Whenever a team loses, it’s almost inevitable that the losing quarterback shoulders most of the blame, no matter the circumstances, and for Texas A&M, veteran Max Johnson struggled immensely in the Aggies 20-13 loss to Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
Sitting at 4-3 and 2-2 in the SEC, a dark cloud has once again appeared over College Station and head coach Jimbo Fisher, but don’t blame the Aggies’ 10th-ranked defense, as the beyond problematic offense led by first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has placed Johnson in a poor position to succeed.
On Saturday, outside of Texas A&M’s 80-yard first-quarter drive to take a 7-0 lead behind a successful end-zone scramble from Johnson, the run game was nonexistent for the second straight week (1.9 yards per carry), while any future success in the passing game virtually died on the vine. On the day, Johnson completed 16/34 for 223 yards and two interceptions but was pressured on an A&M record 64.1% of his drop-backs, which included 11 quarterback hits.
In front of a borderline anemic showing from the Aggies’ struggling offensive line, Johnson had no chance to gain any rhythm through the air, as Johnson was constantly under attack after the starting five recorded the worst pass protection grade of the weekend (21.6) per Pro Football Focus.
But again, despite enduring the worst pressure rate in the country at 50.7%, Johnson deserves some blame amid the issues in the trenches, precisely his release time after the snap. Staying with PFF, Max Johnson is ranked 14th in average throw time at 3.19 seconds, which doesn’t seem ludicrous at face value, but with this blocking, that ball needs to get out much faster.
This falls on Petrino to implement a quick passing game with five games remaining to consistently “feed the studs,” as time will tell if the running game improves in the slightest after the bye week. Again, Johnson’s play has been underwhelming the past two weeks, but Fisher remains confident that he can turn things around based on experience and impressive resume during his two seasons with LSU.
“We can get open better, we can play better, Max is playing good football. He is a really good player, good kid, and competes his butt off.”
Although the bye week couldn’t have come at a better time, changes on the O-line, whether coaching or personnel, need to be made, but for the offense to re-establish their early season identity, Max Johnson’s play will determine the latter half of the 2023 season.
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