BTN Analysts on Armstrong
- Thread starter Mavric
- Start date
Husker from Kansas
Starter
Sounds like they have the same opinion as most here
Danny Bateman
Heisman Trophy Winner
You mean the right one?
We have to have a QB that is a consistent and actual passing threat. Until we do, it will continually see us facing teams that stack the box. Without AA, it will be harder.
I do like the idea of the swing pass and other ideas mentioned that Riley might use to loosen up the D. This is something I never saw Beck do was to call plays to get teams out of the box or make them pay for the aggressive play. Nor did I ever see Bo stack the box i.e. Wisky to make a QB beat us....
I am hoping that with a coach who can actually teach, Langs whose done it at the highest level and the fact Riley and Co have like 500 years of experience makes me optimistic that we will have an O tailored to the strengths of TA instead of making TA play like Manning or Brady....
I do like the idea of the swing pass and other ideas mentioned that Riley might use to loosen up the D. This is something I never saw Beck do was to call plays to get teams out of the box or make them pay for the aggressive play. Nor did I ever see Bo stack the box i.e. Wisky to make a QB beat us....
I am hoping that with a coach who can actually teach, Langs whose done it at the highest level and the fact Riley and Co have like 500 years of experience makes me optimistic that we will have an O tailored to the strengths of TA instead of making TA play like Manning or Brady....
Sargon
Starter
^ mm hmm I think that's the one he means.
Swing pass? TA can't complete them at an acceptable rate (maybe this year that'll change).
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Exactly. That's what makes it worse. He has the most trouble throwing the "easy" passes that help your completion percentage and can let the RBs get the ball in space.
Newby would be deadly if we can get him the ball in the flat against LBs on a relatively consistent basis.
HuskermanMike
Starter
I thought the BTN guys made a fair analyses, but I hope Tommy hits those easy passes like it was said above. Mike and co know what they want to do with him, so hopefully we see improvement in all aspects of his game.
A swing pass is not an easy pass to hit. Being able to hit a RB in stride as he is running downhill towards the LOS is hard to do. If they put the time into it, he will get better at it. I doubt they really worked it all that hard in the past.
If they really want to throw those types of routes they have to work it. Some QB are naturally better at it, but as long as he has decent mechanics, which MR says Armstrong has, he will bet better.
Teams that really throw that type of stuff a lot like Baylor or a Mike Leech coached team throw that pass thousands of times in practice, so they get better at it. It comes down to what you really want to do and commit to doing it.
STL Husker
Special Teams Player
I think this is the first negative thing I have heard Dinardo ever say about Nebraska. He usually has about 20 players in his "top 5 in the league" at any particular position. Maybe I should be more worried about our QB position. My standards after Martinez was just someone who looked like the were throwing with the correct arm.
NUance
Assistant Coach
Anyone else think Hackenberg is overrated? Heck, Tommy is known as a running QB, but his passing stats compare pretty well with Hackenpick:
2014
Hackenburg: 56% completion for 2977 yds, 12 TDs and 15 int.
Tommie: 53% completion for 2695, 22 TDs and 12 int.
Red Five
Heisman Trophy Winner
I haven't watched Penn State enough to know for sure but the story has been that his OL has been so terrible that it's making it pretty tough on him. And the stats seem to back that up - Penn State was #119 in the country in sacks allowed last year. Twice as many as NU on about a third more attempts.
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
We actually did have an offense tailored to TA's strengths last year. He had 10 - 12 designed carries a game, often threw on the run where he was most dangerous, and was allowed to throw deep because he does indeed have a strong arm and some fleet wide receivers. There were multiple games where some of those early deep balls loosened up the defense and helped Abdullah's running game. Beck did run some of those swing passes and screens, but because Tommy has trouble with the touch passes, they didn't play to his strength and they trimmed them down in the playbook. Just because Armstrong was allowed to throw deep doesn't mean we ran a Manning or Brady offense.
Armstrong simply has to get better at the swing passes and timing patterns if we intend to use them. He needs to make better decisions. His competitive fire and leadership seem above average and that's the stuff you can't teach. The rest you can. Hard to tell if Riley sees Armstrong as the dual threat he never had at OSU, or the guy who needs a lot of tutoring to become a full-time passing threat.
You expect Tommy Armstrong to be better with another year under his belt and a quarterback whisperer as head coach. He doesn't need to become a Manning or Brady. Even a modest upgrade over his sophomore season would make him a serious player. But he's a Junior returning starter with some interesting talent piling up behind him. No excuses. This is his make-or-break season. I'm looking forward to it.
We have a lot of hope riding on Tommy to get better at making the easy throws and keep hitting the more difficult ones. This year, especially, is pretty critical for his development and perception. He's a veteran now in my opinion. He's started 21 games and is a junior, and though still a young man, he's definitely not in the inexperienced crowd. I think this year will tell us a lot about his trajectory as a player - if he stagnates again then I think that's just the type of player Tommy is. If he really improves and has an all-conference type of season, which I think is a reasonable goal for him to shoot for, then we'll be in good hands.