POB

[BaytownHusker]

As wrong as I would love to be I am not crazy. If anyone thinks this staff will start a true freshman Qb over a Sr is crazy. They wouldn't even play freshman Rbs over Jr. and Sr Rbs. It ain't gonna happen. Wish I was wrong but we all know I'm not.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Freshman Tommy Armstrong originally got the job over Senior Ron Kellogg III.

 

But POB would be taking the ball out of the hands of what could easily be Nebraska's career total offense leader.

[Enhance]

As wrong as I would love to be I am not crazy. If anyone thinks this staff will start a true freshman Qb over a Sr is crazy. They wouldn't even play freshman Rbs over Jr. and Sr Rbs. It ain't gonna happen. Wish I was wrong but we all know I'm not.

Most schools don't start their true freshman quarterbacks over multi-year starting seniors unless forced to do so.

[ColoradoHusk]

Freshman Tommy Armstrong originally got the job over Senior Ron Kellogg III.

 

But POB would be taking the ball out of the hands of what could easily be Nebraska's career total offense leader.

Totally different situation. TA was a RS freshman who was named the #2 QB behind Martinez in 2013. He was the next man up after TMart got injured and ended up missing most of the season.

[Hunter94]

Well, BYU beat us with their stud frosh QB, jNU beat us with their stud frosh QB, ND is beating everybody not named "Tree" with their stud frosh QB, Josh Rosen yep, have I left anybody out? Sooo, if POB is who everyone here seems to think(fantasize) he is, then what the heck, maybe he can over take the starting role next year. I highly doubt it, but who knows, I hope he's that good.

i hope he can learn, that fast!

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

Freshman Tommy Armstrong originally got the job over Senior Ron Kellogg III.

 

But POB would be taking the ball out of the hands of what could easily be Nebraska's career total offense leader.

Totally different situation. TA was a RS freshman who was named the #2 QB behind Martinez in 2013. He was the next man up after TMart got injured and ended up missing most of the season.

 

 

Yeah. I knew that, as my second sentence should have indicated.

 

Just saying that being a Senior means squat if the Freshman can outplay him.

 

And if you remember, many people considered Ron Kellogg III the next man up after Martinez was injured, and the two QBs were rotated as the coaches tried to figure out who gave them the best chance to win. Armstrong appeared to have more upside, and being a Freshman probably helped his case because you were prepping the QB of the future, not the QB who wouldn't be playing in either college or the NFL next season.

[4skers89]

If he remains the starter I hope the possibility of breaking records doesn't cause him to make bad decisions.

[cm husker]

 

 

I won't say everbody, but I see a LOT of posters talking about POB coming in and taking the starting job...or pushing Tommy so he gets better...etc, etc, etc.

 

Wasn't Stanton supposed to do that....or Darlington.....or Bush...and wasn't Tommy supposed to push Martinez or replace him?

 

POB hasn't taken a single snap even in practice at UN-L.

 

Am I missing something about him that transcends the other wunderkinds that have come here, and gone?

 

I hope he's the real deal, but such confidence in a mostly unknown skill baffles me.

It's the can anything be worse than what we had this year? There was much more bad than good with TA this year

Of course they can. Did you watch Purdue?

[melscott62]

I've been trying to figure out what the coaches see in TA since spring. It's obvious - and has been for some time - that he lacks the skills that QBs need to run Langsdorf's system. That's why I was surprised how quickly he "won" the job.

 

Now it's entirely possible - and accurate to a large extent - that TA does more things better than the other guys we have now. But it's also true - from many media reports - that the other guys didn't get nearly as much of a chance.

 

Here's my assertion of how things went after the new coaches came on board.

 

TA was a two-year starter. He played well in the bowl game (the first game the new coaches saw as our coaches). By all accounts, he's popular with the team. And he has good leadership qualities.

 

The new coaches knew they had a lot of work ahead of them to get their system in place. It doesn't make any sense to try to get 3-4 QBs ready to play. You have to pick a guy - two at max - and get them as many reps as possible. TA was obviously well ahead of everyone else in playing time and years in college. And he has the physical tools. Pretty easy to say "he's our guy, we just need him to work on a few things and learn the system." Thus, he's getting the vast majority of the reps all spring and fall.

 

Then you have Fyfe. He's the kind of guy you would expect to be a good back-up from an NFL point of view. He's a veteran compared to they other guys. He has more game experience. He doesn't have the highest ceiling but you expect ( ) him to be able to come in and run the show if needed (which you're hoping to not have to do).

 

So the coaches were forced to make quick decisions and they went with the most logical choices. Those guys get all the reps and the other guys get the scraps. Can't blame them - really no other way to go.

 

But now things are different. The entire team knows the system (more or less). There isn't the demand to keep installing new things. They can work on the things they need to get better at. And you can give more time to the backups. That leaves a wider door open for someone else to make a move. You add all that to the lack of success TA had this year plus however the sexual assault and walking out of practice play into it and I think (hope) POB has a great chance to push for a starting spot.

 

It would be quite a feat for a true freshman to unseat a fifth-year senior who's a three year starter. But I've also been reading between the lines whenever Riley or Langsdorf talk about TA. All the way back for 11 months. Spring practice, fall camp and through the year. They always talked about how he's a competitor. How he's a leader. How's he bounces back from mistakes. You almost never heard them come out of a practice saying "Tommy really threw the ball well today." Or "Tommy is really running the offense great." It's always been about the intangibles. Those are all well and good. But at some point it has to translate into actual performance. It does in flashes - TA's problem has never been that he can't do what's asked of him. It's always been that he can't do it consistently enough.

 

It'll be interesting to see if TA can make some progress and hold off the competition or if the coaches are really looking for someone to make a push for the job.

I think it was clear this year that the staff struggled to win over the team and I don't think they really bought in until after purdue. It was not easy. I think that played into going with tommy as well. They might have been scared to lose the team if they would have went away from tommy

[junior4949]

I don't think the coaches were scared to lose the team if they went away from TA. There just wasn't many/any other options. The Purdue game pretty much slammed the other option.

[Mavric]

Watching the Redskins and it makes you wonder about sitting the guy with all the physical tools in favor of a guy who just makes the smart plays.

[Igetbored216]

Watching the Redskins and it makes you wonder about sitting the guy with all the physical tools in favor of a guy who just makes the smart plays.

Who exactly would this be?

[Danny Bateman]

Watching the Redskins and it makes you wonder about sitting the guy with all the physical tools in favor of a guy who just makes the smart plays.

 

RGIII lost all his physical tools when his knee got shredded up. Baylor made his arm look like an NFL arm. He's a terrible QB.

 

I agree with the philosophy, though.

[zoogs]

I agree with Mavric. An incredible athlete is great, but the guy needs to be a QB first.

 

But just listen to Riley. I think we all know how far Tommy Armstrong is from where he needs to be, but it sure seems like coaches consider him the best shot for this team. That's subject to change, but they know Armstrong, they know the team, and they know POB -- a guy who, after all, has only focused exclusively on QB relatively recently.

[BigRedBuster]

I agree with Mavric. An incredible athlete is great, but the guy needs to be a QB first.

 

But just listen to Riley. I think we all know how far Tommy Armstrong is from where he needs to be, but it sure seems like coaches consider him the best shot for this team. That's subject to change, but they know Armstrong, they know the team, and they know POB -- a guy who, after all, has only focused exclusively on QB relatively recently.

What exactly do you expect riley to say publicly?