Post spring game QB depth chart

[jsneb83]

Darlington will win over teammates easily. He is quick to thank the OL and take no credit for himself. He is infectious in a positive way. I remember how excited I was before he got his concussion for him coming to NU. Sort of forgot about him and wrote him off. I think The kid has "it" I don't know how much he has but he has some.

So you aren't sure if he is full of "it" yet?

[suh_fan93]

Darlington is gonna take us straight to the Super Bowl. Then he's going to solve world hunger. Then..smh.

[HuskerNation1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm just watching the spring game now. Couple things:

 

Can't wait to go to my first game this fall!

 

Tommy Armstrong looks awful. System or no system, I hope the staff doesn't feel an allegiance to him. He doesn't look like a quarterback

I agree. I don't understand why the experience factor would play to TA's odds of being the starter this fall. If anything, with his experience he should have been far ahead of all the other QBs yesterday. Instead, after starting over 20 games, he looked like the 3rd best QB out there, and I don't see much upside for him.

Because experience is the difference between throwing an interception on 3rd and 3, against a real team with the game on the line, or making a play with your feet/finding a more open receiver. I would've thought experience and it's usefulness would have been a bit obvious? I stand corrected.

 

While his numbers may not have jumped off the page, he led three scoring drives - more than any other QB Saturday.

 

If they were ALL freshman learning to play at the college level for the first time then I'd be more open to the suggestion that he's the third best quarterback. But you have to think about this all reasonably and logically - it's going to take significant evidence for someone to supplant TA. I'm not saying that won't happen, because it certainly could.

 

But, it is equally as foolish to discount experience as it is to discount a back up.

You act as though TA did not throw INTs in clutch situations or make bad decisions in the past season. You are supporting the point I was trying to make in that TA should look substantially better out there in his 3rd season compared to the other QBs because of his experience, and he simply did not. I do still think that TA's "experience" factor will give him the edge for the opening game, but what I'm saying is that I don't believe that should be a deciding factor UNLESS all other things are equal with the #2, which does not appear to be the case. TA's advantages compared to someone like Darlington are his running ability and that he's played in 20-plus games. His disadvantages are his footwork, mechanics, and accuracy, and I would even say that ZD flashed better vision of surveying his open receivers than I've really ever seen from TA.

 

If Riley and company truly want a passing QB this early in their tenure, and ZD continues to impress in the fall, then they will make the change. If they don't want to rock the boat and are ok with a QB that prefers to run, then TA will remain on top of the depth chart.

 

As for the scoring drives, I would be interested to see how many minutes and drives TA had relative to ZD. Outside of 2 nice passes, I didn't see a lot of good things from TA throwing the ball yesterday.

Now you're contradicting yourself, though. You just said experience shouldn't be a deciding factor unless all things are equal, but then go on to say experience is TA's advantage. How can something be an advantage on one QB's resume but not worth taking into consideration for making a depth chart? Things will never be equal. Find me one QB battle in the history of... oh... ever... where each player was 100% equal.

 

If you're an employer and are looking at two guys for a position, and one guy has two years experience and the other is fresh out of college, you'd evaluate that guys experience level relative to his work.

 

ZD certainly may have better raw skills and may be the best guy for the job in the coaches eyes. I'm not debating that. I think you're misunderstanding my argument as a defense for TA being the starter. I don't give a damn who the starter is as long as they're the best guy on the team for the job. If that's ZD, great. If that's TA, great. If that's Fyfe, great. My point is that experience has to be part of the evaluation process, and it will be. That doesn't mean TA still can't lose his job.

 

However, I've seen multiple sports reporters locally say they think TA has a pretty firm grasp on the job as of right now. Could things change? Absolutely.

Do you like to argue for the sake of arguing? There is no contradiction in whats been said. Most reports suggest that TA will be the starter this fall because he's had experience. I've stated that it's silly to make a decision with experience as the primary factor, and that passing technique and accuracy as well as vision should be taken seriously. When you look at the latter factors, based upon the spring game, Darlington gets the edge. Heres where it appears you got lost. If TA and ZD were near equal on the latter 3 factors, that is when experience would be the deciding factor. It's not as difficult as you want to make it.

[HuskerNation1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm just watching the spring game now. Couple things:

 

Can't wait to go to my first game this fall!

 

Tommy Armstrong looks awful. System or no system, I hope the staff doesn't feel an allegiance to him. He doesn't look like a quarterback

I agree. I don't understand why the experience factor would play to TA's odds of being the starter this fall. If anything, with his experience he should have been far ahead of all the other QBs yesterday. Instead, after starting over 20 games, he looked like the 3rd best QB out there, and I don't see much upside for him.

Because experience is the difference between throwing an interception on 3rd and 3, against a real team with the game on the line, or making a play with your feet/finding a more open receiver. I would've thought experience and it's usefulness would have been a bit obvious? I stand corrected.

 

While his numbers may not have jumped off the page, he led three scoring drives - more than any other QB Saturday.

 

If they were ALL freshman learning to play at the college level for the first time then I'd be more open to the suggestion that he's the third best quarterback. But you have to think about this all reasonably and logically - it's going to take significant evidence for someone to supplant TA. I'm not saying that won't happen, because it certainly could.

 

But, it is equally as foolish to discount experience as it is to discount a back up.

You act as though TA did not throw INTs in clutch situations or make bad decisions in the past season. You are supporting the point I was trying to make in that TA should look substantially better out there in his 3rd season compared to the other QBs because of his experience, and he simply did not. I do still think that TA's "experience" factor will give him the edge for the opening game, but what I'm saying is that I don't believe that should be a deciding factor UNLESS all other things are equal with the #2, which does not appear to be the case. TA's advantages compared to someone like Darlington are his running ability and that he's played in 20-plus games. His disadvantages are his footwork, mechanics, and accuracy, and I would even say that ZD flashed better vision of surveying his open receivers than I've really ever seen from TA.

 

If Riley and company truly want a passing QB this early in their tenure, and ZD continues to impress in the fall, then they will make the change. If they don't want to rock the boat and are ok with a QB that prefers to run, then TA will remain on top of the depth chart.

 

As for the scoring drives, I would be interested to see how many minutes and drives TA had relative to ZD. Outside of 2 nice passes, I didn't see a lot of good things from TA throwing the ball yesterday.

Now you're contradicting yourself, though. You just said experience shouldn't be a deciding factor unless all things are equal, but then go on to say experience is TA's advantage. How can something be an advantage on one QB's resume but not worth taking into consideration for making a depth chart? Things will never be equal. Find me one QB battle in the history of... oh... ever... where each player was 100% equal.

 

If you're an employer and are looking at two guys for a position, and one guy has two years experience and the other is fresh out of college, you'd evaluate that guys experience level relative to his work.

 

ZD certainly may have better raw skills and may be the best guy for the job in the coaches eyes. I'm not debating that. I think you're misunderstanding my argument as a defense for TA being the starter. I don't give a damn who the starter is as long as they're the best guy on the team for the job. If that's ZD, great. If that's TA, great. If that's Fyfe, great. My point is that experience has to be part of the evaluation process, and it will be. That doesn't mean TA still can't lose his job.

 

However, I've seen multiple sports reporters locally say they think TA has a pretty firm grasp on the job as of right now. Could things change? Absolutely.

Do you like to argue for the sake of arguing? There is no contradiction in whats been said. Most reports suggest that TA will be the starter this fall because he's had experience. I've stated that it's silly to make a decision with experience as the primary factor, and that passing technique and accuracy as well as vision should be taken seriously. When you look at the latter factors, based upon the spring game, Darlington gets the edge. Heres where it appears you got lost. If TA and ZD were near equal on the latter 3 factors, that is when experience would be the deciding factor. It's not as difficult as you want to make it.

[Hedley Lamarr]

 

Darlington will win over teammates easily. He is quick to thank the OL and take no credit for himself. He is infectious in a positive way. I remember how excited I was before he got his concussion for him coming to NU. Sort of forgot about him and wrote him off. I think The kid has "it" I don't know how much he has but he has some.

So you aren't sure if he is full of "it" yet?

Correct, glass half full

[Saunders]

Darlington is gonna take us straight to the Super Bowl. Then he's going to solve world hunger. Then..smh.

This coming from a guy who wanted to bench Taylor Martinez because of Brion Carnes spring game performance......

 

lol.

[suh_fan93]

 

Darlington is gonna take us straight to the Super Bowl. Then he's going to solve world hunger. Then..smh.

This coming from a guy who wanted to bench Taylor Martinez because of Brion Carnes spring game performance......

 

lol.

 

 

Oh ye of little brain. You've been trolling HARD and hanging your hat on your Brion Carnes one liner for how long now? Bolievers die hard... Regardless never thought I'd use the ignore function.

 

Done...

 

[Saunders]

 

Oh ye of little brain. You've been trolling HARD and hanging your hat on your Brion Carnes one liner for how long now? Bolievers die hard... Regardless never thought I'd use the ignore function.

 

Done...

 

 

 

Boliever?

 

 

At least come up with something good if you're gonna get mad about someone giving you some grief. I think you're a good dude, I just found that post hilariously ironic.

[The Dude]

One thing Riley said he was looking for in the spring game was guys who might not stick out as much in practice, but show up big in a game-like environment.

 

Maybe Darlington is one of those guys?

 

If we were going to break in a frosh QB, this would be the year to do it. The most hostile environment he'd see would be . . . Minnesota?

 

 

Cue saunders' Ric Flair gif

[theneguy95]

Did any of you see Darlington's post spring game presser? He got me excited with his excitement. He loves the game and everything about the university. I know he could light a fire under his teammates in the huddle.

 

Here it is (not premium info)

http://nebraska.scout.com/story/1536794-nebraska-spring-post-zack-darlington

 

This is added to his performance in the spring game. He's definitely a natural leader.

 

I know the backup quarterback is generally a fan favorite lol but I'm on that wagon!

 

GBR!!!

[Enhance]

 

Do you like to argue for the sake of arguing? There is no contradiction in whats been said. Most reports suggest that TA will be the starter this fall because he's had experience. I've stated that it's silly to make a decision with experience as the primary factor, and that passing technique and accuracy as well as vision should be taken seriously. When you look at the latter factors, based upon the spring game, Darlington gets the edge. Heres where it appears you got lost. If TA and ZD were near equal on the latter 3 factors, that is when experience would be the deciding factor. It's not as difficult as you want to make it.

 

I won't deny ZD looked good in the spring game, but it seems like you're greatly undervaluing what it means to have played 20+ games of division one college football compared to zero. Experience will be a deciding factor, as will vision, as will playbook knowledge, as will accuracy... all of it.

 

I'm 100% with you that TA doesn't look like a guy who has played two seasons of D1 football. He's just not a flashy or elite QB, and I'm with you there. But things can't and will never be equal among these two guys from a skills stand point, and experience has to count for something. I don't think it should be THE deciding factor either, but, I think it definitely plays a big role in TA's evaluation process.

 

When you couple that with how we've only seen ZD in a spring game and have 20+ games from TA in the back of our mind, that's why people think experience will help him keep his job. I don't see anything wrong with that line of thinking.

[suh_fan93]

^

Agree with everything you said. I'm hoping that if Riley and co are the quarterback groomers they've been portrayed as then maybe then they can groom Armstrong into actually having a more successful year (higher completion % and less turnovers) giving us the best option at QB at the same time. The guy has a rifle and the experience but with TA one pass will be a bullet hitting the receiver perfectly in stride and away from the db even and then two plays later or what have you you'll ask yourself who was he throwing to?

 

As for Darlington he looked good in the spring game in terms of hitting the open guys he was supposed to and they were open. I'm not knocking him at all but I'm not going to overstate what he did either. As someone said earlier I also just think both he and Bush definitely need to continue learning and with all of that experience TA to me seems to be the one you want to really focus on as far as what he can do well and what maybe are his shortcomings are. He should definitely be the starter that's for sure. Without question. All in all I'm pretty sure Riley and co are limited in terms of what they'd really like to do with their offense from a passing standpoint. Also I'm not closing the door on Johnny Stanton just yet. Something tells me we have not even come close to seeing him at his best. He seems like a head case to me at this point more than anything. I would also say these coaches also have some things to prove.

[Red Five]

Riley on the B1G spring coach's call a bit ago (per Sam's twitter):

 

"It's been fun working with Tommy Armstrong and the other guys"

[The Dude]

Kinda seemed Tommy had improved some with the short passes.

 

I think Riley and Langsdorf like his and Bush's upside, and are confident in their ability to develop them. Maybe not enough to be NFL caliber QBs, but enough to be successful college QBs.

[RedDenver]

One thing Riley said he was looking for in the spring game was guys who might not stick out as much in practice, but show up big in a game-like environment.

 

Maybe Darlington is one of those guys?

 

If we were going to break in a frosh QB, this would be the year to do it. The most hostile environment he'd see would be . . . Minnesota?

 

 

Cue saunders' Ric Flair gif

Miami is probably more hostile than Minnesota.