hands and is fearless on punt returns. But, he hasn't come close to breaking one on KR or PR lately, and he doesn't seem to be any faster than the next guy.

I don't know how much he gives us as a WR, but I was pretty impressed that he made that catch and then found a way to take it in. He had no idea if another 4.4 running 5 star DB was going to blast him.

It doesn't make him Erv, but it's not nothing. Hoping that with play action, that's something that might be there again a few times this season.

 

[CIL]

Curious on this point. Do you think it's the best strategy for the rest of this season? On one hand, I would think it's something that could offset having less talent at WR. On the other hand, the younger WRs (Alford, Hatcher, Gadsden) were offered by multiple P5 big boy schools, so should we simplify for now and try to get those on the field who can make a play? I know Gadsden is hurt at the moment.

I don't know the answer, but Sharrod/Queeley knowing the nuances of the offense doesn't seem like it's helping very much.

Personally I’m not the biggest fan of option routes at this level. Need a ton of reps and everyone to be on the same page. That being said, we aren’t using them as much with Shrader.

I’d really like to see us threaten vertically more than we are. At the very least, just to keep the safeties from playing 7-8 yards off the los like we saw with Clemson and Wake.

Have to get one of our WR’s to establish themselves as a deep threat to really get this O going.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

Could lack of height be an issue? Our WRs are not a tall group. Jackson, Cooper and Johnson are all 5'11". Pena is 6'0". Queely is 6'2"

Clemson's WRs are much taller. Ngata, EJ Willimas, Ajou and Landson are all 6"3". Ross is 6'4" and Spector is 6"1."

Checked the box score from the Wake Forrest game and saw that AT Perry (6'5") and Jaquari Roberson (6'1") accounted for 12 catches for 273 yards.

You're onto something. Clemson's WR's (Collins, Ngata) were bigger, more physical and more experienced than our receivers. So was the Wake guy we couldn't stop (Perry).

Another factor is that our QB didn't have time to stretch the field. Venables made Shrader's life miserable. The pocket was clean only a few times and GS was fortunate to hit one to Pena. The rest of the time, Clemson's DB's were up in our jerseys .. jamming our receivers and jumping routes.

Lastly, although we threw to Tucker on occasion, our tight end passing attack is non-existent. This puts more pressure on our WR's. It's baffling. To me priority ONE should be getting Benson the rock. The guy is 6'4/240 with 10.7 speed. For god sake - get him the ball in space and give opposing teams another weapon to defend.

 

[CIL]

You're onto something. Clemson's WR's (Collins, Ngata) were bigger and more physical than our receivers. So was the Wake guy we couldn't stop (Perry).

Another factor is that our QB didn't have time to stretch the field. Venables made Shrader's life miserable. The pocket was clean only a few times and GS was fortunate to hit one to Pena. The rest of the game, Clemson's DB's were in our jerseys .. jamming our WR's and jumping routes.

Lastly, the word is obviously out on our offensive simplicity. Shrader and Alford were wearing wrist play-lists ... still learning the offense. This makes us predictable, and may be one of the reasons (along with protection problems) we have no tight end passing attack. To me that should be priority ONE - getting Benson loose and incorporating him into the offense. The guy is 5'4/240 with 10.7 speed. For god sake - get him the ball in space.

I believe Benson is out with injury.

 

[baggerbob]

You're onto something. Clemson's WR's (Collins, Ngata) were bigger and more physical than our receivers. So was the Wake guy we couldn't stop (Perry).

Another factor is that our QB didn't have time to stretch the field. Venables made Shrader's life miserable. The pocket was clean only a few times and GS was fortunate to hit one to Pena. The rest of the game, Clemson's DB's were in our jerseys .. jamming our WR's and jumping routes.

Lastly, the word is obviously out on our offensive simplicity. Shrader and Alford were wearing wrist play-lists ... still learning the offense. This makes us predictable, and may be one of the reasons (along with protection problems) we have no tight end passing attack. To me that should be priority ONE - getting Benson loose and incorporating him into the offense. The guy is 5'4/240 with 10.7 speed. For god sake - get him the ball in space.

Find a way to get a 6-7-265 TE the ball in the middle of the field 3 or 4 times a game.

 

[corpjet]

2 of the best WRs under Dino were brought in via transfer (Maryland and Michigan State), we have yet to develop a great one under Dinos tutelage that he's brought in and recruited.

 

[hoopsupstate]

2 of the best WRs under Dino were brought in via transfer (Maryland and Michigan State), we have yet to develop a great one under Dinos tutelage that he's brought in and recruited.

This has been the biggest surprise since Dino’s been here. Hasn’t produced a big time receiver that he’s recruited.

 

[721Comstock]

I believe Benson is out with injury.

Benson was in on ST’s several times.

Dunno why he could run Specials, but not his ‘day job’?

 

[Jake]

I sit in the end zone. It’s gives me a great perspective on how awful some of Shrader’s throws really are. The WRs have to be contortionists to catch some of them. Most don’t lead receivers at all and are behind or terribly low.

would like to see some routes against zones were receivers just sit it the soft spot.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

I believe Benson is out with injury.

No I was at the game and saw him out there on special teams ... as a gunner. He was one of the first guys downfield and looked perfectly healthy. (He's also listed as a participant in the box score).

 

[AngryOtto]

They do not use the te. The claim that they have to max protect because of the Oline does not fly this year. For some reason DB feels it better to use a 5’11 185 receiver over 6’4 240, 6’4 245 and 6’7 265 TE. Not sure what his reasons for this approach but do not see it changing in DBs offense.

 

[PhatOrange]

I sit in the end zone. It’s gives me a great perspective on how awful some of Shrader’s throws really are. The WRs have to be contortionists to catch some of them. Most don’t lead receivers at all and are behind or terribly low.

would like to see some routes against zones were receivers just sit it the soft spot.

A couple of times WRs got bagged on hard in the game thread because the TV camera side view makes it look like it’s a good pass, but you just knew it was probably thrown way behind the guy.

One in the middle of the field comes to mind. Johnson maybe.

 

[Chris02M]

i believe queeley was benched in the 2nd half as he wasnt out there much unless he got hurt

 

[OttoinGrotto]

would like to see some routes against zones were receivers just sit it the soft spot.

Terrel Hunt used to LOVE those.

 

[javadoc]

You're onto something. Clemson's WR's (Collins, Ngata) were bigger, more physical and more experienced than our receivers. So was the Wake guy we couldn't stop (Perry).

Another factor is that our QB didn't have time to stretch the field. Venables made Shrader's life miserable. The pocket was clean only a few times and GS was fortunate to hit one to Pena. The rest of the time, Clemson's DB's were up in our jerseys .. jamming our receivers and jumping routes.

Lastly, although we threw to Tucker on occasion, our tight end passing attack is non-existent. This puts more pressure on our WR's. It's baffling. To me priority ONE should be getting Benson the rock. The guy is 6'4/240 with 10.7 speed. For god sake - get him the ball in space and give opposing teams another weapon to defend.

I was kinda sauced at the time, but it seemed to me that there was a huge difference on display, two illustrative contrasting things.

Clemson's QB heaves the ball up and their tall receivers make a play.

The one time I see our tall receiver go up to make a play, the Clemson DB has his hand right up on the guy's throat and is shoving him backwards and down, before the ball gets there. We don't have the horses to "throw it up and let them make a play" and when we do, well...

 

[tipphill]

Very underwhelming, would like to see Cooper and Pena get some more burn at this point. Cooper seems like hes got some potential

pena yes, cooper only if can maintain ball security

 

[WarmWeather]

I was kinda sauced at the time, but it seemed to me that there was a huge difference on display, two illustrative contrasting things.

Clemson's QB heaves the ball up and their tall receivers make a play.

The one time I see our tall receiver go up to make a play, the Clemson DB has his hand right up on the guy's throat and is shoving him backwards and down, before the ball gets there. We don't have the horses to "throw it up and let them make a play" and when we do, well...

Wake did the same thing.

 

[tbonezone]

I sit in the end zone. It’s gives me a great perspective on how awful some of Shrader’s throws really are. The WRs have to be contortionists to catch some of them. Most don’t lead receivers at all and are behind or terribly low.

would like to see some routes against zones were receivers just sit it the soft spot.

on replay the uncalled "pass interference" against clemson (which we converted anyway) that ball was not catchable in bounds. thus negating any penalty unless you got holding previous. there is no PI penalty on a tip or uncatchable pass. catch them stride they take it to the house. poor tosses equals down losses.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Right.

I'm saying though, it's weird there isn't a playmaker in the mix.

How does that happen?

Come on, you've been keeping track of our recruiting.
They can identify all the great talent in Florida with the best of them.
But they can't pull that talent consistently, and for some reason we've missed on a ton of WRs (despite having Tommy as their QB, it should be pointed on, a legit 4 star), as well as a large group of heirs to DeVito at QB. It's like we have gaping holes in our depth chart, and we just can't fill them.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I was kinda sauced at the time, but it seemed to me that there was a huge difference on display, two illustrative contrasting things.

Clemson's QB heaves the ball up and their tall receivers make a play.

The one time I see our tall receiver go up to make a play, the Clemson DB has his hand right up on the guy's throat and is shoving him backwards and down, before the ball gets there. We don't have the horses to "throw it up and let them make a play" and when we do, well...

Clemson's QB, honestly, is terrible. He has slow feet and is a bit clumsy in traffic. He's big and strong, and he can get into a rhythm with his passing, but we've seen much, much better NFL prospects in the ACC over the last 10 years.