MontanaHawk05":2ezfp4l7 said:
Go watch Graham's 2016 highlights. Everyone's forgotten. He gave us some fun stuff, if not quite consistent.
Yeah, my complaint about Bevell taking way too long to use Graham is centered on the red zone, since that was far and away the biggest reason we gave up so much to get him and paid him so much. 2015 we didn't use Graham enough but it was cut short due to injury. 2016 Graham killed it between the 20s but still wasn't the red zone workhorse. 2017 Graham finally becomes the red zone easy button. What really frosts me is when we see how we used Graham there in 2017 it's so simple and obvious. Plod into the end zone, turn, block out, 6 pts. We did that over and over and over this year and no one could stop it.
MontanaHawk05":2ezfp4l7 said:
This <bubble screens> is something I don't criticize. Most people expect payoffs of more than 4 yards because it's a passing play. Truth is, if it gains 4 yards, it's technically a success.
I agree, 4 yards is success. But why wouldn't you throw these to your more elusive receivers always? Bevell wasted so many bubble screens on Walters, Kearse, even Baldwin is very meh in terms of being elusive in the open-field (which is weird because Baldwin is elite at shedding coverage at the LOS). Baldwin's go-to open field move is that lunge/hop backward, then resume forward motion. It's good for like an extra yard sometimes.
Throw the bubble screens to Lockett, who has that ability to slip guys in a phone booth. This again goes to my complaint about personnel match-ups. Kearse was a decent blocker, he should be blocking. Baldwin could block. Lockett is tiny and elusive. But to my recollection, of all our WRs Lockett got the least bubble screens thrown to him and that's just idiotic.
With respect to Xs and Os vs Jimmies and Joes I never expected Bevell to turn Lockett into a plus blocker, Graham into a plus blocker, etc. But Bevell actually had players that fit certain things he was trying to do, he'd just hammer the square peg into the round hole for some reason.
This year for example we'd see designed passes in the flat to Graham. Graham has some okay speed once he's going but he has zero acceleration. That is such an awful use of Graham. Thankfully we nailed Grahams red zone role, even if we did regress in terms of using him between the 20s.