(10-06-2015, 06:58 PM)CTcard link Wrote:[quote author=Mick link=topic=13070.msg133133#msg133133 date=1444179499]
1. Easy. Why any of the 39 passes that Kevin Hogan didn't complete, of course... :P
2. Stanford averages 5.0 yards per rush on 211 rushes to date. Barry Sanders averages 9.7 yards per rush. He also gets one TD every six rushing attempts, almost exactly what Remound Wright does, except Remound's average TD run starts at the 1 yard line (look it up, every TD run has been from the 1 yard line except one was from the 2), and Barry's start on the 40.
I am pretty sure that is still not an answer. And just to clarify, mostly that was really a question rather than a challenge.
But it is a dilemna. There are only so many plays in a game, and each play to player A takes one away from all the rest. In the end, one has to make choices. Below I run down some of the numbers from the last two games - the bottom line is even if you put Sanders at the very top of the list for more (which I don't though it appears you do), he still is only going to be getting about 2 more carries per game at best - barring injury.
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The rundown.
Let's take the last two games as the current template, as they presumably show the current plan for the offense.
Stanford ran 65.5 plays per game. Sanders had 5.5 carries per game averaging an astounding 15.7 yds/carry based on his two 65 yarders.
McCaffrey had 23.5 carries per game, averaging 7.7 yards per carry in back to back performances that rank pretty high in the best ever at Stanford list.
The team called a pass 19.5 times per game (including sacks), or 29.7% of all plays. That's really low - and while effective in those games, it's almost certainly lower than we want to see on average.
Wright had 8.5 carries per game. Averaged only 2.5 yds/carry - but of course he is the designated short yardage back. Approximately 4 carries per game were short yardage situations which are presumably not the carries one is looking for for Sanders. Still Wright's other 4.5 carries per game are probably the main potential source of touches for others.Â
Love had 3.5 carries per game, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. Another candidate for more.
Hogan had 1 called run in both games, averaging 4 yards per carry. He almost certainly will and should get more when he's back to being healthy.
Chryst plus Burns had 4 carries total, or 2 per game, and I think we are looking to get them more plays each - certainly for one.Â
There were another 3 total carries (1.5 per game) to McFadden, which presumably in non-blowouts won't go to him.
So, presumably we have about 6 carries per game from Wright and McFadden to play with, and the need to give more passing attempts, more carries to Sanders, more carries to Love, and more carries to Hogan, and more plays for Chryst and/or Burns. [probably roughly in that order IMO]
Maybe those extra carries will ultimately come from McCaffrey. Still, as the best offensive weapon on the team, I don't want his carries dropping much - maybe to 20? That would add another 3.5 carries per game for a total of 9.5. With at least 5 noted claims on those carries no individual is going to get many. The breakdown might be something like: 4.5 more pass attempts, 1 more for Sanders, 1 more for Love, 2 more for Hogan and ... 1 more for Chryst.
Maybe you'd do the mixing a little different, but there isn't much room here.
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I never said Sanders was the best. Please don't put words in my mouth. McCaffrey's the talent, I get it. He's leading the country in all purpose yards. I get that too. And I loooove watching him carry the football, 142 times in five games, when you wrap up his punt returns, kickoff returns, rushes and catches. Almost thirty touches a game.
All I'm saying is that Sanders -- who has carried the ball about 1/6 as much as McCaffrey -- has double the average of the typical Stanford runner. It's objective criteria. Remound Wright averages 3.2. McCaffrey averages 5.7, Barry Sanders averages 9.7. And all I'm saying is two things: (1) I like Sanders' finish -- 1/6 of his runs turn into TDs. and (2) I am worried about McCaffrey getting injured, especially as we get into the tougher part of the season.
McCaffrey's doing punt returns, kickoff returns, making three catches per game and
