Adjustments the New Jersey Generals Should Consider for Week 3

Athletes like De’Andre Johnson, Cam Echols-Luper, and Kavonte Turpin need to be utilized.

Mike Riley and Company Need to Adjust

The New Jersey Generals find themselves 1-1 after two games, having averaged 165 yards passing per game, and have scored just 34 points in those two games. I wanted to touch on some adjustments I would like to see Mike Riley make on the offensive side of the ball to add some excitement to this offense.

We have watched through two games as De’Andre Johnson was used as a change of pace quarterback, brought in as a running threat to keep defenses off guard. However part of the reasoning behind using Johnson is also his arm strength. Luis Perez is one of the most well-known, and experienced Spring Football quarterbacks out there, but one trait he has always been held back by is his arm strength.

With Johnson having a much bigger arm, it seems as though Riley is using Johnson to stretch the defenses laterally by offering the threat of the QB run while stretching them out deep as well with his ability to push the ball downfield.

Luis Perez VS De’Andre Johnson Statistically

Despite throwing just 14 passing attempts, former Last Chance U star, Johnson has averaged 1.1 yards per attempt than Luis Perez. That extra yard per completion is nothing to sneeze at. If he were to have been the starter, and he averages 7.6 per attempt, we are talking about another 21 passing yards a game so far.

When looking closer at their statistics as well, you can see that these numbers are despite Johnson’s relative lack of accuracy compared to Perez. Perez has completed over 70% of his passes but has done the majority of his damage in the short to intermediate passing game. This allows opposing defenses to start walking their safeties up into the box, also affecting their ability to run the ball.

Teams have plenty of film out there to see how Perez throws the ball, where he starts to lose steam on his passes depth-wise, and they also know a guy like this is feeling that extra 5-6 ounces added to the balls by the microchips the USFL has added. All of this adds up to opposing coordinators knowing exactly what to expect when either QB is in the game.

With Perez, it’s death by 1,000 crossing routes, and with Johnson, he’s going to run the read-option, and push the ball deep to supplement the short to intermediate game of Perez.

I want to preface what I am about to say. Luis Perez is a solid quarterback, and someone I would choose on my team if I was in the position Mike Riley finds himself in as well. However, I believe De’Andre Johnson due to his skillset gives you a better chance to win every week.

De’Andre Johnson’s limitations come from the accuracy department, so the offense would certainly not be the high-efficiency short game that it has been through the first two weeks with Johnson at the helm. It would immediately open up the field from an offensive perspective, and allow running backs more room…