Not meaning to be critical but where are the TE pass catch plays?

Dropped pass and a fumble last week. No more TE's this year.

Don't show all of your cards

Dickson's highlights this year: fumble and false start.

I noticed this; bothered me. They had better get some reps in the short game, because no way we'll always run wild against top-tier SEC DBs.

Nick Saban/Auburn/A&M will throw those five yarders and march it down our throat. We had better have a short game.

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Everyone uses their TE in the SEC.

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OJ Howard hasn't caught 1 pass in bamas 2 Games

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It's easier to bust long runs when the opposing secondary is scared to get torched on 80 yard bombs

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It's also easier to bust long runs when the DBs are worried about Quinn and Diarse catching a 7 yard in or slant and taking it another 20 yards. The intermediate passing game is much safer than throwing up fades that have low completion percentages and will have to develop sooner or later. I have a feeling it will.

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They're gonna open up the playbook against Auburn. And Russell Shepard is gonna be the QB

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I don't thing that's necessarily it. I don't believe the staff is so vindictive as to stop an entire section of the playbook. I think the problem is multi-fold here:

1) QB's:
Problema) Jennings's even in this game, grossly over threw or threw way to wide of target during RB rollouts or short yardage passes. He is VERY inaccurate in this regard. Even the Fournette short yardage rollout catch along the left numbers was quite overthrown and inaccurate. It was caught because of 1) Fournette's incredible athleticism, and 2) Lower caliber DB's we were facing. If this was Miss St, Florida or Bama, that might have been picked off or at the LEAST an incomplete. It seems like Cam is trying to emphasize developing that part of the package to include RB rollouts, and TE curls. But I am concerned that if Jennings doesn't throw accurately here, Coach Cam may or may not want to take the chance of throwing to TE's and have that turn into an INT. At which point your worries MAY become a reality. It may not with such low level teams, but certainly will against future teams we face that have Top quality CB's with a good step where I can see a quick TE throw turning into a PICK-6 a la JLee v. Auburn.

not a problem
b) We have been playing teams where our WR's are able to get open, so in the QB reads of open players, you dont get down the list enough to get to the TE's.
c) The opposing teams have been respecting our RUN and keeping the LB's close, so it takes a while for our TE's to get open, if at all. When they do...going back to point 'b', the WR's are open b4 that and the QB has thrown to them.
d) QB's still don't have the pocket presence and have freshmen jitters. This means, especially Jennings since he has received most of the reps thus far, runs out of the pocket very quickly instead of staying there, taking the extra second or two to make those reads like a seasoned Mettenberger did last year or another pure pocket passing QB would. Given his Dual Threat ability translates to him running out and making many throws while he is rolling out of the pocket. This isnt exactly a BAD thing as he still has the presence of mind to keep his eyes downfield and look for open receivers. This is actually HUGE as other DT's would simply run for it. What many here on the board were saying when we recruited Jennings that he is a passing QB that can also run and not just a run-first QB is VERY apparant. Ultimately currently it just translates to fewer opportunities where we throw to the tight ends.


2) Passing Attempts / Efficiency: Wisc. was a good, disciplined team and were playing very well in short and medium yardage situations while our WR's were doing well in getting seperation. I could buy your argument there at the dropped passes and mental mistakes were such that maybe it was not worth keeping on 'testing' that part of the package and not necessarily 'abandoning' that part of the playbook, rather 'focusing' on the part that DID work.
Yesterday's game: our WR's were lightyears better and each attempt resulted in significant gains. When we were passing a good big in the 1st quarter, we ended up running up the scoreboard 27-0 very quickly with just a few mins left into the 2nd QTR.

3) LES Miles' Winning Mentality: Kind of a continuation of point 2, after we had put up 27 points so quickly, we ran the Ball a LOT and gave every running back in our backfield a good amount of carries. Reason being that MIles doesn't like Running up the score on teams. If we tried to get all the receiving playmaker's in the WR and TE core a chance, we could have gotten to see the TE reps we were all hoping to see, but would have meant racking up 70-80 points = NOT A MILES way of wining.

3) Its only been 2 games : Miles & LSU never opens up the full playbook this early in the season. We always seem to initially function on a limited playbook that will eventually become the foundation of the future; Basics that we want our Players and Playmakers to get the appropriate reps in LIVE situations so that it becomes second nature such that we can count on in them in the future against during the SEC games. I would anticipate the TE & RB rollouts to become increasingly a staple in our playbook with each game: initially as a change of pace playcall starting next game and increasingly developed and incorporated into the playbook by Mid-Season.


Ultimately, I don't disagree with you. It would have been nice to see at least 1 or 2 dedicated TE plays. However, with the aforementioned reasons and the fact that we didn't exactly throw the ball too much and split those 19 attempts with Harris as well, I / We cant really complain too much.

on a complete side not...I actually think Jacory Washington may be one of the ONLY TE's gifted enough to consistently and safely catch the ball amongst all our other Pass Catching TE's. We may be seeing him in this role possibly because he is new and is still learning the position or because there are too many TE's ahead of him. However, considering how many freshmen we have played so far, I would certainly like to see him and Desean Smith get a few more reps to try them out and see how they do in that role.

Passes to the TE are done for the year they had their chance against Wisconsin