Morgan Says He Will Play the Z

And more thoughts from him here

HomerMcFanboy » getting to know joshua morgan (http://www.homermcfanboy.com/2012/05/23/getting-to-know-joshua-morgan/)

glad to see him excited and ready to go, just like me. I know it varies on the type of offense but i wonder what the major difference in our offense between the x and z, im guessing garcon (x) will have more vertical routes?

Well typically the Z is your deep threat/vertical guy since he has the cushion off the line to avoid jamming and get speed up. But that is somewhat old school thinking. The passing game has become far more complex and less standard in the last decade. Guys like Shanahan have changed a lot conceptually to try and take advantage of mismatches in the secondaries. I still would guess that Garcon, with his speed, will be the stretcher.

I am terribly excited by the small possibility that Moss moves to the slot. I think Moss might be a fantastic slot guy if we end up keeping him.

glad to see him excited and ready to go, just like me. I know it varies on the type of offense but i wonder what the major difference in our offense between the x and z, im guessing garcon (x) will have more vertical routes?

In the base offense:

The "X" or split end is on line of scrimmage away form the TE
The "Z" or flanker is off the line of scrimmage (thus gets a 'free' release) same side as the TE

Either the X or Z can be the "feature" WR and run the entire route tree in a given offense

In the base offense:

The "X" or split end is on line of scrimmage away form the TE
The "Z" or flanker is off the line of scrimmage (thus gets a 'free' release) same side as the TE

Either the X or Z can be the "feature" WR and run the entire route tree in a given offense

yeah i know all that but i was just wondering in our offense particularly if the x or z ran more deep routes which i have to believe garcon (x) will but i know they both run everything

So I am guessing Hankerson will start in the slot with Moss spelling him from time to time?

i guess so too, but i feel like hankerson's body type and skill set isnt really for a slot. A slot is typically smaller and shifty and quick just what moss is.

So I am guessing Hankerson will start in the slot with Moss spelling him from time to time?

i doubt he plays slot. i think its more likely he just backsup morgan or garcon.

I'm guessing we'll just have packages that feature different guys in different ways. I would think Hankerson and Moss are hardly interchangeable strategically.

Best guess is that we now have some flexibility ona week-to-week basis to run custom packages designed to create mismatches. Meaning Hank could move inside mostly one week then outside the next. Probably the same goes for Garcon and Moss. Morgan seems the least versatile to me.

i guess so too, but i feel like hankerson's body type and skill set isnt really for a slot. A slot is typically smaller and shifty and quick just what moss is.

Well there are two schools of thought.

Big guy who can operate in the middle of the field and take the pounding versus small guy who is quick and shifty and get open against inferior cover guys like LBs.

Shanahan typically leans toward a small shifty slot guy. See...E. Royal.