Question regarding ability to pick up our offensive system
Somebody please fill in the gap for me since I am not exactly sure what to think. One of the constantly repeated comments from the coaching staff is the need for player (fill in the blank) to learn the offense. My question arises from wondering if our coaches are perfectionists regarding their views or the players really struggle to grasp the offense. Maybe the truth is in the middle. I don't know.
However, I then contrast this with reports of our RB's progression. RB should be the easiest position for transition and early contribution regardless of system. This is based on the commonly accepted view that freshmen RBs in college or rookie RBs in the NFL are most ready to play right away out of all position groups. With that being said, why are our RBs making mistakes in the offense worth noting (beyond missing a blitz pick up or something)? Fitz, Cox and Shaw have seen this for 2-3 years already. I am a bit confused by the reports coming out of spring practice.
"Assorted items of possibly dubious validity that have darkened my inbox about spring practice. Are these accurate? Useful? Worth reading? Possibly not. Will at least one player who these reports suggest will be a ninja spend his career doing nothing? Yes. Will you absorb the reports voraciously anyway? Absolutely!"
In addition....Fitz has only been here for 9 months, and has dealt with a shoulder injury for much of this time.
It has more to do with knowing where to be at what time...
The spread option, relies heavily on the presumption that skill players can read the defense and appropriately choose the best alternative. A good example of this is the quarterback's need to read the DE quickly when deciding whether to hand the ball of to a RB or take of running.
While "picking up the offense" is probably not the best way to describe the problem the coaches have with certain players, it still gets the point across. In essence, they are tired of seeing certain players incorrectly read defensive schemes or run towards a tackler as opposed to running towards open space.
While I agree that physically the RB position probably transitions the easiest, the offense we run requires the RB to know what he is doing a lot more than more straightforward offenses do. Therefore, you get players still making mental mistakes in year 2 or 3.
It does not just seem to be a mgoblog opinion
Freshmen typically aren't ready to play on day one. Unfortunately, Michigan has had to deal with a full blown scheme transition on offense and three full blown scheme transitions on defense. That basically left everyone confused. The offensive veterans should be fully ready to go by fall (probably Sophomore and up for those who have played) while the defense may still be a work in progress to start the season.
1- never take spring practice reports literally
2- knowing what you're supposed to do isnt the same as doing it
This system has a reputation for being harder to grasp than others because it requires more of a coordinated team effort to achieve its objective (as compared to pro-style offense that maybe just requires most of the one-on-one roles to be executed). For the quarterback, it demands reads to be made very quickly in the running game - something many QBs won't be used to from high school systems that don't run the read-option much. Running backs also make decisions - about which hole to hit (maybe more than in other systems?) and who to block perhaps also which route to run off an option route.
The main factor though, regardless of system, is simply that these guys are young. Usually freshmen and sophomores aren't expected to fully grasp a system; they have time to develop behind upperclassmen. Chris Perry took a long time to grasp his role in Lloyd Carr's offense even though it was (at least in theory) easier for a RB than RR's system. Its not just about running into a hole but also about knowing what plays are called, knowing who to block, etc.
If JRs and SRs still can't figure out RR's system after 3 or 4 years then we'll have reason to think its too hard for people to grasp. Until then, its a typical situation where some younger players are going to make mental mistakes.
Also, some guys just never get it and you just have a poor fit, but its too early to say here.
Most players don't sniff the field until 2nd year or later. These kids were here for 20-30 practices before they were in there on game day at 18 years old.
Pat White and crew seemed to figure it out pretty well. A lot of these guys are still 1st and 2nd year players. When they are 3rd and 4th year there will be a steady pipeline of guys behind them who have been learning...and we will be rolling.
Unlike other schemes I think this one is more complex and all the whole team has to be on the same page to operate at it's full potential. I think this year our offense will finally be full go.
hitting the right hole, angles, patience on slow-developing plays, blitz pickups, not dancing too much, fumbles...but most importantly - timing, timing, timing.
but i'm with you. spread or not, the running back should largely be a plug-and-play position. "mental mistakes" to me is coach-speak for a various number of things.
While RB might be one of the easier positions to step into and play, I think it's also one of the harder positions to coach. In high school most of these running backs were studs because they were some combination of bigger/stronger/faster then the opponents on defense. Once they hit college, they don't have nearly the athletic advantage on the defenders that they did in high school.
A lot of the great running backs have excellent vision and instincts. Those are traits that a coach cannot really teach - a player either has them or they don't. If a running back is getting strung out along the line of scrimmage in high school he might have been able to get past the defenders to the edge and pick up a nice gain. In college, he might not be able to do that and needs to realize when to just start heading north or south and pick up as much yardage as he can.
I'm not sure if it's as prevalent with the RR offense as it was with Carr's but Carr and his staff always said one of the toughest things for young running backs to learn was blocking in pass protection (mainly picking up the blitz).