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Rams43
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McVay said he plans to call more plays where Robinson is the primary receiver, intentionally giving him opportunities to help the offense.
“I think being able to have some more intentionality about that,” McVay said. “Being able to call some plays where he’s the primary. Whatever I say is going to be an excuse, but it wasn’t good enough on my part in terms of the types of things that we were getting off to allow our players to be able to get into a rhythm. You credit Buffalo, they did a great job. But I think it’s just having a more specific approach to things that accentuate his skillset, similar to what I was answering earlier about what I think Arthur’s done a great job with his players offensively. That’s what I’ve got to do a better job of. Allen is certainly somebody that needs to be more involved and get more opportunities.”
I forget the poster who mentioned it after the Buffalo game, but I think he was spot on when he theorized that most (if not all) of McVay's passing plays are designed to get Kupp the ball (as opposed to a true architecture where the QB has multiple options to take advantage of what the defense gives him). Yes, there might be a TE screen or two to Higbee or a deep shot to Jefferson. But I think that those are more of a necessary means to an ultimate end.
This sentiment is clearly communicated to the QB (whether it be Jared Goff or Matthew Stafford) and they lock in to Kupp. And for the most part, Kupp delivers. But it doesn't come without a cost as Kupp is exposed to more wear and tear and the overall offensive talent in the passing game (Robinson, Jefferson, Higbee, Akers, and Hendu) is rendered irrelevant.
The only time I've seen McVay stray from this thinking is when OBJ came on board and got settled into the offense. You had two things working there: A) OBJ's undeniable talent; and, B ) his (OBJ's) alpha-mentality that won't allow himself to be (quietly) relegated as a means to someone else's end. As for B, McVay knew he had a choice...roll with the talent or deal with the inevitable public chirping. He rolled with the talent and started designing plays for Beckham, Jr. And guess what? Aside from a VERY good San Francisco 49'er defense (and an ACL injury), that offense was rolling.
But anything less than that I suspect that we'll see more of what we saw last Thursday. Because it was such an issue last week, I suspect that Robinson will see more targets against Atlanta before McVay reverts back to the mean.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2022 06:44AM by ramBRO.
