Spring Quarterback Competition

[SouthLincoln Husker]

 

Hm, I thought they have been pretty strong about Tommy's hold on the job as an incumbent (but allowing that the battle isn't over). Lately, he's just been out. I don't think I could read more into it than that.

I agree that it is Tommy's job today. And I might be reading into it. But for the most part I take Riley's comments at face value. He's been honest so far. He's a QB whisperer. More reps for the other QBs the rest of the way is what he said. I don't want there to be a QB problem, but I cannot rule it out completely at this early stage. So we will see what happens. The spot is open for the taking though.

 

I see one of the 3 QBs leaving after spring, so the coaches are looking at the backups to see who is 2, 3 & 4.

[BigRedBuster]

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

That is one heck of a lot of assumption based on a snap shot of one throw from each. No QB throws perfectly every time and no QB at this level throws poorly every time. You don't know what the normal throwing motion is of a guy is by a snap shot of one throw.

[Hunter94]

Tommie's 2014 season, 53.3% completion rate, 22 TD's, 12 pics, 20 sacs........yes, other than experience, he doesn't have much for stats!

[zoogs]

...I can't tell. So this would have to be explained to me.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Who's the more natural thrower?

[NUance]

 

this was just one game where Bo sh#t the bed........exit, stage left for Bodacious!

That's the game that sealed the deal with me on getting rid of him.

 

It took me a long time to get to that point due to me HATING coaching changes. One of the reasons is what this thread is about. Coaching changes means changes in scheme and systems (more times than not). This means key players that could be good if coached well in the current system all of a sudden become liabilities to the system only because they are the wrong type of player for the new system.

 

I honestly don't care if we run a power run/option attack, spread attack, or a pro style attack. I have my preferences on what I like to watch the most but, truth be told, there have been programs win championships in all three of those systems and I firmly believe all three can be successful now with the right coaches.

 

The problem we have had is that we didn't have experts in teaching and coaching the system we were trying to run. I firmly believe we had talent to do better than we did. But, it is clear to me that certain members of the coaching staff were holding the program back (Mainly the HC that was a nutcase).

 

So....now we have a coaching change. (For which I am extremely excited about.) Fans and administrators think the old system stinks so we must have drastic change. Bring in a new thought process. This has happened when Solich was replaced. It happened when Callyclown was replaced. Now it's happened when Bo has been replaced.

 

So...we potentially are going to go through a couple years of adjustment (I'm not convinced 100% that we will but it's possible) and if so, we will have a certain amount of the fan base clamoring for coaches to be fired because they haven't won anything in their first 2-3 years. If they would have their way we would then have yet another coaching change with a complete change in philosophy and scheme and once again we will end up with players not matching the scheme.

 

It's a vicious circle. Heck, we already have fans on here that flat out claim if this staff doesn't win at least 10 games next year they are going to start sharpening their pitchforks to run them out of town. AFTER THEIR FIRST YEAR!!!! It's just asinine.

 

Meanwhile, programs that are successful, try to match the coach to the system they are running and the continuity of success more times than not continues. Oregon is a perfect example of that. The system works. Go find an expert in running it and that can continue running it.

 

 

+1. I feel exactly the same way. It seems like the first time a coach has a bad game everybody goes into knee-jerk reaction mode and calls for his head. But the penalty for coaching changes is absolutely huge. Generally it means losing most of the recruiting class, something that affects the team for three or four years going forward. And we end up with players who may not have the skill set to run the new guys offense and defense. And finally, regardless of how well our players are suited to running the new schemes, they will still need to learn whole new playbooks on each side of the ball. Basically, anytime we change coaches we can plan on flushing one or two seasons down the shitter. That, and having to pay out several million in buyout money. So I'm generally the last guy to call for a coaches head.

 

That said, after several seasons of the same result it becomes clear that the guy--Pelini in this case--just isn't going to get us to the next level. I was loyal to Pelini right up to the end. I'll admit I was frustrated after the Wisconsin debacle last season. But even then I wasn't in the pitchforks and torches crowd. I have to admit though, I wasn't the least bit upset when Eichorst pulled the trigger. In fact, I really think it worked out quite nicely for us. I think Riley is a diamond in the rough. He was drastically undervalued being stuck at Oregon State. And Eichorst performed such an incredibly seamless transition, coupled with some fine recruiting efforts on Riley's part, that we pretty much kept our 2015 recruiting class intact.

[admo]

I think we don't have a starting qb as of today or else he would want to get the leader the most reps with the 1s, would he not?

 

Mike Riley proved he wasn't past benchING ppl with Cody Vaz and Mannion

 

I agree. It's probable they want extra looks to see who they can work with. The most important position in football is not going to be handed over if there are too many question marks.

 

 

 

 

Hm, I thought they have been pretty strong about Tommy's hold on the job as an incumbent (but allowing that the battle isn't over). Lately, he's just been out. I don't think I could read more into it than that.

I agree that it is Tommy's job today. And I might be reading into it. But for the most part I take Riley's comments at face value. He's been honest so far. He's a QB whisperer. More reps for the other QBs the rest of the way is what he said. I don't want there to be a QB problem, but I cannot rule it out completely at this early stage. So we will see what happens. The spot is open for the taking though.

 

I see one of the 3 QBs leaving after spring, so the coaches are looking at the backups to see who is 2, 3 & 4.

 

Interesting. Who would it be? Surely it wouldn't be Stanton or Bush leaving because the opportunity to start is right in front of them for the taking.

[admo]

Who's the more natural thrower?

Bush. A week into spring Mike Riley said he throws a beautiful ball. That's high praise enough. Aside from that, I'm not sure Bush has the internal toughness that TA has out on the field. TA is very competitive, a physical runner with a strong arm. But it's smarts (knowing where to go with the ball) and accuracy (getting the ball there) that Riley and Langsdorf have mentioned several times with what they want from a QB. It makes sense.

[ColoradoHusk]

 

I think we don't have a starting qb as of today or else he would want to get the leader the most reps with the 1s, would he not?

 

Mike Riley proved he wasn't past benchING ppl with Cody Vaz and Mannion

 

I agree. It's probable they want extra looks to see who they can work with. The most important position in football is not going to be handed over if there are too many question marks.

 

 

 

 

Hm, I thought they have been pretty strong about Tommy's hold on the job as an incumbent (but allowing that the battle isn't over). Lately, he's just been out. I don't think I could read more into it than that.

I agree that it is Tommy's job today. And I might be reading into it. But for the most part I take Riley's comments at face value. He's been honest so far. He's a QB whisperer. More reps for the other QBs the rest of the way is what he said. I don't want there to be a QB problem, but I cannot rule it out completely at this early stage. So we will see what happens. The spot is open for the taking though.

 

I see one of the 3 QBs leaving after spring, so the coaches are looking at the backups to see who is 2, 3 & 4.

 

Interesting. Who would it be? Surely it wouldn't be Stanton or Bush leaving because the opportunity to start is right in front of them for the taking.

 

I think Stanton would leave if he is behind Bush after Spring practice. It would take a lot for Armstrong to get beat out in the fall, and if Stanton is still #3, then I could see him going some place closer to Cali and a system that would use his running ability.

[Mavric]

 

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

That is one heck of a lot of assumption based on a snap shot of one throw from each. No QB throws perfectly every time and no QB at this level throws poorly every time. You don't know what the normal throwing motion is of a guy is by a snap shot of one throw.

 

 

Your're right. It's just a crazy coincidence that every pick post of TA is depicting bad mechanics. The photographers have it out for him.

 

If only we had ... say ... 20+ games worth of tape on him. Then we'd have a more complete analysis.

 

I'm pretty convinced that this point that TA will run out of eligibility before people run out of excuses for him.

2012 - He got thrown in there and didn't have any time to work with the receivers

2013 - Our coaches are terrible. If we only had a real QB coach we'd see progress.

2014 - Probably something like he's learning an entirely new system. You have to give the new coaches time to work with him

2015 - Something else we can dream up.

[Mavric]

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

 

 

...I can't tell. So this would have to be explained to me.

 

Bush has his upper arm fully extended away from his body. 180 degree angle (or more) between his chest and his upper arm with the shoulder as the fulcrum. His upper arm is angled upwards as he prepares to deliver a more over-the-top throw with a high release point. Also, his lower arm is laid all the way back so the ball is almost behind his shoulder which causes the ball to be pointed almost vertically. His body is already leaning slightly to his right as he is beginning to transfer his weight to his right foot and drive the ball now that he has created a lot of "lag" between his right shoulder and his left elbow (similar to a golfer lagging the clubhead behind their hands just before reaches impact).

 

I'd go through that whole spiel with TA but it's probably pretty obvious that he's not quite there on all those points. The biggest one is the lesser angle between the chest and upper arm. He's counting on his arm strength to muscle the throw instead of throwing with the entire right side of his body - hips, chest, shoulder and arm.

 

And, no. You're mechanics don't change that drastically between throws - not if you're a consistent passer anyway. Obviously if you're throwing on the run or under pressure you have to adjust to get the pass away. But throwing all alone in the middle of a field? No.

[admo]

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

The receiver is at the same spot coming off the shadow.

Follow the hash marks because that's the direction of the pass.

Now look at the lead foot for both QBs in comparison.

Tommy's front foot is to the side, planted, and pointing at the receiver. Even though he is throwing it in front of receiver (the route).

Bush has his front foot in front of him, and pointing to a spot in front of the receiver.

 

Don't know if it's natural or something worked on, but just off of that, AJ will be on target more often than Tommy. It definitely looks proper.

[Saunders]

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

Are you sure they aren't catching the ball?

[The Dude]

I would be not very surprised if Bush was your QB1 in 2015.

[Moiraine]

 

You can even tell from these two pics that one guy is much more natural throwing the ball.

 

The receiver is at the same spot coming off the shadow.

Follow the hash marks because that's the direction of the pass.

Now look at the lead foot for both QBs in comparison.

Tommy's front foot is to the side, planted, and pointing at the receiver. Even though he is throwing it in front of receiver (the route).

Bush has his front foot in front of him, and pointing to a spot in front of the receiver.

 

Don't know if it's natural or something worked on, but just off of that, AJ will be on target more often than Tommy. It definitely looks proper.

 

 

I think you mixed the two Qbs up. Armstrong's front foot is pointing about 45 degrees to the right. Bush's front foot is pointed leftward, straight at the receiver.