Pigrome

[bunker]

Coaching staff knows Prukop well, and saw Pigrome throughout camp, preseason and a game. They made their decision, they likely know best and it makes sense to me. Prukop has generally been money on 3rd and 1, and very good at getting 3-5 yards on second and short. Pigrome was not doing great on short yardage, and was all about potential on a team that already has a defined #1 and #2 QB.

[TecnoGenius]

How many times were we stuffed last season on similar plays?    Likely not more than once or twice in the entire season.....

I watch SY plays with great zeal and attention since I got back into Bomber-watching.  I just love the sneak.  Maybe my favorite part of the O.

The master was The Feve (Le Fevour), who I'm pretty sure made 100% of his SY.  Strev missed 2, if I'm not mistaken, but blowing up teams on 2nd & 1 several times was worth the failures on 3rd.  McGuire blew 2 I think.  Marve missed maybe 1-2?

WPG is exceptionally good on 3rd & 1 going back to Marve.

Feve is my all-time fave SY guy, even more than Strev.  Strev could kill you down the field, but Feve would plow you for that yard every time and the D's might as well just step aside and give him that yard.  Plus, that awesome story that OL guy once told about soft-spoken Feve blowing up in their face taking total control.

As for recent guys, Pigrome blew 2 for 2.  Brown has blown a couple in very few attempts.  Prukop has blown 2 now, in many attempts?  But Prukop does provide a "Strev-lite" pass threat on X & 1.  Just make sure it's not a deep one in SSK in -15C windchill...

[pjrocksmb]

Wasn't Pigrome released the same day Prukop was reacquired?

I can understand why that happened. Familiarity tends to matter more than potential*, especially in a backup/specific usage role.

What's also worth noting is Pigrome remained unsigned for the better part of two weeks until the RedBlacks ran into QB depth issues.

* I'm sure the coaching staff has better insight than any fan does

Yes I believe he was signed and release same-day

[Waffler]

As for recent guys, Pigrome blew 2 for 2.  Brown has blown a couple in very few attempts.  Prukop has blown 2 now, in many attempts? 

Since you are the SY guy, how do you feel about the push of this year's o-line? Have the recent failure to converts been on the QB or o-line in your view?

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Since you are the SY guy, how do you feel about the push of this year's o-line? Have the recent failure to converts been on the QB or o-line in your view?

What was worrying was our initial drive against Edmonton was stuffed on a 3rd and short.   Not a great start to the game.   The next 3rd and short situation was botched by Prukop and we lost the ball on that one as well.   Looking at the O-Line we didn't get much of a push on either of those two attempts and both were very early in the game.    I can't recall that happening on back to back short yardage attempts....other than the goal line stand where Pigrome failed to convert on both tries.    Last year we were virtually automatic on 3rd and short.....this year not so much.   

That being said Pigrome converted all of his 3rd and short situations for the Red Blacks......and Prukop since joining us has had difficulty as well.   So to me, the problem isn't as much the QBs....it's our O-Line which has been inconsistent as they also have looked good at times?   Hmmmm??

[TecnoGenius]

Since you are the SY guy, how do you feel about the push of this year's o-line? Have the recent failure to converts been on the QB or o-line in your view?

Good question!  It's so hard to tell.  A few thoughts:

1. Since WPG has been so good at the sneak since Marve days, and our Marve and Feve OL's were sometimes of iffy quality, one would have to assign more onus to the QB.  If OL was paramount, then Marve & Feve wouldn't have been as successful as they were.  (Though Marve/Feve may have benefited from the seasons we had Bond as IMP RG.)

2. I think SY failures are up league-wide this year.  Maybe a stats guy could check, but that is my gut impression.  We've seen many teams fail.  It's not as automatic as it felt, say, 5 years ago.  I recall back then you'd just expect a team to make the sneak and it was a big deal when they failed.  If true, this could maybe be an indication that DL/DT performance has increased league-wide.  Or maybe the DLs have found new tactics that snuff the sneak.  For instance, I've seen a lot more edge guys make it to the QB to stop the 2nd push.

3. I think the OL is a big part of the initial push/attempt but it's up to the quality/talent of the QB to make any extra push if required: to spin off contact, or make another push or leap, or extend the arms, etc.  That is where experience or raw determination of the QB could really come into play.

If Prukop blew 2 the other night then I think he has doubled his overall Bomber X&1 failures, which is kind of crummy from a stat point of view and now puts him below all of Marve, Feve, Strev, McGuire.  However, since he just came back, I'll personally give him a mulligan and wait to see what he does for the rest of the year.  I'm not panicking.