We need more size and/or speed at receiver

[Cougsocal]

Colorado, UW and now Minnesota pulled their safeties up, 8 pass defenders within 8 yards of the ball. That is damn tough to dink and dunk, possession pass into. You take what defenses give you, you must adjust. For the Cougs that has been deep and over the top, the last three games. It will be what we see until we can take advantage of it. We tried against Colorado, but failed due to drops and missed throws. We stopped trying against UW and Minnesota. Small and slow, we don't have the horses at receiver to do that effectively right now against upper level teams. Can Falk make those throws well?? Who knows, but he can get better next year and you don't need to hit that many to force DCs to call the dogs off and start playing two deep again.

But, until we get more size and speed at receiver it is going to be a big problem for our offense. Gabe Marks admitted he weighs only 160#, and he is not a speed guy either. You can only scheme so much to compensate for a lack of size and/or speed at receiver.

Right now our fastest kids, and most athletic, play RB, do we rob Peter to pay Paul?

 

[CougPatrol]

I agree. I think we're also missing attitude and swagger in the WR group.

Robert Lewis, John Thompson, and Kyle Sweet looked like adorable little nice guys out there. T Martin looks like he'll blow over in a stiff breeze. Marks isn't huge, but he's the only guy in the group who plays with attitude and emotion. Cracraft was tough as nails too.

Getting Priester back next season would really be a blessing. That dude just LOOKS like a player. You have to respect him on the outside. We need one more vertical guy like him, and we absolutely HAVE TO toughen up our inside WRs. Steve Smith and Julian Edelman should be the benchmarks.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

just not sure its going to happen any time soon. I mean, I would love for it to happen, but if after 5 years all we have is what we have...

air raid recruiting = qb>ol>wr, and I might have the first two swapped depending on who you ask. We seem to have done ok recruiting the first two, but WR still seems to be an issue.

In the past we always seemed to have a veteran star senior, a journeyman junior or 2, and a couple of up and comers. We have our star and journeyman (Cracraft), where the hell are the up and comers?

 

[Fab5Coug]

Really felt like this team needed a Vince Mayle type guy in these last few games. I think they're thinking Johnson-Mack will become that guy (6'3, 216). Dez Patmon could be too (6'4, 207).

As for Falk, I'm kind of wondering if maybe he started experiencing a little dead arm towards the end of the season. I agree, he just didn't look the same 2 days ago. That can happen, especially for a guy who throws as much, and takes as many hits as Falk does. Husky friend of mine mentioned the same thing with Browning.

 

[jarvis1981]

Colorado, UW and now Minnesota pulled their safeties up, 8 pass defenders within 8 yards of the ball. That is damn tough to dink and dunk, possession pass into. You take what defenses give you, you must adjust. For the Cougs that has been deep and over the top, the last three games. It will be what we see until we can take advantage of it. We tried against Colorado, but failed due to drops and missed throws. We stopped trying against UW and Minnesota. Small and slow, we don't have the horses at receiver to do that effectively right now against upper level teams. Can Falk make those throws well?? Who knows, but he can get better next year and you don't need to hit that many to force DCs to call the dogs off and start playing two deep again.

But, until we get more size and speed at receiver it is going to be a big problem for our offense. Gabe Marks admitted he weighs only 160#, and he is not a speed guy either. You can only scheme so much to compensate for a lack of size and/or speed at receiver.

Right now our fastest kids, and most athletic, play RB, do we rob Peter to pay Paul?

I believe you want to see more plays like the one at the 1:12 mark of this link.
Need to get a couple of guys like this into the system.

 

[Fab5Coug]

View embedded media

I believe you want to see more plays like the one at the 1:12 mark of this link.
Need to get a couple of guys like this into the system.

Tim Brando?

 

[ElComanche]

If one recruits the bigger guys, then they should play them. They keep playing the smaller guys who do well against the lesser teams. But the small guys are over matched against bigger stronger teams. Why do they not give the bigger guys more reps and bring them along quicker?Sure the smaller guys know the plays etc but bigger athletic guysshould be more capable against bigger stronger teams.Having "possession type" WR s is great but if that is all one has then they are in trouble.

 

[avabob1]

We were okay with the smaller guys as long as we had Craycraft who was willing and able to make the tough catches over the middle.

 

[YakiCoug]

We were okay with the smaller guys as long as we had Craycraft who was willing and able to make the tough catches over the middle.

That part of the offense limped off the field with Cracraft and never returned.

 

[CougPatrol]

We were okay with the smaller guys as long as we had Craycraft who was willing and able to make the tough catches over the middle.

We need smaller guys in the slot, but small doesn't have to mean weak or timid.

 

[Cougsocal]

Really felt like this team needed a Vince Mayle type guy in these last few games. I think they're thinking Johnson-Mack will become that guy (6'3, 216). Dez Patmon could be too (6'4, 207).

As for Falk, I'm kind of wondering if maybe he started experiencing a little dead arm towards the end of the season. I agree, he just didn't look the same 2 days ago. That can happen, especially for a guy who throws as much, and takes as many hits as Falk does. Husky friend of mine mentioned the same thing with Browning.

Dead arm syndrome is something Mike Price talked about quite a bit. Falk puts Gesser, Leaf and Bledsoe to shame in number of throws per season category. He not only throws 50 times a game, but 100 times a practice and is constantly throwing when the offense is on the sideline. What gives? Sometimes less is more, I don't think Falk gets that. No F-ing wonder he had no zip on his throws down the stretch. You throw a football 600 times a week, you are going to lose a lot of zip.

 

[YakiCoug]

Dead arm syndrome is something Mike Price talked about quite a bit. Falk puts Gesser, Leaf and Bledsoe to shame in number of throws per season category. He not only throws 50 times a game, but 100 times a practice and is constantly throwing when the offense is on the sideline. What gives? Sometimes less is more, I don't think Falk gets that. No F-ing wonder he had no zip on his throws down the stretch. You throw a football 600 times a week, you are going to lose a lot of zip.

Unlike Leaf and Bledsoe, Falk simply lacks the strength, both body and arm. Whether he stays at WSU or goes pro, he needs to get bigger and stronger.

 

[jarvis1981]

Tim Brando?

1:12:00
forgot the last two zeros
Dom Williams with the sprint and TD

 

[Fab5Coug]

1:12:00
forgot the last two zeros
Dom Williams with the sprint and TD

Oh, I actually thought you meant Spencer Tillman. I'd probably take a guy like him too.

 

[ElComanche]

The cougs lose to Eastern and Boise State and we lose long athletic WRs after those showings. It is weird but all the cougs get for receivers are small guys and big guys who run a 4.69 40. WTF? Why can t a Air raid passing team recruit 4 star WR s who are both big and fast?The Air raid with small guys running all around looked like a Pokemon scramble.

 

[425cougfan]

The cougs lose to Eastern and Boise State and we lose long athletic WRs after those showings. It is weird but all the cougs get for receivers are small guys and big guys who run a 4.69 40. WTF? Why can t a Air raid passing team recruit 4 star WR s who are both big and fast?The Air raid with small guys running all around looked like a Pokemon scramble.

I hate criticizing our current players or recruits, since they're outstanding football players and good athletes, but this is the problem ... we haven't been able to recruit anyone who really can blow the doors off a defense and get separation against good DBs, especially when teams are dropping 8. Having watched a lot of these bowl games, most teams have some really explosive athletes that we just don't have.

I was watching when Tavares Martin was in an all-star game in high school for example, and the announcers were talking about how, although he was a good athlete, he wasn't all that fast. Then he comes to WSU and he's touted as one of the fastest guys on our roster. That's the problem.

Every time we have to swap out some of the highly-rated WRs we're recruiting but miss out on for someone like Easop Winston, there will be people out there rationalizing it and saying it doesn't matter (here's a hint: whenever a guy was about to go to the MAC but flips to you on signing day without any other P5 offers, there's a reason). It does matter, though, and perpetuates the same thing we saw the first three games (and which also affected things in the Eastern and Boise games) ... we've got a bunch of moderately talented guys and former walk-ons out there. Sure, they "fit the system" and can perform adequately enough to form a pretty good offense, and can pile up yards against crap defenses like ASU, Cal, and Idaho, but they just aren't athletic enough to get it done against good defenses or, apparently, defenses with a lot of time to prep.

Again, i don't mean to critique our guys, since they are very good football players and among the top 1% of athletes in the population. They're just not the kind of truly elite athletes that other teams have.

If I'm Leach, while this cuts against his usual approach, I'd go all-out to bring in some kind of truly big-time receiver, pitching the Crabtree story while he still can, and then let that guy get 1900 yards or something silly (Crabtree got 1962 for Leach in 2007) and get drafted highly. There needs to be another example of a guy like that, and that may open the floodgates a bit.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

Colorado, UW and now Minnesota pulled their safeties up, 8 pass defenders within 8 yards of the ball. That is damn tough to dink and dunk, possession pass into. You take what defenses give you, you must adjust. For the Cougs that has been deep and over the top, the last three games. It will be what we see until we can take advantage of it. We tried against Colorado, but failed due to drops and missed throws. We stopped trying against UW and Minnesota. Small and slow, we don't have the horses at receiver to do that effectively right now against upper level teams. Can Falk make those throws well?? Who knows, but he can get better next year and you don't need to hit that many to force DCs to call the dogs off and start playing two deep again.

But, until we get more size and speed at receiver it is going to be a big problem for our offense. Gabe Marks admitted he weighs only 160#, and he is not a speed guy either. You can only scheme so much to compensate for a lack of size and/or speed at receiver.

Right now our fastest kids, and most athletic, play RB, do we rob Peter to pay Paul?

Although Utah is primarily a running team, I like their receivers (besides Marks, Cracraft) better than ours. Agree we need a Mayle type of receiver...or two.

 

[ElComanche]

We lost a HS WR commit to Utah and one to Boise St after the Eastern and Boise St games, WSU is recruiting juco issac ZIco , He is a first team juco AA. However he is being recruited by West Virginia But after the Pokemon scramble one wonders what he thinks of the Air Raid. He is a muscular 6 1 195 pd with 4,46 speed and a 37 inch JR. He is a definite cut above our current juco commit. .

 

[Coug90]

Colorado, UW and now Minnesota pulled their safeties up, 8 pass defenders within 8 yards of the ball. That is damn tough to dink and dunk, possession pass into. You take what defenses give you, you must adjust. For the Cougs that has been deep and over the top, the last three games. It will be what we see until we can take advantage of it. We tried against Colorado, but failed due to drops and missed throws. We stopped trying against UW and Minnesota. Small and slow, we don't have the horses at receiver to do that effectively right now against upper level teams. Can Falk make those throws well?? Who knows, but he can get better next year and you don't need to hit that many to force DCs to call the dogs off and start playing two deep again.

But, until we get more size and speed at receiver it is going to be a big problem for our offense. Gabe Marks admitted he weighs only 160#, and he is not a speed guy either. You can only scheme so much to compensate for a lack of size and/or speed at receiver.

Right now our fastest kids, and most athletic, play RB, do we rob Peter to pay Paul?

Bingo!!! No deep throws and couldn't loosen up the D. It's the only solution, and we had no answer either because we didn't try or we don't have the weapons to do it. Funny thing is straight ahead speed at the receiver position isn't terribly hard to get at WSU. We've had a couple track guy converts that have done well in that roll. A couple of true deep threats and Luke being willing to throw it would make the offense so much easier to operate.

 

[Cougsocal]

Bingo!!! No deep throws and couldn't loosen up the D. It's the only solution, and we had no answer either because we didn't try or we don't have the weapons to do it. Funny thing is straight ahead speed at the receiver position isn't terribly hard to get at WSU. We've had a couple track guy converts that have done well in that roll. A couple of true deep threats and Luke being willing to throw it would make the offense so much easier to operate.

I watched the bowl game from the stands. The Gophers had so many stand up defenders in "the box" to take away the passing lanes over the middle, they also managed to take away our running lanes. They were so exposed deep, it was the only clear read. Sadly, we had no Dom Williams, Mayle, Bush, Darling, McElrath, Riley and the legion of other receives from the Cougar past with the tools to make them pay. Athletically, this receiving crew was as weak as I've seen since 1994. Gabe Marks is a warrior, but he admitted to the Seattle Times that he weighs only #160. Without great speed, he is a sure handed, possession receiver, if and only if he can defeat the block at the line of scrimmage.

 

[Glad Cougar]

Quite frankly, and this is not a comment on the recruiting or player development acumen of the previous coach, but Wulff was able to bring in more of the type of big WRs we could use right now....Marquess Wilson, Dom Williams, Kristoff Williams, Jared Karstetter, Bobby Ratliffe are all guys that I'd love to have on the roster right now (provided quitter Marquess had a heart and brain transplant!) Oh, and don't interpret my post in any way as wanting to have CPW back. That disaster is a dark, faint memory for me.

Glad Cougar

 

[dgibbons]

Quite frankly, and this is not a comment on the recruiting or player development acumen of the previous coach, but Wulff was able to bring in more of the type of big WRs we could use right now....Marquess Wilson, Dom Williams, Kristoff Williams, Jared Karstetter, Bobby Ratliffe are all guys that I'd love to have on the roster right now (provided quitter Marquess had a heart and brain transplant!) Oh, and don't interpret my post in any way as wanting to have CPW back. That disaster is a dark, faint memory for me.

Glad Cougar

Two of those five were good receivers.

 

[Glad Cougar]

I'd say 3 of the 5 were good and talented.....Dom, Marquess, and Jared...who had 122 catches his last two years. Like I said, I'd take all five on the roster right now. In Air Raid, their stats would even be much better. All of them were at least 6'3.

Glad Cougar

 

[425cougfan]

I'd say 3 of the 5 were good and talented.....Dom, Marquess, and Jared...who had 122 catches his last two years. Like I said, I'd take all five on the roster right now. In Air Raid, their stats would even be much better. All of them were at least 6'3.

Glad Cougar

It's fair to quibble over whether Karstetter was "good" in terms of being an impact Pac-12 player, but I agree that he was "good" in the sense that we'd usually use the term. He led the team in receiving yards one of his years at WSU and was second by that metric to MW in 2010 and 2011. If he was on the roster this year, he would have been our tallest receiver who was likely to get meaningful PT (I don't include Dimry in that universe), although it's hard to say whether he would have gotten much run over any of the other guys on the roster. I think it's only clear that Dom and MW would have played much this year over the WRs we had, which probably is what DGib meant.