Thomas Castellanos Gotta Stop Playing Hero Ball
The differences in the numbers for Castellanos in the Alabama game and the two games they lost are like night and day. Castellanos led the team in rushing attempts in that game, but picked his spots to do damage with his legs, often creating something out of nothing while under pressure.
He made the right reads and only threw 14 passes against Alabama, completing nine and averaging 10.9 per attempt.
He has to make over 50 decisions in every game, and nobody will be perfect, but he has missed several reads in the last two games. He’s forced way more passes instead of chunking the ball out of bounds when there’s nothing like he had done in the first few games.
He has also missed several wide-open players on checkdowns and underneath routes. He’s been either inaccurate with those passes, not seeing them, and forcing plays downfield, hoping to make an explosive play.
Gus Malzahn's offenses usually average about 24-26 pass attempts per game. Castellanos has attempted 77 passes in the past two games. If he’s over 30, it’s probably not going to be a good night for the offense.
Castellanos must stay within himself, make the right reads, not force things, and use his legs if needed.