First things first, the Tigers aren’t going anywhere the rest of the season without Brady Cook.
If he’s unable to play, I’m not sure the offense can score a touchdown, let alone win a game. The defense has been far better than I expected coming into the season, but there’s just no way to win games operating as inefficiently as the Tigers have when Drew Pyne is on the field.
In two games in relief, Pyne is 16-of-33 passing for 120 yards and three interceptions. I’m not sure I’ve seen a less confident quarterback.
I don’t want to spend all day bashing Pyne, he doesn’t deserve that. But the nicest way I can put this thought is without Brady Cook, the Tigers – who currently have six wins – would be pretty lucky to end with seven wins. Maybe the team sets up an offense specifically for JR Blood or one of the other backups during the bye and then I could see slightly better results, but if they stick with Pyne, I have no faith in the rest of the season.
And what a waste of talent that would be.
Luther Burden had three catches for three yards Saturday, tied for his career low with the second college game he played when he had one catch for 3 yards against Kansas State.
Theo Wease has essentially been a no-show in the middle third of the season. Ever since finding the blanket in College Station, he has 11 catches and 195 yards in four games. Not truly terrible numbers, but if you take out his big game against Buffalo, he’s averaging just 47.6 yards per game this year and has only the one touchdown he scored against Texas A&M.
That leads me to thought No. 2. We’re far enough into the season to call the receiver room what it has been. A disappointment.
You can definitely put some of that on Cook and some of it on the play calling, but the receivers just aren’t getting open. It was clearer than ever against Alabama. No one is creating any space and when the play breaks down and Cook is scrambling out of the pocket, the receivers all just stand there waiting.
Sometimes that’s the right thing to do. If you find a spot in a zone you sit in it and wait. But they’re just waiting there with a corner or safety on top of them, giving Cook nowhere to go with the ball.
Along with Wease’s poor numbers this season, Mookie Cooper and Mekhi Miller have done almost nothing. Cooper had the big catch against Auburn, but he has just 12 catches for 235 yards this season after nearly reaching 500 yards on 36 catches last season.
I thought Miller could be a good fourth option this season, but he’s caught just three passes for 35 yards.
I don’t really know where to place the most blame. Cook wasn’t on target in deep or intermediate passing early in the season, that had a big effect on the total season numbers. But once SEC play began, the receivers have stopped being able to find any space and I don’t know if that’s on them as route runners or improvisers, or if it’s on Kirby Moore and the play calling and design.
Moore was such a revelation last season, I don’t get how there could be so much regression in a play caller from one year to the next. That can’t be all it is.
On the coaching point.
I’ve seen a lot of takes about Eli Drinkwitz not being a good coach and I think they’re ridiculous. ...
Head on over to the Tiger Walk to read the rest of my thoughts from the week.
