Danny Woodhead is proving to be the best pass catching RB in the NFL with 65 receptions; can't ask for more...but he does not get to carry the ball enough to get into a rhythm. Hoping he can improve on the 3.9 avg per carry...(he did have 7 for 42 last week/6.0 avg!)Looking for him to bust a long run tonight! They need to give him a chance to utilize his Barry Sanders-like running skills with some toss-sweeps instead of always been the tackles.
Would like to see a "breakdown" of his carries....the few Chargers games I was able to catch this season...they are questionable the way they use him running. Give him 17 carries in a game & he easily goes over 100 yards!
The problem with toss sweeps and off tackle runs in the traditional sense would be for them to use him more in traditional sets instead of Matthews which I don't think is going to happen much but there was a play the Patriots used ONCE and he posted a career long of 50, a toss out of shotgun that was called a "shovel pass", it went like a few millimeters forward and called a reception. The rhythm thing, I don't think Danny needs that as much, he was used more creatively in 2010 and had some big runs, still not enough to get into a rhythm, I do believe his biggest run was not out of shotgun against the Colts. 12 to 14 touches is enough to keep me satisfied, its just HOW they use him. I would be satisfied with 1k from scrimmage a season, but with a little more on the running side. Of course I would be thrilled to see him as an every down back but I don't think we will see that, as we have seen when Matthews is out he still splits carries. But of course, it will be harder to reach 1k dividing up his touches more evenly, but thats where the scheme comes in, if he is breaking out bigger plays in the run game and averaging closer to 5.6 like his 2010 season then shouldnt be a problem.
This is the problem for Sproles as well, he often just gets carries up the gut out of shotgun to keep defenses off guard, they ran him out of singleback set last week off tackle and had a season long of 38, I think career long run for the Saints, or second longest, with one not going too much farther. Woodhead is more explosive, and looks to have more left in the tank. Off course Sproles gets more variety than Woodhead. Luckily Woodhead doesn't have many carries so that 6.0 ypc carry last week bumped him up from 3.7 to 3.9, so it wouldn't take much to get him mid 4 ypc range.
I keep posting this video to show how to use Woodhead in the running game.
Look at
:31 seconds, shotgun formation with one back, Livas lined up as a wr goes in motion, its like a regular running play and the tailback lined up in shotgun is the lead blocker, that would work so well and keep defenses guessing when they are in shotgun, rather than the typical Woodhead up the gut play.
Also at
50 seconds as well.
1:13, similar to the ghost motion play with an h -back going to lead block with Livas going to the right while the halfback goes off left tackle, Livas was a little too fast for that h-back to be effective but I think with the right personnel it could work better, maybe a little more patience
3:11 out of offset I formation, similar to the ghost motion, deception and a lead blocker,
7:09, qb under center, tailback used as a lead blocker,
7:22 offset i, qb fakes the toss to the tailback going right with Livas in motion going right out of the slot with the fullback blocking,
7:31 similar to the ghost motion with a lead blocker
[video=youtube;v31pT_20LYc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v31pT_20LYc[/video]
at :31, :50, 1:13, 3:11, 7:09, 7:22, 7:31 are the plays I am talking about in case you missed it
at 31 seconds and 50 seconds are my favorite, I just get tired of seeing quick and fast scatbacks like Woodhead get minimized in the run game with just quick draws up the gut to keep the defense honest out of shotgun, they could do so much more with some space to run
In this case, maybe I could see Ronnie Brown lined up a little more, maybe for the plays where he would be the up the middle threat or the option to be the lead blocker depending on what play, and on the ghost motion what Rivers reads the defense as doing, which is what it is, an option play, the qb reads what the defenses are reacting to and decides which back to handoff to, not sure how great Matthews is up the gut, and not sure how good of a lead blocker he would be.
Running up the gut, even if he does get to the second level, its more about quickness than straight line speed which Woodhead has plenty of, wideouts simply aren't that great of blocking, so you have like at least 4 guys to have to make miss. If he ran more conventional plays getting to the second level he would have one or two, which is what we saw in the Jets preseason game, and he had some big runs.
but these plays change that, he can run out of shotgun lined up in the slot like he often does, and still run conventional running plays that a regular halfback does, he would break some long ones. Livas just wasn't that talented, otherwise due to his skin color hed be in the league due to his special teams ability, these plays would produce some big things with Woodhead and to a lesser extent Sproles.
Imagine a shotgun play with Woodhead in the slot running off tackle with the other back being the lead blocker!
Im going to post this in the Woodhead thread so it doesn't get lost. If coaches cared about winning they would take notice because this would benefit whoever is lined up at tailback as well . I brought this up on the Saints forum but inserted Sproles name instead of Woodhead, and they ran the ghost motion play several times against Carolina for the first time in years, a play they used to run with Deuce McCallister up the middle and Reggie in the slot on the end around. This kept defenses off guard and not only benefited Bush but also Deuce, with defenses starting to key in on the end around Drew would handoff to Deuce and he would have smooth running up the middle, so this could benefit Matthews as well. They didn't use Sproles but had a wr come on the end around, it caught the defense off guard and kept them guessing. It had been since 2006 since they really ran it and after the post with others commenting, the Saints ran it. Maybe I should post it on the main Chargers board.
coaches have been willing to utilize new things from college and even high school, so this shouldn't be any different. He isn't just a Kevin Faulk and Im afraid he wont be used to his potential ever. I mean just look at him running routes like that jump ball he caught the other week, he is 10x the player of Dexter McCluster or a Davone Bess, and McCluster has been used in a variety of ways hybrid rb/wr, mediocre at both. He could be a full time slot guy if they wanted to and put up 1k, but why not utilize both skillsets?
I know this is a long post but anyone interested in schemes and how Woodhead could be better utilized and not necessarily be utilized in just a "traditional way" to get some bigger plays with staying in a similar role as a tailback in shotgun and lined up in the slot, should read it read and watch the video.
If anyone has an account on a Chargers board feel free to post it, I am going to try to sign up soon, not sure what their main board is like with the Saints.
