"No, they're not. They're not the brainchild of the offense nor do they have the weapons to do it."
I respectfully dissent. I posit the QB:WR:OC are chiefly responsible for implementation of the passing game.
These same flaws have been evident throughout Urban's tenure.
2012 braxton? Yep, and that was with NFL WRs and a big arm.
2013 braxton? Yep, same.
2014 barrett? Yep, save for one game, and that was with trading Brown for Thomas (who is killing it in the league) and adding Marshall.
2015 CJ/JT? Yep, save for a bowl game against an iffy ND team.
2016 barrett? Yep, although I think JT did fairly well in the pedestrian scheme yesterday.
The exception is 1 MSU game by JT and 3 star-crossed games by Cardale (two of which had very leaky downfield coverage)
"Which player would you like to throw deep to, diddy"
We out to be able to scheme considering there are 15 4 stars on the roster.
I don't see how are 2 4/5 wrs from the last class don't see the feild. Alas I don't think you can throw them in now.
But given our losses to the NFL, Gibby's suspension and Smiths injury - I'm shocked they haven't played.
Bill Greene talks about this a lot, with this being the transition between the studs that left and those that are coming. Also, outside WR recruiting and DT recruiting were the exceptions to the rule in Urban's great recruiting. That finally changed with the 2016 & 2017 classes, but those guys aren't going to win a title this year.
Terry McLaurin has been making some plays, but he wasn't a top ranked guy.
Dixon is not healthy.
Smith is not reliable (and now hurt).
Campbell is a RB learning the position. He is a prime example of the problem with this offense. Not his downfield play, but their inability to get the ball to him naturally in motion. He's ultra fast with decent size yet returns are the only place he can impact the game.
Samuel is a RB. A big mismatch but a RB nonetheless. That was evident in the drop in Madison.
Wilson has really matured and played through regular injury. He's still an h-back but one they can use somewhat.
Brown is a possession guy and red zone WR with a QB that throws the fade route poorly. He even struggled to loft the pass for the enormously long Victor a few weeks ago.
Mack hit the wall a bit. I hope he plays more.
Victor is a bean pole. He'll be a monster some day, but for now, he needs a year of S&C. He also doesn't provide a great downfield threat with a QB that throws downfield poorly. That's one big part that's lost in all of this.
Braxton was inconsistent but could fire lasers deep, albeit sometime late. Cardale was a flamethrower but inconsistent. JT is mediocre to poor on most downfield throws. Now that he's finally figured out how to throw a few good ones per game, they have some pretty mediocre high pointers receiving them. Clark has not tracked the deep ball well throughout his career. Dontre has improved but isn't great. Samuel is a great weapon but again, not consistent downfield.
They have too much talent to not be competent in the passing game. That said, I think they lack the talent that Herman had in terms of high level WR talent (since Gibson is ineligible and the best talent is either brand new or still in HS).
