Marty runs a West coast offense ( WCO ). The basis of WCO is to spread the field both horizontally and vertically with passing and rushing attacks thus making the unit less predictable and keeping possession of the ball. Marty does this with basically 3 types of pass routes. Horizontal routes/plays - Quick plays built to put athletic WRs in space with the football and make YAC. - Drags, WR screens, end arounds. Timing routes - These are plays that rely solely on the WRs ability to beat man coverage and be in the right place right time. - Hitches, Slants, Outs Go routes - Just that, Go deep, Throw deep. These 3 types of plays are made to work off of one another to keep the defense on its heels. TOTJ; marty-mornhinwegs-offense-101-an-in-depth-look Football.com West Coast Offense Basics These 3 types of routes also require 3 different types of WRs with 3 different skill sets. Each route has a different strength that it plays to. Horizontal routes play to athleticism and strength, getting YAC, open field speed. Timing plays require precise route running, quickness, and exceptional hands. Go routes require ability to get off the line, top end speed, and the ability to go up and get a jump ball. Now lets take a look at our current roster of pass catchers ( We will assume Jace and Cumby are #1 and #2 TE - Hopefully Sudfeld turns out to something but we'll see ). Campbell, Michael 6-2 205 24 Decker, Eric 6-3 214 27 Enunwa, Quincy 6-2 225 21 Ford, Jacoby 5-9 190 26 Gates, Clyde 6-0 197 27 Hakim, Saalim 5-11 188 24 Hill, Stephen 6-4 215 23 Jones, Dwight 6-3 230 25 Kerley, Jeremy 5-9 188 25 Nelson, David 6-5 215 27 Salas, Greg 6-2 210 25 Saunders, Jalen 5-9 165 21 Evans, Shaq 6-3 215 21 Decker is a big bodied WR with good hands and great quickness. He's not the fastest ( 4.54 40y ) so he will have a hard time playing the burner role but will exceed in both horizontal and timing routes as was put on display last year with Peyton. David Nelson can play both Kerley and Deckers position decently, but not nearly as good as either of those players. One might say Nelson is a poor mans Decker. They both have a similar build. Nelson is slightly bigger, Decker is slightly quicker. They both make tough catches but Nelson isn't nearly as good after the catch ( 3.1 YAC; Deckers: 4.6 and Kerley's: 4.2, Hill's: 4.1 ). This IMHO makes him a good backup to Decker. Kerley is the only other WR with a lock on his slot position. He is exceptionally quick and has a great knack for coming back to the QB and getting open. As we saw last year Kerley thrives in the WCO and can make good YAC making him a prime target for both timing routes. Again though he doesn't have the best top end speed ( 4.54 ) and isn't going to blow past anyone with his speed but can make people miss in the open field. Stephen Hill has all the tools to be a great WR if he can pull it all together and the game slows down for him a bit, I've documented in length in a number of threads his strengths and weaknesses but the bottom line is at 6-4 with a 4.3 40 he's an athletic freak in the mold of Calvin Johnson and Demarious Thomas. If he can figure out how to use his body and gifts half as well as those 2 he will be a great asset to us in that Go deep role as well as the horizontal routes that allow him to get into space and use his speed. The only way to see if he can develop into that player is to wait and to give him his chances. IMO he takes the #2 role opposite Decker due to his physicality and ability to take the top off defenses in hopes that he develops into someone that can run the other 2 route types over time. Jacoby Ford has the speed to be a burner ( though he may have lost a step due to injury ). He's never played a full 16 games and missed an entire season due to foot injury but when he does play he shows his speed. He has a solid 6+ YAC avg and has several big plays throughout his career but can't be relied on IMHO as a starter given his inability to stay healthy. He has the added security of being a return specialist and will likely play a backup role there with the addition of Saunders. Greg Salas and Hakiim have pretty much the same writeup. Neither are NFL WRs and basically were brought in last season because we were desperate. Neither are quick, or strong. Hakiim is a track star but little else. Both play special teams but it's unlikely that they will make the roster. Those that are saying either of these players have a chance to make the team over any of the players above either don't pay attention or don't care enough to think about what they're saying. Clyde Gates... Ugh - hope he's gone. Enough said. Here's how I see it playing out for the most part. Starter/backup. Decker/Nelson -- Kerley/Saunders -- LT_G_C_G_RT -- Amaro/Cumberland -- Hill/Ford Rookies: Jalen Saunders is a Kerley clone that will spell Kerley as he learns the game speed of the NFL level. He's quick and has good hands and will likely serve as insurance if we can't lock Kerley up long term or if he gets hurt again. Our offense really suffered last season when Kerley went down for a couple weeks. He also has the benefit of being a return specialist and will likely take over that role immediately Shaq Evans is going to be a huge red zone threat for us. I see him getting a few chances to score TDs in the RZ this season as a #4 WR but he in no way is ready for a full time role as a #2 WR. Over time he has a chance to be groomed into that role and has the big body target that Geno likes.
Very nice to see a football post, as far as the receivers go Decker was definitely brought in to work the middle I agree with you there. As far as Hill though he's not a lock for the #2 at all, I don't care how fast you run the 40 in shorts he knows nothing about playing the receiver position and contributes nothing in special teams, he better show up big time this TC because we have some hungry rookies looking for a roster spot. I like your description of the WCO but I wouldn't over complicate it by saying you need 3 different types of receivers, really you adjust to your personnel. All the WCO really is is a pure timing based quick read system designed to stretch a defense horizontally first to open up the passing game vertically and also open up the running game. Overall great post man.
It's honestly an embarrassment that your thread isn't getting more posts, I thought you did a great job breaking everything down, maybe its too much to read? Next time name it "IDZIK FUCKING SUCK!!!!!".
Great post. With the addition of Saunders as a potential return specialist, I'm curious to see whether or not Ford even makes the roster. I can see Evans taking his spot backing up Hill split out wide opposite Decker.
I agree, and I think Saunders is primed to take over next year if Kerley walks in FA. Evans doesn't have the same speed as Hill or Ford but he has some wheels, but he is probably a better fit to backup Hill because of his size.
How many receivers do you think the jets will carry? Figure Decker and Kerley are locks. That leaves Ford, Hill, Nelson & the 3 drafted rookie WRs. I think you can safely assume Salas, Hakim & gates are all gone. If you figure the jets end up carrying 2 rookie WRs, then that has the jets carrying 7 receivers. Seems unlikely they'll carry seven, so one or two must go. I think the two that end up going are Hill (unless he shows something in the preseason) and Nelson, although Ford is also a possibility. Of course, somebody could get injured and spend the year on IR.
Remind me how many guys we are allowed to keep on the roster during the week? I know we can have 53 active guys on game day right?
I don't think Salas is necessarily a goner. He was real productive in college, has decent speed at 4.53 and is young. Agree with you on Gates and salim though.
Appears Stephen Hill different from the other receivers we have, he may have chance to make this roster, but he's gotta be sweating
I think you can have 46 active on game day and 53 total on the roster. Most teams keep 5 WRs on their roster, although the Jets could keep more and Rex has been unorthodox in the past in keeping an unusual mix of players. I would expect that the jets won't keep more than 6 WRs and, including the rookies. I don't see how they have room for Salas unless he beats out two of Ford, Hill and Nelson
He runs crappy routes and can't get off press coverage, so he can't be used on the timing routes. He telegraphs his go routes, so at best you can try to use him to horizontally stretch the field. He he also suffers from the dropsies. Unless he has significantly improved I think he's a goner. In fact, I think Nelson and Ford are both better than he is and should make the roster over Hill.
I think Enunwa is gonna surprise a lot of people. 6'2 225 w/ 4.45 forty time and pretty strong with 19 reps on bench. Got overlooked because his production was lower than some other guys his size but he had three different QB's throwing to him last year, caught half their TD passes and led his team in yards. The really interesting thing is he loves to hit. I honestly feel it's legit option to convert him to Linebacker or Safety. But anyway, if we keep him at WR he would be great running those shorter routes and screens to bowl over smaller DB's for some YAC. It's a solid post, there's nothing to argue about... fkn useless!
Incredible post; thanks for writing this up. I hope we keep 2 rookies and have the 3rd on practice squad. That means we have to cut either Nelson, Hill or Ford, though. I bet Ford goes.
In that case I think we'll keep 6. Since we don't have 2 or 3 clear top guys, 6 is ideal. Training camp will dictate who those 6 are but I have to imagine it will consist of Decker, Kerley, Hill, Nelson, Saunders, and Evans. I think something that might surprise people could be that Enunwa beats out Nelson for a spot, after all Nelson only has a year left on his contract and Enunwa has a similar skill set.
I really love what Nelson brought to the table last year. He was productive in a featured role, and with the weapons we've added I have to imagine he'd be even more efficient in a complimentary role. It would be a shame to see him cut.
Good thread! I don't think Ford makes this team after drafting 3 guys today one being a return specialist. Hopefully Hill turns it around this year which would allow Evans and Enunwa not to be thrown into the fire year 1. If those guys can play like they did in college Nelson wouldn't be needed much longer.
This ^^ he was awesome last year and didn't even sign until mid season. But if Hill ever starts to play like a 2nd round pick and Enunwa and Evans play like they did in college he'd be the guy to get cut.
I like him, I like his effort and how much he helped out Geno last year. If Enunwa and Evans look great in camp it would be nice to see Idzik swing him for a 6th rounder to a team like the Browns if one of their guys goes down in camp. Isn't it nice to go from a WR corp that was painfully bare to a corp that is potentially deep? Don't get me wrong, they have a lot to prove but at least we've got some real potential here.
