If I may opine, I have an alternative take to what you are implying. What we can agree is that there is something missing. Where we disagree, if I am not mistaken, is what is the causation. Let's say that there is a traumatized victim who is in a constant state of stress. It is simple (and in this case misguided) to say that the solution to their malaise is to just "let go of the stress." So what is my "take" as to what is our malaise and its causation? Not complete - I don't want to be labelled as a Napier apologist - but I would plainly say that... he does not have any other choices. He has the hand he has been dealt. AR last year and now Mertz this. How about...Mertz could settle down and make better decisions on who to throw to if...he does not get pummeled on occasion (his fault?) because some lineman/TEs/RBs miss their assignments. Are you proposing that Brown is ready to go into a hostile place like Lexington and run and pass with such clarity that their defense is going to be befuddled? Really? If you want a better explanation as to our malaise, it has to be two- (and maybe three-) fold: we had some DAMN BAD O-line recruiting (you GROW O-lineman and not recruit them and so his recruits must have time), for whatever reason Napier has decided to wear too many important hats (OC definitely one of them), and potentially his choice of QB to assist getting his offense less stuck was less-than-great but he did not have other, no-brainer choices. I do not recall who it was that rumors were that we had someone - McCall? - who decided to remain with their original team. Again, that is the hand he has been dealt. My post on the post-game thread was a combination of discernment and pseudo-grousing. I saying "pseudo" because it really isn't grousing as much as it is a dire prediction as to what this fan base is prepared to unleash if "they don't get their way." It may be a small wildfire of discontent but we seem to allow it to infiltrate into our psyches. And I do NOT want that to occur. What we have in spades is a LOT of pent-up frustration post-Meyer. That was a LONG time ago. And on top of it, we had THE best person to get us to "the promised land": Spurrier. That era is OVER. He was a one-of-a-kind treasure. Are we going to continue down the path of "he isn't Spurrier"? Kind of like "he isn't Vince Dooley". It took UGa a LONG time to get to "where they deserve." Be damn careful for what you wish for. You just may receive it.
Mertz is fine, in fact I would go so far as to say he is doing a fantastic job of executing in the style BN runs his offense. Sustained drives, don't turn the ball over. Every QB is going to miss reads, incorrectly identify coverage, not see open receivers, etc. For the most part, when he has time and a guy open he is putting the ball on target, something that was hit and miss last year.
NFL, CFL, High-school, whatever the concepts, who cares? As long as it score points. Gus Malzahn running his high-school offense to win NC and beat Bama (multiple times). The important things is, do we have a Top-10 Offense and will we have a Top-10 Offense? The answers are NO and NO and the reason is BN (he can change that if he choose to). It's as simple as that.
He does - he actually said Napier is a "genius" in this department. I guess the follow up for me would be to ask a smart person whether run and pass design are always complementary or does something that Billy does with his running game design detract from passing design options.
James isn't a sunshine pumper but he's not anti-Napier. He was dead on about Trask and Grantham so he's got a pretty good track record, even if the eternal optimist here don't like it. I guess they can talk about his hair, though.
If you look at the passing chart, you see that Mertz throws to the right side of the field a lot. In fact, there are designed rollouts to the right with the flood concept. I watched Varnadore’s film review of Mertz when he was at Wisconsin and my theory is that Mertz tends to get in trouble and turns the ball over when having to roll left or throw against his body. I think Napier is purposely helping him limit the INTs by focusing on the side of the field he’s comfortable with.
I'm a lifetime ticket holder in the sunshine pumper crowd. And I can say: I don't think he's anti-Napier either. He loves the defense. He loves the run game. He mostly-hates the pass scheme. He's not some rando. He puts work into evidence to illustrate his conclusions. The evidence is compelling. Although, I'm not ready to reach the conclusion that the scheme won't work, and especially that only an OC can fix it. I think some complainers would be fine losing the run game if it meant a better pass game, because passing is sexy. I remain convinced Billy could sit down in private, explain to James the "why", and James would say: "Ok, makes sense." Maybe it's easing a new QB in. Maybe it's the overall youth and Billy wants to avoid turnovers. Maybe it's the line. Who knows. Last year we were all long-passing and no short-passing (seemed like.) So it feels like Billy is doing what we always beg for -- adapt to the personnel.
He's simply looking at the end result and explaining why it is what it is, in his view. People are free to disagree, but all of the arguments thus far have been superficial.
Makes sense, especially since Mertz was turnover prone before. Keep it simple. Especially with and improving defense. When we have protection it'll open up. Feeling like 2006 when we had close games and a lot of angst. Not that we're at that level.
Which probably makes the recievers easier to cover if routes tend to go one side of the field consistently.
I agree that scoring pts would be a leading criterion for offensive success, but not that having a Top-10 Offense is the important thing. Certainly it's great to have a Top 10 offense, but it isn't everything. Year........pts/game........rank........record 2006........29.7.................24...........13-1 2007........42.5.................2.............9-4
In fairness, none of us knew that we were going to struggle all season, have to block two field goals to eke out South Carolina … then peak about five minutes into the Ohio State game.
