NFL Film Breakdown: Darren Waller – The Bludgeon of Las Vegas

Darren Waller has arrived. After overcoming difficulties in his personal life, he made sure the Raiders were rewarded for taking a chance on him by catching 90 passes and racking up over 1,100 yards. He had the 3^rd most targets for tight ends at 117, the 2^nd most receiving yards, and had the third best rate of yards per route run with 2.87. He’s a physical monster. He can run with corners and is big and aggressive at the point of the catch. He’s a tenacious blocker who can take on 1-on-1 assignments in pass pro and is more than willing to stick his nose into the run game. The Raiders offense would not be able to function at nearly the same rate as it did without him on the field. He’s an incredibly versatile player and what may be worrisome for the rest of the league is that the former college receiver may only be at the tip of the iceberg as far as his potential.

Note: If you prefer to watch a video breakdown, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Waller’s work as a blocker is where it all starts. In pass protection, he shows surprising strength for a tight end and can be hard to root out on bull rushes and has good feet to protect against guys getting around the edge.

He has good hand usage and is constantly replacing and working to get into the chest of defenders. This allows him to maintain position, control the defensive end, and prevents holding calls which can pop up when guys grab outside on the shoulder pads.

He understands pass blocking schemes and the Raiders even feel confident enough in his abilities to slide away from him at times and leave him in a true one-on-one with a defensive end. Here, the Packers are showing seven potential rushers but five guys on the line of scrimmage. The offensive line is sliding to the left towards the middle linebacker #50 Blake Martinez. That leaves five offensive linemen responsible for the five defenders to the left of Darren Waller. All protections want to maximize the number of 2 on 1s or 3 on 2s against the defensive line and slide protections help do that. As a consequence, though, Waller is left isolated against Preston Smith, who had 12 sacks on the year and is a legitimate pass rusher. Waller is put in the hardest position possible because he is away from the slide. The running back is coming across to give help if needed but because Smith is lined up so wide, Waller has to kick outside to meet him. Smith has a lot of space for a two way go but the RB is responsible for any inside move. This frees up Waller to set more to the outside. Smith goes for the straight bull rush and you can see Waller constantly fighting for hand position. While losing ground, he is able to anchor enough to give Carr time to throw. Is it a perfect rep? No, but this is a tight end against one of the best defensive ends in the league right here and he holds his own just fine.

On some of their play-action plays where they’re showing a split zone look, the Raiders will crunch Waller across the formation to pick up the defensive end. Usually, they’ll chip this end with a receiver or someone before he gets there, but he still eventually ends up in one-on-one situations against true pass rushers. The Raiders clearly have no qualms about him holding up in pass pro and it allows him to do a lot more things in that offense.

He did have some issues picking up stunts a couple times on the defensive line though. If the edge defender spikes inside, you’ve got to be aware that someone else is probably coming around outside and he was late with his eyes in picking that up. This isn’t a great pass blocking rep for the left tackle either because he slides down to the linebacker which leaves Waller alone with two defenders and he’s late to pick up the inside stunt from the man lined up over Waller.

He can pass protect along with the best tight ends in the league but he’s also very good in the run game. He moves his feet well, shows good strength, and takes good angles and adjustments when defenders move. The same crunch scheme we saw before is used a lot but instead of for pass pro, it’s used to seal off the backside on split zone run plays. Split zone is just a zone running scheme but with the H back, Darren Waller, coming across the formation to seal off the backside end who is typically left unblocked. This allows for larger cutback lanes for the running back.

Just like he can pass protect, he can also block straight up on these run plays and work double teams with other tight-ends, handle frontside reach blocks, climb to the second level, and create movement at the line of scrimmage.

I’m talking about his blocking so much because one, the Raiders are a ball control team and believe in the run game and two, it really opens things up for him in the passing game. He’s a legitimate threat in the run game and in pass pro so when he sells those on delayed releases or as part of the passing scheme, players have to respect that he will dominate them if they don’t attack run first. He runs a lot of these delay release flats where he’s lined up as if he’ll handle the defensive end. He’ll make good contact and then release into the flats. Often, it’s enough to make linebackers drop away in coverage and he’ll be sitting all alone for a yards after catch opportunity.

They also run him on those same crunch blocks that we saw for pass pro and split zone but now slip him into the flats after a hard play-action which gives him a ton of room to work with and keeps the defense honest.

Honestly, he doesn’t have to open himself up a whole lot. The scheme and his effectiveness as a blocker do that mostly on its own. The Raiders will split him out wide with relative frequency though and he’s big, fast, and a matchup issue for a lot of teams. He’s a natural hands catcher and has the speed to run with corners. A lot teams didn’t even try to put a linebacker on him because it’s such a clear mismatch.

Despite being a receiver at Georgia Tech, he really only has one consistent move. He loves to use foot fire at the top of his routes and he’s incredibly good at removing defenders’ hands when they try to jam him and slow him down. He’s able to defeat jams incredibly fast and a lot of corners and safeties that guard him have a tough time slowing him down through his route. As soon as he feels contact from defenders whether it’s at the line or during his route, he violently removes their hands so they can’t slow him down or run with him while keying the quarterback.

So if you jam him, you’re ultimately just going to have to run with him because he’s going to defeat it at the line of scrimmage, if you play off, he’s going to work up onto your toes with his speed and give a foot fire before breaking off his route. It’s his way of stopping defenders’ feet while keeping himself and his hips pointed forwards or allowing him to breakdown and explode out of the cut instead of leaning into it at full speed.

Here he shows one of his more polished routes that incorporate both his hand usage and foot fire but also add on a stacking technique into the route. On the snap, he receives an immediate jam attempt which he removes. He then fights to stack and get back on top of the defender by the top of his route. Once he’s in that position, he’s able to foot fire and the defender doesn’t know which way he’s going and it helps him get his feet under him for his break to the outside. He’s physical, fast, and shows just enough route running nuance to open himself up when needed.

There shouldn’t be any doubt of his physicality because of his blocking but if you’re a smaller DB and you get caught up with him, things are going to end badly for you.

While the physical tools are definitely there and he has a few route tricks to work with, they’re far from being an every down thing. He can sometimes mistime his foot fire steps. The foot fire only really works if you’re up onto the defenders’ toes. With too much space, they’re not threatened by you vertically and have space to break on whichever direction the route is going.

When he doesn’t use that foot fire, he’ll often show some body lean as he rounds into his routes which gives defenders easy keys to break on. He may be strong enough to create separation but he can also initiate it unnecessarily. He’s fast enough that if he’s not contacted he’ll run right by you so fixing these things are the next step in his growth.

Waller is so fast and physical that he really doesn’t need any more tools other than his occasional foot fire and some route stemming. He blocks well, he can get open, and he consistently wins contested catches. The guy is a monster and soon we’ll be talking about him in the same vein as Kittle and Kelce. The dude is that good. There are a few inconsistencies with his blocking and the Raiders would give him a running back to help chip most of the time but he adds so much versatility to that offense. He opens up the run game, provides a sure-handed outlet in Gruden’s ball control offense, and can beat you deep with speed. He’s everything you’d want from a tight end and with the weapons that Raiders now have, big things may be on the horizon in Las Vegas.

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NFL Film Breakdown: Is Derek Carr a Game Manager or Does he Have Untapped Potential?

Since Jon Gruden has come back to the Raiders for his second stint as the head coach, Derek Carr’s completion percentage has shot up 8% where he’s now completing 70% of his passes. Questions have popped up about whether he’s the right fit for Gruden’s offense or if the Raiders will soon move on from the quarterback. While Carr may have some issues, it’s also important to understand the context within which he’s playing. Often criticized for his lack of shots downfield, Carr is actually one of the most accurate deep throwers in the NFL. Since 2016, Carr is the 3^rd most accurate in deep passes for targets 20+ yards downfield. Throwing the deep ball isn’t so much the issue as is the frequency with which he throws it. As his career has gone on, his intended air yards has steadily decreased year after year. But is this by design and a manifestation of the personnel and scheme or is Carr simply not a gambler and more comfortable managing the game through checkdowns?

Note: If you prefer to watch a video breakdown, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Gruden’s offense emphasizes ball control, a strong run game, high percentage throws, and getting positive yardage on every play with the occasional shot downfield. Derek Carr executes the underneath game incredibly well. He reads quickly and efficiently and can make accurate throws. It’s not the most exciting, but it is effective. The Raiders ranked 7^th in the league in time of possession and when you have a defense that isn’t complete, holding onto the ball minimizes the possessions of the opponent and gives you a better chance to win.

These rhythm and short and intermediate throws are where Carr is at his best. He can drive the ball, shows good understanding of zone space, and can read decisively and efficiently. He understands how to move defenders with his eyes and where that will open up space on his next read. He is especially good at throwing short posts or post sits into zone coverage. He’s patient enough to let defenders flow away from the area he needs to throw to and has the arm strength and touch to fit the ball into tight windows. You see his eyes manipulate safeties to open up areas and he very rarely throws his receivers into trouble – throwing back hip to slow them down or making them settle into a hole.

These are the main things that Carr was asked to do in the Raiders offense this last year. That being said, he did have some issues.

If you’re going to roll with the possession passing, you’ve got to be accurate. Short passes obviously help that cause and lead to Carr’s 70.4% completion percentage in 2019. However, while the Raiders receivers definitely struggled with drops throughout the year, Carr was also inconsistent with his ball placement underneath at times which prevented yards after catch potential.

He has a big issue with pointing his toe and leaving his leg on his throwing motion which limits his hip rotation and ends up causing him to throw behind receivers. Whether it’s a slant or a quick out, these kinds of throws pop up a few times a game and when you’re throwing to running backs or trying to push an offense that needs yards after catch, that’s a big issue. Without bringing his hips all the way around and using his leg to follow through, he gets a lot of horizontal inaccuracy. From a mechanics standpoint, you want to point your toe where the receiver will be and fight to get your hips pointed in that same direction after your follow through. This allows you to generate consistent power and accuracy that stems from your lower body and leads to more consistent throws.

When faced with pressure, Carr often quickly goes straight from his deep read to a checkdown in the flats or underneath instead of progressively going through his intermediate routes down to his outlets. As we talked about earlier, he can throw the deep ball perfectly fine, he just doesn’t throw it often. Instead of going from the post to the curl here, he moves directly to the flare by the running back for a loss of yardage.

Here he misses the dig in the middle of the field once pressure starts to get near him and throws the checkdown underneath. These passes might steadily move the ball but it’s really hard to march down the field 5 yards at a time in the NFL. The Broncos here are running cover 4. As the linebacker responsible for the flat leaves with the running back, that opens a huge space for the dig over the middle. Carr is experiencing a collapsing pocket but there’s a lack of anticipation here which happens frequently when he’s under duress.

Here the Jaguars bring a ton of pressure which means you have man coverage outside. As soon as pressure appears, Carr immediately dumps the ball off to his running back for a loss of yards. If he read the linebacker running to cover the running back and climbed the pocket, he would have seen his receiver wide open on the crosser.

So, he has some faults with anticipation when under pressure but from a pure passing standpoint he has the tools. His mechanics are largely clean aside from his occasional lack of follow through. His base can get a little tight and he can get jittery and bouncy in the pocket but it largely doesn’t impact his deep ball accuracy. He shows really good touch on balls down the field and lets receivers use their already established leverage. He puts good arc on the ball so it’s easier to track, and allows for yards after the catch.

All-in-all, Derek Carr is running what Gruden is asking of him and running it well. The Raiders controlled the ball, were in a number of close games, and were competitive late into the year. Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow emerged as legitimate weapons and Josh Jacobs was an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Now throw in the addition of Henry Ruggs and some true speed on that offense and the Raiders are going to have the most talented skill positions that Carr has had to date. Carr can push the ball downfield and I fully expect to see more shots with the talent the Raiders have. It’s time to open things up in Vegas. Gruden likes to dial it up a couple times a game, and now the personnel match the look of a more explosive and exciting offense that’s ready to challenge for a playoff spot in 2020.

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NFL Film Breakdown: Josh Jacobs’ Big Impact

Josh Jacobs was a huge hit for the Raiders with the 24^th overall pick. In 13 games for them this season he amassed 1,150 yards rushing on 242 carries for an average of 4.8 yards per carry – ranking him 5^th in the league for those with over 200 carries. While not much of a passing threat out of the backfield, he proved to be an exceptional runner in Jon Gruden’s run-heavy offense. When faced with short yardage situations, he got a first down 75% of the time.

He as extremely effective as a 1^st and 2^nd down back. While 86% of his attempts came when the Raiders were under center, the Raiders used a ton of outside zone and stretch concepts to get Jacobs pushing the edge before making a decisive cut to gain yards. Rarely did they run him right up the middle. Normally when you see the kind of personnel that the Raiders trot onto the field like two tight end sets or three running backs you think power downhill football. Almost the opposite is the case though and it fits Jacobs’ skillset perfectly. He was patient yet decisive as the outside zone concepts developed and when he saw a gap, he would explode through. Jacobs also showed flashes of exceptional ability to make people miss in the backfield. A number of times on broken plays or run blitzes that were missed, he would find a way to escape and gain yards. While there is a ton of stuff to love about Jacobs in his first year, he did have a tendency to dance in the open field and at times he would get caught waiting so long for things to develop that he would get caught from the backside and get tackled for a loss.

OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 9: Oakland Raiders’ Josh Jacobs (28) celebrates his 4-yard touchdown against the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter of their NFL game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

We’ll take a look here at Jacobs’ rookie season, what he excelled at, what he struggled with, his fit in the Raiders scheme, and what to expect from him going into his sophomore campaign.

Let’s start off with the Raiders use of outside zone. Jacobs is a one cut guy which fits perfectly with a zone blocking scheme. He has a great understanding of how to set up blocks and is patient enough to let the play develop before sticking his foot in the ground and getting up-field. You can take a look below to understand the general concept of outside zone. The entire offensive line will move one direction and generally leave the backside defender unblocked. There is no designated hole and linemen generally try to reach the first player to their playside before passing off that block to the offensive lineman that is away from the play or double-teaming with that offensive linemen to the linebacker. Jacobs, the running back, has an aiming point to get outside the offensive tackle. If the defense seals off the outside, he shifts his vision one hole in until he finds a lane and can take it.

Below you can see the Raiders run this out of 21 personnel (2 running backs and 1 tight end). With the fullback #45 leading the way to help the tight end on the right side if he needs help. The Raiders rarely ask their tight ends to win 1-on-1 with a defensive end and almost always find a way to work a double team with them whether it’s with another tight end, a fullback, or offensive tackle. As you can see, Jacobs takes an initial track to get outside but the center #61 is beat pretty quickly by the nose tackle. Jacobs does an awesome job shuffle cutting to get around while maintaining his initial track. He understands that there is backside pursuit and the end has been left unblocked so he must maintain his track to the right. It might only be a 3-4 yard gain, but there is no wasted movement in his cut and he immediately hits the hole when it appears.

Here’s another example of the stretch outside zone where the center again begins to lose ground. Jacobs once again cuts behind him and gets vertical for yardage very quickly and efficiently. Jacobs does an exceptional job of setting up cutbacks as we’ll see in a moment. By pressing all the way to the rear end of the center, he is forcing linebackers to pursue as if he is going to go outside. When this happens, it allows his linemen to set up blocks and angles for him to exploit.

To help Jacobs with his ability to cutback, the Raiders run a ton of crunch action from their fullbacks and H backs who are lined up in the backfield. Below you can see the exact same blocking scheme for the Raiders except for the H #83 Darren Waller coming across the formation on a crunch kick-out block.

Waller does a really good job picking up the first enemy color because the left tackle gets beat inside by #94 Dean Lowry. Ideally he is able to get onto that block and the H can come all the way across to the unblocked man #55 Za’Darius Smith. As it is though, Waller is able to seal the cutback lane for Jacobs regardless and the rest is all Josh Jacobs. Jacobs pushes outside hard to set up his blockers to be able to climb and get up on linebackers before cutting back underneath the H crunch and getting into the open field. Jacobs’ one-cut change of direction is special. Even when he’s into the second level, he can stick his foot in the ground and get away from flowing defenders to give himself more room. He won’t break your ankles, but he will use your momentum against you and give himself space to work.

Here’s another great example of the use of the crunch block for the cutback. It’s again an outside zone blocking scheme with Darren Waller #83 in a tight split coming across the formation to crunch and kick out Khalil Mack #52. Take a look here at both the linebackers and how they react to Jacobs pressing his playside run to the left. They both hop and get out of position which allows the linemen to get up to the second level and seal them off from making a play on Jacobs. Jacobs reads that playside is covered and cuts back underneath the flowing linebackers.

The Raiders will also use a quick hitting pin and pull quick pitch scheme to get Jacobs on the edge and allow him to read and set up blocks. They usually do it off of some type of jet or slow motion to pull eyes from the defense before snapping it and pitching it to Jacobs on the outside. The only thing that changes in the blocking scheme is that the receiver to the playside will pin the end inside and allow the playside tackle to loop around and get downfield.

Here again is the quick pitch with the design to get outside. The Bears do a good job of sealing it off but most of the defense has over-pursued and Jacobs is able to cut underneath and find a lane for the touchdown.

While Jacobs displays great patience setting up and waiting for holes to develop, this can sometimes cause him to get tackled by backside pursuit for negative yards or no gain. Here Jacobs has a clear lane off the center but stutter steps and tries to string it out before getting tackled by the unblocked end from the backside.

Jacobs again here slow plays while trying to set up blocks but gets tackled by aggressive backside pursuit from the linebacker position. If there’s one way to stop Jacobs, this is it. If you can hold the point of attack, unblocked ends and linebackers can shoot in from the backside and tackle him behind the line of scrimmage.

Overall, Jacobs seems set up to succeed. While the Raiders don’t have a super diverse run game, it is exceptionally effective and efficient and plays off of Jacobs’ one-cut style of running. While primarily a 1^st and 2^nd down back, I expect he will start getting more 3^rd down reps as he becomes more acquainted with NFL blitz pickups. He’s a fine catcher and decent in pass protection but Gruden routinely picked Richard over him in 3^rd down situations. The more he’s on the field, the greater fantasy impact he has. While there may be injury concerns, Jacobs mostly does a good job of rolling off of contact and avoiding big hits which should reduce injuries in the future. There’s a lot to love about Jacobs’ running style and he is clearly the back of the future for the Raiders. Expect 250 + carries and 1,200 or yards from him to be the status quo in years to come.

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