How do you think Shepard will be used in 2010

Spring game = Russell Shepard show. Featuring Mike Ford, Kevin Minter, Ryan Baker and R.Randle. Guest appearance by Chris Garrett and Sam Montgomery.

 

I'd actually argue that this is 60% of Crowton's problems, 20% being playcalling and the other 20% being coaching and personnel-related. His is a "jack of all trades" kind of offense, based on being able to give defenses multiple formations to worry about and putting together a lot of different things, rather than focusing on exploiting a particular strength. This is fine for an experienced QB, but when applied to an inexperienced one it becomes a "master of none" offense. And it seems clear that he doesn't know how to adjust it to compensate (forcing JJ to run option, predictable sets based on personnel grouping, no halftime adjustments, etc.) For Shep's sake I hope Gonzales is doing the lion's share of work with him and the other QBs/receivers.

 

He already gets hand offs. Just give him a few more. Dont hand him the ball on EVERY play so they D wont know whats coming. Its nothing for him to catch a slant or run a go route. No excuses, there are many ways to have gotten him involved to a stale O. While he might not know the passing game, he still should have thrown some sort of simple pass to keep the D honest. It was so easy to know what play LSU is running next.

 

Agreed. And this is not a bad thing. Matt Flynn was perfectly suited and positioned to flex and flow because he'd been in the program for 4 years before his starting season.

Folks will be calling Crowton "The Wizard" again if/once Jefferson has the kind of poise and patience that Flynn had.

I'm no Crowton lover - but he's become the escape goat. Their are way to many peaces to this puzzle to put all the blame on one dude.

 

This isn't sandlot ball. It's Div I. You don't walk into the huddle and tell Shepard to run a slant. You call a play and the O-line is given a protection package that may or may not be adjusted at the line of scrimmage and the receivers are given routes that may or may not change at the line before the ball is snapped should the defensive coverage scheme be different than what was anticipated or what was lined up when the huddle broke.

You MUST know the playbook for your position for these reasons and more. Also, for consistency's sake. How would you feel if you knew the playbook backwards and forwards, but lost out on playing time to a guy who didn't know anything?

 

The Zone Read is one of the easiest for a QB to make. There is no way to disguise the coverage, you are judging what to do solely on the first step of the backside DE. Shep ran this offense to a T in high school, I'm sure if we implemented it he would do fine.

Jefferson has little experience running such an offense and that is why he's struggling with it. He prefers to be a drop back/sprint out type.

 

That's the problem. Miles has to trust his QB's judgment, and he clearly did not trust Jefferson's for most of the season. He never let JJ trust his instincts and let him do what he's comfortable with, which is rolling out of the pocket and taking off downfield when his 1st and 2nd receivers are bottled up. How long do you think he'd let Shep run the zone read if LBs keep stuffing those plays for 1-2 yards? Hell, it's highly debatable if we even have the O line needed for those zone read plays to develop under the best of circumstances.

 

I agree!!!

 

I just can't see that happening.

 

I hope you're right. Shep is an electric player every time he touches the ball, but he's going to need good blocking up front to run that offense effectively, and I saw almost nothing last season to indicate he'll get it, and Stud is still our O-line coach. This is one of those situations where I'd love to be proven wrong, but I think his immediate future will be at receiver and some tailback.