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Interesting read about Landry Jones

  • Good thoughts and some infor we already know
    Eric Pennell @ blecher report

    We've all heard the narrative by now. When Ryan Broyles, all-time NCAA leader in receptions, went down with a knee explosion (medical term, of course) against Texas A&M last season, Landry Jones didn't throw a touchdown pass in another game the rest of year.

    The knee-jerk judgment passed by most of Sooner Nation—including myself—was that Jones just isn't that good of a quarterback. He was all-world with his safety blanket Broyles in the slot, but got exposed as a phony without him. He was labeled a "system" guy, the scarlet letter for college quarterbacks. His Heisman status and draft stock were adjusted accordingly.

    There have been several other excuses made for this lack of passing production, the flagship being the emergence of the Bell-Dozer. The power package ram-rodded its way through the red zone with remarkable efficiency, keeping Jones on the sidelines in scoring situations.

    But this doesn't explain away the painful decrease in production from Jones between the 20's after the Broyles injury.

    So what gives? Is Jones really that mediocre? What about all those yards? All those records!?

    Let's go on a little journey. Put yourself in the offensive coordinator's shoes at the beginning of last season. You are sitting in a meeting in the spring, trying to devise an offensive strategy for the upcoming season revolving around your best players.

    The Landry Jones/Ryan Broyles Express had accounted for 220 receptions, 2,742 yards and 29 touchdowns the previous two seasons. Kenny Stills was coming off a good freshman campaign but was still young. Also, the running back situation was as up in the air as it has ever been.

    Brett Deering/Getty Images

    All signs point toward featuring Broyles and Jones, right?

    Fast forward eight games into the season, and it was working. Before the home game against the Aggies, Broyles was averaging 10 catches and 134 yards per game and the offense was humming along.

    So what do you think would happen to any offense, any quarterback, when the focal point of the entire scheme goes down for the remainder of the season?

    Maybe it wasn't all Jones' fault!

    I know, it was quite a realization for me, too. Let it sink in for a minute. I'll wait.

    Sure, some of the weight can be placed on Landry, but an equal—if not larger—proportion should be placed on co-coordinators Jay Norvell and Josh Heupel. Given the immense negative shock to the passing game and the degree of difficulty in restructuring a new passing scheme in the middle of the season, relying on the Bell-Dozer was probably their best option.

    So fast forward a little more to this spring, in a similar meeting. One can only hope that the coaches learned their lesson last season on the dangers of relying too heavily on one player and have built an attack that better utilizes the strengths of all of their weapons.

    The suspension of three receivers—all expected to contribute this season—doesn't help, but it also doesn't hurt that much, either. The Sooners brought in a top-notch class of receivers—JUCO transfer Courtney Gardner and freshman phenom Trey Metoyer to name a few—during this offseason that can step right in where the misfits left off.

    Don't forget about the deep, versatile group of running backs, either. Dom Whaley, Roy Finch, Brennan Clay and Trey Millard are going to do their fair share of damage to Big 12 defenses, as well.

    While a receiver of Broyles' caliber can take an offense to the next level, it is easy sometimes to lean a little too heavily on him. Using a player as a crutch works just fine until someone kicks it out from under you. While going down stairs. In front of the entire school.

    This year, Landry Jones will no doubt excel in a well-balanced offense and see his stock raise back to where it should be.

    signature image

    Win today, or you'll be a loser tomorrow!

    decasooner

  • Great receivers do help quarterbacks look good and lack of great receivers can make a quarterback look mediocre.Just ask Sam Bradford.

    frizz

  • + 1 to both posters. I don't doubt LJ at all. I also think the shifting of positions after Broyles went down contributed to their ineffectiveness.

    albsooner

  • A lot of things happened midseason on that hurt Landry's performance. Whaley's injury was huge; Ryan's injury was also huge; Still's pretty much disappeared; Jaz was all world for a couple of games but then had the kidney injury; and the rest of our receivers could not hold on to the rock. So the coaches switched to the Bell Dozer and it worked darned well, so well you could not pull it off the field in short yardage. Landry will be fine in 2012.

    TheBigL

  • I find all this Landry noise pretty stupid and uninformed, surprised it is even coming from the mouths of anybody with any kind of football knowledge. This is a team sport and teams like OU are made up of very good players so when you lose these players and it was not just Broyles (started a different O-line most every week) you are not going to be nearly as good and when what run game you had goes to pot he had nothing to keep opposing defenses honest to even have a chance to build confidence with the younger wide receivers. Now because of this ignorance he will go out and have another all world year with the guys he has had plenty work with in the off season and will probably not be in the mix or discussion for Heisman or first round draft status because he has guys carrying him that can catch the ball, system QB blah blah blah. I think we will all agree Troy Aikman was a great QB but without any of his three guys Smith, Irvin and Novachek his game suffered as well. Not saying he is Aikman like just saying Landry needs consistency from his teammates every bit as much as they need it from him.

    oufisherman

  • The QB always takes the heat, but it was the receiving corps who did not step up when Broyles went down.

    signature image

    “No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.” ~ E.B. White

    skyvue

  • oufisherman said...I find all this Landry noise pretty stupid and uninformed, surprised it is even coming from the mouths of anybody with any kind of football knowledge.

    Bleacher Report is NOT a reliable source. ANYONE can post a Bleacher Report. Your six year old nephew can do one!

    What's more amazing is that anyone pays any attention to anything on Bleacher Report.

    AH OUInsider

    Alan H

  • Alan H said...

    Bleacher Report is NOT a reliable source. ANYONE can post a Bleacher Report. Your six year old nephew can do one!

    What's more amazing is that anyone pays any attention to anything on Bleacher Report.

    AH OUInsider

    I hear ya but what is sickening to me is I have heard some of the same well close to the same stuff from guys in the media not to mention the draft gurus.

    oufisherman

  • This is an old debate and should be shelved until the season starts. We are gonna find out the story on Landry soon enough. Next season will be the tell all finale to his OU career.

    tatertot

  • tatertot said...

    This is an old debate and should be shelved until the season starts. We are gonna find out the story on Landry soon enough. Next season will be the tell all finale to his OU career.

    It is posts like this that makes it impossible to shelve any debate on Landry! He has been more than adequate and would start for most top 10 teams in the country but everyone from the coaches on down has to be perfect to achieve perfection, he will not kill you with his legs and we do not need him to but block, run the ball effectively and catch the ball and he kills you with his arm as he was recruited to do. This is a team sport but if we want to personalize wins or losses then put OSWho on him, TacoTech and Baylor he made enough plays to win.

    oufisherman

  • oufisherman said...

    I hear ya but what is sickening to me is I have heard some of the same well close to the same stuff from guys in the media not to mention the draft gurus.

    Fisherman, I am not even commenting on the content of the story, only that it's NOT from any reliable source, it's an opinion of one person, not even in the media. May be informed or uninformed.

    AH

    Alan H

  • Of course this is my opinion, but it does come after talking to some OU coaches about the OSU game.

    The fumbles were his fault, no excuses. Landry said so himself. Those hurt, and may have been enough to lose the game.

    The interceptions were not.

    Part of the blame rests with the coaching, (putting players in new positions to make up for loss of Broyles, & later in game, Jaz). Landry had receivers running routes that were close, but not quite where they needed to be.

    Again, partly the fault of coaching, partly the receivers for not knowing the precise route(s) and being in the exact right spot.

    In the bowl game the receivers had more time to learn their routes. It helped, but the loss of Reynolds still left the receiving corp extremely handicapped and under manned.

    Obviously, the loss of Whaley also made the offense more predicable and allowed the defenses after his departure to 'cheat' to the pass game. I don't think they'll be able to do that this year, whether Whaley starts or backs Williams.

    Landry has shown that he's an exceptional QB when he has all the tools around him. His first year the OL did not help a lot, and we all know about last fall.

    He should throw for 3,500 - 4,000 yards this fall and leave OU as one of the ll-time great quarterbacks. If the Sooners go 12-0, he'll be a Heisman favorite.

    AH OUInsider

    This post was edited by Alan H on 5/22/2012 at 12:08 PM

    Alan H

  • Alan H said...

    Fisherman, I am not even commenting on the content of the story, only that it's NOT from any reliable source, it's an opinion of one person, not even in the media. May be informed or uninformed.

    AH

    I understood that and was not arguing any point with you. Don't really care what was said or who is saying it I just get tired of reading, hearing and seeing the Landry criticism.

    oufisherman

  • skyvue said...

    The QB always takes the heat, but it was the receiving corps who did not step up when Broyles went down.

    This^ Add to that the lack of a consistent running game and you have the blueprint for our offensive slump.

    hooknladder