David Blough and the Offensive Staffing Thread

[DWinzit]

How much time will it take for Blough to win over the players? I know they are professionals and so they will play for him and listen, but from the corner of their eyes some of the vets may still see a wet behind the ears assistant QBs coach. It probably does help that they know him and supposedly like him, but is that different from buying in?

Are they automatically there? Is this a BS, stupid question?

It probably comes into play with a few players.

It's a better question about offensive FA's wanting to come to Washington. Also could have played a big part in Pierce and Doubs signing elsewhere

 

[burgold]

I can see that going both ways.

From one perspective, when I enter a new employment situation, management is what it is and I just deal with it. I have no institutional memory of how things are done. If the boss is young I give him or her the benefit of the doubt and figure they're just a hot shot. However, if I'm in the soup and someone rises and I know that last year they were working in the mail room, it is a bit harder not to second guess them and worry that they just don't know what they're doing. On the other hand, if I know s/he outworks everyone, is brilliant, and is just a great person I may just root for them and pull harder for them to win because "one of us" made it.

 

[DWinzit]

I can see that going both ways.

From one perspective, when I enter a new employment situation, management is what it is and I just deal with it. I have no institutional memory of how things are done. If the boss is young I give him or her the benefit of the doubt and figure they're just a hot shot. However, if I'm in the soup and someone rises and I know that last year they were working in the mail room, it is a bit harder not to second guess them and worry that they just don't know what they're doing. On the other hand, if I know s/he outworks everyone, is brilliant, and is just a great person I may just root for them and pull harder for them to win because "one of us" made it.

It's something where each player can take it differently. I'm sure there are a few that may feel he will need to prove himself but they need to trust him regardless.

It's possible all the players love and respect him already, I have no idea.

If I am a FA and have an option (same pay) to play for a semi unknown or with a known and successful OC like McDaniels or even Cooter (who I already play for), over this unknown dude, I am probably not going to Washington

 

[Boone]

In terms of the inexperienced coordinators, I think we assume that the progression is 'I trust the new coordinator and like and respect him - therefore I will play hard for him and we will be successful'. In reality, I think most of the time it's the reverse of that - if the coordinator is talented and creative and knows what they are doing, the offense or defense has success. It's that success that spurs player respect and confidence.

If Blough and Jones are highly competent, they'll earn the players respect. It's not something earned because of reputation, prior experience, or whether or not players 'like' the guy.

 

[KDawg]

I can see that going both ways.

From one perspective, when I enter a new employment situation, management is what it is and I just deal with it. I have no institutional memory of how things are done. If the boss is young I give him or her the benefit of the doubt and figure they're just a hot shot. However, if I'm in the soup and someone rises and I know that last year they were working in the mail room, it is a bit harder not to second guess them and worry that they just don't know what they're doing. On the other hand, if I know s/he outworks everyone, is brilliant, and is just a great person I may just root for them and pull harder for them to win because "one of us" made it.

Remember, the NFL is a little bit different than regular companies where regular folk work.

Management, HCs and coaches are known. Agents have relationships. Players have relationships. This isn’t necessarily an apples to apples comparison.

Here’s what I know: every player is different. Players who have worked with Blough will base their opinion and thoughts on what they know of him. Good or bad. Reports suggest mostly all good. That’s a major positive.

Players who haven’t worked with Blough and are under contract: it doesn’t matter a whole lot right now. Once playing time and depth charts settle, this will matter a bit more.

Players who are free agents: reputation will matter. Guys want to go where the position coach is someone they believe they can work with: that is first and foremost. Then OC and HC and organizational reputation come into play. This is an area that is hurting us on offense. Moreso than defense.

And then, of course “other”. Other things that impact feelings.

Will guys buy in? Sure. They want to put good film out there.

Will they really believe in it? Proof is in the pudding.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Remember, the NFL is a little bit different than regular companies where regular folk work.

Management, HCs and coaches are known. Agents have relationships. Players have relationships. This isn’t necessarily an apples to apples comparison.

Here’s what I know: every player is different. Players who have worked with Blough will base their opinion and thoughts on what they know of him. Good or bad. Reports suggest mostly all good. That’s a major positive.

Players who haven’t worked with Blough and are under contract: it doesn’t matter a whole lot right now. Once playing time and depth charts settle, this will matter a bit more.

Players who are free agents: reputation will matter. Guys want to go where the position coach is someone they believe they can work with: that is first and foremost. Then OC and HC and organizational reputation come into play. This is an area that is hurting us on offense. Moreso than defense.

And then, of course “other”. Other things that impact feelings.

Will guys buy in? Sure. They want to put good film out there.

Will they really believe in it? Proof is in the pudding.

The other part of what separates the NFL from regular business is the publicity of it all. I work for a very large automotive parts company. At any time, if I were to have a new manager come in above me, there isn't 10 years of social media, website, and team reporting on his / her history. There aren't 100 interviews on ESPN that I could watch to gain a level of understanding, or at least a straight from the mouth ability to draw some conclusions. I may be able to find someone I know who worked for that person, but to your point, there aren't 53 employees per year that are limited to 30 locations, constantly changing from one company to another, to get access to this new manager. The odds of player X knowing multiple people who have crossed paths with this manager is exponentially higher than the odds of it happening in regular companies. Regular companies don't have their employees go practice and work out with employees from other companies during the off season.

I have been in this industry for a while, so I absolutely know a lot of the other parts guys locally, but if someone were to get hired on from outside of my geographical market, it would be a long shot for me to have any real information on that person unless they some how crossed my own path within the company i currently work.

 

[Simeon]

There’s more to it than just his expertise, experience, and history with players and agents. His personality also matters and right now that’s somewhat unknown although I think (hope) he will be fine.

By that I don’t mean so much how abrasive or friendly he is or how well the players like him and buy into the system. I mean does he hold both players and coaches accountable and do they respond well to that? Do they respect him? Norv Turner and Jay Gruden come to mind, although both were head coaches. Technically competitive and generally liked but not respected enough by the players; there were just not enough consequences when players took a play off or didn’t practice seriously, etc.

Maybe I’m wrong and Quinn will provide all the accountability needed. But to me it’s still to be proven and one of the key variables.

 

[Riggo44]

#BelieveInBen

 

[Discobob]

#BelieveInBen

From your mouth to God's ears!

 

[Riggo44]

The actual best running back on the team last year. I can't wait to see what happens when we commit to the run this year

 

[burgold]

I realize these are highlights, but they do reinforce my memory that his vision was pretty good at the start of the year before defenses stacked the box every play.

 

[Riggo44]

I realize these are highlights, but they do reinforce my memory that his vision was pretty good at the start of the year before defenses stacked the box every play.

For someone that's not a big back, he breaks a lot of tackles and runs really physcially too. If they can unlock him in the passing game, he's a very good back.

 

[HOF44]

I think fumbles were his Kryptonite. He became cautious for awhile. If he can find a way to run freely and not be fumble prone the skies the limit.

 

[Riggo44]

I think people forget that was the first active football he'd played in over a year. I don't think he practiced at all either his final year in college, either.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think people forget that was the first active football he'd played in over a year. I don't think he practiced at all either his final year in college, either.

The problem with Bill was never when the ball was in his hands. It was when the ball wasn't in his hands.

He was such a liability in pass protection, he only got 1/3 of the offensive plays.

He needs to work on pass pro and catching the ball. Then he can be on the field more, and then he can have more of an impact.

 

[Riggo44]

The problem with Bill was never when the ball was in his hands. It was when the ball wasn't in his hands.

He was such a liability in pass protection, he only got 1/3 of the offensive plays.

He needs to work on pass pro and catching the ball. Then he can be on the field more, and then he can have more of an impact.

Wholly agree, but I thought he improved in pass pro through the year.

 

[burgold]

Others know more about this more than I do, but it seems to me that if Bill does have good vision then he should be able to develop his pass pro. Knowing where to be is a part of it and the rest of is getting there and technique. Technique should be able to be taught. I have faith that he should be able to spot the blitz and get there. Now, he may never be an overpowering blocker because of how he's physically built, but he should be able to do it.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I was listening to a Galdi Podcast, and he had Mark Bullock on, and Mark said something fairly interesting. True or not, I'm not sure, but it was interesting.

He said that he thinks this offense is going to look a lot like the Ben Johnson offense from 2023. Why 2023? That's when Blough was the practice squad QB for the Lions with Ben Johnson.

And something he pointed out: the production in that offense came mostly from 4 players:

- WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, He had 1,539 total yards and 10 TDs, and ostly played from the slot.
- RB: Jahmyr Gibbs, 1261 total yards, which was 945 rushing yards and 316 receiving yards and 11 TDs
- TE: Sam LaPaorta, 893 total yards, 10 TDs
- RB: David Mongomery, 1132 total yards, 1015 rushing yards.

The 2 outside receivers were Josh Renolds (893 total yards) and Josh Reynolds (608 total yards).

The point was that the offense essentially ran through the middle of the field, either through the slot receiver (St. Brown), the running game (Gibbs/Montgomery), or TE LaPorta.

And that's why the Commanders took a guy who plays mostly from the slot, but can slide outside, in the draft.

They're gearing up for the offense to run through the middle of the field with slot and the running game.

The big difference, of course, is we don't have a St. Brown or Gibbs. But we do have Terry, who's better than any outside WR who the Browns had. And 2024 Daniels is better than Goff in literally every possible way.

So I started to imagine how this might get put together a little bit. I think, unless they add somebody, you're going to see these two position groups the most often:

- McLaurin, Williams, Chig, Sinnott, RB (will rotate depending on situation.)
They'll probably use this a bit, and a whole lot when they are under center. Sinnott actually can run, is athletic, and can catch. He's also a good blocker. He just wasn't used a lot by Kliff. Now, he has to show he can play, which I don't know if he can, but he's got the tools.
They can absolutely run out of this formation with 2 TEs on the field. They can play action and have 4 or 5 legitimate targets.

A wrinkle could be to pull either Chig or Sinnott off the field and substitute with Bates, which immediately improves the blocking. If they pulled Chig, however, they're SCREAMING they're going to run the ball. Which is when they should pass.

- McLaurin, Outside guy (Brown, McCaffery, Burke), Williams (slot), Chig, RB (will rotate).
This would be more obviously a passing set. Chig is an "ok" blocker. But not great. Williams isn't really big, but plays bigger than his size. They could run out of this formation, but I would expect to see a lot of play action out of this formation, and a lot of runs.

There will be other groupings. They will want to get Lane on the field some, maybe they go 4 WRs at some points. They might go really heavy and go 1 WR, 2 TE, 2 RB at times.

Anyway, what Bullock pointed out is if the offense holds to what you would expect from an offense Blough learned under Ben Johnson, it's going to de-emphasize the outside WRs and emphasize the middle of the field. Though I think Terry does change that equation some, so it won't look exactly the same. But it was an interesting point.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Wholly agree, but I thought he improved in pass pro through the year.

The numbers say otherwise because his playing time didn't improve much until the finale:

Week Opponent Snaps Played Snap Percentage
Week 1 vs. New York Giants 23 33%
Week 2 at Green Bay Packers 25 38%
Week 3 vs. Las Vegas Raiders 29 43%
Week 4 at Atlanta Falcons 20 35%
Week 5 at Los Angeles Chargers 28 47%
Week 6 vs. Chicago Bears 31 51%
Week 7 at Dallas Cowboys 30 48%
Week 8 at Kansas City Chiefs 27 42%
Week 9 vs. Seattle Seahawks 25 39%
Week 10 vs. Detroit Lions 24 44%
Week 11 vs. Miami Dolphins 18 27%
Week 12 BYE WEEK — —
Week 13 vs. Denver Broncos 21 34%
Week 14 at Minnesota Vikings 19 31%
Week 15 at New York Giants 26 41%
Week 16 vs. Philadelphia Eagles 20 32%
Week 17 vs. Dallas Cowboys 27 42%
Week 18 at Philadelphia Eagles 33 46%

He was around 40% for much of the year, actually dropped into the low 30's for 3 of the last 6 games. His high water mark for the season was 33 snaps.

If it improved, it was not by that much and it didn't really inspire a lot of confidence with the coaches.

 

[Riggo44]

He was around 40% for much of the year, actually dropped into the low 30's for 3 of the last 6 games. His high water mark for the season was 33 snaps.

True, but, he's clearly a focal point of the offense this coming year. He was also a 7th round rookie. Most rookies have holes they need to address, let alone ones drafted this late.

If I recall his pass pro grades with PFF improved, for what it's worth.