A tale of two seasons

[bobblehead]

I think there was an enormous factor at work this past season that nobody is talking about, and I don't know if anyone is even seing it - the Vrable Factor.

The idea that all 4-6 young receivers just suddenly looked like 2 year veterans, in the span of a few weeks mid-season, completely on their own (as well as the first year quarterback, who suddenly started finding the receivers he'd been missing on their routes for the first ~2 months) just doesn't seem plausible to me. I think it's far more likely that there was someone behind this - that someone coordinated this, someone coordinated this growth, coached all these players up and taught them how to take these giant steps in their development.

Like for example, the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator; Jason Vrable. The guy whose specific job description is to do exactly that - teach each of the wide receivers on an individual basis the basic tools and techniques to do ther jobs at the NFL level, and teach those receivers and the quarterback how to coordinate with one another in the larger context of the team's passing game.

My gut feeling is that it's very unlikely this all happened just happened by accident, or that all these players who had only 4 of 5 game's worth of live NFL experience just suddenly saw the light all by themselves in the same 2-3 week period. There is a man on our coaching staff who is being paid to do this, who works closely every day as part of a 2-man team with quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, and I think it's far more likely that those 2 men just.... did their jobs. I really don't know why this isn't being talked about more.

And if you look at the comments from the players over the course of the season, you'll see a consistent theme of remarks that support this. The receivers frequently credited Vrable with teaching them how to support one another, work as a team, and read their responsibilities in any given situation. They said he had very high expectations of them, and never gave them slack because they were rookies - said he told them he expected as much of them as he would expect from veterans, but did understand that because they were inexperienced, they needed to be taught differently. Lafleur also has spoken very higly of Vrable and his methods and his hard work whenever the subject comes up.

I think we all owe a lot more to Vrable than we realize, and probably to Clements as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what this passing game looks like next year, with the addition of Sean Mannion to the 2-man team of Clements and Vrable. I know Lafleur's crazy about Mannion, and has big plans for him.

Not to be too snippy but...duh. That's his job. I don't think anyone ever claimed they figured it all out themselves. The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit, but having very young guys improve as they go is expected, not shocking. Guys got healthy, guys started understanding their role a little better, etc. I said it many times, it only takes a small across the board improvement to make the end product look dramatically different. You can't point to ONE thing/guy. The OL stabilized, the WRs started figuring out the little things, Love gained confidence he could stand there for .7 seconds longer and the WR would be where he belonged...oh and Jones got healthy and kept the chains in the right place. Which ONE thing was the difference, Walkers improvement, Jones getting healthy, Wicks getting healthy, Krafts improvement, Reeds improvement or Love gaining confidence. The answer is yes.

[Frozen Tundra]

Not to be too snippy but...duh. That's his job. I don't think anyone ever claimed they figured it all out themselves.

Uh-huh. When's the last time you a WR coach/passing game coordinator do anywhere near that kind of a job in 2 1/2 months' time, with 2nd year WRs, 4 rookies (one an UDFA), and a first year starting quarterback? I'm not coming up with much there.

The man didn't just do "a" job, he did an exceptional job, and I think he deserves some credit - even from this board. You watched the games; you can't have missed the number of times these kids made veteran plays to drag the back foot inbounds, secure the ball before crossing the goal line, and countless other smart, heads-up plays. You can't have forgotten how half the league was talking about how smart and professional this entire position group became halfway through the season, how improved their route-running was across the board, and I don't buy that the O-line helped them make those specific plays and run those routes. I don't think Jones or Love had any impact on their route-running, their situational awareness, and their smart, heads-up play.

Obviously, a lot of credit has to go to the kids too. These are smart, talented players; the WR scouts did an outstanding job. But with players that young - and not one veteran player in the entire corps - there's just no way the position coach/passing game coordinator didn't play a huge role in that turnaround. Those hundred little things that they suddenly started doing right didn't suddenly come to them in an ayahusca retreat; they were taught.