Bill Lazor on Dolphins' deep ball: 'We've got to figure it out together'

[DKphin]

"We've got to figure it out together," Dolphins offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said of the long ball this week. "As coaches, I mean that's the attitude we want every player to walk in and have. Let's face it, this time of year without pads on, a lot of it is about the passing game. That's just the reality of the rules, and so we've got to make the most of that."
Lazor has high expectations for Tannehill. Lazor was hired by Miami last year and he put in a new offensive system that fit Tannehill's skills. Lazor expects Tannehill to continue to show growth in the quarterback's fourth season.
"I think everything should be better. Everything should be clearer," Lazor said. "I'm very happy with how his offseason went and the time that we got to spend with him. Ryan's an extremely hard worker. He's a very intelligent guy and he wants to do it right. I don't know that you could script a better formula for a guy to be successful, and that's how he's approached it."

http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolph...-deep-ball-weve-got-to-figure-it-out-together

 

[gofins60]

IMO, the time to figure it out was prior to last season when everyone saw that there was a problem with Tannehill hitting Wallace deep. Instead of fixing the problem, Philbin and Lazor went away from the deep ball and used Wallace on shorter routes. If you have a guy who can get past the defense, then something is terribly wrong if he's not scoring numerous long TDs. A few of those quick-strike TDs could have put Miami in the playoffs.

I'm not looking to place blame on the players (because IMO both Tannehill and Wallace are at fault), but the coaching staff failed the team by not fixing a huge problem. On any given Sunday there are always a few long TD passes from around the NFL shown in the Highlights, yet Miami had just one or two TDs from (barely) outside of the red zone over the entire season! Any decent Head Coach would have had his players working on a problem until they got it right, or replaced them with someone who could perform. Philbin, who wants an offense based on short timing routes, decided to ignore the problem since the deep ball really isn't part of his offensive philosophy.

Now, Wallace is gone and they have new WRs. It's possible that Wallace was the problem and now they'll be able to go deep. But, it could be that Tannehill just isn't good throwing deep. He has gone (somewhat) deep to other WRs in the past with success, so IMO it's either a problem strictly between Tannehill and Wallace, or Tannehill can only go deep on certain throws to certain areas of the field. It must be one or the other, and if the coaching staff still doesn't know what the problem is, then the problem lies with the coaching staff!

 

[rent this space]

The deep ball will improve without Wallace, no doubt. it may never be a strength for Tannehill but it won't be as bad as it was.

 

[AgentXof12]

FWIW, here's a Mike Wallace highlight video posted to youtube in 2011. I purposely chose a highlight reel of his best seasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZi0Vnx15AU

There are a couple of quick strike deep passes for TD's. I also see some short strikes where Wallace was able to stretch the play. There's a ton of basket catches, which I will admit that Tannehill wasn't good at providing. Frankly, many of those deep passes were dead on the money to land in his arms like that.

The problem was pairing a 2nd year QB with Mike Wallace and expecting to hit the basket on deep passes.

That's where I think the major issue is with a guy like Mike Wallace. I think there are very few 2nd and 3rd year QB's who are going to hit Mike Wallace deep like that. That was Big Ben in his 7th and 8th seasons planting the ball in the basket. Will Ryan Tannehill ever be that accurate? That is certainly questionable. Does he have to be that accurate? I don't think so.

I will be paying attention to Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota. He's a 2nd year QB. I've seen his highlight videos. I don't see any passes that Tannehill hasn't made. I think we're going to see Wallace, again, paired with a young QB. I think the pairing can work out if Bridgewater is allowed to scramble and plays have time to break down. It could work in Minnesota. The problem, still, is pairing a 2nd year QB with Mike Wallace, and, of course, expecting deep passes that land in a moving basket.

 

[Sarnics13]

The only minor problem RT has had is with the really high arcing throws. Every other deep throw has always been extremely accurate. There just was zero chemistry with Wallace. Wallace required pretty much only a high arcing deep throw so that it dropped straight down in to a 2ft radius.
To me the proof is in the fact that RT is insanely accurate at throwing deep while on the run. The hardest thing to do and he is a sharpshooter at it. His deep ball won't be an issue this season and I am supremely confident of that.

 

[Hc90]

FWIW, here's a Mike Wallace highlight video posted to youtube in 2011. I purposely chose a highlight reel of his best seasons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZi0Vnx15AU

There are a couple of quick strike deep passes for TD's. I also see some short strikes where Wallace was able to stretch the play. There's a ton of basket catches, which I will admit that Tannehill wasn't good at providing. Frankly, many of those deep passes were dead on the money to land in his arms like that.

The problem was pairing a 2nd year QB with Mike Wallace and expecting to hit the basket on deep passes.

That's where I think the major issue is with a guy like Mike Wallace. I think there are very few 2nd and 3rd year QB's who are going to hit Mike Wallace deep like that. That was Big Ben in his 7th and 8th seasons planting the ball in the basket. Will Ryan Tannehill ever be that accurate? That is certainly questionable. Does he have to be that accurate? I don't think so.

I will be paying attention to Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota. He's a 2nd year QB. I've seen his highlight videos. I don't see any passes that Tannehill hasn't made. I think we're going to see Wallace, again, paired with a young QB. I think the pairing can work out if Bridgewater is allowed to scramble and plays have time to break down. It could work in Minnesota. The problem, still, is pairing a 2nd year QB with Mike Wallace, and, of course, expecting deep passes that land in a moving basket.

Everyone still fails to see the issue with Wallace . His issue is .... His attitude is ****.

He complained after the FIRST game in Miami when we beat the browns .

He had just received a ridiculous contract , we won the game and the first thing he does ? Complain .

Wallace will never see the ceiling his physical abilities provide.

1) awful attitude , flat out horrible
2) awful hands. Some of the worst hands I've ever seen on a "#1 receiver" ( which he isn't btw)

 

[AgentXof12]

Everyone still fails to see the issue with Wallace . His issue is .... His attitude is ****.

He complained after the FIRST game in Miami when we beat the browns .

He had just received a ridiculous contract , we won the game and the first thing he does ? Complain .

Wallace will never see the ceiling his physical abilities provide.

1) awful attitude , flat out horrible
2) awful hands. Some of the worst hands I've ever seen on a "#1 receiver" ( which he isn't btw)

I agree, his attitude is also probably his biggest issue. It's not something I think people are unaware of but attitude is usually more of an off the field thing. The on the field issues are the ones we see impacting plays (ie. lack of play awareness, not adjusting to the ball). Though, I definitely think that his attitude can be a root cause to the on-the-field issues. Wallace has built a career out of getting open. To have played football this long making basket catches speaks a little bit to his attitude. I only played football in high school, and within the first week of practices they drilled me on catching with my hands. I highly doubt my coaches were rare in that regard. The same goes for adjusting to the ball and not fighting it.

 

[BenchFiedler]

The deep ball will improve without Wallace, no doubt. it may never be a strength for Tannehill but it won't be as bad as it was.

Wallace "self-proclaimed" that he is the fastest WR in the NFL. How will the deep ball improve with a slower K. Stills??? It all starts with # 17. Tannehill has to improve his deep ball accuracy plain and simple and the O-line has to give him more time as well.

 

[warren4prez]

I agree, his attitude is also probably his biggest issue. It's not something I think people are unaware of but attitude is usually more of an off the field thing. The on the field issues are the ones we see impacting plays (ie. lack of play awareness, not adjusting to the ball). Though, I definitely think that his attitude can be a root cause to the on-the-field issues. Wallace has built a career out of getting open. To have played football this long making basket catches speaks a little bit to his attitude. I only played football in high school, and within the first week of practices they drilled me on catching with my hands. I highly doubt my coaches were rare in that regard. The same goes for adjusting to the ball and not fighting it.

You damn right he had an attitude because he getting paid a lot of money to make big plays!! But when your QB is unable to throw the deep ball it can be frustrating, guess who got all the blame "Wallace". All these questions will be answered soon will Tanny continue to miss the deep ball and will Wallace be able to catch deep ball from Teddy, only time will tell.

 

[Tiko377]

It'll be easier to improve now that the wrs on the team will actually practice it.....Wallace didn't because it will wear out his legs he said.

 

[NYPhinzFan]

You damn right he had an attitude because he getting paid a lot of money to make big plays!! But when your QB is unable to throw the deep ball it can be frustrating, guess who got all the blame "Wallace". All these questions will be answered soon will Tanny continue to miss the deep ball and will Wallace be able to catch deep ball from Teddy, only time will tell.

What Wallace needed to understand is you need to act like a professional. Whining like a little girl because you didn't get your 2 bomb quota for the game is just stupid. Also, I never understand with people, if you make something an issue by crying like a petulant child, do you think that's a productive solution? I think RT was "thinking" way too much about the deep ball when throwing to Wallace instead of going out and playing ball. He seemed to always try to "place" the ball instead of just chucking it up there like he's been doing since he was 6.

I'd put money on the fact that the deep ball will NOT be an issue this year. 1) we don't seem to have crybabies in the receiver room (if you actually count Rishard Matthews as anything but an aberration); 2) We have receivers that will go up and get a ball that isn't thrown perfectly in stride. I remember Brandon Marshall climbing the ladder to grab anything that was thrown near him. Adversely, I've watched Wallace give up on passes he knew he couldn't just run underneath for an easy reception. He plays lazy, relying too much on his speed to make things happen.

 

[rent this space]

Wallace "self-proclaimed" that he is the fastest WR in the NFL. How will the deep ball improve with a slower K. Stills??? It all starts with # 17. Tannehill has to improve his deep ball accuracy plain and simple and the O-line has to give him more time as well.

Stills is not that much slower than Wallace, I believe he actually had a faster combine 40 time. He also tracks the ball well and catches with his hands, two foreign concepts to Mike Wallace.
The question isn't whether the deep ball will be better(couldn't get much worse), it's how much better it will be.

 

[ANUFan]

It'll be easier to improve now that the wrs on the team will actually practice it.....Wallace didn't because it will wear out his legs he said.

^^^This likely was a huge problem. There is nothing that strikes me about Tannehill realizing there is a problem and unwilling to do(practice, practice, practice) something about it. Can any feel confident saying the same thing about Wallace?

 

[NRA]

You damn right he had an attitude because he getting paid a lot of money to make big plays!! But when your QB is unable to throw the deep ball it can be frustrating, guess who got all the blame "Wallace". All these questions will be answered soon will Tanny continue to miss the deep ball and will Wallace be able to catch deep ball from Teddy, only time will tell.

Post of the month.

Very well put. This was EXACTLY the problem.

 

[Hc90]

You damn right he had an attitude because he getting paid a lot of money to make big plays!! But when your QB is unable to throw the deep ball it can be frustrating, guess who got all the blame "Wallace". All these questions will be answered soon will Tanny continue to miss the deep ball and will Wallace be able to catch deep ball from Teddy, only time will tell.

The is no doubt in my mind Parker will win jump balls deep.

Wallace needed it in his little basket .

Parker uses his hands .... He doesn't have alligator arms like Wallace so we should be ok .

Kenny stills also fights for a ball in the air way better than Wallace .