Wallace wants to go deep

Mike Wallace has said in an article on nfl.com that he hopes to go deep more. Apparently he told the pittsburgh post gazette that he has only ran go routes a total of 8 times this season, and 3 of them were decoys. He also said that he would run 5 go routes A GAME in last years offense! I understand Wallace likes the deep routes and the deep ball, but he has had trouble holding on to passes lately. And his recieving yards might be down this year, but his receptions are up! He admits that at the end of last season it got to the point where he would just go deep to clear out the middle of the field for hines and brown. But I think this new offense will only round him into a better receiver in the end. Haley is trying to erase his "one trick pony" nickname and hopefully wallace buys into it. I like having his speed and ability to go deep in our back pocket, but not for 5 times a game.

here is the article for those who want to read it: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... rs-offense

 

For all of the over 40 crowd - you might recall the last Pittsburgher to have this same desire had the last name Lovelace.

 

Of course he does, because that's the only way he's a good WR. He has his ridiculous top end speed, but other than that, he truly is an average WR. The only way he'll get a massive contract is if he goes deep all the time and catches a lot of balls. Not to mention it's easier to cradle the ball on a rainbow pass when you're wide open.

What we're doing is working very well, why can't the players just accept that and do their part to help the team win. There's just not enough players in the game like Ward was.

 

correct me if i am wrong, but did he not drop 2 deep balls against cincy. I call a deep pass 25 yards or more. i don't know what he is calling deep.

 

If you look at him catching underneath stuff he seems a little timid, perhaps the deep route makes him feel safer or he just wants big plays going his way but how can anyone want to throw it too him deep when he may end up dropping it, even on a lot of his TD catches seem shaky.

 

I can just hear the meetings.
Todd Haley......Ok what we're gonna attack against the Giants their weakness like we own it which is hit their secondary mid level dink and dunk, eat the clock, chew up some yards and score slowly so that our Defense can be well rested to T off on Eli.

Mike Wallace.......But, but, but I have an idea. I know I've brought it up at every team meeting but lets look again at the BA playbook that I kept. I know the others have trashed theirs but there are 5 plays in it and 2 of them have me picking up 40+ yards if we can connect.

Todd........Yea and the other 3 have Ben getting killed.

 

he will probably sign for the colts then ...

 

I still think his time will come as far as the deep ball goes. The problem is that teams have taken that away going back to the second half of last year. I believe what we are doing now is establishing certain things,making sure we are executing and getting everyone on the same page. Remember a lot of this offense is new at least some of the designs. To use a boxing analogy, we are going to the body now and once we soften the opposition up you can bet we will be going to the head ,early and often.

 

It still would not surprise me if there was a man by the name of Bowe brought here next year. This theory of course assumes that he and Haley liked each other, but if they did, I think he may be the perfect solution in allowing Wallace to walk and still having a VERY dangerous core.

 

Haley's offense is vastly superior to Arians in 99% of ways, but he needs to send Wallace deep more often. I am constantly surprised how little he runs deep this year. With the success rate Wallace has getting open, and Ben healthy and playing well, and the OL actually stepping up some, and an OC with some creativity, why not? I don't see what's wrong with 3-5 shots per game. We don't have to throw it, we just have to call the play. If Ben thinks he's open, he can let it fly. I know we don't want to be "bombs away" all the time, but if we can get success in the deep game, it will open up the rest even more, not to mention the big plays it will produce. We have the #1 deep threat in the world on our team. Why aren't we using it?

I don't necessarily disagree with any of this... but I don't see why it's a problem. Yeah, he's good but not great at all the underneath stuff. He's amazing at the deep stuff. Arguably better than anyone in the game, and absolutely better than anyone I've ever seen in a Steelers uniform. It's what sets him apart, it's what makes him worth whatever money he gets. Why not use that tool in our toolbox? We don't have to chuck 5 hail marys per game to him, but we can call 5 plays that have him going deep so that it's an option. There will be other receivers and routes on the play. He'll outrun his CB every time, and outrun the S some of the time too, if there is one. If the coverage is too deep and he can't get by it, well that helps out everyone else, right? I'm surprised how little we've tried it.

 

Bowe wants to win, Haley wants to win, Ben wants a big WR to throw to and has been pretty open about that. The only issue is can we afford him, and I'm not so sure we can. But wow, combine a big possession receiver like Bowe with a speed guy like Brown, a TE like Heath and hopefully a very good running game next year, we will be downright lethal.

Bowe is a top 10 talent in the league, he's just been stuck with a horrible QB his whole career. Put him here and he will thrive (although his 1200 yards and 15 TD's 2 years ago was pretty good I guess lol).

 

But why play that style to begin with? It's a high risk, low success play, and even when it works, I'm not so sure that's the type of team we want to be. Our defence can't generate a pass rush and can't force turnovers. We really need to chew up clock when we have the ball, as nice as it is to get 7 points with one throw, I'm not sure that's a recipe for success with this team, not right now.

I think we need to keep doing what we're doing, chewing up clock, run the ball well and dink and dunk all over other teams.

 

Type of team? I'm talking about one receiver's route on a handful of pass plays per game. I don't see why our options are either never go deep at all, or go bombs away and abandon all reason and gameplanning (like BA).

P.S., I added some other stuff in my post above you might have missed. ^^^

 

As much as I would love to see him here, we need to spend that money on the defensive side of the line.

 

I'm going to have to agree with Shaner on this one.

 

Okay, yeah I can see taking the odd shot down field, or at least have him run the route and see if he's open. I definitely don't want to be doing that too many times a game though.

 

Exactly. I'm not saying we should call 5 plays per game that must go to Wallace deep, or send everyone deep. I'm saying have him run 5 bombs per game, and see if he's open. Chances are, he will be, and the biggest problems will be pass protection and pass accuracy. He's already running what, 30 routes per game? Having 5 of them go deep for a guy who is the best deep threat in the game and in everyone here's opinion average at the rest doesn't seem like so many. Hell, if I was the coach I'd probably have him do more. If he's really only run 8 all year, that's nuts. I noticed it was way too few, but I didn't realize it was only 1 per game. Needs to be more.

 

if our line could block well enough to make teams fear our running game a little more, i think it would help us take those shots downfield.

i still think rainey could be a key player this week against that aggressive front of the g-men,added to the deep speed of our receivers to pull the corners and safeties back, putting rainey out there with LB'ers covering. i'll take that matchup all day.

 

Of course he wants to go deep more often. Big numbers = bigger contract.

 

Actually, didnt he drop a touchdown in at least 2 of our losses that wouldve made us win? I use to love Wallace but my patience with him is running really thin. We now have 5-6 people that Ben can throw to, so if Mikey wants to go next year, good riddens. He can follow in the footsteps of other famous Steeler receivers; Holmes, Plexico....

 

Wallace is Secretariat,his own UTer use to want to win the Kentucky Derby,all of a sudden,the owner decides he wants to get to win the trotter races,what is he to do? 1,learn to trot,or 2,do want you've been trained to do someswheres else.His last game Wallace looked pretty decent.Give the kid a break,who wouldn't want to show off his talents to possibly make a few MILLION more.Who in his shoes wouldn't do the same thing?

 

Yeah, I'm gonna go with no.

It's definitely possible I'm forgetting something, but the only almost TD I can even think of was against the Bengals (we won), and it wasn't a drop because it was tipped by the CB. I know, he's supposed to catch every pass whether it's knocked down or not, but it's still not a drop. That's one of the ones steel1031 is talking about too, so I'd say he didn't drop two deep ones in that game. He had three drops, one would have been about 10-12 yards, one would have been about 6 or 7, and one was I think 15-20, but he did have room to run so you could call that one deep.

Our three losses were against Denver, Oakland, and Tennessee, and he caught a TD in each of those games.

 

going deep is kinda why we like him.

 

Tomlin nailed it from the get go . Wallace is a 1 trick pony