Why is Rawls Constantly Ran Off The Field on 3rd and Short?

It kills me to see Rawls playing with momentum, 3rd and 2, and he's pulled. At the very least the threat of him running should set up the pass and not make it so obvious.

very poor 3rd and short play calling. Need to get 2 point conversions done as well

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

timmat":2l7yt05p said:

It kills me to see Rawls playing with momentum, 3rd and 2, and he's pulled. At the very least the threat of him running should set up the pass and not make it so obvious.

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I agree. I don't get it...at least put him out there.!!

Have to make way for the empty sets that work about 4% of the time.

dontbelikethat":21xt5l6g said:

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

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This is the only thing that I can think of as well.

dontbelikethat":30wf2orh said:

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

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I know what play is happening after a third down pass or run with Jackson. A punt.

CalgaryHawk":37hcwnbr said:

dontbelikethat":37hcwnbr said:

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

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I know what play is happening after a third down pass or run with Jackson. A punt.

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Fred Jackson has been as a great addition, the bad thing about being a 3rd down back is you are in the game in the worst situations. He has been a huge improvement over Turbin!

Sports Hernia":14bi4a6u said:

Have to make way for the empty sets that work about 4% of the time.

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Woo hoo....it has gone up....Used to be 3%,

Jackson doesn't do a lot for me, we haven't really seen his speed or quickness out of the backfield we were promised.

So I'm with the OP, we found out that Rawls catches the ball great and has more speed and quick cutting ability than an old Fred Jackson. So I'm fine with Rawls staying in, as long as he's proficient with blocking assignments.

Rawls was playing sick yesterday. Just like Wilson.

Basis4day":245octbn said:

Rawls was playing sick yesterday. Just like Wilson.

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Except that isn't why they pull him. They do the same thing with Lynch. They do this to tell the other team "we are passing the ball".

Sports Hernia":10vxis0m said:

Have to make way for the empty sets that work about 4% of the time.

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But in the second quarter alone on Sunday, Wilson had the following completions out of spread sets, all of which came on time and within the play’s design: Tyler Lockett 11 yards on third-and-10; Doug Baldwin 16-yard TD on third-and-goal; Jimmy Graham 18 yards on third-and-10; Jermaine Kearse 22 yards on third-and-16; Kevin Smith 21 yards on the next play, followed immediately by a Jermaine Kearse 12-yard touchdown.

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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/11/30/russ ... fl-week-12


:thfight7:

dontbelikethat":12lkxdmt said:

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

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What makes these skills more important on 3rd and short and not 1st and 2nd down?

We have different personnel groupings and different variants off both passing and running plays when we bring in our 3rd down package. Rawls is just a rookie, so I would imagine that it's going to take some time before the coaching staff has confidence in expanding his role to include more 3rd down opportunities.

fenderbender123":1wed0mg2 said:

dontbelikethat":1wed0mg2 said:

Fred Jackson is a a dual threat. He's a beast at pass blocking, pass catching and can run the ball. You don't know what's goona happen if he's in the game.

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What makes these skills more important on 3rd and short and not 1st and 2nd down?

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The pass blocking is essential. It's typically the most likely down a defense will blitz. Meaning that running back is an offensive lineman first.

Jackson is still very much in the 'best in NFL' category in that regard. It can't be understated. And it's worth noting that Russell is now playing at a very high level against the blitz, which wasn't the case prior to the Cardinals game.

Rawls could very well still be learning that part of his craft. It's one of the last things that an NFL running back becomes competent at. Rawls is still a rookie with not a whole ton of collegiate experience or even NFL experience. I would fully expect that it's the fact that Rawls is not good enough YET at pass protection and that's the sole reason why Jackson comes in on third down.

Right now over the last three games, I'm liking the offense's performance on third down. I wouldn't change a thing in that regard. Even many of the failures we had -- the play calls and scheme were outstanding. But the throws were off time or off target. And that's really picking nits because from an execution standpoint, Wilson was overall outstanding. From a play call standpoint it's been excellent. And the timing has been greatly improved. Those passes are getting out fast. It really seems like Wilson is starting to show some consistent ability to get the ball out on time -- which is critical to him becoming a top flight pocket passer.

Once he establishes that ability -- and teams have to really sell out of their containment lanes to put pressure on him -- then those scramble lanes will open up again. He's now making teams pay for rushing with containment discipline. Which is making those gash scramble plays next to impossible. When rushers have to abandon that in order to try to penetrate more, they'll be out of position and Wilson will again have room to run.

It's the next evolution for him. Hope it continues to evolve. Wilson, if he does continue this arc -- will become every bit the elite QB that the contract implies. This Wilson is capable of making the OL look good. Which is what Peyton and Brady have been doing with subpar offensive lines for over a decade.

Rawls was in for several crucial 3rd down passing plays and did great in pass protection. The only reason he was run off the field on other 3rd down plays was that he had consecutive runs and Bevell wanted to give him a breather while putting in a fresh Jackson. Could be Bevell calling in package plays like mentioned previously too.

Russ Willstrong":3ojmg04j said:

Rawls was in for several crucial 3rd down passing plays and did great in pass protection. The only reason he was run off the field on other 3rd down plays was that he had consecutive runs and Bevell wanted to give him a breather while putting in a fresh Jackson. Could be Bevell calling in package plays like mentioned previously too.

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I didn't think that the use of Rawls was that much different than how we utilize Beast. He comes out on 3rd downs a lot, too, even on third and short. And giving our workhorse running back a blow is just as important as rotating our DL's to keep them fresh. You take a look around the league and there's not many 3 down running backs. They are a thing of the past.

timmat":8xd0325p said:

It kills me to see Rawls playing with momentum, 3rd and 2, and he's pulled.

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Me too. I have died multiple times because of this. Also the empty backfield sets have proven to be fatal for me.