Taylor Martinez!

[broganreynik]

Martinez has been a much better game manager this year, which is good to see. However, it seems to me like he has lost a step a little bit this year in terms of speed and explosiveness. Maybe I'm wrong.

I disagree... I think he lost the ROOM to show you his speed due to how weak our O-Line has been.

Exactly. When he had that crease on his 17 yard run, he exploded and looked like early last year. He just had a defender bring him down.

 

[Jason Sitoke]

Things that I have seen as far as improvement from TMart:

1) Decision making (as mentioned many times all ready)

2) Presence. Buying time with his feet while keeping his head downfield. Doesn't panic and take bad sacks like he once did

3) Checking down. Made a couple great checkdowns to the back that netted us some yards in an otherwise grim looking situation

4) In the running game, he doesn't try to run around everyone now. He turns up field, protects the ball, and gets what he can when the situation calls for it. This was a HUGE must for him this year, and deserved kudos.

Things he must improve if our offense is to turn the corner as a whole:

1) He MUST be able to complete the short outs and the 10 yard hitch routes. He missed 4 or 5 of them badly that really put drives behind the 8 ball.

2) Improve his throwing on the run. He is not all that accurate when he breaks the pocket. With his feet, he could be a big time threat with the naked boot or waggle plays if he improves his accuracy.

Notice there was no mention of him changing his mechanics. That is not the requirement. The requirement is that he pass the ball effectively, regardless of footwork, release point, or any other analyst talking point.

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

The option pitch to Rex on the TD was perfect.

Remember three quick decisions on one option play? Granted, no TD but good gain. I think 2nd quarter.

 

[Undone]

Notice there was no mention of him changing his mechanics. That is not the requirement. The requirement is that he pass the ball effectively, regardless of footwork, release point, or any other analyst talking point.

Exactly, and thank you for pointing to this. His mechanics have little to nothing to do with our offensive success at this point. It does seem that his passes get batted down a bit more than the average college QB, but what can you?

His progress is just so amazing. And not only that, but his potential is really what is crazy to think about at this point. I really believe that we're legitimately in national title contention next season if his improvement continues at this rate.

 

[ZRod]

Notice there was no mention of him changing his mechanics. That is not the requirement. The requirement is that he pass the ball effectively, regardless of footwork, release point, or any other analyst talking point.

Exactly, and thank you for pointing to this. His mechanics have little to nothing to do with our offensive success at this point. It does seem that his passes get batted down a bit more than the average college QB, but what can you?

His progress is just so amazing. And not only that, but his potential is really what is crazy to think about at this point. I really believe that we're legitimately in national title contention next season if his improvement continues at this rate.

Footwork aside I think that is one thing that can partially be attributed to his mechanics. He's only 6'1" so he's already got the taller linemen to deal with, but when you add in the sidearm motion it really doesn't help at all in this aspect.

 

[Undone]

Notice there was no mention of him changing his mechanics. That is not the requirement. The requirement is that he pass the ball effectively, regardless of footwork, release point, or any other analyst talking point.

Exactly, and thank you for pointing to this. His mechanics have little to nothing to do with our offensive success at this point. It does seem that his passes get batted down a bit more than the average college QB, but what can you?

His progress is just so amazing. And not only that, but his potential is really what is crazy to think about at this point. I really believe that we're legitimately in national title contention next season if his improvement continues at this rate.

Footwork aside I think that is one thing that can partially be attributed to his mechanics. He's only 6'1" so he's already got the taller linemen to deal with, but when you add in the sidearm motion it really doesn't help at all in this aspect.

Oh, agreed. Sidearming the ball falls under the category of mechanics. And sidearming will generally make it more likely that passes are batted down.

I think though that roughly one batted-down ball per game is a fine trade-off for the level of accuracy that he's producing at this point. Couple that with his presence as a total field general, and our offense is heading in the right direction as much as it could possibly be, with the exception of the continued drops.

 

[huskerauggie]

That "if it hits your hands you catch it" is such a crock. Yes, we are dropping too many fairly routine balls (and this really seems to be BK), but a lot of the incompletions that people are calling drops are balls that would be way above average catches. Yes, you need to make some of those catches, but they are not "drops". The ball in the first half that Bell dove for and got both hands on it. That would have been a spetacular catch, it was not a drop.

TM again seems to get better each week. Not perfect, but the guy is certainly making numerous winning plays every game lately.

Granted, some of these would be 'spectacular' catches, but look at it this way.... If the receiver dove, switched directions mid-air, did a somersault, etc., hey - the spectacular part is out of the way. The spectacular part about those catches is getting your hands in position, not the actual hauling in of the pass. Once you're in that proper position, it's nothing but securing your hands around the ball. We have the same rule in baseball --- Dive to it, Slide to it, Backhand it, etc., if it hits your glove, it should be caught.

The difference is you're not doing them at two seperate times, while you're diving, twisting, etc, you're doing that at the same time as trying to secure the ball. Big, big difference in trying to catch a football with your hands or a baseball in a glove.

Naw, I know. Wasn't saying that catching a football was EXACTLY the same as catching a baseball... Just the principle of your hands (or glove) being in the direct path of the ball, should be enough for any of these guys to make the catch. Maybe not at the High School/JC/Lower divisions, but these are receivers playing Big-Time College football at a MAJOR Division-I college...

I don't expect for them to catch them all, but I do expect a little more out of them than what we've been seeing,

 

[3rd and long]

That "if it hits your hands you catch it" is such a crock. Yes, we are dropping too many fairly routine balls (and this really seems to be BK), but a lot of the incompletions that people are calling drops are balls that would be way above average catches. Yes, you need to make some of those catches, but they are not "drops". The ball in the first half that Bell dove for and got both hands on it. That would have been a spetacular catch, it was not a drop.

TM again seems to get better each week. Not perfect, but the guy is certainly making numerous winning plays every game lately.

Granted, some of these would be 'spectacular' catches, but look at it this way.... If the receiver dove, switched directions mid-air, did a somersault, etc., hey - the spectacular part is out of the way. The spectacular part about those catches is getting your hands in position, not the actual hauling in of the pass. Once you're in that proper position, it's nothing but securing your hands around the ball. We have the same rule in baseball --- Dive to it, Slide to it, Backhand it, etc., if it hits your glove, it should be caught.

The difference is you're not doing them at two seperate times, while you're diving, twisting, etc, you're doing that at the same time as trying to secure the ball. Big, big difference in trying to catch a football with your hands or a baseball in a glove.

Naw, I know. Wasn't saying that catching a football was EXACTLY the same as catching a baseball... Just the principle of your hands (or glove) being in the direct path of the ball, should be enough for any of these guys to make the catch. Maybe not at the High School/JC/Lower divisions, but these are receivers playing Big-Time College football at a MAJOR Division-I college...

I don't expect for them to catch them all, but I do expect a little more out of them than what we've been seeing,

That I think we can all agree on.

 

[Chaddyboxer]

Martinez has been a much better game manager this year, which is good to see. However, it seems to me like he has lost a step a little bit this year in terms of speed and explosiveness. Maybe I'm wrong.

I disagree... I think he lost the ROOM to show you his speed due to how weak our O-Line has been.

We are one of the top rushing teams in the nation....and Martinez rarely gets sacked...I would say the o-line isn't weak. = )

 

[lonewolf]

I must give props to Taylor, never been a real fan, but felt he was the best we have. He has made some gigantic strides in the last three weeks, and as much as it kills me to say this, I think it is because he and Beck are on the same page. I was not impressed with that hire, but it appears the two are truly working together to get to Taylors strengths.

Eating crow.

I'm with ya skers. I think we are watching a lot of growing up from taylor to bo. Maybe this will really go somewhere in the next cpl of years. Hope we don't have to eat our praise.

 

[Chaddyboxer]

When Martinez starts gaining praise from ALL Husker fans....is when he brings us to a BCS title game and takes the trophy back home to Lincoln. Can it happen? Yes.

 

[ZRod]

When Martinez starts gaining praise from ALL Husker fans....is when he brings us to a BCS title game and takes the trophy back home to Lincoln. Can it happen? Yes.

And the sad thing is if he's back the next year and he slips up once it'll be like the beggining of this year all over again