There are bigger problems, but the quarterback always comes under the most scrutiny, which is why it is fair to at least start with Travis Lulay. The same pivot who had a 127.1 passer rating against Saskatchewan has been an underwhelming 64.9 his last two games.
Though rarely under major duress, Lulay’s throws have often been inaccurate, leading to claims his shoulder remains an issue. It’s not an issue. Lowell Ullrich. Vancouver Province
I don't believe Lulay's shoulder is an issue either. He passed very well in the Rider game. B.C. Fan points out that Lulay's passing accuracy is similar in the first half and the second half. We didn't have Lulay spending most of his time in the pocket in 2011 and 2012. He was given a lot of misdirection play action plays to run, coming off a lot of motion. We have Lulay mostly in the pocket this season, throwing out of the spread offence, with almost zero motion or misdirection play action in the passing game. The problems are the scheme, Lulay's accuracy or lack thereof, and receivers not getting open - and since we are seeing a lot of defensive zone against us, that has to do with pass play design.
I totally believe that Mexico Lion fan could design a better offence in two days than what we are seeing. We have addressed the two major problems that besieged us - poor run blocking and poor pass protection. We've opened holes for Harris and we've protected Lulay. If we were using a pro offence instead of the spread and using a proper H Back Offence, we would be achieving so much more offensive success because the run game and the pass protection should be setting up great play action for our pass offence. Lulay also throws better on the move. But instead we have Lulay in the pocket, we're using a lot of vertical patterns against zone defence, and either Lulay can't make the vertical throws accurately our receivers can't find the open seams in the zone. Lulay showed he can make throws when his mechanics are on (eg: the Riders game) but he has slipped back into poor mechanics again. In past seasons that was more understandable, beause he was so often had defenders in his face when he threw but he has had lots of time this season and his last two games, he was not stepping into his throws at all. The missed two yard completion to Harris was a purrfect example of bad mechanics.
If we could start using semi-rollout play action, with our ground game going so well, things would improve. We've implemented some very good run plays, with really innovative blocking and misdirection but our passing game is beyond bland and using a tight end like Leonard as a slot back on most plays is a complete waste of why we wanted to use a big tight end who could block and catch and line up in different spots and go in motion. There is no motion. We don't move our receivers around. Have a look at the tape of a Saskatchewn game this season and watch the motion and misdirection in that offence. This passing attack is as bad as Khari Jones scheme was last season - in fact there are very few differences.
Defence - the problems are more than personnel First of all we are misusing personell - Roh at tackle, Westerman at defensive end, Smith and Bazzie alternating as our two best rush ends. Bighill playing safety on too many plays. Eliminian's natural aggressiveness being taken away by being too focused on pass defence. Secondly, personell are having their aggressiveness taken away. Parks looks terrible and he is too good to be playing this poorly. Ronnie Yell, a very aggressive corner is playing like a mouse. Lee, a ball hawk style defender, looks timid and confused at times. Our safety, who looked so good in his first outing, is no longer aggressive. The new rules don't prevent our defensive backs from attacking the football in the air. We just don't play that way anymore.
A couple of personell changes would help and NFL cuts could provide that help or someone on the practice roster could do that. We need to get Westerman back inside and we need a top grade pass rusher. In the meantime, we need to get Smith and Bazzie both playing outside and use Roh as a defensive end.
We also need a more dangerous ranger import slot receiver. Jeffers is on the roster and should be given a chance and we probably need to pick up a good NFL cut.
But personnel changes alone won't fix this. We need scheme changes for our passing attack and we need scheme changes on defense.
Tedford had a big job in front of him. He made some good changes this off-season in terms of coaching and personnel. He's fixed our offensive line, which was the biggest challenge. But he still has some Wally boys on his staff from Washington to McMann and he kept Khari Jones when perhaps he needed a more experienced receiver coach. He couldn't change everything over night but I thought Tedford would bring a pro offence with an H Back concept and we haven't done that.
This is going to be a work in progress and there is a ton of work ahead.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
