The Musical Chairs Offense

[HoosierCat]

West Coast offense bah! Today in Cincy it's the Musical Chairs Offense...and it's likely part of the reason for the O's inconsistency.

The discussion elsewhere about QBs and offensive weapons got me thinking about the changes in Dalton's receiving options from 2012 to 2013, and why an expected offensive explosion, since the O was allegedly "loaded with talent," has largely failed to materialize. So I took a look at snap counts for 2012 and 2013 (via footballoutsiders):

2012

1. TE J. Gresham 95%

2. WR AJ Green 91%

3. WR A. Hawkins 49%

4. WR M. Jones 34%

5. WR A. Binns 28%

6. TE O. Charles 28%

7. WR B. Tate 26%

8. WR M. Sanu 19%

9. WR R. Whalen 9%

2013

1. WR AJ Green 94% (2)

2. TE J. Gresham 83% (1)

3. WR M. Sanu 73% (9)

4. TE T. Eifert 67% (-)

5 RB G. Bernard 52% (-)

6. WR M. Jones 45% (4)

7. TE A. Smith 18% (-)

8. WR D. Sanzenbacher 8% (-)

9. WR B. Tate 7% (7)

10. WR A. Hawkins 2% (3)

11. WR R. Whalen 0% (9)

12. WR A. Binns 0% (5)

13. TE O. Charles 0% (6)

In the 2013 listings, the numbers in parenthesis are their ranking in 2012. (-) means they weren't in Cincy. A couple things popped out to me.

One, our "No. 2" receiver is Gresham, who spends a lot of time blocking and dropping passes. OK, that's overly harsh, but still, for a guy out there as much as he is, 32 catches and 386 yards so far isn't much.

Two, Mo Sanu has been out there for 73% of offensive snaps? Really? He has 37 catches for 362 yards and a TD. Gio has more catches and just 8 fewer yards in 52% of snaps, and Jones has more yards in 45%.

Three, we still don't have a No. 2 receiver. After Green (1,103 yards so far) the closest is Jones at 458 (and 122 of that was in the Jets blowout). Then we have four guys with 300-some yards, Gio, Gresh, Eifert and Sanu.

Four, and to the "musical chairs" point, of our top five receivers in terms of playing time this year, two are new (Gio, Eifert), one played just a handful of games in 2012 (Sanu) and one is Gresham (sad trombone sound). They've also switched from a WR-focused game to one that incorporates much more of the TE, which we knew already but should be noted. And they are continuing to tinker with who is on the field. For example, point two above might suggest that we need more Jones and less Sanu. In fact, that is what's going on. In week one it was Sanu 83%/Jones 29%. Last weekend it was Sanu 42%/Jones 39%. That looks to me to be the right thing to do -- but it's yet another midseason, on-the-fly adjustment to the offense, and that means more opportunities for wrong routes and miscommunication.

Bottom line, this offense might someday take off it we ever get some stability. But for that to happen, IMO we still need a Housh-like No. 2 to emerge. So...any good WR prospects in the first...? :)/>

[ArmyBengal]

Great write up Hoosier.

It's funny that you mention a WR in the first, because the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion although it's sure to anger some.

I also really thought the reason for drafting Eifert was because he was able to line up just about anywhere.

I mentioned I thought he had trouble with his route running, but anyway around, I would like to see them go to him more than they do.

Dalton takes a lot of heat, but if they are truly messing with the stability in that fashion, they really need to stop.

It would certainly explain the inconsistency that we see week in and week out.

More on Gruden ??

I made mention that I wouldn't care if he left via a HC spot and if the above is true, I would invite him to leave.

Anyway around, that's a really great post Hoosier. Thanks for sharing !!!

[HoosierCat]

Thanks Army, I appreciate it. It just surprised me when I looked at the snap counts, especially the Sanu bit. Obviously he got the opportunity to be the guy behind Green and does not appear to have grasped it. That's very disappointing to me; I thought they had found their Housh in him, with the speedy Jones getting the Chris Henry-like "go deep" role. Didn't happen.

[gregcook68]

No tongue in cheek here or devil's advocate, just trying to make sure I understand the points Hoosier.

I understand your angle on stability and no one who has any football knowledge would disagree, but I often here announcers, coaches, pundits, if you will, rave about QBs that use 5 or 6 different receivers in a game, spreading the ball around.

Does your take on stability mean NOT using many receivers during a game?

[HoosierCat]

Not at all. Spreading the ball around is a good idea. But what seems to me to work best is to have a couple guys who get the lion's share of the work, then you pepper the ball around to 3-4 other guys to keep the D honest. Think Chad and TJ. Back in the great 2005 season they combined for almost half of the team's receptions, with the other half going to 5-6 other guys. This year it's been a Green with a bit less than a quarter of the work, then 5 guys with roughly equal shares of the rest.

IMHO they still lack a Housh to AJ's Chad. They tried Rome in 2011, Binns and then Tate in 2012 and it looks like the choice at the start of the year in 2013 was Sanu. Now he's apparently giving up time to Marvin Jones. Meantime they also decided to do something two-TE-ish, which if complaints about why they don't use Eifert right are any indication is showing its half-baked roots. And finally, to cap everything off, they decided to go to a back-by-committee approach which has resulted in Bernard being the leading receiver, in terms of number of catches, behind Green!

(And people ask why Dalton locks onto Green? He's been the one constant over three seasons. No wonder he clings to him like a life preserver.)

[gregcook68]

Not at all. Spreading the ball around is a good idea. But what seems to me to work best is to have a couple guys who get the lion's share of the work, then you pepper the ball around to 3-4 other guys to keep the D honest. Think Chad and TJ. Back in the great 2005 season they combined for almost half of the team's receptions, with the other half going to 5-6 other guys. This year it's been a Green with a bit less than a quarter of the work, then 5 guys with roughly equal shares of the rest.

IMHO they still lack a Housh to AJ's Chad. They tried Rome in 2011, Binns and then Tate in 2012 and it looks like the choice at the start of the year in 2013 was Sanu. Now he's apparently giving up time to Marvin Jones. Meantime they also decided to do something two-TE-ish, which if complaints about why they don't use Eifert right are any indication is showing its half-baked roots. And finally, to cap everything off, they decided to go to a back-by-committee approach which has resulted in Bernard being the leading receiver, in terms of number of catches, behind Green!

(And people ask why Dalton locks onto Green? He's been the one constant over three seasons. No wonder he clings to him like a life preserver.)

Gotcha! That makes sense.