Has Allen had scrambling coached out of him too much?

[BeastMaster]

I agree with this.

 

Allen needs to be himself instead of trying to force things at the expense of making plays to help the team win.

 

I'm sure he's being coached to stay in the pocket more and to not freelance as much.

 

He will naturally progress into a more cerebral player, but it won't work if it's being coached into him.

[LEBills]

So about the OP. 
 

Josh running is still part of the game plan and that is why he is averaging more runs per game now (7 per game) than he did last year.

 

However, I remember last year Josh saying during a press conference that his body hurts more than it probably should. So I don’t think he wants to take it out of his game but he wants to be smarter with it. Rather than running over Van Noy, he is running out of bounds, or sliding at the goal line.

But I think he is especially trying to sit behind the LOS and throw it more rather than scramble. The pass blocking has made it where their are instances he probably should have scrambled more but I think he is trying to figure out a balance.

 

He is our franchise QB. Scrambling but being smart about the shots his body takes is his next step in his evolution. It may lead us to question what is going on early this season but I think it will pay off in the long run.

 

Cant wait to destroy WFT tmrw

[Boatdrinks]

No, I think his scrambling has been about right post 2019. Now if Daboll would do something about those pesky designed runs....

[WideNine]

On 9/24/2021 at 2:06 PM, RoyBatty is alive said:

Maybe it should have been.

 

We are talking about a very small sample size, versus Pitt and then a blowout to the Dolphins...hard to get a coherent "theme" from those two disparate games.  One thing he has apparently learned to do is through the ball away, yes its hurt his completion percentage (oh God no, under 60% AGAIN)  but it is a more mature, team productive policy,

 

I dont like the high number of designed QB runs unless they are very yardage/time sensitive.  I also wish we do more QB sneaks.  The number on QB sneak injuries' is stunningly low and this is a big boy with a heart to get the first (thanksgiving versus Dallas).

 

 

 

Also when comparing games you have to account for the Bills playing nearly the whole game vs the Steelers with empty sets and 5 wides while against the fins they used mostly 11 personnel with a running back.

 

Using more 11 personnel they were able to tap the brakes on the fins rush and force them to play us a bit differently.

 

Teams are flooding the shallow zones initially. The Steelers especially have their zone blitz coupled with the "Palms" and 2-read techniques to counter trips and bunch receiver sets and take away the short rhythm passing game.

 

They are in that long enough to disrupt the short timing pass, and apply enough pressure to move a QB off his spot.

 

They then back off into zone shells with 2-3 safeties deep to take away intermediate and deeper options.

 

Josh Allen 1.0 just ran and heaved the ball. Teams threw blitz after blitz at him with man coverage till Josh Allen 1.5 figured that out and tore blitz defenses up. Defenses have changed how they are playing Allen again.

 

Other than better offensive line play and the Bills running the ball, I am not sure what more Allen can do to avoid that early pressure to catch these defenses in coverage transition.

 

If he avoids the rush and sees green in front of him because the coverage is backing off into zones, then by all means he should scramble to the sticks.

 

The only designed runs I like with Allen are his short-yarsage sneaks and option rollouts near the end zone because he can either throw it, pitch it, or run it in himself. That is a lot of options and stress on a defense to defend.

 

One thing I do believe is that the more Daboll and Allen see these defenses the more they will find ways to attack them.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by WideNine

[Alphadawg7]

Clearly they aren't afraid of Allen running given how many RPO's Daboll calls and treats him like a RB way too often with draws right off the snap into the teeth of the D, which is so stupid IMO.  

 

Allen is most dangerous with his legs when extending plays or when there is no one open and there is an open lane.  It baffles me that Daboll hasn't figured this out yet.

[killshot]

He has been shuffling his feet to the left and escaping the pocket to the left and even bootleg to the left , which is not his strong side being a right handed QB , he and his coaches need to find a way to get him to scramble , shuffle , escape to the right side like many times he did last year and got big plays out of these plays. 

[Figster]

6 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Clearly they aren't afraid of Allen running given how many RPO's Daboll calls and treats him like a RB way too often with draws right off the snap into the teeth of the D, which is so stupid IMO.  

 

Allen is most dangerous with his legs when extending plays or when there is no one open and there is an open lane.  It baffles me that Daboll hasn't figured this out yet.

Diggs leading the league in receiving yards last season has forced the opposition to shut him down. Allen did some great things with his arm last season. Buffalo has good RB's that can take the punishment running the football. Allen may have the strongst arm the NFL has ever seen. To me thats what makes Allen special. Longevity would be a good thing. So while I like Allen on the move, distributing the ball like John Elway is more the direction I would like to see Josh Allen go IMO.

 

I'm confident Daboll and Josh Allen know each other well IMO.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Figster

[Governor]

I also hate the designed runs. It’s extremely annoying. Wasted downs.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Maybe TJ Watt knocked it out of him? 

[RunTheBall]

I’m not a defensive guru but it seems to me that defenses have a guy spying on Josh on every play. I’ve noticed when he’s flushed to one side or the other there’s a guy in the box, LB or Safety, who immediately shadows him. I’d think this should open up other stuff for the O to exploit if they know a guy is concentrating on Josh along with this other responsibilities but we need to have an O line that can pass block better to make that happen.

[CheshireCT]

18 hours ago, LEBills said:

So about the OP. 
 

Josh running is still part of the game plan and that is why he is averaging more runs per game now (7 per game) than he did last year.

 

However, I remember last year Josh saying during a press conference that his body hurts more than it probably should. So I don’t think he wants to take it out of his game but he wants to be smarter with it. Rather than running over Van Noy, he is running out of bounds, or sliding at the goal line.

But I think he is especially trying to sit behind the LOS and throw it more rather than scramble. The pass blocking has made it where their are instances he probably should have scrambled more but I think he is trying to figure out a balance.

 

He is our franchise QB. Scrambling but being smart about the shots his body takes is his next step in his evolution. It may lead us to question what is going on early this season but I think it will pay off in the long run.

 

Cant wait to destroy WFT tmrw

 

Fans are generally impatient when it comes to player development. It's impossible for a player to indefinitely ascend while working on new things. Dips are part of the process. And in this case the "dip" is just that he looks less dynamic, he's not making huge mistakes. Watching Josh develop and improve so fast in his first seasons, I have absolutely no worries about the guy.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

On 9/24/2021 at 10:34 PM, transplantbillsfan said:

It's impossible to argue that Allen isn't significantly more effective as a scrambler than a designed runner.

 

Like... MUCH more effective.

 

 

Can't you say the same exact thing about every single QB that has ever played the game though? Even the statues like Bledsoe and Marino would have higher ypc on scrambles then they would on designed runs which for them would pretty much be sneaks.

 

I don't know what the right mix of designed run vs. scramble is. But I do tend to agree the designed runs seem a bit too many. Especially in the Steelers game.

[Malazan]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:18 PM, jeremy2020 said:

oh, ffs, Please Allen be lights out because I can't take the endless pontificating of stupid sh*t about it

 

I'd like to thank Allen for granting my request.