WR's Dropped passes the last 4 years

#77
#77
jasonvol18 said:
I came across this the other day and the VQ guys were discussing our WR's and breaking down Hendon, Milton and Nico's dropped pass percentage the last 4 years.Somewhat disturbing, hopefully they don't keep going in this direction.

So, basically this is the dropped percentage each QB has had with their on target passes the last 4 years.

In '21 and '22, Hendon had 9.1% of his on target passes dropped each season.

In '23, Milton had 10% of his on target passes dropped..

Now to Nico and this is alarming. In '24, Nico had 15.8% of his on target passes dropped. Between the subpar pass blocking and this % of dropped passes, it was honestly pretty impressive that he put up the stats he did. Obviously, he has room to grow, but we all knew that with him only having started 14 games and not even old enough to drink. Hopefully, his pass blocking is better and that drop % goes down. If it does, I look for him to have a really good year and get closer to living up to his expectations.

Not sure if it's the WR's just not being that good or if it was coaching( or lack of it). Brazzell was the team leader in dropped passes and was #3 in the SEC in passes dropped this past year. Squirrel was tied with the most drops in the SEC the year before.

GBO!!
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WR and OL are THE biggest questions on our coaching staff. Personally, I think both need to be replaced. Their record speaks volumes...nay...it screams it.
 
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#79
#79
Vol865 said:
We aren't giving all that money to one guy. It's around $2M which is about 10-20% of our NIL budget. QB has almost always been the best paud position in football.The market for QBs has severely increased since then. We aren't paying him for solely what he was as a RS Freshman. We're paying for what we believe he can develop into and the attention that it attracted for other recruits at a time where we severely need it.
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I understand that. He is the bait to bring in other top tier guys. But so far, he's not truly showing me, and this is one guys opinion, that he's going to develop into what we envision. Is he a serviceable quarterback? Yes. I think he is. But is he worth 10 to 20% of our annual NIL budget? Absolutely not. If he had come in this year and had anything in the ballpark of what Henden Hooker did when he got here, we could be having a different conversation. And I realize that Hooker was not a freshman so you don't have to make that a thing. There's about 25 quarterbacks starting for teams around the country that are far inferior to Tennessee that would have duplicated any and all efforts by Nico this year. He simply wasn't amazing. He wasn't even a showstopper. He put up gaudy numbers against super inferior opponents. But against any team in a power five conference, his stats fell off dramatically.
 
#80
#80
xpsyclonex2002 said:
I understand that. He is the bait to bring in other top tier guys. But so far, he's not truly showing me, and this is one guys opinion, that he's going to develop into what we envision. Is he a serviceable quarterback? Yes. I think he is. But is he worth 10 to 20% of our annual NIL budget? Absolutely not. If he had come in this year and had anything in the ballpark of what Henden Hooker did when he got here, we could be having a different conversation. And I realize that Hooker was not a freshman so you don't have to make that a thing. There's about 25 quarterbacks starting for teams around the country that are far inferior to Tennessee that would have duplicated any and all efforts by Nico this year. He simply wasn't amazing. He wasn't even a showstopper. He put up gaudy numbers against super inferior opponents. But against any team in a power five conference, his stats fell off dramatically.
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Many different things attribute to all of that. However the whole squad needs to improve, Nico included and he will. His OL needs to be better, Wr needs to be much better and Nico himself needs to be better. As a unit outside the Rbs were just not very cohesive. We also need to be more creative in our design by attacking from all angles not just go routes. We were successful when we mixed it up attacking the middle of field incorporating the TE. Would like to see more of that and for gosh sake call a slant or screen to the RB in the flat
 
#83
#83
xpsyclonex2002 said:
I understand that. He is the bait to bring in other top tier guys. But so far, he's not truly showing me, and this is one guys opinion, that he's going to develop into what we envision. Is he a serviceable quarterback? Yes. I think he is. But is he worth 10 to 20% of our annual NIL budget? Absolutely not. If he had come in this year and had anything in the ballpark of what Henden Hooker did when he got here, we could be having a different conversation. And I realize that Hooker was not a freshman so you don't have to make that a thing. There's about 25 quarterbacks starting for teams around the country that are far inferior to Tennessee that would have duplicated any and all efforts by Nico this year. He simply wasn't amazing. He wasn't even a showstopper. He put up gaudy numbers against super inferior opponents. But against any team in a power five conference, his stats fell off dramatically.
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The issue is the expectations aren't very reasonable IMO. And I know you said not to make it a thing, but it very much is one. QB is the position that gets amplified for good or bad because there's only 1 on the field. Nico is a young QB and there are growing pains with young QBs and it's not just Hooker. I've attached below the stats for 3 QBs: Joe Burrow, Hendon Hooker, and Justin Herbert.

Burrow transferred form OSU, people said he couldn't cut it, had a pretty comparable junior year at LSU to Nico this year, blew up as a senior.

Hendon left VT and every VT fan said he sucked, nobody thought much of him coming here. He turns out to be really good. You can credit it to the system but I think the last 2 years show there's just as much credit to him.

Herbert had a very lackluster FR and SO year and then a great JR and SR year.

All of those QBs had more help on OL and at WR than Nico had this year. There's always a possibility Nico doesn't live upto the hype but judging it off his RS Freshman season is way premature, especially when our "veteran" OL got whooped all year in pass pro and our WRs are unathletic and can't catch.
 

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#84
#84
barney said:
In fairness to him, he was injured for a lot of the season and had a pretty good year last year. I see it as an indictment of the coaches for continuing to ay him when he only had one working shoulder and of the backups for not being good enough for whatever reason to get those reps.
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Injuries can be tough but correct me if I am wrong did he not lead the SEC in drops! Also go back and watch film. He struggles every game to separate. The man will never make the NFL. And I say that with dismay because I want every young man who comes through this university at some point to see their dreams come true.
 
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#87
#87
Vol865 said:
The issue is the expectations aren't very reasonable IMO. And I know you said not to make it a thing, but it very much is one. QB is the position that gets amplified for good or bad because there's only 1 on the field. Nico is a young QB and there are growing pains with young QBs and it's not just Hooker. I've attached below the stats for 3 QBs: Joe Burrow, Hendon Hooker, and Justin Herbert.

Burrow transferred form OSU, people said he couldn't cut it, had a pretty comparable junior year at LSU to Nico this year, blew up as a senior.

Hendon left VT and every VT fan said he sucked, nobody thought much of him coming here. He turns out to be really good. You can credit it to the system but I think the last 2 years show there's just as much credit to him.

Herbert had a very lackluster FR and SO year and then a great JR and SR year.

All of those QBs had more help on OL and at WR than Nico had this year. There's always a possibility Nico doesn't live upto the hype but judging it off his RS Freshman season is way premature, especially when our "veteran" OL got whooped all year in pass pro and our WRs are unathletic and can't catch.
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This.

Also Nico and Joe Miltons stats are almost IDENTICAL. But Nico was a freshman starting his 1st year of college ball and Joe was a senior. Joe had a better Oline and better (healthier)WRs.

Hooker was also a senior and had MUCH better Oline and WRs. Take nothing away from Hooker though because he had the best season ever by a UT QB with 37TDs against only 3 picks...and thats without playing Vandy or the bowlgame. Nico had a much better freshman season than many give him credit for though especially with all the drops. If only Nimrod didnt drop wide open TD passes OR both Tackles Heard and Campbell didnt have THE worst game I have ever seen by starting Tackles at UT then we beat Arkansas and finish the season 11-1 in the SEC champ game. I am 47 years old BTW, and have been a UT fan my whole life...watch the film breakdown on youtube from the Arkansas game. You will throw up. Nimrod dropped 2 wide open TD passes that hit him in the hands...and DEs ran right around Heard without him even touching him. Coaches got pissed and put in the backups on both sides at Tackle and Nico got hammered 3 plays in a row with 2 of them being sacks. 3 and out, punt. We STILL almost won that game which is insane.

Nico struggled some mostly early in the season, but from halftime in the Bama game on...he played pretty damn well especially for a freshman. He was by FAR our best player against OSU also, and got hit 20 times cracking 2 helmets. He is a lot tougher than he looks. The WRs were terrible last season except for Thornton who lead us in TDs, YPC, and PFF grade. Kitselman was by far the best pass catcher on the team though and he will be back in a deep TE room with 2 bluechip freshman for 2025 as well as Davis.
 
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#90
#90
sjt18 said:
Receivers dropped passes. AND Nico has not developed the skill to read Ds and find the right guy consistently. Why some want to completely absolve him as being part of the problem is beyond me. You can complain about protection but about as often as not he held the ball too long after being confused by coverage. The OL always needs to be better. The WRs always need to be better. AND Nico needs to be better.

BTW, the job of the OL gets a lot harder if a DC sees ways that a QB is consistently confused with coverage. It allows them to dedicate more guys to containment or pass rush. Again, Nico isn't 100% to blame but it isn't everyone else's fault either.
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Agree with this post but I would say Nico had more plays called back than hooker or Milton and as a young Qb he often had his rhythm interrupted that could’ve got the tempo flowing… but you are correct Nico has to get better and a year of film and another full offseason should see him take a leap… he not far off just has to be more consistent… the entire team and offense specifically needs to improve… our offense struggles was never on one group one game it was OL next it would be a Sampson fumble on great drives… or it would be Nico making a poor throw or read or it would be a wr drop… that was the most frustrating because we had the collective pieces they just never quite got on the same page as a unit all season… I think Nico in year 2 as a starter can help off set that a bit if he improves his consistency.
 
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#91
#91
jasonvol18 said:
I promise you Nico's money has ZERO to do with other players. We have plenty of money to give to the right players. That will never be an issue. CJH isn't going to go all Lane Kiffin and just start adding guys that are bad culture fits. He's very selective about the type players he adds, but the money is there to get WHOMEVER he wants. Very few QB's have elite first years at a starting QB, especially in the SEC. Look at Peyton's stats his FR year. It's not even close, Nico's are far superior to Peyton's each of their 1st year. Not to mention, Peyton was an Int waiting to happen. Nico had a 4:1 TD/ Int ratio, which is amazing for a RS FR who is a first year starting QB. Lastly, it's hard to elevate your game when our pass blocking is so bad and our WR's are some of the worst at dropped passes. Nico's 2 million a year isn't keeping us from getting anybody, I can promise you that.
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LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Nico made more horrible passes than he had drops. Same with Joe. I don’t think our receivers were that great, but if the 4 who played a lot and had played previously, 3 of them looked much better under different quarterbacks than Nico.

The guy was a problem for us. We had to win in spite of him. Maybe this year he shows something he never showed after the Kent State game, but you and your ilk have said this same shít about coaches who couldn’t coach and players who couldn’t play for many years, and 99% of the time you look like a fool when it all comes out in the wash. Then you never admit you were wrong, you just go back to whining about people seeing what you can’t see until it’s over and done with. And what makes you so mad is deep down, you know I’m right.
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#92
#92
There are repeated comments about position coaches recruiting for their position. I was under the impression that the staff members recruit by region. If WR recruiting is not good enough it is a staff wide problem, not just the WR position coach.
 
#93
#93
sjt18 said:
Receivers dropped passes. AND Nico has not developed the skill to read Ds and find the right guy consistently. Why some want to completely absolve him as being part of the problem is beyond me. You can complain about protection but about as often as not he held the ball too long after being confused by coverage. The OL always needs to be better. The WRs always need to be better. AND Nico needs to be better.

BTW, the job of the OL gets a lot harder if a DC sees ways that a QB is consistently confused with coverage. It allows them to dedicate more guys to containment or pass rush. Again, Nico isn't 100% to blame but it isn't everyone else's fault either.
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How many FR can read defense's well? Especially within their 14 starts. Very few, if any! The only way they can do it is by playing
 
#94
#94
jasonvol18 said:
How many FR can read defense's well? Especially within their 14 starts. Very few, if any! The only way they can do it is by playing
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I don't disagree. But knowing that it makes no sense to try to blame everyone else. Klubnik makes a pretty good example. For that matter, Hooker wasn't nearly as good early in his career as later.
 
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