Downfield Disparity

[Mr. Scot]

8 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I am not going to "rank" those, because that's hours of work. I will do a little breakdown of those elements in the game stretches he is talking about and post it in a little bit.

Ranks aren't a big deal to me (like when we were supposedly the second best defense in the league under Phil Snow).

My eyes tell me the same story, though. Bryce looked better passing last year than he does now.

The question is why...

[Waldo]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

Injuries on the OL would be a likely factor (Hunt is sorely missed).

They've been decent for the most part (especially on the left) but last game everything broke down.

I'm not convinced Lewis is healthy either

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

Ranks aren't a big deal to me (like when we were supposedly the second best defense in the league under Phil Snow).

My eyes tell me the same story, though. Bryce looked better passing last year than he does now.

The question is why...

Well, I took a look at the Bryce "Eras" Tour and it seems like that it somewhat breaks down to.....well he just attempted more passes downfield.

Breaking it down like the author of the Twatter post did in the "This Season" chunk versus 2024 Weeks 8-18 and I also added "Rest of his Career" which is basically all of 2023 and the two games in 2024 prior to Benching. 

Initial Bryce(2023-Week 2 2024)

 Post Benching Bryce(Weeks 8-18 2024 AKA The Glory Games)

Modern Bryce(2025 Season)

 

If you look, during the "Glory Games" era of Bryce his 10+ downfield targets jumped from around 32% over his overall attempts to almost 43% of his overall attempts. Maybe it's as simple as that since he isn't testing them deep, they don't have to worry about him targeting them. 

 

It's an interesting look at the breakdown of those timelines.

[Khaki Lackey]

We're just setting up the league to open things up downfield. Don't worry, once opposing teams overload the box, out of desperation, BY9 will start throwing downfield again. Mind you, it takes Canales at least two games to make an adjustment, but when he does, Bryce will earn himself that extension.

[Bear Hands]

We lived in empty sets from the gun down the stretch.  You can only do that for so long.  You need to be able to add some dimensions to an offense.  If your QB limits your ability to do so, you've got the wrong guy under center.