I would think that a Dolphins fan, having been subjected to years of having the lack of speed from Bess and Hartline constrict and reduce our offense, would disagree with that premise more than fans of just about any other team. It's simple math- the more players are occupying themselves with covering Wallace, the less players are available to cover the other offensive players. Maybe one indirect result is the increase in Tannehill's passing yards this year over last year. Furthermore, he would have touched the football more, had more yards and more TDs if some of the deep ball passes, on which he tended to be wide open, were better thrown. I'm not trying to rehash the Tannehill discussion, but these things seem pretty obvious to me. Which receiver had 29 catches for 606 yards and 3 Tds in 1972? Paul Warfield. I bet if you asked Don Shula, Bob Griese or Larry Czonka they'd say that Warfield had quite an impact on that championship team despite his relatively low production. He had to be accounted for by defenses, took pressure off of the running game and the other receivers, and that counts for a lot.
Wallace displayed extra value this past game. The Jets safeties were consistently 12-15 yards back. Although this didn't allow for any deep passes, it opened up the short to intermediate passes as well as opened up the run game against the top run defense in the league.
Then give me a stat that shows the effect this has. Because if there is an effect, it can be measured. Or are we once again talking about this mystical effect that certain players have on the game that just cannot be measured? I find that more often, this premise of the effect that a player has by "drawing coverage (which isn't the case because Mike faces one on one the large majority of the time)" is little more than a rationalization for why they aren't producing when the ball is going their way.
GM - this is why Wallace was acquired. It sets up well for our remaining games. Vs Carolina, the safeties were up and took away the run so we hit two deep passes. Vs NYJ, they have the safeties back so we dink and dunk them all over the field. Our passing game appears to becoming a damned if you do damned if you don't kind of weapon.
Unless he's making the play, where is the effect. Measure it for me. There is no such thing as an effect that cannot be measured.
First play of the game... The safety to Wallace's side is mystically 17 yards off the LOS at the snap, and in a back pedal to get even deeper.
The effect is that Clay has the entire middle of the field to himself and Tannehill hits him for the first down on 3rd and 12.
Mike hasn't faced true "one on one" all year unless it was all out blitz...you don't think that 20x20 patch of open space in the middle of the field that GM posted is useable by the offense ?? Respect for the deep ball is huge and something we haven't had in Miami for a very long time. Its quite obvious even if Wallace explodes for 500 yard and 5 tds in these last 4 games your still going to try and minimize his impact.. even though his ex coach and teammates the Dolphins coaches and teammates all say something very different.
I can't give you a stat..I think the only way it could be measured is by comparing players other than the speed guy in the year before the speed guy arrived relative to the year he arrived.. There are two main weapons on the field with the speed guy this year that were on the field last year as well.. Hartline and Clay..I guess we could look at their production at seasons end and it may identify something..that's the literal way.. The way I look at it is,these players have brains and instincts, serious speed can put fear in the minds and change the way they play the game..it's human nature to worry about it while your playing, you can't see a corner or safety ignoring their responsibilities or their aggressiveness to a degree?
Given that there are 11 men on offense, that's a pretty complicated measurement. The rationale is self evident: speed receivers take pressure off of a defense and stretch the field. Maybe an easier measurement would be, how many times has Wallace been wide open deep and the result was either an incompletion or a completion that didn't result in a touchdown, when the result should have been a touchdown?
2012: Brian Hartline 0.26 EPA/P Charles Clay 0.18 EPA/P Rishard Matthews 0.18 EPA/P 2013: Brian Hartline 0.26 EPA/P Charles Clay 0.22 EPA/P Rishard Matthews 0.16 EPA/P So, we paid $60 million for 0.02 increase in EPA/P in our existing receivers? What effect has he had on our running game? It would only make sense that if his presence on the field has such a profound effect on the game that in lieu of the fact that the safeties are playing deep, we should be able to run the ball. How well do we run the ball? Not very well. Oh. What about that effect on the running game then?
Well we gained 125 yards at 3.47 yards per against a historically good run defense who had been holding opponents to 2.85 yards per. This coming from a team that has been more or less unable to run all year. We might now just be seeing part of the off season vision as it pertains to Wallace.
Heck, Mike Wallace has 0.18 EPA/P on the year. Davone Bess had 0.15 EPA/P last year. So, we've only improved by 0.03 EPA/P by having Wallace instead of Bess. The much better signing was Brandon Gibson, who was producing 0.40 EPA/P on the year before he got hurt.
Yes he has, and it seems like someone should be able to hit him in stride at least once. Is that asking too much?
First of all, Hartline already has as many TDs this year than the entire WR unit combined from last year. He has already tripled his TD production from last year, so yeah, I think he's benefited just a bit from having better players around him. You certainly can't look at receptions from last year. Of course he had a lot of receptions last year. That's because he and Bess where pretty much the only two consistent WRs on the team. Look at their TD totals, flash. That's what counts. The WR group already now has something like 11tds and there's still a ways to go. Last year it was 3 for the year. No effect?
The subject is still up for debate by gawd, as long as KB wants it to be. He'll let you know when it is no longer debatable.
Yeah, and there were some who never admitted they were wrong about Jake Long not being able to play left tackle well in the NFL.
KB, I'm not gonna get into a stat debate with you, it would be like bringing a bee bee gun to a gun show, you'd kick my ***.. I know that you know the game, what I would like to know is to whom to you give the credit to when it Comes to Wallace's production while he was a steeler?
Guys I don't care about salary...or..EPA..PTA..or YMCA..I just want us to beat the Steelers. And then the Pats. Mikey just light that **** up! Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
On average, he's wide open deep 5-6 plays per game. The only difference between the past two weeks and the rest of the season is that Tannehill is finally starting to spot him. Make no mistake though, Wallace is running hard and creating opportunities...we just need to get the ball to him in stride.
If we had Reggie Bush still and Jake Long you'd have an argument. It's getting to the point where you fail to even acknowledge the benefit of having safeties sit further and further back.
Lotta the sports radio here in Pittsburgh has been about whether or not they should boo Wallace on Sunday. People just never really came to terms with the fact that he asked/held out for all that dough while not being that prototypical #1 WR who you can lean on in any and all situations. He just isn't that player. Steelers fans want a Hines Ward kind of guy who will run all the routes (in his prime), fearless over the middle, tough and physical in traffic, blocks like crazy, fiery all-heart kind of player. Wallace is a unique weapon, and not that kind of leader you might want for all that dough you're giving him. He's not a one-trick pony as I love the screens and drags he can house with that YAC ability; but he's not your typical complete WR either. I think he has an effect on the rest of the offense, but not a huge one. If it was that significant, we'd be running the ball better, imo, or at least a little better than last season. Tannehill is improving a ton as well, and Clay and Gibson/Mathews are very nice pieces for this offense in terms of converting third downs. But I think Wallace gets red-hot the rest of this year and leads us to the postseason. I really do. He seems to be a real momentum up-and-down player, and we gotta keep feeding him to keep that edge he has going.
Do you think the S alignment may have been a factor in the Jets allowing 100 yards rushing against them for the first time this year? IMO those two long passes against Carolina had an obvious carry-over effect on how the Jets game planned for us. I don't believe (never have) that Wallace was worth that salary, but I do believe he impacts the D in a way that helps those around him. That's assuming you actually make the D pay when they don't respect him. I think that early in the season the opponents respected him more, but then as he and RT failed to make plays that respect faded. Carolina flat-out dared us to throw deep. Wallace and RT made some plays and there was a ton more space underneath against the Jets. I anticipate that the same may happen against Pitt.
And somehow you're forgetting that the OL is a disaster this year? We lost our LT Martin, G Incognito, Jake Long is gone and Pouncey missed a couple of recent games. Some of your recent posts are not reminiscent at all of the KB21 posts that I enjoyed reading in previous years.
His consistent deep threat helped the Dolphins to be able to run the ball so effectively, took some pressure off of the LOS.
