LJS: State of the Huskers - Quarterback

[Mavric]

Experienced returners: Tommy Armstrong, sr.; Ryker Fyfe, sr.

Significant losses: None.

Youth watch: Oh, who else? Patrick O'Brien plans to fly to Lincoln to start his Husker career Jan. 7. Committed to the Huskers since May, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound recruit from San Juan Capistrano, California, never wavered in coming to NU. A four-star prospect and summer invitee to the prestigious Elite 11 camp, O'Brien told the Journal Star in December: "I feel like it's anyone's goal pretty much to be the starter. So I've been preparing very hard in the offseason to hopefully get that opportunity, and we'll see how that goes." Whatever his role is in 2016, contributor or redshirt, O'Brien's presence will no doubt help Spring Game ticket sales.

The conversation until spring ball is ... about whether Armstrong can fix his turnover woes. Also, was the bowl game a snapshot of this offense going forward in 2016 with Armstrong, or based more on what UCLA's smaller-sized defense offered the Huskers in the bowl game? The answer could be somewhere in the middle. And there will be a lot of chatter about O'Brien and whether he can make a push right away, even though no one knows, because, you know, he's yet to throw one pass in a college practice.

LJS

 

[BigRedBuster]

Man...this is going to be a very very interesting off season and fall camp as far as this position goes.

I love TA and think he has all the tools in the world to be a fantastic QB for us. But......we can not live with the interceptions. So.....does the staff scrap the old QB and start fresh with a freshman next year? Or, will they see enough in the off season and fall camp to rely on TA for another year?

If POB comes in and competes hard and shows that he has learned the play book, I wouldn't be surprised if TA starts but is on a short leash. This is more likely to happen since POB is going to be here in the spring.

 

[HuskerPowerVA]

I love the dual threat that Armstrong brings, but I am afraid he is unlikely to fix his throwing mechanics (throwing off back foot). That said, POB will have to really blow the doors off to unseat him. I fully expect the senior to start he season.

 

[Enhance]

I love the dual threat that Armstrong brings, but I am afraid he is unlikely to fix his throwing mechanics (throwing off back foot). That said, POB will have to really blow the doors off to unseat him. I fully expect the senior to start he season.

The mechanics I think are what they are at this point, and in my opinion, aren't even his greatest failing. He made some incredible throws in 2015 throwing off his back foot. His problem comes down to decision making, and he has made some absolutely horrible choices even when he's had time to set himself and make as good of a throw as he's capable of.

Armstrong's success will very likely hinge on the offensive line and the running backs. He needs the running game to make himself feel comfortable and help him gain confidence. We saw what kind of an impact it had against UCLA, and we know what happens when they don't get that kind of line play.

From a QB standpoint, however, we desperately need someone who won't turn the ball over. 16 interceptions in 2015. 28 interceptions in the last two years combined. It's unacceptable. That said, I'd love for Armstrong to be able to correct those mistakes and be the guy in 2016 just because his experience and other playmaking abilities are great assets.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I love the dual threat that Armstrong brings, but I am afraid he is unlikely to fix his throwing mechanics (throwing off back foot). That said, POB will have to really blow the doors off to unseat him. I fully expect the senior to start he season.

I personally believe his decision making is a much bigger factor than his mechanics. And...I think decision making is easier to fix than mechanics.

At least I hope so.

 

[Undone]

Good posts by Buster and Enhance.

As I said in the other thread, I think really the worst part about Tommy's game is how much our incredibly talented WR group goes to waste because of his lack of abilities in the passing game. Our offense is set up perfectly to run a fairly simplistic pro style offense. Not a gimmicky, complicated West Coast system, but a balanced offense more akin to Michigan State...except for the QB position.

That's where to me, it's an even bigger drawback than the interceptions. We've got a sturdy back in Ozigbo that can pick up five yards reliably on first down and set us up to run the offense Riley wants to run...except we're without a QB to be trusted to sit in the pocket and throw well.

I feel a bit better about Riley and his staff after watching the bowl game and digesting the season. I think where I land right now is the same as the article suggests - To at least try and find a happy middle with calling a heavier run play selection while continuing to put Tommy in high-percentage passing situations. Redshirting O'Brien and winning the West next season would do HUGE things to set up Riley's era for 2017. But Tommy could be a huge roadblock to our success next season.

 

[BigRedBuster]

TA actually improved his passing on the short routes this year. Quite frankly, after last year, it couldn't have gotten much worse. Early in the season he was completing screen passes. Not really sure why we went away from them.

Also, if his decision making gets better, his completion percentage would go up.

 

[HollandHusker]

I love the dual threat that Armstrong brings, but I am afraid he is unlikely to fix his throwing mechanics (throwing off back foot). That said, POB will have to really blow the doors off to unseat him. I fully expect the senior to start he season.

The mechanics I think are what they are at this point, and in my opinion, aren't even his greatest failing. He made some incredible throws in 2015 throwing off his back foot. His problem comes down to decision making, and he has made some absolutely horrible choices even when he's had time to set himself and make as good of a throw as he's capable of.

Armstrong's success will very likely hinge on the offensive line and the running backs. He needs the running game to make himself feel comfortable and help him gain confidence. We saw what kind of an impact it had against UCLA, and we know what happens when they don't get that kind of line play.

From a QB standpoint, however, we desperately need someone who won't turn the ball over. 16 interceptions in 2015. 28 interceptions in the last two years combined. It's unacceptable. That said, I'd love for Armstrong to be able to correct those mistakes and be the guy in 2016 just because his experience and other playmaking abilities are great assets.

You hit the nail on the head with his mechanics aren't his greatest failing...many times during the season Tommy would look good but in the back of your mind you always wondered when he would make the decision that would ultimately rattle his cage. I honestly do not see POB coming in and taking the job from Tommy, but who knows maybe they can adapt Tommy to a wide out/wildcat quarterback like Urban did with Braxton Miller if POB is able to take the job.

The biggest thing they need to figure out if they want to keep Tommy playing smart football like you said is figure out a dedicated running back and stick with him. The jury is still out if Riley and Langsdorf will use a running offense...I would love to see them bring in an extra tackle on plays like MSU does so well and just run down hill on people but I think the staff shys away from running when they don't get positive yards on a couple of plays.

 

[zoogs]

Tommy's a bit of a wildcard, but he's also immensely fun to root for. I could see him soaring to new heights. We can't have a good season without that. Try to build off that UCLA performance, everyone.

The depth behind him is *definitely* suspect. This is an area I hope we'll see get addressed aggressively in the coming seasons, as it'll need to. Getting POB on campus as well as the walk-on transfer is only a start. If POB is the real deal, I hope he sees minutes (however few) rather than redshirt. Being in the mix could help him springboard into Year 2.

 

[Landlord]

Tommy's first two seasons were fairly average, middle of the road, nothing great and nothing awful. Last year just widened the breadth of what he is capable of - we saw his absolute worst games and we saw him get to a much higher ceiling than we had seen in the two years prior.

All he has to do is raise up the middle level in between those extremes just one or two notches. We don't need him to be superman, and we can't survive him being kryptonite. Unfortunately, Tommy seems to be at his best most often when he's allowed to play playground ball and just be a playmaker - and he succeeds just often enough to make the coaches want to keep trying it.

Interesting side note. If we don't win the west next year Tommy will be the first quarterback in a decade not to have been on a squad playing for the conference championship here.