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18 Aug 2010
Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
After years as the best vertually non-targeted cornerback on the game, the Raiders' Nnamdi Asomugha will now play both sides of the field instead of his previous right cornerback designation. Asomugha switched around occasionally before, but the Raiders are apparently tired of opposing offenses adjusting to simply throw away from the guy.
"There are so many times when I feel like I'm having the game of my life and no one knows it," Asomugha said about the one-sided schemes. "That's rough. No one sees it. The offenses see it, the people that watch film see it but the fans don't see it."
Per our numbers, Darrelle Revis was targeted 96 times to Asomugha's 25 in 2009. Revis' 21.3 target percentage ranked sixth in the league. Chris Johnson, who worked the side of the field Nnamdi didn't last year, was targeted 92 times (25.9 percent, tops in the league). But it looks as if we may see a bit more of #21 this season.
19 comments, Last at 20 Aug 2010, 6:08am by Pat (filler)
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Comments
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Um, if Revis was targeted 96 times, how did Johnson lead the league with 92?
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Fixed -- I meant to use the rankings in target percentage.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Bisexual?
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
I really wanted this to be about the Raiders using him on offense for some reason.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
He'd probably be better than Heyward-Bey.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
So would I.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
The Cable Guy is a genius, I tell you!
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Because clearly, coordinators and quarterbacks are never going to be able to execute something so complex as, "Throw to the side Asomugh is not on."
Hail Hydra!
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Ok, but having him shadow the top receiver still seems like probably a better strategy than just leaving him on one side regardless.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
The bad part, if you are Asomugha, is if you have the game of your life covering their #1 receiver, he still faces being invisible. Short of intercepting passes thrown to receivers covered by other defensive backs, there is little he can do.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
A lot of times the announcers will highlight the fact that a top flight receiver is being held to nothing during a game. They also might circle the pair as a match-up to keep your eye on. When you play, say, the Texans, it gets noticed a lot more if you're shutting out Andre Johnson instead of Kevin Walter.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Yeah--but a decent coordinator would tend to call plays/formations that put their best receiver opposite Nnamdi, esp. on key 3rd down situations. If he's just shadowing the other team's #1 (like Mr. Shush says) it makes it a little harder for the OC.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Yeah, this is silly - it'll only work if there's some overarching feature of a quarterback that means that they can't flip from one side to another freely, some sort of "handedness."
Oh. Wait.
You can't just flip every single play around and expect it to be able to work. It's just another example of how embarassing the Raiders are that Asomugha was confined to one side of the field. You can gameplan around having a great corner fixed to one side of the field. Gameplanning around a great corner is harder.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
The Raiders should find a cornerback who is roughly the same height and could pass for Nnamdi with a helmet on.
Then they should ask him to legally change his name to "Ashomuga", and assign them numbers that are similar given the font (e.g., 26 and 28), and then switch them randomly before plays.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Actually, South Carolina did something like this, their "Wildcat" quarterback was actually a CB, and since he was on the other side of the ball from the regular QB, they could have the same number. So either way, #5 was taking the snap, the defense had to keep track of whether the running or passing guy was the one in the game. This probably wasn't too bad on the field since the running guy was black and the passing guy was white, but up from the D Coordinator's booth, it's possible there was confusion at times.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
OR they could find a legitimate second cornerback.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
How is target percentage calculated?
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
The number of passes thrown in which the player was listed as the primary defender divided by the number of passes thrown while he was on the field. In other words, while Chris Johnson was in the game, 92 of 355 pass attempts against the Oakland defense were thrown at the player he was covering (25.9%).
While Asomugha was in the game, 25 of the 385 pass attempts thrown against the Raiders were thrown at the player he was covering.
Re: Nnamdi To Work Both Sides of the Field
Asomugha gretaest cornerbacj since M. Haynes. When thibk about it Raiders had 3 of top 7 or 8 brest cornerbacks all yime . M Haynes, Brown, Asomugha right there with D. Sanders, m. Blount, dick lane, R. Woodson, Jimmy Johnson. Some other worth mnientoioning like L Barney, R. Wehrli, c. Woodson, and some others
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