Who Is Our Starting Offense?

[PatsFan2]

I have

Campbell, Wilson, Bradbury, Onwenu, Moses
Diggs, Douglas, Hollins, Henry
Henderson
Maye

Wrong your Idol Mack Hollins is not Starting. Maybe in your alternate Doppler ganger universe.

 

[mgteich]

Why would Hollins be your choice? You think Hollins is a better WR than Boutte? And if you are going to give bogus blocking argument then play 2 TEs or a FB.
What exactly do you see in Hollins?

First, we have different perspectives on this thread. I didn't mean to ask who posters wanted as their starters, or even who they wanted to get the most reps.

My very personal belief is that, at this point, Varbel and Josh have more faith in Hollins than Boutte, and PROBABLY consider Hollins a placeholder until hopefully Williams is ready.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Regardless of who starts, it'll probably be "use the run to set up the pass" - but for that reason alone having Henderson on the field more often will keep Ds honest

I think they'll want to showcase Henderson as a pass catching threat early in the season - with him out there Ds will question whether its a run or pass play

Overall while Diggs and Douglas will likely be the focus of the Raiders pass D, I can also see McDaniels/Maye targeting Hollins more as a result

I've called it earlier but I think fans are going to love this guy - at 6'4" 225 I look at him as another TE especially in the red zone.

 

[Salsalife]

I would love to give Chism, pop, diggs with westover and Henderson. Run 3 bunch wide outs with the threat of run.

 

[BobDigital]

When i look at 'starters' it isn't so much about who you're 11 best are. It is who is your 'Core'. Who are your 'key players' and then who are your 'rotational/situational guys'

Our current core is:

QB - Maye
OL - Campbell-Wilson-Bradbury-Onewnu-Moses
WR - Diggs
TE - Henry
RB - Henderson

These 9 will pretty much be out there whenever possible. Limited only by snap count and health. I don't see a situation where any should be off the field in a key situation no matter what it is if they have a snap to give, aren't tired and are healthy. Typically teams have 9-10 core guys.

The key players are IMO:

WR - Douglas, Boutte
TE - Hooper

There are guys you look to get in often. Typically the first guys you look to fill snaps. Hooper is in here only because Henry is older and will be on a bit more of a limited snap count and he is clearly the main back up. He will see a lot of snaps this year and will be out there with Henry a fair amount too. I don't believe we have a 'key RB' as it will be situational.

Next is your situational guys.

Guys who see less snaps and are dependent on trying to run a particular type of play, they can replace Key guys as they are better in those roles and typically Key guys aren't so good that they demand to be out there... those are what Core guys are.

WR
Hollins - If you need a big body or want a WR to run block you can put him in over Boutte/Douglas
Williams - If you want a guy to stretch the field he's your man... and the hope is he can be elevated to Key or even Core soon.
RB
Stevenson - He was Core by default last year - but fits better as a situational power back He saw 55% of snaps last year. I think this goes down to under 40%
Gibson - While he is seen as the 'RB3' I don't think his snaps go down this year. He's the guy who will fill in for Henderson when he needs a break from 3rd down duties. He saw 33% of snaps. I think this stays the same.
FB
Westover - He will be out there when you want a FB or for some tricky 3TE plays.

(Chism isn't listed as any of these... yet as i don't see him taking any snaps from Douglas if he is healthy anytime soon... But i think he has a chance to rise up over the course of the year)

 

[Ring 6]

First, we have different perspectives on this thread. I didn't mean to ask who posters wanted as their starters, or even who they wanted to get the most reps.

My very personal belief is that, at this point, Varbel and Josh have more faith in Hollins than Boutte, and PROBABLY consider Hollins a placeholder until hopefully Williams is ready.

What do you base that personal belief on?
Boutte had a great camp and drew tons of praise from the staff and was more productive last year than Hollins has ever been.
I don’t see why you would believe they have more confidence in a JAG than an up and coming improving player who played 80% of the snaps last year after wining a job.
Can you explain the pro Hollins argument?

 

[signbabybrady]

What do you base that personal belief on?
Boutte had a great camp and drew tons of praise from the staff and was more productive last year than Hollins has ever been.
I don’t see why you would believe they have more confidence in a JAG than an up and coming improving player who played 80% of the snaps last year after wining a job.
Can you explain the pro Hollins argument?

I think Boutte had a very hot start and was overall steady through camp but when Hollins came back he seemed to get more reps and more meaningful reps. Maybe it was just to play catch up after the PUP but I think he's just slightly ahead.

 

[Ring 6]

I think Boutte had a very hot start and was overall steady through camp but when Hollins came back he seemed to get more reps and more meaningful reps. Maybe it was just to play catch up after the PUP but I think he's just slightly ahead.

Boutte played more preseason snaps than Hollins and played them with Maye.
There is just no viable reason to move Hollins ahead of Boutte.

 

[signbabybrady]

Boutte played more preseason snaps than Hollins and played them with Maye.
There is just no viable reason to move Hollins ahead of Boutte.

They didn't really use him in preseason I assume because of the PUP. So I'm just going by the last 2 practices I saw and the reports after.

 

[Ring 6]

They didn't really use him in preseason I assume because of the PUP. So I'm just going by the last 2 practices I saw and the reports after.

Hollins played in the first 2 preseason games.

Can you show me reports that say Hollins is ahead of Boutte?

 

[signbabybrady]

Hollins played in the first 2 preseason games.

Can you show me reports that say Hollins is ahead of Boutte?

No just my reading the numbers each day. It was only a small window he came off the PUP and things were still open to the public but I thought Hollins was getting first team reps then.

And I know he dressed but he got like 6 snaps total I thought in preseason. Maybe that's a sign he's not going to be a big factor but I thought it had more to do with the PUP.

 

[Ring 6]

No just my reading the numbers each day. It was only a small window he came off the PUP and things were still open to the public but I thought Hollins was getting first team reps then.

And I know he dressed but he got like 6 snaps total I thought in preseason. Maybe that's a sign he's not going to be a big factor but I thought it had more to do with the PUP.

He played in the wash game (12 snaps I think) and 6 in the minn game.

Are you saying Boutte wasn’t getting 1st team reps because everything I’ve read says he has been 1st team every single day.

 

[Salsalife]

Chizzy hopefully will play. Best decision McDaniels will make Sunday. Reward him early for his determination. I wanna great story to read about Monday!

 

[Real fan 02]

I have

Campbell, Wilson, Bradbury, Onwenu, Moses
Diggs, Douglas, Hollins, Henry
Henderson
Maye

Campbell, Wilson, Bradbury, Onwenu, Moses

Diggs, pop, Boutte, Henry, rham, Drake

 

[rkarp1]

I see a McD offense able to integrate 3 RB's, a FB, 2 TE's and Diggs into a ball control, low risk, mitigate mistakes, protect the OL offense.
sure, they will take a shot every now and then down field.
the team will ride or die on defense, ST, situational football, mistake free. Maye will be groomed, not thrown into a fire. this is a long term build. we saw the steps in the process with Brady. we saw step 1 with Mac, with McD leaving before step 2.

 

[Ring 6]

I see a McD offense able to integrate 3 RB's, a FB, 2 TE's and Diggs into a ball control, low risk, mitigate mistakes, protect the OL offense.
sure, they will take a shot every now and then down field.
the team will ride or die on defense, ST, situational football, mistake free. Maye will be groomed, not thrown into a fire. this is a long term build. we saw the steps in the process with Brady. we saw step 1 with Mac, with McD leaving before step 2.

I think Maye is going to be cut loose. That is how this team becomes its best. Maye is a special talent, holding him back and trying to win on defense and special teams in a league dominated by offense with rules giving offense every advantage just doesn’t work.

 

[p8ryts]

I think Maye is going to be cut loose. That is how this team becomes its best. Maye is a special talent, holding him back and trying to win on defense and special teams in a league dominated by offense with rules giving offense every advantage just doesn’t work.

I don't advocate restricting his abilities. However, personnel and opponent may present a game plan focused on the run, and passing under 10 yards, going deep when the situation warrants. Play to the team's strength, not just Maye. Clearly if the other team is playing defense primarily within the 10 yards, then you exploit those opportunities. Then it becomes Mayes time.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't advocate restricting his abilities. However, personnel and opponent may present a game plan focused on the run, and passing under 10 yards, going deep when the situation warrants. Play to the team's strength, not just Maye. Clearly if the other team is playing defense primarily within the 10 yards, then you exploit those opportunities. Then it becomes Mayes time.

I think you have to run a full offense and challenge every part of the defense. Every NFL offense today includes a high percentage of short passes.
The suggestion appeared to be run the ball and only throw when you have to, but we really need Maye to have the opportunity to throw the ball in neutral run/pass situations which are where down the field opportunities present themselves.
No one is going to defend this team, yet, by over committing to deep coverage and leaving the running and short pass d vulnerable.

 

[Wozzy]

If it’s raining at Gillette, this will be another good example why “starting” doesn’t matter.

They’ll probably roll two TE’s out there or 6 offensive linemen… it’s about the matchup, not who is “best.”

 

[goheels22002]

I have

Campbell, Wilson, Bradbury, Onwenu, Moses
Diggs, Douglas, Hollins, Henry
Henderson
Maye

That's like, one play. Josh is going to go deep in this roster with the skill players running plays that he knows they can execute. I also see the O-line shuffling regularly to give everyone a break. The only player on the O-line who will get 90%-plus of the snaps will be Onwenu. The backs will rotate on every series or series by series to keep them fresh and test the Raiders. Diggs will probably get 50% of the snaps or less while they keep an eye on his knee in live action. My guess is we see a lot of Boutte and Douglas in various sets. Too bas Chism is inactive.