Zorn not using Wildcat next year

[Skinny Tee]

Washington Times - Wildcat stays in the bag

Not that I'm too disappointed we're not running Wildcat but I did watch the Zorn Coach's Show after Redskin Report early last season right after the dolphins used it on the patriots and beat them.

Keep in mind I like Zorn but George Micheal asked him what his thoughts were on that system with players like Randle El. Zorn came off like he was a student of the game doing his due diligence and told Micheal that he was going to research that scheme and investigate its benefits after the season is over to see if it will work with us.

Meanwhile a majority of the league, with rookie coaches included, picked it up midseason and were using it to their advantage in games weeks after it was first displayed.

I'm not downing Zorn but it does seem like he fears a how well our players can grasp a scheme without making major mistakes. I couldn't tell you if that's a coaching or player issue. What do you think?

[Paintrain]

You know, I read that article this morning and thought Zorn came off as a bit stubborn and arrogant by saying he won't consider it. So you mean to say that you have such confidence in the 28th ranked scoring offense in the league that there's not room for any innovation or new ideas? Especially with more college players coming out of spread offenses it would be nice to see some flexibility and imagination in the offense.

[53Fan]

I think Zorn just doesn't want to spend a lot of time on it if we're not going to use it that much. It looked to me like the players had their hands full last year just trying to learn the WCO.

[DirtyLandry]

If Zorn showed us anything last year it was his inability to be innovative, aggressive or willing to change up a game plan. I'm sure his offense is still going to be run, run, pass.

[44ever]

Originally Posted by DirtyLandry

If Zorn showed us anything last year it was his inability to be innovative, aggressive or willing to change up a game plan. I'm sure his offense is still going to be run, run, pass.

I think Zorn has the ability. You have to realize the weight of what he took on. Its obvious his game plan was working the first half of the season. When the team started to break down due to injury and fatigue (our 30 year old+ guys) He didnt have the depth on the team to draw from to make the adjustments. Also if I remeber correctly when the team was firing on all cylinders, Zorn would go for it on 4th down without fear. And it worked every time. He has shown he can be aggressive. He just had to be realistic and so should we. The Skins had no depth and a new system to implement. There cant be a "plan B" until there is an established "plan A". I think we will see a much improved team in 09. even if we dont aquire a big FA, we have guys that are becoming more experienced and will take it to the next level. And a coach capable of the same.

[DirtyLandry]

Originally Posted by 44ever

When the team started to break down due to injury and fatigue (our 30+ guys) He didnt have the depth on the team to draw from to make the adjustments.

This is a lousy excuse. Guys that make your 53 man roster as backups are expected to come in and get the job done. Injuries are a part of the game. I see every other team in the league utilizing their rookies on a consistent basis. We were successful in the first half of the season 'cause we ran the ball well and teams did not necessarily know what to expect from Zorn and his hybrid offense. As soon as teams started to see that we were a vanilla-run first offense, it became very easy for them to shut us down. Portis found himself constantly running into eight and nine man fronts. I don't want to hear how "injuries and lack of depth" were the reason for us not being fundamentally aggressive as an offense. Zorn always played for the first down and rarely took unexpected shots at the end zone- then he had the nerve when asked about it, to blame it on the O lines inability to pass protect. Bullsh*t. As for the few times he went for it on 4th downs, a lot of coaches would have made the same calls. Going for it on 4th down is not that risky depending on distance, field position, score and time left. Fact is our O sputtered vastly because of play calling and not quality depth.

[GridIron26]

Originally Posted by DirtyLandry

This is a lousy excuse. Guys that make your 53 man roster as backups are expected to come in and get the job done. Injuries are a part of the game. I see every other team in the league utilizing their rookies on a consistent basis. We were successful in the first half of the season 'cause we ran the ball well and teams did not necessarily know what to expect from Zorn and his hybrid offense. As soon as teams started to see that we were a vanilla-run first offense, it became very easy for them to shut us down. Portis found himself constantly running into eight and nine man fronts. I don't want to hear how "injuries and lack of depth" were the reason for us not being fundamentally aggressive as an offense. Zorn always played for the first down and rarely took unexpected shots at the end zone- then he had the nerve when asked about it, to blame it on the O lines inability to pass protect. Bullsh*t. As for the few times he went for it on 4th downs, a lot of coaches would have made the same calls. Going for it on 4th down is not that risky depending on distance, field position, score and time left. Fact is our O sputtered vastly because of play calling and not quality depth.

I don't know about that, as I agree with 44ever.. Although I think u might do have a point regarding run-first offense.. Teams figured out in middle of the season that we rely on Portis heavily to carry us.. AND that was when our O-line started to fall apart.. In order to have good O-line, the players need to play together lot to know each other's weakness, therefore they could help each other to prevent the exposure of those weaknesses.. Also you are right about our back-ups BUT we did not have capable back-ups to step up (we thought we did).. Which is why we are hearing buzzes about drafting one of OT or C studs.. Zorn and FO know that we need to do something about our O-line (starting and back-ups).. How in the world do you expect J. Campbell to be able to throw balls all day right when he usually have only 2-3 seconds to read defense and throw ball? That puts Zorn in binds as he could not be aggressive because he knows that Campbell would not have enough time..

[dmek25]

is this kind of announcing who you are going to draft, before the draft? even if he were going to use it, why tell everyone?

[44ever]

Originally Posted by DirtyLandry

This is a lousy excuse. Guys that make your 53 man roster as backups are expected to come in and get the job done. Injuries are a part of the game. I see every other team in the league utilizing their rookies on a consistent basis. We were successful in the first half of the season 'cause we ran the ball well and teams did not necessarily know what to expect from Zorn and his hybrid offense. As soon as teams started to see that we were a vanilla-run first offense, it became very easy for them to shut us down. Portis found himself constantly running into eight and nine man fronts. I don't want to hear how "injuries and lack of depth" were the reason for us not being fundamentally aggressive as an offense. Zorn always played for the first down and rarely took unexpected shots at the end zone- then he had the nerve when asked about it, to blame it on the O lines inability to pass protect.. Bullsh*t. As for the few times he went for it on 4th downs, a lot of coaches would have made the same calls. Going for it on 4th down is not that risky depending on distance, field position, score and time left. Fact is our O sputtered vastly because of play calling and not quality depth.

OK. What ever you say. Tell that to Samuels, Jansen, Geisinger,Thomas and Portis to name a few. Not getting into the Zorn thing again. You have your opinion I have mine. If you believe injuries and fatigue didnt play into our late season losses then your looking at things narrowly and putting the blame on Zorn completly. I dont make excuses for Zorn. I really doubt it took 8 games for the NFL to figure out our "Hybrid" vanilla-run first offense. And Zorns statement means we probably will be using the wildcat. IMO

[horny4zorny-nohomo]

we should at least use some...

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by GridIron26

I don't know about that, as I agree with 44ever.. Although I think u might do have a point regarding run-first offense.. Teams figured out in middle of the season that we rely on Portis heavily to carry us.. AND that was when our O-line started to fall apart.. In order to have good O-line, the players need to play together lot to know each other's weakness, therefore they could help each other to prevent the exposure of those weaknesses.. Also you are right about our back-ups BUT we did not have capable back-ups to step up (we thought we did).. Which is why we are hearing buzzes about drafting one of OT or C studs.. Zorn and FO know that we need to do something about our O-line (starting and back-ups).. How in the world do you expect J. Campbell to be able to throw balls all day right when he usually have only 2-3 seconds to read defense and throw ball? That puts Zorn in binds as he could not be aggressive because he knows that Campbell would not have enough time..

Not to discount the validity of this, although it's become an all encompassing excuse (the reason the US is in a recession is because we have an old OL) but that really starts to speak to the lack of innovation in Zorn's playcalling.. When you have to compensate for OL deficiencies then you have to be more creative with more shotgun and moving the pocket/rolling out. He didn't do any of that later in the season. One of the questions/criticisms of Zorn when he was hired from those who knew him in Seattle were his stubbornness and ability to deal with adversity. He's confident in his abilities and ideas but had a tendency to be rather rigid in his beliefs. It'd be nice to see some adaptability to things that may make the offense more effective.

[GridIron26]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

Not to discount the validity of this, although it's become an all encompassing excuse (the reason the US is in a recession is because we have an old OL) but that really starts to speak to the lack of innovation in Zorn's playcalling.. When you have to compensate for OL deficiencies then you have to be more creative with more shotgun and moving the pocket/rolling out. He didn't do any of that later in the season. One of the questions/criticisms of Zorn when he was hired from those who knew him in Seattle were his stubbornness and ability to deal with adversity. He's confident in his abilities and ideas but had a tendency to be rather rigid in his beliefs. It'd be nice to see some adaptability to things that may make the offense more effective.

You have a good point, I was thinking about shotgun part myself as well a while ago.. But all I'm trying to say that it's not all Zorn's fault, like DirtyLandry appears to be claiming so.. O-line factor does play in this role..

[Trample the Elderly]

I don't know about this wildcat formation stuff? With Randal El in there and a few other gadget guys I don't know why we don't have more wildcat stuff? Maybe we'll see some more things later. We do use them every once in awhile.
It's probably too soon to have a lot of gadgets when we don't have the WCO down pact right now. My only hope is that we can solidify the WCO and have a gadget here and there before Z gets the boot. It just seems like a waste of time and money to restructure the offense every other year.

[44ever]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

Not to discount the validity of this, although it's become an all encompassing excuse (the reason the US is in a recession is because we have an old OL) but that really starts to speak to the lack of innovation in Zorn's playcalling.. When you have to compensate for OL deficiencies then you have to be more creative with more shotgun and moving the pocket/rolling out. He didn't do any of that later in the season. One of the questions/criticisms of Zorn when he was hired from those who knew him in Seattle were his stubbornness and ability to deal with adversity. He's confident in his abilities and ideas but had a tendency to be rather rigid in his beliefs. It'd be nice to see some adaptability to things that may make the offense more effective.

True Paintrain but the debate is still out if that has to do more with Zorns playcall, Campbells ability or Zorns confidence in Campbell.

I also expect to see more creativity in the offensive scheme and we should in 09'. We still have to keep in mind that Zorn played his rookie year last year.

Point is we went 6-2 with Zorn and a healthy team. We went 8-8 with Zorn and a unhealthy team and not much depth. I certainly agree Zorn needs to step up his playcall and adaptability, and of course some of the blame is his. But not all of it. As was stated earlier.

But its way to early to say that Zorn lacks the ability. IMO

[Ruhskins]

How 'bout we get the regular offensive plays down before we start doing trick plays? I don't know why people are making such a fuss about this.