Martinez and the QB running game.

Cdog923

Cdog923

New member
Back in January, I looked at what kind of QB would be the most effective in Coach Frost's offense, particularly in the run game (Look here). Sam McKewon looked at the stats from the past year, and just in terms of Big Ten games, AMart ran the ball roughly 13.67 times a game in-conference. This is the 2nd most carries per game of any Big Ten QB behind AJ Bush, and (in terms of Nebraska QBs in conference games), the third most behind 2011 TMart and 2012 TMart. 

Now, if we look back at the old topic, in Frost's most successful offenses, the QB has averaged around 8 carries a game. AMart (in the entire season), averaged 12.7. Now, I'm not saying that the 2018 offense was a failure; it was a gigantic upgrade from the last two offenses. However, there's a hole in the offense that is requiring the QB run game to fit into, and I am a bit alarmed that we'll have to require Martinez to do even more next year to fill it, what with the losses of Ozigbo and Morgan. There are some other holes on offense that need to be filled at RB and WR, and particularly on the offensive line. 

TL;DR: Martinez ran the ball a bit too much this year for the offense, and I'm afraid he'll have to shoulder even more of the load next year until depth behind Washington and Spielman is built. 

 
It's not a bug, it's a feature.

And really, this isn't a problem unless 2AM can't handle the workload, but I think he can. He's got a big frame at 6'2" and 220lbs, and he's durable when people aren't wrenching at his ankles.

I'm not afraid of Martinez running more.

Big Ten defenses are afraid of Martinez running more.

 
Cdog923 said:
Back in January, I looked at what kind of QB would be the most effective in Coach Frost's offense, particularly in the run game (Look here). Sam McKewon looked at the stats from the past year, and just in terms of Big Ten games, AMart ran the ball roughly 13.67 times a game in-conference. This is the 2nd most carries per game of any Big Ten QB behind AJ Bush, and (in terms of Nebraska QBs in conference games), the third most behind 2011 TMart and 2012 TMart. 
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This is pretty misleading.  Running was TMart's strength.  We then tried our best to have pocket passers as QBs....especially from 2014 - 2017.  

I don't think 2AM ran too much this year.  I thought it was a very good mix of the passing game and creativity in the running game.  

I'm also not too concerned about WR and RB depth.  These coaches have proven they can develop depth and players.  Just because we haven't seen a player on the field, doesn't mean they aren't going to step up and contribute in the future.

 
BigRedBuster said:
This is pretty misleading.  Running was TMart's strength.  We then tried our best to have pocket passers as QBs....especially from 2014 - 2017.  

I don't think 2AM ran too much this year.  I thought it was a very good mix of the passing game and creativity in the running game.  

I'm also not too concerned about WR and RB depth.  These coaches have proven they can develop depth and players.  Just because we haven't seen a player on the field, doesn't mean they aren't going to step up and contribute in the future.
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You're the only person in existence that would classify Tommy Armstrong as a "pocket passer". 

 
BigRedBuster said:
You didn't read very closely.

Doesn't mean we accomplished it.
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Cdog923 said:
Back in January, I looked at what kind of QB would be the most effective in Coach Frost's offense, particularly in the run game (Look here). Sam McKewon looked at the stats from the past year, and just in terms of Big Ten games, AMart ran the ball roughly 13.67 times a game in-conference. This is the 2nd most carries per game of any Big Ten QB behind AJ Bush, and (in terms of Nebraska QBs in conference games), the third most behind 2011 TMart and 2012 TMart. 

Now, if we look back at the old topic, in Frost's most successful offenses, the QB has averaged around 8 carries a game. AMart (in the entire season), averaged 12.7. Now, I'm not saying that the 2018 offense was a failure; it was a gigantic upgrade from the last two offenses. However, there's a hole in the offense that is requiring the QB run game to fit into, and I am a bit alarmed that we'll have to require Martinez to do even more next year to fill it, what with the losses of Ozigbo and Morgan. There are some other holes on offense that need to be filled at RB and WR, and particularly on the offensive line. 

TL;DR: Martinez ran the ball a bit too much this year for the offense, and I'm afraid he'll have to shoulder even more of the load next year until depth behind Washington and Spielman is built. 
Click to expand...
IIRC 8 runs per game were largely based on Frost’s past offenses. One thing Damon Benning has mentioned is that Frost has said that 2AM is more special than any other QB he has had because every single play type is open, especially QB power/run. Frost said that even with Mariota he had to be careful how much he ran him due to his frame size. 2AM is a big framed QB and so I think the gloves are off so to speak on QB run so I would expect to see running attempts up for 2AM.

 
Reading through, I don't know if my OP was as well written as it should be. My point isn't that I don't want AMart to run the ball, I don't want him to have to run the ball, at least as much as he did this year. I'm worried about the offensive personnel around him to not evolving to the point where we don't have to rely on his legs as much.

 
I think those rushing attempt numbers will go down as AM's passing acumen (presumably) increases alongside his comfortability with the offense. Another key component of this will be skill position depth, which has already been brought up in this thread. The better the talent around AM gets then the less they'll rely on him to use his legs in the running game. It'll still be a facet of the offense but it just won't be as necessary.

 
I'm not sure 2AM ran it too much but, if his carries were a little high, it may have more to do with him being an exceptional athlete and the coaches installing the offense at a rate most everyone else could deal with. Replacing Zig and Stanley will leave some holes that have to be filled but the team overall should be in a better position to fill them in year two of the new system, without having to rely so much on 2AM. I also think his number of carries had more to do with trying to exploit defenses and take what they were showing, moreso than being one dimensional or limited by WR's or RB's.

 
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