In watching the first two games, Zorn appears be falling back into the old, familiar patterns of the Gibbs II administration.
Depend upon Portis and Cooley to the point they are taken out of the game, try a trick play or two and then fold up the tent and try and prevent a loss by limiting turnovers and going ultra-conservative.
If he is going to succeed here IMO Zorn needs to embrace and yes, depend upon, some of the younger players to add the missing ingredients. And that means taking some chances up front. So far Zorn has not seemed willing to take any of chances with his younger players. But the fact we can all see on Sunday is without using Kelly, Thomas, Davis, etc. the offense simply lacks the variety and depth to be effective.
All the talk about Malcolm Kelly improving and being the No. 2 receiver has to stop. PROVE IT.
Prove it by USING Kelly on critical plays to make first downs and let him use his height, size and hands to pull down the ball in the end zone when the team moves into plus territory.
Naming Kelly the No. 2 receiver is a joke when ARE, Cooley get 10 passes thrown their way and Kelly gets 1 catch for 6 yards......................
How about Fred Davis in the red zone?
I would much rather see Zorn use Fred Davis or even Todd Yoder to catch the ball in the red zone than depend upon fullback Mike Sellers.
First, it allows Sellers to remain in the backfield or tag-teaming to help the line in protection.
Second, Davis is a lot more athletic player than Sellers. He is capable of running with the ball after the catch and operating in open space. Sellers is not going to outrun a linebacker or safety.
Finally, the team is starting to use Devin Thomas on kickoffs. I think this is a step in the right direction. While Devin still seems to be a work in progress at WR he brings undeniable physical skills that translate well into the return game. This must continue on a full-time basis to open things up and provide the offense with better field position.
My apologies to Rock Cartwright but I am not seeing the 60-70 yard returns from him and at 30 is getting a bit long in the tooth to be a primary returner.
Even though my comments are mainly about using the skill position resources better on the club, I would extend that to the RG position.
For now, forget about signing Pete Kendall.
Let's see what we have in Will Montgomery and Chad Rinehart.
Montgomery played almost 3 quarters against the Rams and to tell the truth I really didn't notice any difference in the play of the OL. That may change against a better DL, but given all the injuries Randy Thomas was rehabbing from in the offseason it is hard to believe that Thomas playing at perhaps 75% at age 33 is better than Montgomery playing at 100% at age 25.
I want to win games. But I want to do it in a way in which the overall capabilities of the team to be more of a true contender show through.
It's not enough to sign Pete Kendall and continue to depend upon ARE and Cooley to pick up all the slack when Moss is double-covered.
We did that for 2 years under Gibbs and had trouble scoring points.
Let's not repeat that mistake a second time.
Oh, and most importantly, please let Campbell win or lose his job based upon his ability to attack defenses and make a case for himself and not by watching Portis or ARE throwing passes out of the backfield in critical situations.
I think we have seen enough razzle/dazzle turn into fizzle at this point to let that go for the forseeable future :eclipsee_Victoria:
Depend upon Portis and Cooley to the point they are taken out of the game, try a trick play or two and then fold up the tent and try and prevent a loss by limiting turnovers and going ultra-conservative.
If he is going to succeed here IMO Zorn needs to embrace and yes, depend upon, some of the younger players to add the missing ingredients. And that means taking some chances up front. So far Zorn has not seemed willing to take any of chances with his younger players. But the fact we can all see on Sunday is without using Kelly, Thomas, Davis, etc. the offense simply lacks the variety and depth to be effective.
All the talk about Malcolm Kelly improving and being the No. 2 receiver has to stop. PROVE IT.
Prove it by USING Kelly on critical plays to make first downs and let him use his height, size and hands to pull down the ball in the end zone when the team moves into plus territory.
Naming Kelly the No. 2 receiver is a joke when ARE, Cooley get 10 passes thrown their way and Kelly gets 1 catch for 6 yards......................
How about Fred Davis in the red zone?
I would much rather see Zorn use Fred Davis or even Todd Yoder to catch the ball in the red zone than depend upon fullback Mike Sellers.
First, it allows Sellers to remain in the backfield or tag-teaming to help the line in protection.
Second, Davis is a lot more athletic player than Sellers. He is capable of running with the ball after the catch and operating in open space. Sellers is not going to outrun a linebacker or safety.
Finally, the team is starting to use Devin Thomas on kickoffs. I think this is a step in the right direction. While Devin still seems to be a work in progress at WR he brings undeniable physical skills that translate well into the return game. This must continue on a full-time basis to open things up and provide the offense with better field position.
My apologies to Rock Cartwright but I am not seeing the 60-70 yard returns from him and at 30 is getting a bit long in the tooth to be a primary returner.
Even though my comments are mainly about using the skill position resources better on the club, I would extend that to the RG position.
For now, forget about signing Pete Kendall.
Let's see what we have in Will Montgomery and Chad Rinehart.
Montgomery played almost 3 quarters against the Rams and to tell the truth I really didn't notice any difference in the play of the OL. That may change against a better DL, but given all the injuries Randy Thomas was rehabbing from in the offseason it is hard to believe that Thomas playing at perhaps 75% at age 33 is better than Montgomery playing at 100% at age 25.
I want to win games. But I want to do it in a way in which the overall capabilities of the team to be more of a true contender show through.
It's not enough to sign Pete Kendall and continue to depend upon ARE and Cooley to pick up all the slack when Moss is double-covered.
We did that for 2 years under Gibbs and had trouble scoring points.
Let's not repeat that mistake a second time.
Oh, and most importantly, please let Campbell win or lose his job based upon his ability to attack defenses and make a case for himself and not by watching Portis or ARE throwing passes out of the backfield in critical situations.
I think we have seen enough razzle/dazzle turn into fizzle at this point to let that go for the forseeable future :eclipsee_Victoria: