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McVay recently was quoted on the following irt the question of these two guys getting more playing time:
“That’s a big point of emphasis the second half of the season,” he said. “I thought they both did a nice job wanting to continue to find opportunities."
Which is music to my ears, really great to hear him say that. But then he then went on to say...
"The goal is we’ve got a lot of really good football players, I think the more that we can utilize all of them while keeping our core guys fresh and knowing that, ‘Hey, you still have your guys like the Robert Woods, the Coopers (Kupp), the (Tyler) Higbees. Josh Reynolds had eight catches yesterday.’ You want to get a variety of guys involved because we’ve got guys that we think are capable, they’ll stay fresher throughout the game. When you’re efficient on some of those third downs, and you’re able to stay on the field, you can get those players more involved like the plan was, but we’re going to continue to see those guys develop. I thought they did a nice job with the opportunities they had. It was something that we wanted to focus on. It will remain a point of emphasis. I was pleased with those two yesterday.”
He actually tells us a lot here, which is not always the case since he's a coachspeak ninja. I take it to mean they're waiting on these two to earn more playing time on the field, and that's fine btw (I wish he'd be a bit more like Staley in terms of being bold on flipping roster spots but there's nothing wrong with that approach). But the problem here is the next four defenses we face are Tampa (8th in scoring defense), SF (10th), Arizona (9th), and New England (11th and starting to round into shape a bit). Four good rosters, four strong DCs calling those games, and starting this weekend with Tampa we have lost Whit and at least one unknown due to covid so our offense is going to be short handed vs some extremely tough matchups.
So it seems to me that McVay's comment of "when you're efficient on some of those third downs, and you're able to stay on the field" irt playing time for Akers & Jefferson means we're not gonna see a whole lot of them over the next few weeks barring the staff making a conscious decision to start one or both of them.
All that aside and of the two... Akers seems to be a guy they're pushing into a role where he's being given every chance to win a bigger role. They started him last game and he got the most carries which is a big indicator. So hopefully he'll be able to settle in and give us a boost during this very tough stretch where we're going to need every big play that we do get (and like Hendy he has potential to deliver those big plays).
As to Jefferson... It just feels like he's going to have to beat Reynolds out. And contrary to how I've felt all along (which is that Jefferson will overtake Reynolds) I'm no longer certain that will happen. In fact I'm starting to feel like Van will be a next year boost for the offense.
“That’s a big point of emphasis the second half of the season,” he said. “I thought they both did a nice job wanting to continue to find opportunities."
Which is music to my ears, really great to hear him say that. But then he then went on to say...
"The goal is we’ve got a lot of really good football players, I think the more that we can utilize all of them while keeping our core guys fresh and knowing that, ‘Hey, you still have your guys like the Robert Woods, the Coopers (Kupp), the (Tyler) Higbees. Josh Reynolds had eight catches yesterday.’ You want to get a variety of guys involved because we’ve got guys that we think are capable, they’ll stay fresher throughout the game. When you’re efficient on some of those third downs, and you’re able to stay on the field, you can get those players more involved like the plan was, but we’re going to continue to see those guys develop. I thought they did a nice job with the opportunities they had. It was something that we wanted to focus on. It will remain a point of emphasis. I was pleased with those two yesterday.”
He actually tells us a lot here, which is not always the case since he's a coachspeak ninja. I take it to mean they're waiting on these two to earn more playing time on the field, and that's fine btw (I wish he'd be a bit more like Staley in terms of being bold on flipping roster spots but there's nothing wrong with that approach). But the problem here is the next four defenses we face are Tampa (8th in scoring defense), SF (10th), Arizona (9th), and New England (11th and starting to round into shape a bit). Four good rosters, four strong DCs calling those games, and starting this weekend with Tampa we have lost Whit and at least one unknown due to covid so our offense is going to be short handed vs some extremely tough matchups.
So it seems to me that McVay's comment of "when you're efficient on some of those third downs, and you're able to stay on the field" irt playing time for Akers & Jefferson means we're not gonna see a whole lot of them over the next few weeks barring the staff making a conscious decision to start one or both of them.
All that aside and of the two... Akers seems to be a guy they're pushing into a role where he's being given every chance to win a bigger role. They started him last game and he got the most carries which is a big indicator. So hopefully he'll be able to settle in and give us a boost during this very tough stretch where we're going to need every big play that we do get (and like Hendy he has potential to deliver those big plays).
As to Jefferson... It just feels like he's going to have to beat Reynolds out. And contrary to how I've felt all along (which is that Jefferson will overtake Reynolds) I'm no longer certain that will happen. In fact I'm starting to feel like Van will be a next year boost for the offense.
