Getting receivers open...What are the factors?

[Hwk-I-St8]

I was thinking about the gnashing of teeth about how nobody is evern open and how bad our receivers are. This got me thinking about what factors go into getting a receiver open during a play. The assumption here seems to be that it's all on the receiver...fast, good routes and they're open, otherwise no chance.

I think there's quite a bit more going on. I know I watch Iowa vs just about everyone and it seems like they can always find receivers that are wide open (nobody within 5 or more steps of them). I'm quite frankly astounded by this since we rarely, if ever, get that situation when we're on offense.

So, is it the receivers? I think that may be a factor on the long, downfield passes, especially in man coverage. But I don't see other teams getting players wide open in that situation all that often either. Generally there's one or more defenders within a couple steps if not right there.

For the vast majority of other routes/plays, I think it's how the play is designed as much as how fast the receiver is, or how crisp the route. More often than not, a wide open receiver comes from a play that exploits or confuses the defense. Either it's picking on a weakness or generating a defensive mistakes. I think we don't work hard enough to tweak/customize/adjust our offense to take advantage of what defenses are likely to do on a week by week basis.

I don't think we have stud receivers. I think we could be much more effective with better game planning, pre-game adjustments and halftime adjustments.

I feel like this staff is like the 58 year old teacher who just rolls out the same lesson plan every week, every year. No effort to freshen things, just recycle it with each new batch of students. If we had geniuses in the classroom, that'd work pretty well. With average students, we're not gonna get top notch results.

 

[mlb1399]

Part of it is talent. The other part is when they do, they don't make plays. Smith and Scheel both have athleticism and talent but can't capitalize. Scheel had two drops on Saturday. How many times have we seen Smith get open only to let it go through his hands? It could be that they're still young and need time to put it all together.

 

[David1979]

Scheme is a huge issue. Podolak mentioned on soundoff that he thought there weren't doing enough to help the receivers get open with different schemes or creating mismatches. And there actually were some times that guys were open on Saturday but Beathard never looked their way and part of that is scheme too. He is looking for a certain guy to be open based on what the defense is showing him. If the guy isn't open it's like the whole thing falls apart. he doesn't look to the other side of the field so it is either a throw away or attempt to scramble or a check down to the RB.

Wisconsin was playing a ton of man on Iowa's wideouts and Iowa did nothing to take advantage of it. The second half adjustments....wait there hasn't been any this year. Go look at first half first second half results this year. iowa is getting owned in the second half pretty badly. And that is an understatement.

 

[BigOHawk]

Also heard it said/tweeted that Iowa WRs were jogging around and not even giving 100% on plays in 2nd half. While they could be decoys, this is just unacceptable and where the heck is Devonte Young, Parker or Falconer? What terrible, terrible recruiting at this position, I think Kent State trots out a more experienced and talented group. And luck fell into our lap where two of the best WRs of the KF era were HS QBs...Sigh....

 

[David1979]

Also heard it said/tweeted that Iowa WRs were jogging around and not even giving 100% on plays in 2nd half. While they could be decoys, this is just unacceptable and where the heck is Devonte Young, Parker or Falconer? What terrible, terrible recruiting at this position, I think Kent State trots out a more experienced and talented group. And luck fell into our lap where two of the best WRs of the KF era were HS QBs...Sigh....

It doesn't seem like WRs are taught by the staff to get open for CJ when he escapes the pocket. you will see them just standing where they stopped their route and not moving trying to get open.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

CJ doesn't have much time to look at the 2nd, 3rd or 4th option. He needs better protection.

 

[Vroom_C14]

The offensive production (or lack there of) falls on KF - if you look at what Davis did at Texas and what O'Keefe did prior to Iowa, both were very productive. Both come here and everything is a 3yd out\4yd hitch\go routes are covered due to lack of creativity. Yes, you can find a time here and there where our guys get open due to blown coverage but that's about it.

Our DB's are getting beat by TE's due to the other offense having rubs\ladder\influence blocking etc.

 

[David1979]

CJ doesn't have much time to look at the 2nd, 3rd or 4th option. He needs better protection.

He rarely looks to Scheel or Smith

 

[LuteHawk]

The passing game depends on good routes and
mismatches. The Hawkeyes need to have more
variation in their game plan. If you run the same
stuff all the time, then the defense wises up. Iowa
needs more imagination in their schemes as they
try different routes to fool the defense.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Put King in on offense (even as a decoy) the defense has to honor him as a big play potential.

 

[blockm2]

Lots of what goes into a WR getting open has nothing to do with the WR or the DBs. It's all about design of the offense and the playcalling. You have to confuse the opposing DC and players. Make them think a run is coming or you are throwing it 1 particular direction and then break tendency and hit them where they aren't looking.

When the defense knows what to expect, it's a lot easier to defend. When the defense is back on their heels because they aren't sure what is coming or when they are so coming down hill at the wrong play, it's a lot harder for them to get in position to cover a WR.


There are a lot of different ways to get opposing defenses confused. Some teams play offense at warp speed and hope to snap the ball so fast that the opposing D can't get their playcall correct and players are out of position. Jim Harbaugh likes going at a slow tempo, but uses more personnel packages and misdirections than almost anybody. He actually got a TD out of a 5 TE set against Illinois on Saturday.

It doesn't matter how you do it, you just can't be predictable.

 

[SigMaintHawk]

Scheme is a huge issue. Podolak mentioned on soundoff that he thought there weren't doing enough to help the receivers get open with different schemes or creating mismatches. And there actually were some times that guys were open on Saturday but Beathard never looked their way and part of that is scheme too. He is looking for a certain guy to be open based on what the defense is showing him. If the guy isn't open it's like the whole thing falls apart. he doesn't look to the other side of the field so it is either a throw away or attempt to scramble or a check down to the RB.

Wisconsin was playing a ton of man on Iowa's wideouts and Iowa did nothing to take advantage of it. The second half adjustments....wait there hasn't been any this year. Go look at first half first second half results this year. iowa is getting owned in the second half pretty badly. And that is an understatement.

Iowa should have tried to exploit that man coverage for sure..Wisky lost a starting cb before halftime...Wisky had a new DC and a new db coach,trying his hand at coaching for the first time...Iowa should have tried some stuff that they hadn't watched on tape...

 

[Hawkeyenuts66]

Play design is a major component in creating space for the receivers. Even the fastest guy needs space. Watch many other teams and you will see rub plays against man coverage and you will see one receiver clear the zone and another fill the void during zone coverage. It's all about mismatches and creating space to work.

How many times have we heard the play by play guys say the receiver found the hole in the zone or this receiver cleared out corner and allowed the slot receiver to work against a LB one on one.

Talent is important; but creative play design can make up for some lack in pure talent.

 

[DogBoyRy]

Lots of what goes into a WR getting open has nothing to do with the WR or the DBs. It's all about design of the offense and the playcalling. You have to confuse the opposing DC and players. Make them think a run is coming or you are throwing it 1 particular direction and then break tendency and hit them where they aren't looking.

When the defense knows what to expect, it's a lot easier to defend. When the defense is back on their heels because they aren't sure what is coming or when they are so coming down hill at the wrong play, it's a lot harder for them to get in position to cover a WR.


There are a lot of different ways to get opposing defenses confused. Some teams play offense at warp speed and hope to snap the ball so fast that the opposing D can't get their playcall correct and players are out of position. Jim Harbaugh likes going at a slow tempo, but uses more personnel packages and misdirections than almost anybody. He actually got a TD out of a 5 TE set against Illinois on Saturday.

It doesn't matter how you do it, you just can't be predictable.

This
Motion, formation and routes can create a lot of opportunities.
We seldom have a drag route check down - it's on the flat for 3 yards. Anyone notice the Wiscky 3rd down routes from their RB's?

 

[SotaHawk87]

I still say scheme and coaching.. our receivers would do just find in some of those spread and air raid offenses.. a ton of those WRs are two stars or less..

 

[DewHawk]

I personally do not buy the bad receivers in total. I watched HF use average receivers for years, but they could get open on a regular basis (short routes and long routes). IMO it is absolutely bad schemes and a very, very predictable offensive structure. In other words, it is on the coaching staff IMO.

 

[Fan In Black]

Talent. Anybody that watches this team outside of Iowa fans can see it.

 

[DocBrown]

I could "like" about everyone of these responses. Twice Wisc. cleared out the middle of the field for the RB for an easy catch. Almost no rub routes. Our speed might be a step slower but if you watch WR's run routes, they don't always run them at full speed...it more about scheme. We don't use the middle of the field. I will also put this on CJ...he locks onto the #1 option too long. Several times he forced the ball instead of looking thru his progression.

 

[forgedpistons]

If Ed Hinkle could get open, often, any receiver on our current team can get open. The difference is focus and hard work. Hinkle was a gamer. I don't know if our current crop of ball catchers have that killer instinct. Jesus, Jerry Rice is the best receiver in history. And he wasn't fast or quick by any means. BUT, he was dialed the hell into the game.

 

[forgedpistons]

He rarely looks to Scheel or Smith

Because they aren't open.

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

When you lack talent at WR, the defense can play more aggressive man-coverage and suffocate the offense, and that seems to be what we're experiencing. Similar to watching a lopsided boxing match. If Fighter A doesn't have the ability to hurt Fighter B with a counter punch, then Fighter B can be as aggressive as he wants. We simply don't have the talent at WR to counter punch aggressive man-to-man defense which is leading to our offense being suffocated against good defenses.

 

[blockm2]

When you lack talent at WR, the defense can play more aggressive man-coverage and suffocate the offense, and that seems to be what we're experiencing. Similar to watching a lopsided boxing match. If Fighter A doesn't have the ability to hurt Fighter B with a counter punch, then Fighter B can be as aggressive as he wants. We simply don't have the talent at WR to counter punch aggressive man-to-man defense which is leading to our offense being suffocated against good defenses.

there probably aren't more than 10 teams in the country that can just go straight man to man and lock up opposing WRs all day long. Most teams don't have that kind of talent, especially down to their nickel and dime backs.

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

there probably aren't more than 10 teams in the country that can just go straight man to man and lock up opposing WRs all day long. Most teams don't have that kind of talent, especially down to their nickel and dime backs.

That is true, and that's why our offense has looked good against teams with weak secondaries (Miami, Iowa State, Northwestern, and Purdue). However, this offense is completely overmatched by teams with strong secondaries like Wisconsin and Michigan.

And of course, it isn't all just talent either. There are definitely issues with the offensive scheme. Perhaps my biggest complaint with the offense since Greg Davis has been here is that our passing offense doesn't even try to attack the middle of the field. The offense definitely looked lost at times under KOK too, but at least we usually had success when attacking the seam of the defense up the middle. Under Davis, virtually all the pass attempts are outside the hashes.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

I agree with most of the above. It's not all a lack of talent at WR by any stretch of the imagination. We have very little imagination in our offensive scheme. That's at least as easy to see as the lack of talent at WR. Yes, we're limited at WR in terms of talent, but we're compounding the problem by not having the creativity in scheme or game-planning to put them in the best position to succeed. Frustrating to watch, to say the least.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

there probably aren't more than 10 teams in the country that can just go straight man to man and lock up opposing WRs all day long. Most teams don't have that kind of talent, especially down to their nickel and dime backs.

That's where our inability to keep DLmen out of CJ's face is hurting our passing game. If I know that the opposing OL isn't good at pass blocking, I am playing tight man coverage the whole game and bringing constant pressure. The DBs wont need to cover for very long.
This has always been my personal issue with the way Iowa plays defense under KF. If the other team has a great OL, we rush 4. If they have an awful OL, we rush 4. We don't alter the scheme to force teams to play to their weaknesses.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

That's where our inability to keep DLmen out of CJ's face is hurting our passing game. If I know that the opposing OL isn't good at pass blocking, I am playing tight man coverage the whole game and bringing constant pressure. The DBs wont need to cover for very long.
This has always been my personal issue with the way Iowa plays defense under KF. If the other team has a great OL, we rush 4. If they have an awful OL, we rush 4. We don't alter the scheme to force teams to play to their weaknesses.

Sadly, the sentence in bold pretty much sums up much of our game-planning these days.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Lets look at the Wisconsin defense. They play a 3-4, which means they are not playing as big as most teams that play a 4-3. Add to that the fact that their NT was out due to injury. My first instinct as a DC is to play big up front. Run 2 TE sets and run up the middle until Wisconsin can prove that they can stop it.

 

[HawkCapt1912]

It looks like our routes rarely get the ball to the receiver while they're on the move.

As lot of our routes are along the sideline or the curl variety, while sitting in a zone.

We have the occasional fly/post pattern. I miss the KOK crossing patterns.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Too many times this year there have been 2 iowa receivers in the same area. Defense has an easy time covering that...

 

[spbc7]

First, you need receivers that have the ability to get open against man coverage pretty regularly. We don't have that. That stems from recruiting. Since 2013, the scholarship receivers we have signed have averaged 2-3 P5 offers each. Very few schools are going after the receiver talent we are recruiting.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

I heard that the scheme Davis likes to run is a "read scheme" for the WR. They have to read the defense and that determine their routes?? If that is true, no wonder our WR can't get open. That makes zero sense to have your WR make a read. Just have them run a damn route.

In man coverage you run a lot "rubs/picks" so it gets guys confused.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Lets look at the Wisconsin defense. They play a 3-4, which means they are not playing as big as most teams that play a 4-3. Add to that the fact that their NT was out due to injury. My first instinct as a DC is to play big up front. Run 2 TE sets and run up the middle until Wisconsin can prove that they can stop it.

They also had LBers crashing the line....literally getting running starts to fill gaps. I'd have run some long snap counts, messed with cadence, run real and fake jet sweeps and looked to release tight ends into the space they vacated to punish them for their aggression. Instead we just do the same crap and let them tee off on us. It's truly astounding that we don't alter our game plan to address what teams want to do on both sides of the ball.

 

[GarryO37]

I think there a lot of thoughts in this thread that mirror mine. Here's my two cents...

I don't believe Davis is as bad a coordinator as a lot think. Part of the problem lies in the routes being ran. When he was at Texas, these routes were just fine because he had far superior talent at every position.

I'm in the group that believes if you have lesser talent the routes you run need to be designed to help get receivers open. As another poster mentioned, rubs/picks and quick crossing routes. These types of routes not necessarily confuse the defense but get the defenders to hesitate. That split second of hesitation gets a receiver or multiple receivers open.

These types of routes are especially effective against zone defense because defenders have to hand receivers off to a teammate so to speak.

I think the coaches are just trying to force something that just isn't there and probably never will because we don't get elite receivers.

Another things I've noticed is that it seems like when CJ is scrambling, the receivers aren't coming back to the ball. It appears that the receivers are oblivious to what is going on and continue to run their routes instead of breaking off. It makes me wonder if they are even being taught to break off their route when the QB is in trouble.

It gets frustrating at times to see other teams do these things to us, but we can't or don't do the same to them.

 

[GarryO37]

I heard that the scheme Davis likes to run is a "read scheme" for the WR. They have to read the defense and that determine their routes?? If that is true, no wonder our WR can't get open. That makes zero sense to have your WR make a read. Just have them run a damn route.

In man coverage you run a lot "rubs/picks" so it gets guys confused.

If this is true, this is very lazy of Davis.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

It's a terrible scheme and too complicated. Confusion among QB and receivers constantly. This has always been there under GD whether it be Vandenberg, Rudock or Beathard.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

If this is true, this is very lazy of Davis.

Oh it's true. It's an awful scheme.

 

[GarryO37]

First, you need receivers that have the ability to get open against man coverage pretty regularly. We don't have that. That stems from recruiting. Since 2013, the scholarship receivers we have signed have averaged 2-3 P5 offers each. Very few schools are going after the receiver talent we are recruiting.

If you don't have the receivers, you can design routes that get them open. We have better receivers than some of the teams we play, but that doesn't stop them from being able to get open.

 

[Titanhawk2]

The offensive production (or lack there of) falls on KF - if you look at what Davis did at Texas and what O'Keefe did prior to Iowa, both were very productive. Both come here and everything is a 3yd out\4yd hitch\go routes are covered due to lack of creativity. Yes, you can find a time here and there where our guys get open due to blown coverage but that's about it.

Our DB's are getting beat by TE's due to the other offense having rubs\ladder\influence blocking etc.

seriously, except for posts like this, when has it ever been shown that KF is the author of the playbook?

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

If you don't have the receivers, you can design routes that get them open. We have better receivers than some of the teams we play, but that doesn't stop them from being able to get open.

Exactly. It's an awful scheme.

 

[hwk23]

Exactly. It's an awful scheme.

James Vandenberg had 3,022 yards in 2011 under KOK and that's more than any QB so far under GD (by a pretty wide margin). That says it all. The next closest is CJ in 2015 with 2,809. Rudocks best year was 2,436. Rudock had 3,017 with Michigan.