What Taylor needs to improve upon...

[junior4949]

I think it's pretty difficult to compare Martinez to Crouch because of one main point: the OL. Crouch's OL wasn't nearly as good as the ones Frazier, Frost, and Berringer ran behind; but it was light years ahead of what Martinez is running behind. Martinez, IMO, has better RB's playing behind him than Crouch did; and he has better WR's than Crouch did. However, the OL Crouch ran behind was significantly better than Martinez's. I think Martinez has every bit as much speed and elusiveness as Crouch. I will concede though that Martinez may not have the vision yet that Crouch did.

[Enhance]

I think it's pretty difficult to compare Martinez to Crouch because of one main point: the OL. Crouch's OL wasn't nearly as good as the ones Frazier, Frost, and Berringer ran behind; but it was light years ahead of what Martinez is running behind. Martinez, IMO, has better RB's playing behind him than Crouch did; and he has better WR's than Crouch did. However, the OL Crouch ran behind was significantly better than Martinez's. I think Martinez has every bit as much speed and elusiveness as Crouch. I will concede though that Martinez may not have the vision yet that Crouch did.

Before our comparisons get too far ahead of themselves, I agree with most everything you said except for the elusiveness part. I don't remember a lot of games Crouch played, but I do remember him not looking awful when a pass play broke down and he had to run, or when a lane got cut off and he had to change directions. When Martinez doesn't immediately see where to go, it's like he hits a brick wall and just dances a little bit. Why? I don't know. It looks funny, though.

 

When he gets chugging in a straight line, he's blazing. But his elusiveness is still pretty poor at least by my estimations.

[kchusker_chris]

^ agree w/ this. when I think of crouch - I see a lot of Rex in him. he was a hard runner - he took a pounding, and he gave as much as he received. i don't see any rex in martinez - 2 completely different runners.

 

some of this may be clouded by Martinez 2010, versus martines 2011. they are different runners. some of that might be the offensive changes, some of that has to do w/ our backs, some might be the injury and a hesitancy or coaching him to go down, some might be to avoid turnovers which he often did scrambling, who knows - but it's different. it doesn't feel like the first 7 games last year. i don't think that's a bad thing either - i'm prefectly fine w/ having him for an entire season because of this change.

[NoKoolAidForME]

I would like to Taylor to be more decisive when he runs. There have been a couple time where Taylor gets out of the pocket down field and when contact come he stops. It doesn't seem like he is attempting to make a move it just look likes he is stopping before contact. Maybe it just me but I have seen it a couple times now. That more than anything will cause him to get hurt.

[junior4949]

I think it's pretty difficult to compare Martinez to Crouch because of one main point: the OL. Crouch's OL wasn't nearly as good as the ones Frazier, Frost, and Berringer ran behind; but it was light years ahead of what Martinez is running behind. Martinez, IMO, has better RB's playing behind him than Crouch did; and he has better WR's than Crouch did. However, the OL Crouch ran behind was significantly better than Martinez's. I think Martinez has every bit as much speed and elusiveness as Crouch. I will concede though that Martinez may not have the vision yet that Crouch did.

Before our comparisons get too far ahead of themselves, I agree with most everything you said except for the elusiveness part. I don't remember a lot of games Crouch played, but I do remember him not looking awful when a pass play broke down and he had to run, or when a lane got cut off and he had to change directions. When Martinez doesn't immediately see where to go, it's like he hits a brick wall and just dances a little bit. Why? I don't know. It looks funny, though.

 

When he gets chugging in a straight line, he's blazing. But his elusiveness is still pretty poor at least by my estimations.

 

Crouch didn't pass as much as Martinez. It's a little difficult to compare their escape ability on a pass play as Crouch's passes were almost an abnormality. This is why his receivers were typically wide open. However, this is where the vision comes into play. I don't think Martinez has Crouch's vision yet. This is where I was coming from in my initial post about where I'd like to see Martinez improve. It would be nice to see him not take the sacks and escape more when the passing lanes break down.

[BigRedFred]

I finally found the "phrase" that describes his throwing motion ... it's a "launch" ... however, it does not have a solid foundation upon which to project anything consistent. He telegraphs everything ... I can tell when he's gonna pass right when he gets the ball. These aren't complaints. It's comical to me. I don't think it will change, he wants to change or the coaches will make him change. It's a marriage that will stay together for three more seasons. :-)

 

I was thinking it was more like a second-to-first throw in baseball. Sidearm and no arc. Unless he tries to go downfield. Then it's like a shotput. All arc.

[Enhance]

I would like to Taylor to be more decisive when he runs. There have been a couple time where Taylor gets out of the pocket down field and when contact come he stops. It doesn't seem like he is attempting to make a move it just look likes he is stopping before contact. Maybe it just me but I have seen it a couple times now. That more than anything will cause him to get hurt.

That's the main issue, I think. I think he probably has a lot running through his head - what with coaches telling him to not take big hits, go down if you can, don't turn the ball over, etc. It's possible that when a pass breaks down and he has to scramble he starts thinking and just forgets to play.

 

I think it's pretty difficult to compare Martinez to Crouch because of one main point: the OL. Crouch's OL wasn't nearly as good as the ones Frazier, Frost, and Berringer ran behind; but it was light years ahead of what Martinez is running behind. Martinez, IMO, has better RB's playing behind him than Crouch did; and he has better WR's than Crouch did. However, the OL Crouch ran behind was significantly better than Martinez's. I think Martinez has every bit as much speed and elusiveness as Crouch. I will concede though that Martinez may not have the vision yet that Crouch did.

Before our comparisons get too far ahead of themselves, I agree with most everything you said except for the elusiveness part. I don't remember a lot of games Crouch played, but I do remember him not looking awful when a pass play broke down and he had to run, or when a lane got cut off and he had to change directions. When Martinez doesn't immediately see where to go, it's like he hits a brick wall and just dances a little bit. Why? I don't know. It looks funny, though.

 

When he gets chugging in a straight line, he's blazing. But his elusiveness is still pretty poor at least by my estimations.

 

Crouch didn't pass as much as Martinez. It's a little difficult to compare their escape ability on a pass play as Crouch's passes were almost an abnormality. This is why his receivers were typically wide open. However, this is where the vision comes into play. I don't think Martinez has Crouch's vision yet. This is where I was coming from in my initial post about where I'd like to see Martinez improve. It would be nice to see him not take the sacks and escape more when the passing lanes break down.

I can agree with that, although, even in obvious passing situations Crouch looked decisive. For a specific example, reference Crouch's big run against Missouri. It was a 3rd and 8 near their own goal line, which is is an obvious passing situation. Crouch never stutter steps around like Martinez does, and I think vision and elusiveness would have to go hand and hand in this situation. You don't necessarily have to have great vision to chug forward and get some yards. I think the main problem is that Martinez doesn't commit himself and probably tries to do too much. If he was more decisive he probably wouldn't look like ridiculous when the pocket breaks down.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Decision making is something that some players just have. But it is definitely something that can be learned--which is exactly what Taylor is doing. And it is evident that he is learning--his decision making in the passing game has improved from last year. And it will continue to improve as he plays more and more games. Perhaps Crouch had that intangibly higher level of being able to make decisions in the running game and that could explain why he may have been a slightly better runner than Taylor.

 

But the game is changing--back then Crouch was the exception, if he played today he would be the rule.

 

All in all, there are multiple ways to be efficient. If we have the efficiency under Taylor to lead us to a national championship, then I don't think we'll hear a lot of complaining. It's amazing how winning is a great antidote.