Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Kirby Smart doesnât put play-action shortcomings all on quarterback Gunner Stockton
System
Posts: 13,908 admin
Kirby Smart doesnât put play-action shortcomings all on quarterback Gunner Stockton
Welcome to "Around the DawgHouse" where we update you multiple times each week on the latest news and information from the different sports. Around The DawgHouse is also a daily feature on DawgNation Daily.
Comments
Vision and busted plays… Still not a single finger point Bobo’s way. Too many top level QB coaches/ OC’s in college football not to have a good play caller.
I know Kirby can be stubborn but all he has to do is watch the game films. Throwing screen passes then running up the middle on 3rd down isn’t going to do it. Not a fan of bobo play calling but we did score points last year. The sugar bowl loss was on the defense pass rush and coverage.. heck we scored enough points to win but we did go stale on offense once we had the lead. Hopefully the offense call throw some deep balls this year. Go dawgs.. this could be the year of another natty.
Your style but not his. I can't recall one time Smart mentioning a specific coach in a negative light to the press.
".…whether it was busted protection,” Smart said. “And when you play-action, you should have safe, good protection there. We didn’t get our bang for our buck out of those play actions.”____CKS
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. I knew Dawggone well Kirby and Bobo were on top of it. 50% of fixing a problem....is properly and completely identifying "what the problem is"...Lol.
Can't wait to see this year's Dawgs in action. I have no doubt....They're gonna blow some folks off the field this year. I just wish they had more experience on the edges.
But....imo...a great running game will make up for a lot of the lost explosion in the passing game. It's just harder to win championships...when you have to ground-&-pound throughout the season.…against some of the most ferocious defenses in the SEC.
A more explosive passing game, could help alleviate the typical offensive line injury issue, that popped up over the last couple of years. Everything is connected.
i think the offense holds equal blame. Defense got them a score and offense couldn’t execute coming out of the had to put them away. Couldn’t keep Chambliss off the field and eventually the defense broke.
@BigDawg61…the last (3) National Champions had elite dual RBs in their backfield. We're talking close to or exceeding 2,000 combination yards of rushing in total. As you said, they can certainly take the pressure off the QB and having to make explosive plays. Of course those teams also had a Joe Moore winning OL in one situation, a very experienced high level OL in another, and in Ohio State's case, a mid-season re-build of an injury-decimated OL that turned out as good or better than the one that started the season.
I think we have a lot of potential talent in our RB room, but I don't know if Frazier and Bowens are the best duo we can field right now. You know Kirby will be plugging and playing those other guys in to find out. And I still haven't heard if Frazier's ankle is going to need surgery or not. He's injured and re-injured it now, so it's probably pretty darn weak considering what ankles have to put up with rushing the ball.
I gotta say...I like Phillips in the backfield as much as any of em. That kid has come a looong way, from year one. I believe he's about to outplay his recruiting hype. He's bigger, Faster, stronger & smarter. His blocking has improved drastically over his Fr/So years.
Imo...no matter which back you go with...he's gonna be more than capable and will bring a little something different to the offense.
They all seem to have different strengths....and, Phillips' is speed and quickness on the edge & good vision. Lol...he's seemed to have added "running over people" to his repertoire.
If you can get the ball to Phillips in the 2nd level by either opening holes or throwing the ball to him.....he's an explosive play waiting to happen. Everytime he touches the ball.
There's another kid, they picked up on the wire, in the offseason, that "runs the ball like he's mad at the grass". Lol. I can't recall the name....but, I don't think I'll have that problem for long, based on what I've seen.
I like what the Dawgs have this year. Especially, with the overall experience level. I think this team is ready. No rebuild this year. Lol
@BigDawg61 @MontanaDawg Oh Yeah my Brothers !! I’m excited about the RB room to !! And Yes Peanut does look much better. He’s built up his frame with muscles where before he was just to skinny. I like ALL of them !! Doodle looks very good to. Even the young freshman Lamar looks ready to roll !!
Now if our young but NFL experienced O Line Coach can get the Monster Men going !! It’ll be look out here come the Dawgs !! Gunner will be less stressed and happier.
The TE room is absolutely Loaded !! Moving Prothro to the Slot will help the Receivers Room. Am I excited ?? YES like a Dawg that just got a new chew toy !! And I believe our Defense will be Wicked good !! Special Teams loaded up !! We’ll have to see if all this potential translates to reality on the field. But the Potential is most assuredly there !!
P.S. Off Topic but I watched a documentary on the 2021 Dawgs. On game one vs Clemson ole Lee Corso said Year Of The Dawg !! They had a guess picker from GA. He and Corso were the only ones to pick Dawgs over Clemson !! But Corso was talking the Whole season and a Ntl. Title !! Some how he predicted what the Dawgs would do !! That Dawgs Defense was insanely good !! Go Dawgs !!
I am not the big Bobo supporter, but if you go back and watch game film there are plenty of open receivers on many plays that Stockton just did not see. He has to see the field better. Run game was better in 2025 than 2024, but still not up to par with the two Natty years. I am skeptical about Frazier's ankle as well, but Dowdell is a grown man. Bowens looks to be in the shape of his life, and Lamar is lightning like the Dawgs have not seen in a while. I think it's going to be a fun season.
"railroad tracks 1"—great points all. I'm liking our RB room too. Also liking our receivers—yes we did lose a few, but I think the talent we have now surpasses what we had last year.
Branch left very big shoes to fill
I'm not sure how the offensive play calling will turn out this year, but the unquestioned captain of the offensive line is Drew BOBO. He may have as much to do with accomplishing our goal of another natty as ANY of the coaches, regardless of their last name.
If ya want him to "see the field better"....then...ya gotta give him more time to see it. Just sayin'....let's blame the root cause...not the symptom. Protection breakdowns and inconsistencies....Imo.
Passing is 60% timing. If that's interrupted on virtually every play designed to go more than 6-10 yards....a quarterback doesn't have a great chance of success.
Gunner "made" a lot of plays last year...just to get em 1st downs. Or set em up for 1st downs. That goes unnoticed at times. But, it says a lot to me, about what he will do..."if you give him Time".
I fully expect the Offensive Line to be light-years ahead of where they were, this time last year. That bodes well for the downfield passing game, in '26.
Not to mention the RB Room...which should provide a professional layer to the passing game with an unmatched running game giving the play action pass some teeth.
I look forward to '26 being that come-together-year. Go Dawgs!!!
first half of the year I’ll listen to the “poor or underperforming” OL…but as the season wore on they got better. Gunner had more than enough time to see those open guys. He either wasn’t seeing it or he’s being coached to be overly cautious with his passing like Jake Fromm was.
Much of the OL success hinges on Drew Bobo being back. If he’s back and the OL is fully healthy then Gunner has no excuses. He’s a fifth year senior. He has a full year starting under his belt. He graduated so he shouldn’t be taking a full class load. If we want to actually win a playoff game in this new format, Gunner has to improve.
Of course you have to have talent, which we have. Then you need to be unpredictable and we could stand to work on that quite a bit..