OWH: Huskers Must Fix QB Play

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
Now they must weigh their options.


1. Stick with Armstrong and hope that another offseason polishes his flaws.
2. Go after a junior-college or graduate transfer. The latter is a risky choice, no doubt. But what if a player like Vernon Adams or Everett Golson becomes available?
3. Open the job this spring and hope that Patrick O’Brien does enough to win it. The incoming freshman from California and the face of the critical 2016 recruiting class possesses the classic pro-style characteristics that Riley covets. He’s 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and he can sling it.

The drawbacks of switching quarterbacks in 2016 are obvious. Armstrong is a popular leader on this team. And even the appearance of nudging him out risks upsetting locker-room chemistry.

But if Riley and Langsdorf don’t think Armstrong is their guy, they can’t afford to fiddle around. If you think the fan base was cranky this fall, what if NU starts 2-2 in 2016? (They face Oregon and Northwestern in September). Throwing the true freshman into the fire buys a little patience and gets O’Brien ready for 2017 and 2018, the can’t-fail seasons for Riley.

I don’t envy the coaches’ position. They have a quarterback right now who violates all the principles of “game management.”

Armstrong thrives in a playground setting. Let him improvise like a fifth-grader at recess and he’ll dazzle you ... most of the time. But scrambling creates risk, especially when No. 4 chases the big play. He throws off-balance. He throws across the field. He makes mistakes that must make his quarterback mentors seethe — their play calling doesn’t always help him.
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OWH

 
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Mavric said:
Now they must weigh their options.


1. Stick with Armstrong and hope that another offseason polishes his flaws.
2. Go after a junior-college or graduate transfer. The latter is a risky choice, no doubt. But what if a player like Vernon Adams or Everett Golson becomes available?
3. Open the job this spring and hope that Patrick O’Brien does enough to win it. The incoming freshman from California and the face of the critical 2016 recruiting class possesses the classic pro-style characteristics that Riley covets. He’s 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and he can sling it.

The drawbacks of switching quarterbacks in 2016 are obvious. Armstrong is a popular leader on this team. And even the appearance of nudging him out risks upsetting locker-room chemistry.

But if Riley and Langsdorf don’t think Armstrong is their guy, they can’t afford to fiddle around. If you think the fan base was cranky this fall, what if NU starts 2-2 in 2016? (They face Oregon and Northwestern in September). Throwing the true freshman into the fire buys a little patience and gets O’Brien ready for 2017 and 2018, the can’t-fail seasons for Riley.

I don’t envy the coaches’ position. They have a quarterback right now who violates all the principles of “game management.”

Armstrong thrives in a playground setting. Let him improvise like a fifth-grader at recess and he’ll dazzle you ... most of the time. But scrambling creates risk, especially when No. 4 chases the big play. He throws off-balance. He throws across the field. He makes mistakes that must make his quarterback mentors seethe — their play calling doesn’t always help him.
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OWH
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If TA really walked away from practice early after hearing about his decision making at Rutgers, then he should have been benched. Folks talk about the team "not buying in" from Gerry's comments and its applauded. The team Captain gives an FU to the OC and walks out.........

I go all JUCO and get me a Cam Newton.

 
TA appears un coachable, he doesn't know how to protect the football and doesn't care......he's after highlight plays...f#*k that!

 
Look out, the mods don't like "calling out players". Well sorry, a duck is a duck is a duck! Agree with the OP, TA needs to be benched or moved to another position. Develop POB and scour JUCO for some immediate success while POB works garbage time. 2 coaching staffs with identical statistical results = not meant to be a QB. He can go seek highlight reels elsewhere on the field or at another school. OC even letting him play after walking out (if true) is mind boggling.

 
If TA did walk out on practice, and hasn't been meshing with Langs, it may shed some light on why he didn't travel with the team when he was injured. The article ends with TA saying the right things, so hopefully he wakes up and grows up and listens to the coaches.

Remember how excited we were to see what the qb whisperer could do with an athlete like TA? Hope he wakes up or we take our lumps next season with POB building for 2017+

 
I don't see how benching a player with 21 turnovers would upset anyone on the team. If you want to win, you cannot have one player with so many negative plays.

 
Red Dead Redemption said:
How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?
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Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.

 
AZHuskerFan said:
Red Dead Redemption said:
How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?
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Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.
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I think this is just plain wrong-headed. As a coach, I'm not going to let the players dictate my philosophy based upon what they aren't good at. I'm going to run my offense/defense and force the players to adapt. Players have to learn the system . . . not the other way around. Coaches don't play fantasy league football, BTW.

 
We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.

 
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Husker Psycho said:
We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.
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I mean I like running QB's but we've also had our butts kicked several times this year by immobile QB's. Simply choosing not to run with the quaterback isn't an offensive flaw it's an offensive style that teams have had success with before(Alabama just won three national championships with a guy who couldn't run), when we hired Riley and an NFL position coach we knew that's what we were getting so it's not really a surprise. This is what these coaches do and they've had success at it in the past but just because we're recruiting pocket passers does not automatically mean our offense will be weaker.

The potential benefit of going all in with the pro style offense with Tommy this year is that now everyone on the team has a year of experience running Riley's system. That's not just the quarterbacks but offensive line, receivers, running backs, fullbacks, everyone... even if Tommy is beat out next year this will make it much much easier for POB or whoever to step in and run an efficient offense right away. Remember how many Illegal procedures we had early in the season? and how they've basically gone away completely? That's something that we most likely will not have to deal with next year thanks to going through the growing pains now. It sucks that Tommy is not being utilized to his strengths but it's better for the team as a whole to not rework the entire playbook around him, cause then what happens when he leaves? We have to go through growing pains of learning a new system again to fit our new QB which just wastes another year.

 
Husker Psycho said:
We have no idea what we have in PB. We have no idea if he will be able to adjust to the huge jump in speed and athleticism at the next level. We have no idea if he can run the ball when he needs to or learn the plays and reads at the college level.

So if we do nothing then we are stuck with what we have now and 1 new player we know nothing about. That's just not something we can hang our hat on.

We HAVE TOO recruit a juco or graduating senior. We HAVE NO CHOICE.

Even worse in my opinion is that if we recruit throwing "gunslingers"... then what happens to our run game? If we hire a gunslinger can he run? If not then we are loosing an offensive player on every play... which is why so many teams including ours uses a dual threat quarterback. It gives us an extra offensive player on every play. See Ohio State today as to the wisdom of using quarterbacks who can pass AND run.

I believe many people hoping for the current staff to get their recruits in the program may well end up regretting what they wished for. The "pro style" is a step backward... not a step forward.

Can we recruit a dual threat quarterback from the juco's or graduating seniors... I sure hope so.
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I suggest you go and watch POB's highlights. He is a pass first QB that is mobile. Ran for almost 700 yds this year.

The "pro style" is in no way a backwards step. It would honestly be a step forward when it came to recruiting. It would help land better players, which in turn would produce better results on the field.

As far as your "gunslinger" remark. TA is the definition of a gunslinger.

 
Vitalis Jackson said:
AZHuskerFan said:
Red Dead Redemption said:
How about calling plays that take advantage of TA's running abilities?
Click to expand...
Exactly this. It's unbelievable people are blaming Tommy for our loss yesterday or others during the season. This is squarely on a coaching staff that is asking a QB with tremendous running capabilities to pass the ball when everyone knows this is not his skill set. If Tommy was handing the ball off, running the option and occasionally a pass or two were added to the mix, we win vs. Iowa and probably a few more games as well this season.
Click to expand...
I think this is just plain wrong-headed. As a coach, I'm not going to let the players dictate my philosophy based upon what they aren't good at. I'm going to run my offense/defense and force the players to adapt. Players have to learn the system . . . not the other way around. Coaches don't play fantasy league football, BTW.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the statement that players have to learn the system may be true in the long run. But you have to use the resources you currently have on the team to win now. Square peg, round hole. I'm a supporter of Riley and Langsdorf. And I think the offense they want to run will work when they get the right personnel on campus. But in the mean time I think they could have done a better job of calling plays that take advantage of Tommy's strengths. He's one of the best running QBs in the nation. He's not one of the best passers in the nation.

 
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