Arguably, the game of the weekend was the Houston Gamblers and New Orleans Breakers last-minute thriller in Houston which saw the Breakers take advantage of a last-minute Kenji Bahar interception to win 38-31. Aside from that crucial interception, the quarterback play was electric on both sides as McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Kenji Bahar both threw for over 250 yards apiece and combined for five touchdowns.
One other quarterback saw the field alongside Bahar and MBT, Terry Wilson. For the second straight week, the Gamblers sprinkled in a Wildcat package with Terry Wilson and the results were bad.
Wilson was stopped for a six-yard loss on a read option in his first play and a rush by TJ Pledger only gained two of those yards back before Wilson exited the game for good.
This came a week after Wilson’s three-play Wildcat look gained the Gamblers 12 yards on three plays, with 11 coming on two Wilson carries with a false start forcing the Gamblers to punt the ball away.
In all, the Gamblers have gained eight yards on five snaps with Wilson in the Wildcat formation. Wilson has five rushing yards on three of those plays with two going for no gain or a loss. This is not an indictment of Wilson’s abilities, but rather of the creativity of Eric Price, the Gamblers’ offensive coordinator.
Defenses have no reason to expect a pass with Wilson in the game based on the Gamblers’ first two games, but also because of Bahar’s skillset. Kenji Bahar is an effective runner, so if the Gamblers wanted to call a quarterback run they definitely could. Instead, designating Terry Wilson as the running quarterback takes away all possibility of a pass when he is in.
This article is not asking the Gamblers to not use Wilson at all, but instead, give him a more balanced selection of plays and more of an extended look when he’s in the game. The limited stretches of two to three plays hardly get Wilson into the flow of the game and tip defenses off to the run.
The Gamblers should let Wilson throw the ball out of the Wildcat because he has similar skills to Bahar. Both are comfortable outside the pocket and can throw well on the run. Letting Wilson throw the ball when he is in will gradually force defenses to commit fewer defenders to the run and allow the run game to be more effective when he’s in.
After two weeks of limited results, it’s time for the Houston Gamblers to rethink how they use Terry Wilson.
How do you think the Houston Gamblers will fare in the rest of the season? Let us know down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.
