"Coach Shurmur loves to throw the ball downfield" -Greg Little

DeadWombat · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

I read this in an article by Grossi a couple days ago.... I thought it was a rather interesting quote.

Quote:

Little's eight catches match Mohamed Massaquoi for the team lead among pure wideouts (tight end Ben Watson and running back Peyton Hillis have 10 each). But Little's puny 9.3-yard receiving average doesn't scream "big-play wideout."

"We've practiced some downfield throws," he said. "Coach Shurmur loves to throw the ball downfield. But I have no problem with going across the middle, catching short balls, making one guy miss and picking up a first down or a 15-yard gain."

(The entire article is here: Browns rookie receiver Greg Little learning what it takes to succeed | cleveland.com)

Despite this quote, here's some stats about going downfield.

We've thrown 20+ yard plays 5 times, which is 29th in the NFL.
Our average yardage per throw is 5.7, which is again 29th in the NFL
Despite this, we have had 111 pass attempts, which is 14th in the NFL

Basically, this tells you what we already know from watching any game: We do a lot of short passes, dink and dunking our way to the end zone. So it's interesting to hear from Little that Shurmur apparently likes to do the opposite.... especially considering the type of offense he has installed. Now, I know a lot of that has to do with Holmgren being a WCO guy and Colt being a great fit for that type of offense. Part of that is probably due to our lack of a true deep threat as well. But still, a comment like Shurmur's quote makes me start to wonder.

All of us envisioned Little to hopefully turn into our No.1 deep threat wideout when we first drafted him, but he has not been given that role so far. Shurmur has been calling for downfield throws in practice. There's still a lot of criticism for McCoy's arm strength out there... and with the way we currently play, I don't expect it to stop. But, McCoy has looked good on the few long balls he has thrown, making some nice touch TD passes to MoMass and Moore (including the one he dropped). It doesn't seem like has trouble in the 20+ yard range at all....

Do you guys think we might start opening up the field more as Little and McCoy continue to develop? If so, I can see our offense starting to add in elements of the Air Coryell offense kinda like New Orlean's passing game. If so, that would be really exciting. I would love to see something like that in the future.

next2nothing · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

I think we will. I think the big thing holding the playcalling back right now is the inexperience with the system. Due to the lockout, as others have said, this is pretty much a learning season. I like the way the team is playing right now though and I think we'll see more in the passing game as the season moves along.

YtownBacker · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

I think the big thing that's keeping them from throwing the ball downfield and progressing as an offense is the offensive line. Two first year players a guard and a revolving door at RT hasn't helped Colt grow as a young QB.

Brown Warrior · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

We lack speed at WR, we have a problem at RT, we run a WCO, and we have a quarterback who wouldn't rank high in arm strength among NFL starters (release the hounds!). Kind of a perfect storm.

Neo · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

I don't like this new pass happy offense we have. We are not there yet with our WR's and QB to be passing all the time. We have the components to run, so we should be running. If we are going to continue to pass we need to run a form of no-huddle. Not necessarily a "hurry up" but something more up tempo so the defense doesn't have time to settle in. Would also force our guys to just react instead of thinking too much.

Brown Warrior · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

We only went "pass happy" when we got behind... and we never throw more than 8 yards downfield anyway.

Sez.EJ · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

No mystery to me.. WR still seems to be a HUGE issue.. The OL is part of that equation to be sure.. but the lack of a big playmaker at WR is obvious. 1st round next year... is also obvious. We go forward with a new #1.. Little, Momass and Cribbs.. we'll be ok.. but we may need to take 2 wr's ( perhaps a 1st and a 3rd (or 4th) rounder as Cribbs will be 29 next year.. Time flies.. If we want to run this offense..we have to get more talent at WR.. TE is fine right now... I wish we could see what Colt could do with a better WR corps.. I think he's going to be fine for us at QB.. He stood in the pocket much better today.. He actually had a pocket much of the day. Pashos was much better than the other 2 guys. (but still needs upgraded in the offseason as he can't be counted on)

Brown Warrior · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

Agreed on Pashos. He was pretty good today.

It's all about whether McCoy can get it downfield with some zip and accuracy. He's been really, really bad at that so far. Not an opinion... the stats are ugly. He was worst in the league last season.

Until he proves otherwise (and he hasn't in four starts this year) it's a big hole in his game. When he has to put some mustard on it, he's broadly accurate at best.

DirtyDawg · #9 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

People still need to learn that just because the QB chooses to throw the ball to a shorter check-down route doesn't mean the play-call was for that short pass.

I'm willing to bet that a lot of the time McCoy is just unwilling to take a chance throwing down field to his first or second option, and just checks down too quick.

I really, really hesitate to make this comparison, but that's something Charlie Frye struggled with...

Vegasdogg · #10 (**permalink**) 10-02-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

I wish we could see what Colt could do with a better WR corps.

I would like to see what Colt can do with this WR corps, to be honest. He had so many windows he missed. The time is over when you say "he wishes he had a bunch of plays back" or "I wish I had a bunch of plays back." Hey no shit pal so do I. What are you going to do about it?

He doesn't have piss poor WR's. There are players there to work with. But for instance - you can't hit a crossing Cribbs after he runs open for 15 yards only to finally feed him with 5 yards of boundary left. You just can't have this. Another time he had the TE to the left and he hits him short without leading him, allowing the D to defense the pass. There are plenty of times this has occurred.

He doesn't need better WR's right now, he needs to develop the WR's he has. Cribbs is no Greg Jennings and Little is no Calvin Johnson and MoMass is no Wes Welker, but he needs to start using them as if there are.

Pull the trigger.