kearly
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Last weekend I watched my Washington Huskies as they (quite unexpectedly) dismantled the 19th ranked Boise State Broncos 38-6. Had you asked me before the game, I would have said UW had one surefire NFL player on their roster, and he was suspended for that game. Now, I think I'd add a second player to that list.
Sure, UW's explosion on offense was due to a lot of factors. But I think the biggest one was how they took their worst receiver from the previous season (Jaydon Mickens) and turned him into Percy Harvin jr. with a steady dose of bubble screens. Mickens is, at least athletically, pretty comparable to Harvin, both have similar running styles too. Harvin averaged 8 yards after the catch last season, Mickens averaged about 9 or 10 yards after the catch in this game. UW, especially with their new Chip Kelly / Rich Rod type offense, really values running the football (they ran the football on 64% of their plays), and like the Seahawks they have a very impressive stable of RBs.
Anyway, Mickens looked unstoppable in this game. It was basically like having a 2nd RB on the field. Either they hand off like normal (with a read option play) or they threw a quick hit to Mickens and he exploded ahead for 8-12 easy yards. Watching that, I was reminded of the AP-Harvin combo last year. Before playing Seattle and getting hurt, Harvin was on pace for 120 catches, and a solid majority of those were caught around the line of scrimmage.
Now, AP's numbers actually went up after Harvin went down, and in the UW game the Huskies rushed for less per attempt than they usually do. So I'm not necessarily saying that having an elite bubble screen weapon will improve our running game. What I do think is that having a great running game makes the bubble screen that much more effective. I'm not saying Harvin will get 8 catches a game for us like he did in Minnesota last year, but when he's 100% I expect him to be leading the team in receptions. The combination of an elite running game and an elite LOS receiver means we'll get a lot of cheap yardage that will drive our opponents crazy. It's also going to get us a LOT of first downs and manageable 2nd/3rd downs.
UW finished with almost 600 yards of offense. Their bubble screen guy only had about 110 of those (on 10 catches). But even though he was only 1/6 of their yardage, he was clearly the one thing they did not have before, the one big catalyst that fueled one long drive after another. Seeing how his impact outweighed his (still very good) numbers, it made me realize exactly why Pete was willing to pay so much to get Harvin.
When Seattle switched to a read option wrinkle late last season, our offense got a big shot in the arm. It wasn't the same offense anymore, and it was a lot harder to stop. I expect a similar transformation when Harvin joins us later this season. We are going to be the kings of short yardage offense, even moreso considering our arsenal of deep threats and a QB who throws a sexy deep ball. Defenses are going to sweat blood thinking about which areas to defend and which to leave exposed.
Sure, UW's explosion on offense was due to a lot of factors. But I think the biggest one was how they took their worst receiver from the previous season (Jaydon Mickens) and turned him into Percy Harvin jr. with a steady dose of bubble screens. Mickens is, at least athletically, pretty comparable to Harvin, both have similar running styles too. Harvin averaged 8 yards after the catch last season, Mickens averaged about 9 or 10 yards after the catch in this game. UW, especially with their new Chip Kelly / Rich Rod type offense, really values running the football (they ran the football on 64% of their plays), and like the Seahawks they have a very impressive stable of RBs.
Anyway, Mickens looked unstoppable in this game. It was basically like having a 2nd RB on the field. Either they hand off like normal (with a read option play) or they threw a quick hit to Mickens and he exploded ahead for 8-12 easy yards. Watching that, I was reminded of the AP-Harvin combo last year. Before playing Seattle and getting hurt, Harvin was on pace for 120 catches, and a solid majority of those were caught around the line of scrimmage.
Now, AP's numbers actually went up after Harvin went down, and in the UW game the Huskies rushed for less per attempt than they usually do. So I'm not necessarily saying that having an elite bubble screen weapon will improve our running game. What I do think is that having a great running game makes the bubble screen that much more effective. I'm not saying Harvin will get 8 catches a game for us like he did in Minnesota last year, but when he's 100% I expect him to be leading the team in receptions. The combination of an elite running game and an elite LOS receiver means we'll get a lot of cheap yardage that will drive our opponents crazy. It's also going to get us a LOT of first downs and manageable 2nd/3rd downs.
UW finished with almost 600 yards of offense. Their bubble screen guy only had about 110 of those (on 10 catches). But even though he was only 1/6 of their yardage, he was clearly the one thing they did not have before, the one big catalyst that fueled one long drive after another. Seeing how his impact outweighed his (still very good) numbers, it made me realize exactly why Pete was willing to pay so much to get Harvin.
When Seattle switched to a read option wrinkle late last season, our offense got a big shot in the arm. It wasn't the same offense anymore, and it was a lot harder to stop. I expect a similar transformation when Harvin joins us later this season. We are going to be the kings of short yardage offense, even moreso considering our arsenal of deep threats and a QB who throws a sexy deep ball. Defenses are going to sweat blood thinking about which areas to defend and which to leave exposed.