Mariota never runs around and extends plays. Ever. Every single throw he made was just him executing the play call, usually his first read. McCarthy's style of play calling was, "Here's a random pass play. Make it work. Kthankxbye." He never helped out Rodgers in the slightest. Now he will have an extra set of eyes to help him out and more open receivers to throw to.
Oh. You mean like the first play in this drive:
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Or the the play at 1:45 where he leaves the pocket to extend the play and makes a 3+ second throw? Or the play at 5:10 where he pulls it down and runs? That's just one drive.
How about the first 2 plays on this tape:
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Mariota ran the ball 64 times in 14 games. Those were not all read option runs as the above illustrates, though you will find an instance of that in the second tape. And those runs obviously do not include the extended plays where he actually threw the ball or wanted to, examples provided above. Read option, by the way, is not something you're going to see with Rodgers, but I digress.
This is the NFL. If you can't get to the second or third read, or extend to playground mode if necessary, you're not going to be particularly successful. The Bears, to take one example, where they are purported to run a first read system (which is an exageration, by the way, as to frequency) is not some abstract preference. They are working within the limitations of a good arm with a not entirely developed mind and limitations in the receiver group. And it is worth noting that despite having a good run game, they don't put many points on the board. Is that what you're looking for?
The fact of the matter is once you take out the gadget plays, the wildcats, jet sweeps, read options, "Philly Specials", end arounds, flea flickers, etc., etc., and get down to drop and throw, there isn't a whole lot of difference in NFL playbooks unless you go to a heavy dose of the Foles-like RPO or some other alternate approach still to be invented. I think if folks stopped hyperventilating over this play or that, and looked at the entire scope of what McCarthy ran, they'd see he had the full boat at his disposal.
And there was a pretty broad collection of gadget plays as well if that's to your liking. McCarthy just didn't run them very often because they didn't work very often possibly because they were not sufficienctly practiced. Here's an example from 2017 that actually worked:
https://www.packers.com/video/packers-qb-rodgers-hits-wr-adams-for-41-yards-on-flea-flicker-19440106
So, unless LaFleur works in some RPO, which is possible but not something I'd expect to be a staple, you're left with the following which is scheme independent:
- Personnel development and evaluation up to week 1
- Constructing the game plan; selecting the plays that fit with the abilities of the players on hand that week against the defensive scheme and particular matchups
- Calling the right plays within the game plan to fit the situation
- In-game adjustments, which range from the defense bringing things that are unexpected to compensating for injuries on your side of the ball to exploiting injuries on the other side
- Week 2 rinse and repeat in a feedback loop
- Or, in a nutshell, as the title of this thread aptly puts it, the project is one of tactics in light of the above factors
It comes down to development, insight, preparation, adaptablity and execution, and using the feedback loop. The idea of "scheme" as something you jam players into is exactly the criticism of McCarthy that you are making, a criticism I agree with to a meaningful extent, though that's not the entire picture in his firing.
Of course if it was bombs away the dissenters will stop if points and wins accumulate.
