Coach Campbell agrees.
http://cyclonefanatic.com/football/news/williams-just-get-no-5-the-damn-ball/
http://cyclonefanatic.com/football/news/williams-just-get-no-5-the-damn-ball/
COLUMN: Get No. 5 the damn ball
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
I liked Campbell's quote about moving him around on the field. I can't recall if he usually lined up in the same spot last year, but moving him around in the formations - even if he doesn't get the ball - gives the defense something else to think about and creates opportunities for the other skill guys.
He was pretty stuck in his place in the slot except on obvious passing downs iirc. But I could be way wrong on that. It was hard to tell wtf was going on last year.
To be fair, pretty much wherever he lines up he has a favorable match up. So if they were trotting him out in the same spot then it's not as if they were putting him in position to fail or be underused. I just prefer the idea of moving your best receiver around the field and forcing the opposing defense to adjust on the fly.
Please O-line be a pleasant surprise, please, pretty please. If the O-Line can be at least sufficient, we could have a really nice year offensively.
Moving guys around on offense can also be a good way to tell what kind of coverage the DB's are playing. If you have three receivers to the right and there are DB's lined up on all of them, you can probably figure it's man coverage.
There is a hidden message from the past hidden somewhere in the end of this column.
Lazard is soft-spoken and humble. Running into the huddle and demanding the ball isn’t his style.
“I’m not that type of guy,” Lazard said. “I’m way more about team success than I am individual.”
But when you combine Campbell’s dedication to getting him more targets, a competent running game and Lanning’s appetite to chuck the long ball, this really could result in getting Allen Lazard the damn ball more in 2016.
“He can trust that if I’m not making the play, nobody is making the play,” Lazard said. “He doesn’t need to worry about throwing an interception. Just throw the deep pass.”
Mike Tice, a former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, did a lot of things wrong but one thing I admired (I’m a Vikings fan if you didn’t know) about his tenure was the “Randy Ratio.”
In hindsight, it was ridiculous to openly promote (for professional defenses to hear) that you were going to throw the ball to one man 40 percent of the time.
But this is Iowa State and Lazard, who two years into his career is 22 touchdowns away from tying Todd Blythe’s school record, is a once-in-a-generation type of player at a historical position of weakness within this program.
Campbell seems to know not to waste him.
If Iowa State is going to go bowling in 2016, chances are, it will largely be because they got Allen Lazard the damn ball.
Lazard is soft-spoken and humble. Running into the huddle and demanding the ball isn’t his style.
“I’m not that type of guy,” Lazard said. “I’m way more about team success than I am individual.”
But when you combine Campbell’s dedication to getting him more targets, a competent running game and Lanning’s appetite to chuck the long ball, this really could result in getting Allen Lazard the damn ball more in 2016.
“He can trust that if I’m not making the play, nobody is making the play,” Lazard said. “He doesn’t need to worry about throwing an interception. Just throw the deep pass.”
Mike Tice, a former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, did a lot of things wrong but one thing I admired (I’m a Vikings fan if you didn’t know) about his tenure was the “Randy Ratio.”
In hindsight, it was ridiculous to openly promote (for professional defenses to hear) that you were going to throw the ball to one man 40 percent of the time.
But this is Iowa State and Lazard, who two years into his career is 22 touchdowns away from tying Todd Blythe’s school record, is a once-in-a-generation type of player at a historical position of weakness within this program.
Campbell seems to know not to waste him.
If Iowa State is going to go bowling in 2016, chances are, it will largely be because they got Allen Lazard the damn ball.
I mean, yeah. With some plays I'd imagine it's less than ideal to send a player in motion, though.
I agree to an extent but I always thought it was weird that our little guys were always lining up on the outside most downs and Lazard is lining up in the slot and iirc again I think Lazard only lined up on the left when he was put outside.
I don't know the intricacies of high level offensive scheming so I'm not trying to be an expert here but I would use Lazard more like a Roddy White or Ed McCaffrey rather than Wes Welker which it seemed like we were doing last year.
