I agree with you. The Esks last year relied WAY too heavily on the long bomb which while more exciting to see when it worked IMO is a bit too much feast or famine which isn't good but they have gone the complete opposite which is equally not good.
I went to the game log. Harris has 33 completions.
There were 19 completions that were for less than 10 yards, lots around the 6-7 yard range when they were tackled. Because you don't see the defender standing face to face with the receiver a lot, that probably means they were a 4-5 yr pass, the receiver catches and gets an extra couple of yards while the defender closes in to make the tackle. Their were actually multiple completions for 5 or less yards.
There were 2 completions where Gable was over 10 yards(18 & 11) but given he's the back, my guess is they were either swing passes or where he was just behind the line, he caught a check down pass for a few yards and because is so good at making guys miss and can drag defenders, he turned them into bigger gains.
There were 2 incompletes to Gable. Chances are that means they were under 5 yard throws because he is the back. You don't see running backs run a lot of patterns like a receiver.
There were 2 completions for no gain.
So if you add them up, that is 25 of his 33 completions that were throws of under 10 yards. I didn't count any completions at 10 yards or over. There would very easily be some of those catches that were 10 or 11 yard gains that were shorter passes but the receiver made a guy miss which if I remember, there were a few. Harris had an 82.5% completion percentage which is awesome BUT when you are only throwing the ball 5-6 yards and the DB is giving you 5+ yards of cushion unless you are just throwing the ball poorly, those are easy completions. I also didn't include the 1 pass to Cooper that was for 17 yards. I believe Cooper was also a short pass that he turned into 17 yards with a lot of Yac yards. Plus Green a full back had 1 for 11. So the number of passes under 10 yard is probably 27.
To me that isn't play calling, that is the selection of the QB deciding to pick those very short, quick throws. I don't see every receiver on every play running 5 yard hooks and that's all that Harris has. So to me it's not surprising that the Esks struggle in the scoring zone because once they get inside the 20's, teams usually tighten up and aren't giving any team easy completions. It needs to change. They need to be throwing more 10+ yard throws not 5 and crossing your fingers the receiver can get you the rest.
To prove my point. Adjei in 8 games has already crushed his previous career high in both receptions and yards. There is nothing wrong with Adjei, he's a perfectly fine complimentary receiver but he should be a 3rd or 4th option in your offence. A guy who when there is nothing else or as a QB you are in trouble, you look too because he's running those short range routes. He's trailing both Collins and Ellingston by 9 catches. That shouldn't be.
https://www.cfl.ca/players/natey-adjei/159731/
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Originally Posted by boydo
