Carr,Price,Smith > Martinez

[beanman]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor. I realize that none of these guys are great passers, and don't think for a second that we don't all understand that. But, his decision making is terrible and he puts the ball on the ground more than all those others combined. I love Nebraska football, but to be honest it's frustrating that I'm going to be stuck watching our offense with him leading it for 2 more years. Our chances of getting to a National Title game are slim as is because I don't think we have near the players on D that are common in the SEC particularly in the front 4. Without consistent play at QB and someone with the ability to hit our guys in stride and distribute the ball effectively to all the talent we've got, we won't sniff the top 5 in the next 3 years. Up to this point the other teams have stopped themselves more than we've stopped them, and we've been extremely fortunate that we haven't turned over the ball much more. I don't think that Wisky is a great team and I think the Big 10 as a whole is weak, but we aren't a good football team right now.

 

[knapplc]

I'm not old enough to know about the 80's and I was but just a young lad during the 90's. Yes, there is no denying the fact that Martinez can run the football...he's a true threat when he's running the ball, but I'm not being critical of his running ability. I am being critical of his passing/decision making. With conference play starting next week, the success or failure of our season will hinge on our defense and on Taylor's arm. He's going to be challenged, teams are going to stack the box and force Taylor to air it out. I honestly don't have a whole lot of confidence in Taylor's throwing ability.

That explains a whole lot about your critiques of Martinez. I very definitely agree with you about his passing game. It's cringe-worthy. But it's not a lot different than Frazier's, or Frost's, or Crouch's.

For a LONG time the gripe about Nebraska football was that we pounded lesser opponents with the run game, but when we played tougher opponents (Florida schools in the Orange Bowl, mostly) who could shut down our running game, we had no passing game to rely on. That was the knock on a decade worth of Husker QBs, all of whom won nine games a year or more.

I would love Martinez to be that great dual-threat QB, but he's not and he's never going to be. You're right about his decision-making, and I've been among those on this board demanding improvement there. There's some this year, and there's hope that there will be more, but we'll have to wait.

 

[NEBRASKANHEAT]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

I think the average age of the posters here at Huskerboard is around 22. They just weren't around or were too young to remember the 80s & 90s and can't imagine winning without a lumbering pocket passer. They're butthurt to an extreme that Bo & Beck don't agree and really want Callahan's offense (or something similar).

They have seen a few highlight reels though so they "know" Frost, Frazier, Crouch etc were great passers too!

Read the first post in the thread again. I was here for the option days. And like I said in that post, if we want to run an option attack, great, Martinez would be our guy.

But we are not an option team. Even if we do run it more and more these days. The old option attack took a committed approach to being an option team. It took recruiting option high school kids at receiver and tight ends.

We're using the option only to enhance our QB's best assets 1/3 of the offensive plays. And great, I love to see it. But Crouch and Frazier would not be effective in THIS offense just like Martinez isn't.

 

[The Maudfather]

I'm not old enough to know about the 80's and I was but just a young lad during the 90's. Yes, there is no denying the fact that Martinez can run the football...he's a true threat when he's running the ball, but I'm not being critical of his running ability. I am being critical of his passing/decision making. With conference play starting next week, the success or failure of our season will hinge on our defense and on Taylor's arm. He's going to be challenged, teams are going to stack the box and force Taylor to air it out. I honestly don't have a whole lot of confidence in Taylor's throwing ability.

That explains a whole lot about your critiques of Martinez. I very definitely agree with you about his passing game. It's cringe-worthy. But it's not a lot different than Frazier's, or Frost's, or Crouch's.

For a LONG time the gripe about Nebraska football was that we pounded lesser opponents with the run game, but when we played tougher opponents (Florida schools in the Orange Bowl, mostly) who could shut down our running game, we had no passing game to rely on. That was the knock on a decade worth of Husker QBs, all of whom won nine games a year or more.

I would love Martinez to be that great dual-threat QB, but he's not and he's never going to be. You're right about his decision-making, and I've been among those on this board demanding improvement there. There's some this year, and there's hope that there will be more, but we'll have to wait.

Here's to hoping :cheers

Good news is, next week we face a team that should present us favorable matchups when we have the rock. We have a ton of team speed, offensively, and that may be able to mask some of Taylor's shortcomings. I expect to see a lot of slip screens, options, zone reeds, off tackle runs and toss sweeps. Of course, I have been drinking and could be a bit optimistic in this aspect.

 

[knapplc]

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor. I realize that none of these guys are great passers, and don't think for a second that we don't all understand that. But, his decision making is terrible and he puts the ball on the ground more than all those others combined. I love Nebraska football, but to be honest it's frustrating that I'm going to be stuck watching our offense with him leading it for 2 more years. Our chances of getting to a National Title game are slim as is because I don't think we have near the players on D that are common in the SEC particularly in the front 4. Without consistent play at QB and someone with the ability to hit our guys in stride and distribute the ball effectively to all the talent we've got, we won't sniff the top 5 in the next 3 years. Up to this point the other teams have stopped themselves more than we've stopped them, and we've been extremely fortunate that we haven't turned over the ball much more. I don't think that Wisky is a great team and I think the Big 10 as a whole is weak, but we aren't a good football team right now.

Of the guys you mentioned, the only one with markedly better stats passing is Ganz. Ganz was a pocket passer who SUCKED running the ball. Ganz ran a very different offense and was a VERY different kind of QB.

In your scenario, where the team is down late in the game and has to drive 80 yards to win, only one QB you've mentioned has done it successfully, and he needed a miracle bounce off Shevin Wiggins' foot to get it done. Crouch didn't ever, one time, bring us back to win a game through the air like that. Neither did Frazier, neither did Berringer, neither did any of our glitterati at QB in the glory days. Only Frost, and again, only via a miracle.

Absolutely Martinez has flaws. So did all those other guys. But the most glaring difference is that Martinez isn't playing on a team even remotely comparable to the teams Frost, Crouch or Frazier played on. This O Line is light-years behind those lines. It is such a tremendously unfair comparison.

You can be frustrated with Martinez all you want. Lord knows he gives you plenty of reasons for frustration, between poor decisions passing, fumbles, etc. But you're not going to see Martinez playing for a national championship not because Martinez can't get it done, but because our whole team can't get it done - not the way they're playing now.

 

[Hercules]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor.

We've only seen Taylor as a sophomore for 4 games, but at this point I'd take Taylor over any of those other guys but for Frazier. And maybe that will be proven wrong, but Frazier nearly led his team to a national championship to a sophomore - a player like him is extremely rare.

 

[bshirt]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

I think the average age of the posters here at Huskerboard is around 22. They just weren't around or were too young to remember the 80s & 90s and can't imagine winning without a lumbering pocket passer. They're butthurt to an extreme that Bo & Beck don't agree and really want Callahan's offense (or something similar).

They have seen a few highlight reels though so they "know" Frost, Frazier, Crouch etc were great passers too!

Read the first post in the thread again. I was here for the option days. And like I said in that post, if we want to run an option attack, great, Martinez would be our guy.

But we are not an option team. Even if we do run it more and more these days. The old option attack took a committed approach to being an option team. It took recruiting option high school kids at receiver and tight ends.

We're using the option only to enhance our QB's best assets 1/3 of the offensive plays. And great, I love to see it. But Crouch and Frazier would not be effective in THIS offense just like Martinez isn't.

Well, "this" offense is only just started four games ago. We're running the option, behind center in the I, we're even using and running a fullback. Is that the same as TO's offense? No. Is it 10,000 times closer to TO's offense than what we've been running the last eight years? "Yes".

Beck himself has stated several times we're a "run-first" offense. It looks more & more that it is exactly that. Frazier, Frost & Crouch would excel in this offense too. Primarily because, especially with Crouch & Tmart, opponent DCs have to sell out to stop our qb's runs. That comes at a cost and that's a big reason why our wrs are frequently so WIDE OPEN.

You really think opponent DCs would compromise their defense to stop a conventional pocket passer's runs (say, like Z. Lee or Z. Taylor)? Nope. Not a chance. Sure, they were better passers, but their feet scared absolutely nobody.

Lastly, TO says in his opinion "a yard gained rushing is worth more than a yard gained passing". Obviously you don't agree. I do.

This offense is getting better every week and the sky is the limit. You can have your glass half empty. I'll take mine half full.

GBR!!

 

[beanman]

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor. I realize that none of these guys are great passers, and don't think for a second that we don't all understand that. But, his decision making is terrible and he puts the ball on the ground more than all those others combined. I love Nebraska football, but to be honest it's frustrating that I'm going to be stuck watching our offense with him leading it for 2 more years. Our chances of getting to a National Title game are slim as is because I don't think we have near the players on D that are common in the SEC particularly in the front 4. Without consistent play at QB and someone with the ability to hit our guys in stride and distribute the ball effectively to all the talent we've got, we won't sniff the top 5 in the next 3 years. Up to this point the other teams have stopped themselves more than we've stopped them, and we've been extremely fortunate that we haven't turned over the ball much more. I don't think that Wisky is a great team and I think the Big 10 as a whole is weak, but we aren't a good football team right now.

Of the guys you mentioned, the only one with markedly better stats passing is Ganz. Ganz was a pocket passer who SUCKED running the ball. Ganz ran a very different offense and was a VERY different kind of QB.

In your scenario, where the team is down late in the game and has to drive 80 yards to win, only one QB you've mentioned has done it successfully, and he needed a miracle bounce off Shevin Wiggins' foot to get it done. Crouch didn't ever, one time, bring us back to win a game through the air like that. Neither did Frazier, neither did Berringer, neither did any of our glitterati at QB in the glory days. Only Frost, and again, only via a miracle.

Absolutely Martinez has flaws. So did all those other guys. But the most glaring difference is that Martinez isn't playing on a team even remotely comparable to the teams Frost, Crouch or Frazier played on. This O Line is light-years behind those lines. It is such a tremendously unfair comparison.

You can be frustrated with Martinez all you want. Lord knows he gives you plenty of reasons for frustration, between poor decisions passing, fumbles, etc. But you're not going to see Martinez playing for a national championship not because Martinez can't get it done, but because our whole team can't get it done - not the way they're playing now.

Stats are meaningless to me. And you can say that Frost needed a miracle, but keep in mind the play previous to the miracle play as well as the miracle play itself, our receivers were getting mauled before the ball got there and he actually put it right on the money two straight plays after leading us down the field. And he had the ugliest throwing motion of them all(except for Taylor). All I want is for him to play smart, not throw into triple coverage, take care of the football. But I have yet to see it despite what some folks say. Just because some of our other QBs didn't get the opportunity to shift to a passing mode doesn't mean that they weren't equipped to make some plays. At least we would have had a shred of hope. Right now, my feeling is the same as it was during the last drive in the A&M game last year: game over.(yes I know it was Cody but would have been same result with Taylor, healthy or injured).

 

[beanman]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor.

We've only seen Taylor as a sophomore for 4 games, but at this point I'd take Taylor over any of those other guys but for Frazier. And maybe that will be proven wrong, but Frazier nearly led his team to a national championship to a sophomore - a player like him is extremely rare.

Surely you can't be serious. You're telling me you'd take Taylor over Crouch? Quit the drugs.

 

[knapplc]

Stats are meaningless to me. And you can say that Frost needed a miracle, but keep in mind the play previous to the miracle play as well as the miracle play itself, our receivers were getting mauled before the ball got there and he actually put it right on the money two straight plays after leading us down the field. And he had the ugliest throwing motion of them all(except for Taylor). All I want is for him to play smart, not throw into triple coverage, take care of the football. But I have yet to see it despite what some folks say. Just because some of our other QBs didn't get the opportunity to shift to a passing mode doesn't mean that they weren't equipped to make some plays. At least we would have had a shred of hope. Right now, my feeling is the same as it was during the last drive in the A&M game last year: game over.(yes I know it was Cody but would have been same result with Taylor, healthy or injured).

If you're old enough to have solid memories of those QBs, you're old enough to know why Martinez isn't to be judged on his passing game the way Ganz or Zac Taylor or Zac Lee was. They aren't the same QBs, not the same offense, not the same philosophy, etc.

Yes, Martinez has improved. That's not me saying that, that's Bo, that's sportswriters in both the LJS and OWH, that's guys on the BTN, etc. Is he a finished product? Absolutely not. But he's getting better, and he's still just a sophomore.

You are absolutely correct in that he should not be throwing into coverage, or missing wide open receivers, or fumbling. But if you're old enough to remember the 90s, you'll remember that Frazier had the exact same problems. Exactly the same, including the fumbles. You'll remember the phrase, "Carrying the ball like a loaf of bread," which always seemed silly to me, but which was said about Frazier about every week, because he put the ball on the ground so many times - and that was even as a Senior.

A&M last year really has no bearing on this conversation - Cody is gone, and Martinez was badly injured and really shouldn't have even been playing. And he was a Freshman. There's just so many reasons why that's a horrible benchmark that it's not worth bringing up.

Surely you can't be serious. You're telling me you'd take Taylor over Crouch? Quit the drugs.

Which Crouch are we talking about? Heisman Trophy Crouch, or Sophomore Crouch? Because Sophomore Crouch had only started his first game by this point. He was buried behind Bobby Newcombe in the depth chart as a Sophomore, if you recall.

 

[bshirt]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

Alright Knapp, you keep harping on this all the time about him being on equal footing passing-wise, so I'm just going to pose this question to you.... If you are down in the 4th quarter and have to drive 80 yds with just a few minutes left(a passing situation) would you rather have Taylor or Scott Frost? Taylor or Tommie? Taylor or Crouch? Taylor or Ganz? Because I'd take all the others every time. And yes, I'd take Crouch as a sophomore over Taylor.

We've only seen Taylor as a sophomore for 4 games, but at this point I'd take Taylor over any of those other guys but for Frazier. And maybe that will be proven wrong, but Frazier nearly led his team to a national championship to a sophomore - a player like him is extremely rare.

Surely you can't be serious. You're telling me you'd take Taylor over Crouch? Quit the drugs.

Might be good to take your own advice.

Crouch was a marginal passer too and as a soph I sure don't know if he could do those toss sweeps as well as Tmart Maybe not as a senior either. They're both rocket ships. Tmart has fumble issues that Crouch didn't but Tmart is easily better with ball handling. It's a close call and we'll know more after this year

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

If we have a QB who throws pretty well but who can't run the ball, most of our fan base would be complaining about how he can't avoid the sack and he sucks because of it. If we have a QB who runs really well and doesn't necessarily pass the best, our fan base is complaining because he makes some bad decisions while throwing. I'm sure if he leads us to a B1G Championship and a BCS game you all won't be complaining.

What I'm trying to get at is that Martinez gives this offense the best chance to win and is a good match for the system we're trying to run.

And isn't our defense's job to make the other QB look bad. And our offense's job (besides the QB) to make our QB look good. This shouldn't be directed at Taylor, but to the other 21 guys playing on the field too.

 

[tschu]

But he's continuing to look like the worst QB on the field vs just about every opposing QB we've faced.

I seriously have no idea what game you guys are watching.

Other QBs might be better passers. That isn't what Martinez is, so don't judge him as such. He is a better playmaker than any QB we've faced, and a better playmaker than most we will face all season (exceptions maybe in Robinson and Wilson). His pocket passing isn't good. But his passing isn't the reason he's the starter.

 

[knapplc]

What I'm trying to get at is that Martinez gives this offense the best chance to win and is a good match for the system we're trying to run.

And he is a legitimate threat to take it to the house every single time he touches the ball. That's a hell of a weapon to bench simply because he's not a traditional pocket passer.

 

[NEBRASKANHEAT]

Because he consistently missed WIDE OPEN receivers and and, once again, fumbled the football. The OP nailed it. I said the exact same thing this evening. Taylor is nothing more than a slot WR playing QB....sad thing is, I'd guess most slot WRs have a better mechanics. Taylor is just such a bitter-sweet player. Anytime he touches the ball, he has a chance to take it the distance, but he is a horrid passer and just as bad decision maker.

I have a bad feeling that Taylor is going to get exposed for what he is next week...

How old are you? It's like you never watched - or understood what you were watching - when we were a run-first team in the 80s and 90s.

Martinez' skill set is nearly identical to the QBs we had for two decades, when we won nine games a year every year, and threw in about half a dozen shots at the national championship. Won a couple of those too, if you recall.

He's a college QB whose skills rest in his feet. This is not a new concept in college football.

I think the average age of the posters here at Huskerboard is around 22. They just weren't around or were too young to remember the 80s & 90s and can't imagine winning without a lumbering pocket passer. They're butthurt to an extreme that Bo & Beck don't agree and really want Callahan's offense (or something similar).

They have seen a few highlight reels though so they "know" Frost, Frazier, Crouch etc were great passers too!

Read the first post in the thread again. I was here for the option days. And like I said in that post, if we want to run an option attack, great, Martinez would be our guy.

But we are not an option team. Even if we do run it more and more these days. The old option attack took a committed approach to being an option team. It took recruiting option high school kids at receiver and tight ends.

We're using the option only to enhance our QB's best assets 1/3 of the offensive plays. And great, I love to see it. But Crouch and Frazier would not be effective in THIS offense just like Martinez isn't.

Well, "this" offense is only just started four games ago. We're running the option, behind center in the I, we're even using and running a fullback. Is that the same as TO's offense? No. Is it 10,000 times closer to TO's offense than what we've been running the last eight years? "Yes".

Beck himself has stated several times we're a "run-first" offense. It looks more & more that it is exactly that. Frazier, Frost & Crouch would excel in this offense too. Primarily because, especially with Crouch & Tmart, opponent DCs have to sell out to stop our qb's runs. That comes at a cost and that's a big reason why our wrs are frequently so WIDE OPEN.

You really think opponent DCs would compromise their defense to stop a conventional pocket passer's runs (say, like Z. Lee or Z. Taylor)? Nope. Not a chance. Sure, they were better passers, but their feet scared absolutely nobody.

Lastly, TO says in his opinion "a yard gained rushing is worth more than a yard gained passing". Obviously you don't agree. I do.

This offense is getting better every week and the sky is the limit. You can have your glass half empty. I'll take mine half full.

GBR!!

Well, shoot, someone should go and tell TO that Crouch and Frazier should have passed more back then. I mean, defensive coordinators were selling out to stop the run back then too. Maybe Osborne just didn't know he could get wide open receivers to throw to!

All snark aside. If we can find a way to pound the ball with our rushing attack and *IF* Martinez can be effective against much more athletic and physical defenses without once again getting himself hobbled, or giving up the rock like a Pez dispenser, great!

But, call me a skeptic. And I hope they have a backup plan. Because if Martinez gets a sore wheel like last year, or we run into a defense not impressed with his speed, I've seen nothing that would lead me to believe his passing ability is any more capable to beat a defense this year than it was last year.