Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
I believe Mike Johnson will take over soon enough...he's learning from Raye. But, it bears pointing out, one reason Raye tended to be conservative was he felt the OL had limitations, which they do. Baas, Rachal & Snyder are basically maulers...not very mobile, so he really couldn't incorporate sweeps, screens, etc. As also pointed out, our offense did do a 180 in mid-season...going to mainly the spread before moderating to a more balanced attack. He's also had to slowly gain confidence in Alex...so, cumulatively, he felt he had to delve into his playbook slowly. That should change as the OL solidifies and/or improves and Alex develops more chemistry with his receivers. All that said, Johnson's his heir apparent...so he needs to learn all he can, then take over at the appropriate time so as to maintain continuity, which the O needs so much.
When the OL has limitations, being conservative and predictable is the last thing you want to do. You MUST do things such as misdirection (playaction) and anything possible to get the ball into the hands of your skill players. We have skill players on offense, so why go conservative to predictable plays where a "bad OL" will get killed even more?
Teams with bad OL need to run traps, end arounds, quick hitch routes, quick slant routes, misdirection types of plays, passing routes that involve crossing and more horizontal for a quick throw or FB/HB circle passing routes.
When your OL dominates, THEN you can go more fundamental and straight ahead because the Defense can't stop it no matter what. Raye wasn't going conservative because of the OL, he was going conservative because he doesn't have a complex system and is not one who seems to want to make a defense react to him rather he reacts to the defense. Just look at what he does after a bad throw or an INT.