Just looking at the most basic data/stat points at the halfway point of the season, the most obvious numbers suggest we need to run the football more.
Something else I have thought about this morning is Payton's completion percentage. I don't want to turn this into a "Payton Thorne thread" so I want to frame this in a way that is about who he is and who he is not.
Last year, Cole Pinkston offered the assessment that Payton was generally an accurate passer. I trust Cole's assessment.
Payton currently has a 59% completion percentage which is not good. What I found interesting looking at his passing chart is the amount of passes he is being asked to throw beyond 20+ yards. For starters, I don't think anybody ever associated Payton with being a good deep-ball passer. Yet, we are asking him to take many shots beyond 20 yards. In FBS games, he is 7/19 on throws 20+ yards in what would essentially be 3 1/2 games.
Just to compare some random data points, Graham Mertz, who has the highest completion % in the SEC, is 4/10 on similar passes. Everybody's hero, Diego Pavia is 4/12 on passes of 20+ yards. And Milroe, who I think of a decent deep-ball passer was 11/21 before the USCe game. All of those numbers are throughout 5 games.
I just find it interesting that our offensive philosophy has been to throw multiple deep passes per game with our QB who while generally accurate, has never really been a deep pass guy, and to underutilize the running game. Just can't help but wonder how many stalled drives have resulted in the lack of success on passes down the field.
One more stat point... Auburn currently has 4 rushing touchdowns through 5 games vs. FBS opponents. That would put us on track to finish around 9ish rushing TDs. That would be worse than the 2012 season.
If the second half of the season doesn't include adjustments in those two areas and we continue to lose football games, how can you justify keeping this coaching staff moving forward? Do you really need to see more?
@crococile22 @ricedp105 @cookedw @Docdumpsta @stutsman23 @grizzlyadams16 @Big Blue @Jeffrey Lee
Something else I have thought about this morning is Payton's completion percentage. I don't want to turn this into a "Payton Thorne thread" so I want to frame this in a way that is about who he is and who he is not.
Last year, Cole Pinkston offered the assessment that Payton was generally an accurate passer. I trust Cole's assessment.
Payton currently has a 59% completion percentage which is not good. What I found interesting looking at his passing chart is the amount of passes he is being asked to throw beyond 20+ yards. For starters, I don't think anybody ever associated Payton with being a good deep-ball passer. Yet, we are asking him to take many shots beyond 20 yards. In FBS games, he is 7/19 on throws 20+ yards in what would essentially be 3 1/2 games.
Just to compare some random data points, Graham Mertz, who has the highest completion % in the SEC, is 4/10 on similar passes. Everybody's hero, Diego Pavia is 4/12 on passes of 20+ yards. And Milroe, who I think of a decent deep-ball passer was 11/21 before the USCe game. All of those numbers are throughout 5 games.
I just find it interesting that our offensive philosophy has been to throw multiple deep passes per game with our QB who while generally accurate, has never really been a deep pass guy, and to underutilize the running game. Just can't help but wonder how many stalled drives have resulted in the lack of success on passes down the field.
One more stat point... Auburn currently has 4 rushing touchdowns through 5 games vs. FBS opponents. That would put us on track to finish around 9ish rushing TDs. That would be worse than the 2012 season.
If the second half of the season doesn't include adjustments in those two areas and we continue to lose football games, how can you justify keeping this coaching staff moving forward? Do you really need to see more?
@crococile22 @ricedp105 @cookedw @Docdumpsta @stutsman23 @grizzlyadams16 @Big Blue @Jeffrey Lee
