Thoughts on Watson?

[PAFoosball]

im not impressed in the first 2 games. Granted our line and QB and wr play has been less than par but he isn't moving the dial at all on offfense. No flow, identity, and some downright head scratcher of plays.

In football today, you need a dynamic QB and Offensive Coordinator. Last year we had both, this year, not so much.

So far he reminds me of Jim Chaney which is no compliment.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Not entirely impressed either BUT 8 guys that are either new or playing a new position on O this season.

Only Weah, Bookser and Henderson are playing in the same spot. Gonna give him some time. Cananda inherited a ton of returning starters just about everywhere. Not saying he didn't do an exceptional job as well.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Not entirely impressed either BUT 8 guys that are either new or playing a new position on O this season.

Only Weah, Bookser and Henderson are playing in the same spot. Gonna give him some time. Cananda inherited a ton of returning starters just about everywhere. Not saying he didn't do an exceptional job as well.

Well we play 12 regular season games, two are complete, we're 1-1 luckily, a tough one Saturday and a bunch of tough ones coming up !

Not much time to give unless we're happy with a 500 or sub 500 year? Or we call this a rebuilding year which means why did we start Browne since in a rebuilding year PITT would want to give a younger players some PT.

In college football its what have you done for me lately!

 

[VAPITTALUM]

Not entirely impressed either BUT 8 guys that are either new or playing a new position on O this season.

Only Weah, Bookser and Henderson are playing in the same spot. Gonna give him some time. Cananda inherited a ton of returning starters just about everywhere. Not saying he didn't do an exceptional job as well.

I think this is a huge part of it. When you have the experience of Peterman, Conner, Ford, Biz, Johnson, Whitehead (currently suspended-great on the jet sweeps), Aston (hopefully back from injury soon-excellent blocker/powerful runner in short-yardage situations), the offense is going to look a little better.

I don't want to put a ton of pressure on Aston, but he was a major contributor last year, scoring 10 TDs for PITT, with the majority of them from the red zone. He was greatly missed on Saturday.

 

[vegasgreed]

99th rank offense in the early going.

 

[pitts-lament]

The next 3 games will decide our fate.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Well we play 12 regular season games, two are complete, we're 1-1 luckily, a tough one Saturday and a bunch of tough ones coming up !

Not much time to give unless we're happy with a 500 or sub 500 year? Or we call this a rebuilding year which means why did we start Browne since in a rebuilding year PITT would want to give a younger players some PT.

In college football its what have you done for me lately!

No doubt. When I said that I meant that I'd like to see big improvement over the next few games.

 

[pittguy81]

im not impressed in the first 2 games. Granted our line and QB and wr play has been less than par but he isn't moving the dial at all on offfense. No flow, identity, and some downright head scratcher of plays.

In football today, you need a dynamic QB and Offensive Coordinator. Last year we had both, this year, not so much.

So far he reminds me of Jim Chaney which is no compliment.

Don't like his red zone play calling. Against PSU the OL was pretty damn good....well above "par"

 

[rmf05]

Too early. Not too early to say our WR coach is disappointing. Weah and Henderson have been less effective than a year ago regardless of QB play. Did Narduzzi hint that Henderson wasn't at 100% yesterday? Injury? He certainly seemed kinda fearful of contact.

 

[Saboteur]

im not impressed in the first 2 games. Granted our line and QB and wr play has been less than par but he isn't moving the dial at all on offfense. No flow, identity, and some downright head scratcher of plays.

In football today, you need a dynamic QB and Offensive Coordinator. Last year we had both, this year, not so much.

So far he reminds me of Jim Chaney which is no compliment.

2 games, new QB, WRs who drop balls.
Stop it.

 

[Delpanther]

Shown zippo so far. His game plan on Saturday suggests that he's conservative and has virtually no confidence in the passing game. His play calling in the red zone 2 weeks in a row has been even worse!

 

[76Stingray]

People still wanted to fire Canada at this point last year.

 

[Delpanther]

People still wanted to fire Canada at this point last year.

No they didn't - his game plan against Penn St was probably the difference in the game

 

[DiehardPanther]

Let's compare. It is amazing to me that some of you are not smart enough to realize how much talent we lost.

Peterman > Browne
Conner > Ollison
Ashton > Lively
Orndorff > Clark
Biz > JJS
DoJo > Morrisey

4 of those players got drafted.

O'Neill, Bookser, Officer, Weah, and Henderson - Same

 

[rmf05]

Great post. Last year's personnel was superior. Last year PSU's D had no idea what to expect. After we went up 21-7, they totally dominated our offense unless ST or a TO gave us a short field. Canada was getting booed in the second half as PSU began pounding away at us and our O "went conservative".

 

[DiehardPanther]

Great post. Last year's personnel was superior. Last year PSU's D had no idea what to expect. After we went up 21-7, they totally dominated our offense unless ST or a TO gave us a short field. Canada was getting booed in the second half as PSU began pounding away at us and our O "went conservative".

Great point - these same people were complaining about Canada going into a shell in the second half vs PS and UNC. A lot of these same posters blamed Canada for the loss to UNC for his play calling in the 4th quarter. Hypocrites.

 

[TD_istheman]

I jumped on Canada early for being bad, so I learned my lesson. Will wait until after half the season or so

 

[rmf05]

I was one of the idiots jumping on Canada as well, so I'm with you.

 

[sibleyfan91]

I think the 76-61 game convinced Narduzzi he wanted a more conservative offense. He commented after that the game made him sick. So while i don't think Watson is necessarily a ground chuck guy, Narduzzi may be dictating more of a conservative scheme this year.

 

[rmf05]

The issue in that game may not have been offense.

 

[sibleyfan91]

The issue in that game may not have been offense.

Specifically I think he wanted it to shorten the game and emphasize TOP to keep his bad defense from being exploited. Hence the offense we saw last week.

 

[rmf05]

That was an odd game. We only had 7-8 healthy defensive players left. We were stuck throwing injured kids and offensive players out there and Cuse just totally gave up before halftime. That game had no impact other than showing the need for more depth.

 

[rpost3]

He's been good outside of a few strange calls.
The 2 and 3 tailback sets worked great w/ the dives and mis-directions that play off one another. Penn State had no answer.
His receivers, tight ends, and pass protection royally sucked during the first 2 games, which doesn't bode well for any offensive coordinator.

 

[rpost3]

...and yes, we did have Ollison, Hall, and Moss on the field at the same time @ Penn State.
You wouldn't have known it from the announcing crew since it was basically a 4 hr PSU Football History promo and that's all the talked about. You had to look to see who was out there.

 

[Delpanther]

Specifically I think he wanted it to shorten the game and emphasize TOP to keep his bad defense from being exploited. Hence the offense we saw last week.

I think there is merit to what you say and to a degree the strategy worked except he needed to show a little creativity and smarts in the red zone which he didn't. When you play ball control the other key is that when you finally get in the redzone you have to be decisive and score because you're not going to get a slew of opportunities

 

[BuffetParrothead]

No they didn't - his game plan against Penn St was probably the difference in the game

He was considered an offensive genius after last years Nitter game. Most everyone cited the innovative PITT offensive game plan as the reason PITT beat the Nitters last year! Including Franklin who said he wasnt prepared for what PITT rolled out in the first half of the game!
Some fans did want to fire him prior to the start of the season thinking he was about to be fired at NC St and PITT rescued him kinda like the Stalling hire.

 

[Delpanther]

He was considered an offensive genius after last years Nitter game. Most everyone cited the innovative PITT offensive game plan as the reason PITT beat the Nitters last year! Including Franklin who said he wasnt prepared for what PITT rolled out in the first half of the game!
Some fans did want to fire him prior to the start of the season thinking he was about to be fired at NC St and PITT rescued him kinda like the Stalling hire.

yea, some of these posters constantly go down this route of arguing that the fans ALWAYS make rash judgments about players/coaches regardless of the circumstances....I will acknowledge that Canada did get some flack for taking the air out of the ball in the second half of both the NC and OSU games and that criticism was justified.

 

[DiehardPanther]

yea, some of these posters constantly go down this route of arguing that the fans ALWAYS make rash judgments about players/coaches regardless of the circumstances....I will acknowledge that Canada did get some flack for taking the air out of the ball in the second half of both the NC and OSU games and that criticism was justified.

Nope. He was criticized by posters before he coached a game. People were complaining that we hired a cast off from NC St. The noise got even louder after the Nova game. The criticism slowed down after PS, but some still questioned the play calling in the 4th quarter. Then the complaining started up with the Okie St game, and then there was a lot of complaining over the play calling in the UNC game. You cannot rewrite history.

 

[Delpanther]

Nope. He was criticized by posters before he coached a game. People were complaining that we hired a cast off from NC St. The noise got even louder after the Nova game. The criticism slowed down after PS, but some still questioned the play calling in the 4th quarter. Then the complaining started up with the Okie St game, and then there was a lot of complaining over the play calling in the UNC game. You cannot rewrite history.[/QUOTE
Yea, people questioned his credential before he coached a game but that's not the point I was countering which was people wanted him fired after the Penn State game last year...which is total bull$hit! You're looking thru the wrong end of the binoculars.


Y

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Nope. He was criticized by posters before he coached a game. People were complaining that we hired a cast off from NC St. The noise got even louder after the Nova game. The criticism slowed down after PS, but some still questioned the play calling in the 4th quarter. Then the complaining started up with the Okie St game, and then there was a lot of complaining over the play calling in the UNC game. You cannot rewrite history.

I guess LSU knew and knows alot more about college football than the PITT "the glass is half empty" fans.
All that complaining about Canada worked out well for PITT football didnt it???????????
This has been the MO of the PITT fan for the past 40 years and isnt likely to stop now!

 

[DiehardPanther]

I guess LSU knew and knows alot more about college football than the PITT "the glass is half empty" fans.
All that complaining about Canada worked out well for PITT football didnt it???????????
This has been the MO of the PITT fan for the past 40 years and isnt likely to stop now!

Pitt fans are so stupid that there was a growing number of people who thought they could do better than Dixon in basketball. Look how that is turning out. Pitt people cannot help but get in the way of any success.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Watson is handcuffed with receivers who can't get open, for a QB that needs all day to throw, behind a line can't give him the protection he needs.

I don't think it's been that bad. They are making way too many mistakes and are handicapped by poor play at key positions.

Maybe a few of the redzone call were suspect, but 1st and goal runs I can't argue with when you ran the whole way down there. The first 3rd and goal Browne missed Lopes and the second 3rd and goal Browne panicked and threw it away. The 2nd down calls were suspect. The jet sweep to Henderson (where he faked to Ollison) was dead before they snapped it with the way PSU was lined up. Ollison walks into the endzone if they give it to him.

 

[perchance]

I guess LSU knew and knows alot more about college football than the PITT "the glass is half empty" fans.
All that complaining about Canada worked out well for PITT football didnt it???????????
This has been the MO of the PITT fan for the past 40 years and isnt likely to stop now!

? So the Pitt fan's complaining is what put Canada at LSU??
Fan complaining has Zero to do with winning or losing.
It's just another reason for those who think that they're smarter than everyone else to complain about other fans.

 

[TD_6082]

I think there is merit to what you say and to a degree the strategy worked except he needed to show a little creativity and smarts in the red zone which he didn't. When you play ball control the other key is that when you finally get in the redzone you have to be decisive and score because you're not going to get a slew of opportunities

Pitt doesn't have very good personnel to be really effective in the red zone against a good defense.

 

[thebadby2]

2 games, new QB, WRs who drop balls.
Stop it.

There's plenty more to our offensive struggles than that.

 

[Jeffburgh]

Nards has not screwed around on his OC hires.

Chaney's one year stay may not have been super impressive, but he had a really big resume and was a very well-regarded offensive coordinator. See, Georgia coming and getting them like they did.

Canada was not as well regarded as Cheney if the time, but also had a really strong resume.

Watson similarly has a very good resume, and also has had some pretty productive offenses.

He's different from Canada though. Canada is a genuine wizard with the running game always has been. As others have noted the pieces just really fell into place last year with the players. Talented experienced and deep offensive line, a larger-than-life running back, a super-efficient quarterback, and Henderson was his ideal slot guy.

This team just has so many new starters across the board. Quarterback who never has taken a snap at Pitt and just three starts in his career, offensive line isn't as good as what it was last year, none of the top two tight ends had played a snap at Pitt before.

Watson Lakes a 3 wide receiver set and running the ball off tackle from spread out defenses. That's what you saw during his time at Louisville. Doesn't quite have the Personnel to do that yet.

But, it's clear he agreed to bring on some of Canada's offense. So he's got to get better feel for that, and some of these kids need experience.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

He's different from Canada though. Canada is a genuine wizard with the running game always has been. As others have noted the pieces just really fell into place last year with the players. Talented experienced and deep offensive line, a larger-than-life running back, a super-efficient quarterback, and Henderson was his ideal slot guy.

This team just has so many new starters across the board. Quarterback who never has taken a snap at Pitt and just three starts in his career, offensive line isn't as good as what it was last year, none of the top two tight ends had played a snap at Pitt before.

Watson Lakes a 3 wide receiver set and running the ball off tackle from spread out defenses. That's what you saw during his time at Louisville. Doesn't quite have the Personnel to do that yet.

But, it's clear he agreed to bring on some of Canada's offense. So he's got to get better feel for that, and some of these kids need experience.

This pretty much nails it and does a fine job communicating why the transition's not as smooth as we'd like just yet. That said, I do think has the personnel. It's just going to take a bit of time. And, as the WR mature, Pitt's actually well suited to do it with mobile QBs, aside from Browne, a very talented stable of RB and a slew of WR that are growing like Matthews, Henderson, Ffrench, Flowers, Lopes, etc.

It may not work as we want right away, but a combination of Watson's forte and Canada's strength could be and, honestly, will be a very, very effective offense. Just need to gel as a unit, especially in terms of pass protection, cleaner route running and catching the damn ball. But, problem is, really need the QB, whether Browne or DiNucci, to show they can execute in the hybrid scheme.

 

[Delpanther]

Pitt doesn't have very good personnel to be really effective in the red zone against a good defense.

all the more reason you need good, creative play calling. But I'm not sure I necessarily agree with your premise.

 

[PantherO]

Can you really judge him based on a vanilla game plan against YSU and playing up at HV with a new QB and how many dropped passes? Ollison had 127 yards on the ground against a solid run d, so he kept them off balance enough for that to happen. QB and Receivers/TEs need to step up.

Too early to complain about the OC. I would rather have another stadium thread open up.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Can you really judge him based on a vanilla game plan against YSU and playing up at HV with a new QB and how many dropped passes? Ollison had 127 yards on the ground against a solid run d, so he kept them off balance enough for that to happen. QB and Receivers/TEs need to step up.

Too early to complain about the OC. I would rather have another stadium thread open up.

I assume this includes receiving yards? But, if so, it's fair. All of his receptions were at/near the LOS.