Pure Progression

So, getting this thread away from STD vs. the world, and back to the subject: this is a good video, but I’d like to understand the point about Pickett. Are you saying or implying that Canada’s scheme relied on pure progression - i.e a predetermined progression of receivers 1-5 before the defense aligns, and that made Pickett think too much?

 

No, mostly I posted the video to counter the argument Pickett doesn’t go through his progressions, as this video points out, there could be several reasons for that. But certainly things like what is open could be hanging Pickett up, until this video I didn’t even know that was something you had to get on the same page as your OC. We’ve all seen him look off what we feel are open receivers, who knows what Canada was telling him. Also the timing within the routes might have been causing him some issues.

And then whatever else Canada was trying to teach Pickett aside from the topic of this video. Something Fields had said at the beginning of the season got me thinking about it. He was having the same struggles Pickett was, theres one popular gif circulating where there are like 4 wide open receivers and Fields didn’t throw it to anyone. I believe it was after that game he was answering questions and basically blamed coaching, said it has him thinking too much and not just playing football. Said he just has to go out and do his thing and the very next game he throws for 400 yards and 3 TD’s.

I think Pickett was going through much of the same thing.

 

Oh, no doubt he was going through confusion and I personally believe that Canada had some hand in that with his play design. At the same time he had an experienced QB coach in Sullivan, so the concepts that Kurt is pointing out in the video were likely coached into him (probably in college multiple times too) and should be pretty simple for a QB. Kurt’s #1 point here was that there are ways that you attack different zone coverages because each one has its vulnerabilities, and the QB needs to be able to identify the coverage at the snap and anticipate the defender in conflict so that it gets down to a single read after the snap. I underlined anticipate because that’s what running a passing game is all about for mere mortal QBs who can’t physically do what Ben (or Mahomes, Allen, etc) often did and extend the play past the end of the designed routes so that it turned into a “see it, throw it” game down the field. Even with guys like that, most of the plays need to be run as called, and the QB needs to anticipate. Kenny showed limited ability to handle this basic QB101 concept. Also, all that Kurt covered was basic Cover 2/3/4 coverages, and identifying those is as simple as it gets. Add in a defense disguising man and zone coverages, or showing one look when it lines up, and then shifting immediately pre snap or post snap, and it gets harder. Good NFL QBs need to be able to adjust their reads in a split second and still anticipate who will be open.

Kenny has to be able to get these types of concepts and be able to feed his weapons in time and in stride to be successful. I know that folks seeing the glass half full with Kenny point to the first Bengals game. The Bengals gave him some easy reads leaving the middle of the field with only linebackers trying to keep up with Freiermuth, and that helped. To Kenny’s credit, he saw it and delivered, but he did not get a lot of challenging looks from the Bengals D that day.

 

I’ll ask TTF to hurry up and finish the footnote and bibliography additions to the message board post template.