DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Grading Davidson

The guy's pretty limited in what he can change mid-season, but the offense looks more organized and executes better overall, IMO.
He has them driving the ball more, but is still working to get into the endzone more consistently.

2-2 since the change, but we have yet to put together a solid offensive game (4 quarters).

Has he done enough to keep the job next year?

If not - what are the key factors to watch over the next 6 games that will impact that decision? What does he need to do to earn that shot?

A brilliant student is going to have a hard time if he has to study using a morons notebook.

Any grade from me will have to wait until next season.

IMO yes, he has. I just don't see the dumbass calls I saw when Mo was running the show.

Isee charlie FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!! which is flat out stupid. He is calling out protection schemes as he sees fit, which I NEVER saw from him when Mo ran it.

JMO

Is that an endorsement to keep him at OC for another season?

That's the basis of the question. Has he done enough to keep the job - or does that remain to be seen?

Do we go through the hole political interview process, including Davidson, in the off-season - or are we content w/ our staff at this point?

Yes, that is an endorsement mostly because I don't think we are going to do anything else.

[color:"orange"] I share the views of many in this thread, hard to grade him when he's working from Mo's playsheet (with a mix of his system).

From the limited info I have, I'd have to say he'll be back next year. I think he's done some good things thus far, and he's truly only scratching the surface.
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actually, I find it easier to give him my stamp of approval BECAUSE he's working from the same playbook. We actually have a direct comparison of the two, and Davidson is definitely superior.

If this is what he can do while being hamstrung with someone elses playbook, then I would say he'd most certainly earned the right to do it a year or two with his own.

That's a good point, Ppl.

Its another one of those things where you have to try to look around the personnel, system, etc, etc to really see what the guy is going.

I'd like to see some improvement in the red-zone to cement it for me, but I'm leaning that way we well. The offense looks totally different - which is pretty amazing considering....

Might depend also on who else comes available in the off-season, but RAC seems to like his OC (maybe because he's not as skilled there) to be someone he really trusts.

That gets to my point of a smart person working from a morons notes.

Once he has a chance to really go through and make changes, then we will see what he has to offer.

Right now he is only able to patch things as they fall apart.

[color:"orange"]Good point. [/color] <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Yep....good point <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />


Glad somebody brought that up!! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[color:"white"]I think we've seen solid strides so far from the "new" offense.

Forget the talk that this is just Mo's offense. Davidson has to call the plays and get the guys ready to go. He has the teams confidence, and under him, Frye has played better. Still not good enough, but better.

Give him a line and the ability to be flexible with his plays and we'd see a marked improvement. [/color]

I think the differences between Mo (many plays/many formations) and Davidson (few plays/many formations) has to be a factor because he's limited in how much he can change in a single week.

Its not that its "Mo's" as much as that its "different". Mo's system is based on other successful systems - just wasn't used effectively here.

I'd bet that if he had a whole off season, we'd see totally different personnel packages as well.

Change <> better - but I think the fact that he's working with a system that is so dissimilar to his own is certainly a factor.

[color:"white"]I agree. Given more time, Davidson can tweak it to reflect his ideas.

With that being said, we're looking into the future, and away from your thread title, which is grading Davidson now.

To me, this doesn't look like Mo's offense. Seriously, how many stupid play calls have we seen since he took over? People can get on him if they wish about being too conservative, but that's different than fullback passes <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> [/color]

I think we're discussing the factors that we need to be considered to grade him now.


I think you're missing the nuances of what an offensive "system" is.

Who knows whether or not Mo's system was bad? That's like swinging a sword from the wrong end. The sword's a great weapon, but ya gotta use it right. I don't think Mo qualified as a "Ninja master" if you get my drift - unless that was an episode of the Three Stooges that I missed.

[color:"white"]Not missing the nuances, as much as identifying the differences between Mo and Davidson.

Many of the schemes I thought were good. I just hated his playcalling, and I think that's now been proven to be correct. In that regard, the difference IMHO is how Davidson is working the offense, which is why I say it's his and not MO's.

Truth be told, there are only so many plays. That sounds like an oversimplification, but it's rather accurate. We're still going with a version of the Denver offense on the ground, and using some basic plays to move the ball. The difference to me is that we're not messin' around with bad gambles and dumb calls.

To me, that's the difference, and it's why I think Davidson is a distinct improvement, even though it's not totally his offense.

If I had to grade him based on the fact that he's got young skill players and a pathetic line, I'd give him a B+, if for no other reason the offense has looked a little steadier, even if it still can't run or score points. [/color]

Ahhhh. Gotcha. I misunderstood what you were getting at.

TOAD...



you're right...a questionable philosphy is a big step up from flat-out mistakes. that said, it doesn't make a questionable philosphy not worthy of address...

i don't have all the answers like the board geniuses, but at some point, i would like to see our team develop a fearless identity...no, we don't have the talent to be aggressive all the time...but closing shop on O after snagging a meager lead is not the way to develop a tough mentality on offense that i think we need to compete in this division.

[color:"white"]He has room to be questioned on his conservative nature. I think I said that DNA <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I also think that unlike Mo, this truly is his first time being an OC. In my opinion, with a bad line, young skill players, and a young, rash, and mistake prone QB, I think he needs a little time to slowly work out of that kind of thinking.

Danglet, it's almost semantics, and VERY hard to define the slight differences over the net, hehe.[/color]

That's the ONE criticism of Davidson that I have. We've gone neo-Republican conservative near the end of many games we've had a lead in. I almost think that even under Mo, we play better from behind.

Otherwise the difference is what I expected it'd be, not so much a difference on the scoreboard, but more in the time of possession and drive sustainment.

We have been sustaining drives, we just haven't been able to close them out, which really sucks.

IMO Davidson gets next year to fully implement his system. I like what I see already. I'm just afraid that a conservative nature will cost us games.

I've been wondering how much of the "conservatism" in on RAC and how much is on the coordinators.

Does Grantham and Davidson have control, or does RAC dictate some of this stuff.

My guess would be that RAC has a large hand in how the game is managed.

I take many of my opinions from how we play the squealers. Quite frankly, I think Opie does too.. he was fuming after last Christmas Eve.. so was I. He wanted people that could help beat the pukes and so did I.

I think there has been an improvement in the offense, but it's not enough yet. We can play good, but only for several quarters. We simply don't know how to close the sale yet.

Incomplete grade from me.

We can't really grade him until next year at this time.
The one thing I think Mo has on JD is the 'play to win' mentality instead of the 'play not to lose'.
The Patriots play to score more points. They play to drive the dagger in until the opponent is dead. There has been some hints of JD installing a Patriot like offense. I'll be grinning ear to ear if that's the case. I certainly loved Bernie, Ozzie, Webster, Brian and Reggie to go along with the Kevin & Ernie show.

Agreed Vette.. We need to learn to finish the other team off. Until we do.. then the education and the turnaround is incomplete.

"Remains to be seen," is my vote.

Mo had 1.5 seasons... Davidson's had 3 games.


I'm all for giving him a fair shot. I'm just not qualified to know how many games constitute a "fair shot." If we're playing the numbers game, I'd give him thru next season. That would be the same number of games that Mo had, and would allow for all us "continuity guys" to poop or get off the pot.

(hehehe)


.02

p.s. If I thought we were in "dire straights," I'd advocate the interview... realistically, I don't think we're in such bad shape.

Thanks for the feedback, Clem.

I was under the impression that most mid-season replacements are temporary; that Davidson getting another year would be an exception rather than the rule.

I was expecting the typical off-season interviews unless he really got things going, but maybe not....

I guess the thing I'm most surprised about is that people seem to just be assuming that Davidson will get another year. I wasn't thinking that way.

One of the questions that I have, is will the Browns do something with the OL coach during the off season.

Given the issues with the offensive line, I think that this is an important consideration, I do not see davidson retaining this responsibility.

Depends on what else is out there. I certainly don't see anything in what he's doing to HURT his chances for next year.. but if in some of the inevitable coaching shake-ups at the end of the year, a PROVEN offensive coordinator comes available, then you have to look at him.