Picture Pages: Circle Routes Comment Count

Brian

Despite some post-burial kicking at the ceiling, Jake Rudock's pick six was the final nail in Michigan's coffin against Utah. It came on a route that I've called a "circle" for a bit now. The idea is that you run a slant, then abort that halfway through into an out route. Corner jumps the slant, you get some nice separation and hooray beer. Or you run an out, corner jumps the out, etc.

The general idea is that it is a horizontal double move. I've called it "circle" probably because NCAA football did back in the day; you can see that on a successful one the WR does tend to run in a little circle after his first break:

Both Utah and Michigan tried to run these routes on Thursday, with different results. Here are those plays… AT THE SAME TIME.

On the left will be a Utah throw on their first touchdown drive. It's second and six; Michigan is in the nickel they ran the whole day, showing press coverage on the outside.

On the right, Michigan attempts to convert a third and three halfway through the fourth quarter while down a touchdown.

circle-1perry-1

As far as we're concerned these plays are completely identical to start: we are looking at the slot receiver to the bottom of the screen with a corner who is locked up in man coverage three yards off the line of scrimmage.

circle-2perry-2

A couple moments after the snap both WRs have crossed the LOS; the only difference in the corners is that the Utah guy has taken a step forward, perhaps anticipating this route.

[After the JUMP: everything goes fine because HARBAUGH? Probably!]

Next, a crucial difference:

circle-3perry-3

These guys didn't start at the same exact point on that down and distance effect; Perry started at the bottom and Utah's guy was a step further inside, so this looks more different than it actually is: it's still way different. Utah's WR has taken a step and turned his body, causing Peppers to react. Probably over-react since this slant is headed right into those linebackers.

Meanwhile Perry is offering a vague hint of a slant only. The cornerback is not reacting; Perry hasn't given him anything to react to.

circle-4perry-4

By the point at which these guys stop to circle, Peppers has turned his hips to the inside; the Utah nickel has barely taken a step. Peppers has momentum he has to deal with. Perry's route has not done the same thing.

circle-5perry-5

The difference here is a step, maybe two, from both defender and wide receiver.

circle-6     perry-6circle-7     perry-7

On such steps empires rise and fall. DUN DUN DUN.

Video

Utah:

Michigan:

Fox also provided a replay of the second:

Things and stuff

Routes, man. UFR sucks at routes. I tried to branch into that last year but the primary limitation is that it's hard to see most of 'em. I ended up with a few minuses, the occasional plus, and nothing approximating a take on anyone's skills in that department that doesn't fall prey to Hitchens's Razor.

It bothers me even more since in this game we got assertions from Harbaugh that Jehu Chesson slowed up on the first deep ball that went just over his outstretched hand, and if you squint on a replay it certainly looks like he downshifts slightly once the corner bites on his out route.

I mean, probably. But probably he should do that since he's open by yards and he doesn't want to run out of real estate? I don't know; if WR and QB know what's going on with each other that is the TD is so badly wants to be.

Routes are a great hidden thing that only stick out when they are totally obvious, and about 80% of them never get tested. They are destined to be a feelingsball kind of thing.

HE STARED DOWN HIS GUY THE WHOLE TIME. Yeah. So did Travis Wilson.

circle-3

This is a route against man coverage on which no fancy robber zone is ever going to impact you. The only guys looking at the QB have no shot at defending the pass. Stare away.

HE SHOULD HAVE USED THE INFORMATION FROM STARING. This I will go with. Rudock's presnap read was correct. A circle route that catches pure man coverage is a tough cover. Often you're going to get a safety matching up against a much quicker guy. It is one of those things that makes a HSP like Peppers exciting: he can and should cover that. (I mean, eventually, right?)

So there is a natural inclination to think the throw you are making is a good idea. It should be discarded when the receiver ends up with a gentleman in his breadbasket. Polished offenses don't ask their QB to make this decision much, if at all, because the guy is open; this is an offense in Hoke rehab.

FIRE GRANT PERRY. This goes back to FIRE BRADY HOKE, man. Hoke recruited zero slot receivers after Dennis Norfleet, and barely any receivers, period, after the Darboh/Chesson class. Thus your two slots in this game were both true freshmen.

Perry looked exactly like a promising freshman in this game, which is to say he looked pretty good when not making boggling errors. I do not know why Hoke thought he could create a football team that never needed a little receiver to pick up third and medium. You'll have to tune in to SiriusXM to find out.

/shorts SiriusXM stock

CAN WE GO BACK TO PEPPERS FOR A SECOND HERE. Okay.

I THOUGHT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CHARLES WOODSON. Life as a nickel guy is tougher than life as a boundary corner, because as a boundary corner you can just line up and—if you are as athletic as Peppers is—put them in the, you know, boundary. Having to go both directions is more difficult, and Peppers could have done better with it in game one.

Also: game one. He'll get better. Probably with rapidity. Meanwhile, can I interest you in some screens?

Comments

DonAZ

September 8th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^

taking a half step to be in the middle of the end zone was the right move

I don't understand that.  Help me.

To my eye it's better to catch the ball and miss being inbounds than to slow down and not catch the ball at all.  The receiver goes to where the ball is coming down.  The ball landed in the endzone, which is something quite different from landing beyond the endzone.

I'm not disagreeing the ball was long.  But assuming the ball was catchable -- and maybe it wasn't -- but assuming it was, then Chesson has to go get it.

ak47

September 8th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^

I'm saying Rudock and Chesson should have made the same read.  The decision to take a half step to give his qb more space to make the throw was the right decision.  Rudocks decision to throw the ball to the back of the end zone was the wrong decision.  Chesson was anticipating the ball being put to the middle of the endzone because that is where it should be put in that situation than has to re-adjust when Rudock doesn't put the ball there.  I think Rudock tried to make too perfect of a throw and it cost him.  Cathing a ball out of bounds isn't worth anything more than having a ball go over your head, not sure why that is preferable to you.

reshp1

September 8th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^

I don't think whether he slowed down for a step or not is really relevant. When a WR gets that hand wavingly wide open, it's on the QB to put air under the ball and make sure it's catchable. Rudock may have tried to hit a full speed Chesson in stride and Chesson's let up may have been a factor in the incomplete, but Rudock should never have tried to put that fine a point on it when Chesson had his guy beat by 5 yards. 

Jonesy

September 8th, 2015 at 7:11 PM ^

Doesn't even require a squint, it was obvious to me live that Chesson both slowed up and slanted towards the middle of the field while the ball was placed where he was headed which ended up being beyond and behind him.  It also looked to me like Darboh could have made a play on his ball if he just reached out or maybe leapt.  Like the interceptions, at least some of the fault looks like it could be placed on the receivers.

BlueMan80

September 8th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^

but freshmen will play like freshmen and this was a first game situation.  Made me nervous every time he threw his way.  Experience and coaching will improve performance, because Harbaugh has real coaches on his staff.

As for Hoke, I'm not sure who was convincing him that they were picking up good skill players, but whoever it was, he was buying it.  WR/QB/RB recruits may have been overrated.  Speed didn't seem to be a priority either and that's something we need.  No speedy back and no burner at WR which will put pressure on Rudock all season.

Maizen

September 8th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^

One thing you're not mentioning is that Ty Isaac motioned out of the backfield on the play which forced Utah's Gionni Paul ( a linebacker) to run all the way out on the flank to cover him. He was about 12 yards off the ball at the snap and still backpedaling. 

Rudock should have never gone to Perry in the first place. He should have tossed the ball out to Isaac and at minimum it's a first down, possibly more.

This post also illustrates why someone like Peppers should be in press coverage more often. It's hard to break on those quick passing routes when you're backpedaling at the snap. Put him up in someone's face and let him try to get by a 6 foot 205 lb defensive back. You're neutralizing one of his great strength's (size) when you play him off the ball like that.

Maizen

September 8th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^

We don't need Sherman and Thomas. Peppers and Lewis are for all intents and purposes the college equivalent. Most teams Michigan goes up against aren't going to have the skill at WR to handle that.

They are the best defense in the NFL because they take guys who were low picks and turn them into studs because of the style they play. Similair to MSU in some regards. Browner, Chancellor, Sherman, etc were all mid round draft picks. Dan Quinn took his pressing style defense at Florida and brought it to the NFL. It worked.

 

Space Coyote

September 8th, 2015 at 4:04 PM ^

They do sometimes, when they go to a cover 1 set on known passing downs, but typically they play 3-5 yards off over the slot, in Cover 1 or Cover 3. Jamming the slot makes run support in the alley extremely difficult with a single high defender.

The technique to jam in the slot is extremely difficult, which is a likely reason that Michigan isn't doing it very often. You have to be extremely patient to jam in the slot (something Peppers has struggled on with his technique), because if you aren't, then you lunge, and once you lunge, you are playing trail technique with a receiver that has a free release in every direction (meaning you're dead in the water before the play has even really begun).

That's why Michigan isn't jamming much in the slot. It's incredibly difficult and if you screw up then you're toast. Jamming towards the sideline, even if the WR is off, is much easier, because the receiver only has so much room to release and it's a longer throw, so you can wall off and use your body to control the receiver and still have time to get back in position. Most teams that want to be physical in the slot play off (3-5 yards) and try to catch the receiver to force him a direction; or in other terms they "wall off" or reroute the receiver from releasing a certain way. Rarely do they actually jam from a press technique though, it's too difficult to recover from if you don't get a solid jam immediately, which is very difficult to do. And it's a caliber of athlete and technique issue, it's 99 times out of 100 too much to ask of a college DB to do regularly, because they rarely even ask NFL level players to do it, unless you have 2-high safety help over the top.

skegemogpoint

September 8th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^

Hoke's inability to recruit skilled players is equally as maddening as RichRod's inability (read: unwillingness?) to recruit anything other than smurfs.  It took 8 years to find a balance?  Good grief.

jg2112

September 8th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^

Hoke recruited tons of "skilled" players. He didn't do anything with them. That's why he is unemployed as a coach right now.

And if you meant "skill" players, he recruited them too (Funchess, Green, Peppers, Smith, Darboh, Chesson, Butt, Bunting, Canteen, etc.), but, ditto.

skegemogpoint

September 8th, 2015 at 1:40 PM ^

the notion that you use guys like Bunting, Smith, Peppers (a CB) and Canteen as examples of how Hoke recruited "tons" of skill, skilled, or skillt players over a 4 year period pretty much proves my point.  Thanks for your input just the same.  Clearly you got skillz.

bronxblue

September 8th, 2015 at 3:34 PM ^

Bunting and Green were big time recruits with some buzz around them. Morris was one of the top rated QBs in the country. Drake Harris was an amazing HS receiver. Hoke didn't do a lot with the offense, but he absolutely did recruit skill players.

bronxblue

September 8th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^

RR recruited players that were best fits for the system he wanted to run, and that included recruiting a couple of shorter players.  Of course, let's ignore the fact that one of those "smurfs" set the season yardage record at UM and was a legit endzone threat.  

Hoke recruited enough talent to be successful; he seemed unable to develop it into a cohesive unit on the field.   

jg2112

September 8th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^

I thought Frederick Canteen was recruited to play slot receiver? I distinctly recall Ace alluding to it in his commitment post.

Weren't De'Mario Jones and Bo Dever also potential players at that position?

pjmasi

September 8th, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^

It looks to me like Isaac runs a fly here.  He doesn't glance back at the QB, pre or post snap. Rudock would have needed to communicate a route change presnap for that to work.  And we're talking about a receiver on the play who is an RB, not a WR, who might be more used to a late read route change.

On top of that, I belive the slot would have also needed to change his route, because he drags a defender directly into the passing lane you're suggesting.

Pepto Bismol

September 8th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^

I'm guessing that the Isaac motion and repositioning is to clear out any help defenders and help isolate the "circle" route on the corner.  Everything worked out as planned - up until the defender jumped the route.

Isaac wasn't even the primary RB in this game.  I would have my doubts of he and Rudock's ability to make non-verbal route adjustments at the line at this stage of the season.  Factor in that Rudock would also have to adjust and get the slot receiver to clear out and this starts to become a pretty tall order.  Finally factor in that everything seems to have developed perfectly for their PRIMARY option to succeed pre-snap, and all of a sudden it's pretty unrealistic that Rudock gives two craps about Ty Isaac's matchup on the far side.

Hindsight is 20/20.  I saw the same thing watching live and hoped he'd just fling it out there for the first down.  But I can understand how complex that might have been.

 

UMFanInFlorida

September 8th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^

Ty Issac so wide open at the top of the screen.  How can you argue that that circle route is the correct read??  Issac takes three strides, plants his foot in the ground, turns and catches a pass at the sticks.  All he has to do is fall forward and it's a first down.

edit: forget the link, just pause it there, look and cry.

mGrowOld

September 8th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^

Looks to me like Issac is running a fly route - prolly trying to drag the safety out of the middle of the field - cause in the tootage you link his head never turns back to Rudock that I can see.

Agree that if they have a sight adjustment call and canbreak that route off he's open by a mile.  But if he's locked into a go route he's not that open IMO.

mGrowOld

September 8th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^

You are absolutely right on the slot dragging his cover to the spot everybody is claiming Issac should've gone to.  And you're also absolutely right that it's all moot cause Rudock never even glanced to his right to see what was there.

Lots to talk about during film study I'm sure.  If only Brandon was still around to help......

Reader71

September 9th, 2015 at 9:56 AM ^

Yeah, Isaac could only classify as "open" if he had a big yellow "Y" floating over his head. This isn't Xbox for Pete's sake.

Defender playing way off him? That sucks, his route isn't meant to atop short. Maybe have the quarterback throw it anyway? No he doesn't have eyes on the back of his head. Sight adjustment, maybe? No, because the other receiver is running his route to that spot. Audible? Sure, but why do that when Perry is 1 on 1 running a man-beater? And the audible only became an option after the motion. They probably don't have many plays to get into from that position.

He's not open.

Space Coyote

September 8th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^

But it's not how this works. These are both standard route concepts on both sides of the ball. 

Against man coverage you are looking at the stick-out first. Against zone you are going to the top of the screen, which is a Y-stick concept. To run a Y-stick concept, you need a receiver to clear out the flat. Isaac's job is to clear out the flat and control the safety.

Now, I hate that Isaac runs a half ass route because he sees immediately it's man coverage (man coverage is Alert: X-WR on bottom; 1: Perry; 2-Butt; 3-Darboh running a flat into the vacated zone; zone coverage is Alert: Isaac; 1: Butt, 2: Darboh)

This is the difference between football at this level and Madden. You have a play design and that play design has rules as far as your progression, you don't just run the play willy-nilly. Sure, you can change the play so that the concept to the top of the screen is different and throw it to Isaac; that assumes everyone is on the same page, Isaac runs more than a half ass route, and the defense doesn't react to shut it down (the LB is 10 yards off, but he can attack at the snap, the guy covering Darboh can react to any flat route, etc). And you can't just adjust one route, then the flat by Darboh is running right into Isaac.

So it's easier said than done to just throw it to Isaac. Within the design of the play, throwing to Perry was exactly the right read immediately after the snap (he was covered though and Rudock shouldn't have made the throw).

BornInA2

September 8th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^

Chesson was open by ten yards on that (not) TD throw and even after watching it a half dozen times I couldn't pick up any indication of him slowing up, certainly not tangibly. And yes, the QB HAS to throw him a catchable ball when he's TEN yards open, I don't care if he stopped for some pushups to increase his immune system, or a freaking picnic.