The Z-receiver in Louisiana State University offensive coordinator Cam Cameron’s vertical-stretch scheme has been a bit of an unsung hero for those of us that are into the infrastructure of the game.

The former Miami Dolphins coach has a tried-and-true approach with regard to forcing defenses to cover the entire field — following in the footsteps of the great Don Coryell. The thought-process behind that theory is you go deep early and often and force the defense into a conflict of assignment.

Most defensive coordinators would rather donate a heart valve before they consistently allow a quarterback-to-receiver combination to breach the third level of their defense, but that’s exactly what Cameron has done at a plethora of stops.

The Philip-Rivers-to-Vincent-Jackson connection, for the San Diego Chargers in 2006, got the ball rolling for Cameron as he used Jackson’s 4.4 speed to lessen traffic for NFL leading rusher LaDainian Tomlinson — who paced the league with an explosive 1,815 yards on the ground.

While “LT” was undoubtedly an unmatched talent who could create on his own, it was the vertical stylings of the Cameron scheme that should’ve received more of the praise. Another coach with a vertical approach, Norv Turner, would pick up right where Cameron left off piloting the league’s preeminent stretch attack.

From there, after a rather insignificant stop at Miami (**cough1-15cough**), Cameron inherited the world’s preeminent deep-ball tosser, Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens, and teamed him up with a young 9-route nightmare in Torrey Smith to reach new heights in the scheme. To further the point, Cameron’s initial season in Baton Rouge saw him oversee a younger version of Flacco, former LSU star QB Zach Mettenberger, along with what now appears to be the next great NFL wideout in Odell Beckham Jr., and a route-running extraordinaire in Jarvis Landry.

Cameron is now armed with a QB with an absolute hose for an arm, and he can trot out, perhaps, the best deep-ball threat in the Southeastern Conference, Travin Dural. But, contrary to popular belief, it may be Dural’s ability to win in the quick game that takes the Tigers’ offense to the next level — especially when you consider he’ll be helping to break in, yet, another inexperienced QB in Brandon Harris.

Analysis Of Dural’s Game

It may be hard to fathom, but Dural was the Tigers’ leading receiver coming into last season with a whopping seven catches.

Yes. Seven!

This meant that Cameron had to perform Yeoman’s work with a QB with only 29 career pass attempts (Anthony Jennings) and a receiving corps full of true freshmen adjusting to not only college life, but also the difference in competition between major college football and high school football. However, Dural proved to be a quick study, as he got off to a white-hot start with 100-yard receiving performances in three of the Tigers’ first four tilts.

As only a 3-star member of LSU’s 2012 recruiting class, and the No. 39-ranked receiver in the nation according to the reputable 247sports website, Dural is another shining example of how great the staff is at developing players.

It’s one thing to be one of the top recruiting outfits in the country, it’s a whole ‘nother proposition to develop said players.

At 6’2″, 192 pounds, Dural has an angular build but is a lot more powerful than given credit for.

He doesn’t quite possess the route-running precision of a Landry or Beckham Jr., however, he’s well on his way as you can tell he made it a point of emphasis this offseason. He mostly reminds me of Smith, at this junction of his career, as both possess a sixth gear that makes them a scheme-specific fit for a vertical-stretch offense, but both are still developing the nuances of their respective games. 

I’ve already opined that Cameron should go full-bore with the Cheetah personnel-based scheme he seemed to be cooking up for Harris in the L-Club game, equipped with a hurry-up no-huddle approach with a ton of spread-option looks, as it would take advantage of what Harris does best: go vert. 

This approach would also mesh with Dural’s skill set, and it would eventually lessen coverage underneath where the Tigers will be leaning on the great Leonard Fournette, Darrel Williams and the rest of the running back corps to chew up yardage and game clock.

But it could make Dural more dangerous as he would only need to gain a step on a defender to generate an explosive play from the quick game; it truly would make it a pick-your-poison-like offense.

DuralHitchTD

Here we see the type of suddenness Dural possesses: he gave the corner a quick outside jab and bended the route back inside causing him to spin like a ceiling fan. From there, it was all God-given talent as Dural has zero-to-60 capability similar to that new BMW 7-series with the M Sport Package.

Former University of Alabama receiver Amari Cooper took the SEC by storm with his ability to work the quick game from various Smoke, Tunnel and Bubble screen plays. Bama would audible to the Smoke whenever a pre-snap read revealed Cooper was being defended with off-man coverage; Dural has that type of ability.

DuralFadeTD

This particular play stood out to me for a plethora of reasons: corners don’t like to press Dural as his hand-fighting ability is top-notch making it hard to slow his momentum from the onset of a route. He was able to gain leverage on a two-handed jam by University of Florida defensive back Brian Poole, all while fighting through a blatant hold and making a one-handed grab for a touchdown on a Fade.

If you play up on Dural, you run the risk of having him gain a step on you. If you play off of Dural, you run the risk of having him gain a step on you.

Dural9MSST

Case in point, Dural once again showed his innate ability to create space in the hand-fighting aspect of route running, this time, against Mississippi State’s Jamerson Love. Dural reportedly runs a sub 4.4 40-yard dash, which is deceptive because his stride length makes it seem as though he’s not running that fast.

But the dude can fly.

His ability to win in the short game will only assist with his deep-ball prowess, and we know he’s hard to corral in that manner. Furthermore, it’ll allow the Tigers to manufacture first downs by way of yards after catch, only further strengthening their vaunted rushing attack.

While some may be under the heavily influenced thinking of LSU “not having a QB,” Dural’s stats from last season, 37 catches for 758 yards, proved his game is not based on quantity, but quality.

And that’s glossing over the fact that he became the de facto outside rusher for the Tigers towards the latter part of the season. (Only 13 catches in the final seven games.)

Not many talk about Dural, but I can all but guarantee he’ll generate plenty of attention this season.