I have no problem with seeing it used less. It was clearly used less as the season went on. Its not a system that requires just Brad Smith to make it work. It can work with another player. Brad Smith is a role player, just like Leon was a role player. Even fans have to realize a business decision when its staring at you in the face. The Wildcat is not successful enough to be an entity that cannot be removed from the offensive system. Like Cato said, Draw Plays, Play Action, or Flea Flickers would do just as well. Imagine if this offense ran more draws or PA? It'd be, IMO, better than running the Wildcat.
Why should he be babied in his third year? Your last sentence sounds like a offense that has no faith in their QB after a bad throw and don't think he can compose himself after it. I don't see other offenses doing that unless they have a failure at QB like Chad Henne.
Hes 24 years old dude. Look at big ben, the guys won a Superbowl already and he still gets rattled after a big hit. I see nothing wrong with sending out Brad Smith for a single play after someone like Terrell Suggs crushes your 24 year old QB. Theres a reason there arent many stud 24 year old QBs in the nfl, it takes years to develop which is why all the best qbs are late 20s and early 30s. Hell if this guy can play 98% of the snaps for a season, thats a pretty damn good job
Do we all just remember the Bills and Bengal games and nothing else? Those are the games where it racked up yards and made big plays. It did well on a few 3rd and shorts, but this is not some sort of staple where its a sin to remove it. Can we all understand that?
Taking your QB out after a huge hit tells my defense he's either hurt or scared or both. Run the ball after a huge it, because that's what the wildcat is going to do anyway.
Taking the bills and bengal games out (the 2 best wildcat games last season) Brad smith still averaged over 6 YPC on 32 carries. Which is significantly better than any other player on the team. No its not a staple, nor would I be outraged if we got rid of it. But it does work, VERY well for us. If Bsmith came back for the right price then viva the wildcat, if he wants big bucks then its something we could easily live without I just dont get the people who are so against it even though it obviously works so well
Alright what about the thought of taking your QB out to discuss something that the defense is doing then ? I mean its possible that the defense/offense is giving something away and your qb isnt picking up on it, and by bringing Sanchez over it gives you a minute or 2 to discuss something that could let a big play occur. You gotta remember hes still a kid and it takes YEARS for a qb to learn everything.
The point is that the Jets are paying and coaching Sanchez to become that elite, HOF player. He's not going to develop into that QB if he Jets don't let him try and play like one. Hiding him behind the wildcat isn't going to get this team over the hump. No, successful teams with great passing attacks don't need to rely upon gimmicks. Aside from the Jets the only two teams who committed to the wildcat as a serious portion of their offense were Browns and Dolphins. In that time Miami has made one playoff appearance and then produced back-to-back 7-9 seasons. As for the Browns, Cribbs took a decent amount of snaps under center for someone who isn't the QB but that number dropped off as Colt McCoy began emerging. Here's the overall analysis from the end of the article: Schurmer wants to develop his young QB and give McCoy a weapon to throw at and the Phins are probably going to let their wildcat QB walk without a definite replacement on the roster. There is also the fact that we've heard little in the way of interest about keeping Smith from the Jets' FO. Which means that they either: 1. feel confident that they have a wildcat QB on the roster between Kerley, Tomlinson and J. McKnight or 2. they're planning on phasing it out. The three top teams at running the wildcat are showing strong indicators that they are planning on shying away from it. That has to tell everybody something.
That's great for a rookie and OK for a second-year player but at this point he has to learn to recognize what the defense is showing him on the field when he is ON THE FUCKING FIELD. If you want to give a QB the sideline perspective of defensive trends then he already has a coordinator on the sideline, an earpiece in his helmet, position and assistant coaches in the booth upstairs and meetings with Schottenheimer, Cavanaugh and Brunell after the offensive series. None of that even includes the team/coach-guided film-study sessions on Monday and the position and offensive meetings during practice the rest of the week. Sanchez already has all of those resources at his disposal. What would taking him out mid-series accomplish aside from breaking his rhythm?
I do not see many people in this thread that are against the Wildcat. I see people who accept the inevitability that the effectiveness of the Wildcat is declining, and the almost certain departure of Brad Smith. Year 3 is usually make or break for a quarterback. No need to take snaps away from a budding franchise quarterback because you are sentimental about a player whose only future effectiveness, due mainly to new kick return rules, resides in one of the oldest and most simplistic offensive formations in the history of this sport. It may be effective because of Brad Smith, but it is still a sign that you do not trust your passer if you utilize it too much.
I am so sick of the WC, I don't care what the #s say it wasn't nearly as effective this past season. He broke off some big runs from time to time which skew the averages but it was stopped far too often. I hate to see Brad leave but I'm happy we should be seeing less wildcat.
I'm not going to get carried away about losing Brad Smith until we find out what the FA rules for 2011 are going to be, because if they carry over the 2010 rules due to an extended lockout, we have him locked up as RFA until the new CBA kicks in. But I hate to lose a home run threat, especially someone that can turn piss into lemonade as he does with that vanilla single wing crap. Anybody that can return a kickoff for a TD wearing one shoe, in the playoffs... you don't let that fucker go, ever.
Over the past 25 games there might not be a player on our roster that has made more big plays than this guy. I understand that you can't pay everyone and sometimes tough business decisions need to be made ... but I'm not going to pretend that losing Brad Smith doesn't hurt the team. There's no question that we're a better team with him than without him. It sucks that we have to let him go, and with more playing time I expect him to make an even bigger impact wherever he ends up. The guy can play and he has a great attitude.
