Riley "Never Considered" Making A Change At QB

Riley said he never considered taking Lee out and putting in Patrick O'Brien after the pick-six.

"Just by the fact that this is a three-point game, he's played so much more, and we had a lot of faith that he would bring it back and he did," Riley said. "He made some real good throws after that. It had nothing to do with how we feel about Patrick, either. This guy (Lee) has been in the games and he sucked it up and made some throws."


I agree with Coach Riley on the bolded...

 
I think Riley is saying the right thing here after the game. I don't think you say anything about pulling him ahead of time to the media, you just do it when the time comes.

Now whether Riley actually pulls the trigger before it's too late remains to be seen.

 
So according to Riley's comments he would expect POB to complete less than 50% of his passes and throw more than 9 INTs in four games.

That's hope for the future.

 
There are a few issues with this, and all of them represent a huge problem here.

1)  Patrick O'Brien isn't remotely ready to go.  This, after enrolling early, spending two springs, and one full season, including two summer workouts, in the program under this OC, the alleged "Quarterback Whisperer."

2)  O'Brien is ready to go, but the coaches think he'll get killed behind this O Line.  Which is a huge problem pointing at Cavanaugh.

3)  O'Brien is ready to go, they're not that worried about the O Line, but they think Lee is really the guy to lead us this season, meaning we have another Sam Keller situation on our hands.

4)  The coaches see no benefit to letting Lee view a series or two from the sideline to get his bearings.  This is patently false, though. 
 On #2.  Obrien is more mobile.  He's a better choice with our line.  But yeah......+1 for this post....spot on.

 
IMPO, I'd be having him spend time with a sports psychologist on the sideline. 


If we had a good one, yes. But our sports psychology department is one of those things that was left by the wayside in the early 00s, and I don't think we ever got the talent in that department that we had in the 1990s...

 
From what I've see Lee just doesn't have it. When the bullets start flying he's a different QB than what he does with a green jersey on.

 
There are a few issues with this, and all of them represent a huge problem here.

1)  Patrick O'Brien isn't remotely ready to go.  This, after enrolling early, spending two springs, and one full season, including two summer workouts, in the program under this OC, the alleged "Quarterback Whisperer."

2)  O'Brien is ready to go, but the coaches think he'll get killed behind this O Line.  Which is a huge problem pointing at Cavanaugh.

3)  O'Brien is ready to go, they're not that worried about the O Line, but they think Lee is really the guy to lead us this season, meaning we have another Sam Keller situation on our hands.

4)  The coaches see no benefit to letting Lee view a series or two from the sideline to get his bearings.  This is patently false, though. 
Good write-up. It's incredibly hard for us to know as fans which one of the four scenarios it is.

Sometimes a guy also doesn't see the field because the coaching staff says, "he just doesn't know the playbook as well as the current starter does." This might fall under Option #1 above, or it might be a fifth option. But let's say it's that. 

How do we not at least try him for a couple of series? Maybe Lee knows the playbook better, but maybe O'Brien has a knack for at least not consistently throwing to a receiver that's entirely covered. 

Just that in and of itself would be a huge benefit over what we currently are battling.

 
There are a few issues with this, and all of them represent a huge problem here.

1)  Patrick O'Brien isn't remotely ready to go.  This, after enrolling early, spending two springs, and one full season, including two summer workouts, in the program under this OC, the alleged "Quarterback Whisperer."

2)  O'Brien is ready to go, but the coaches think he'll get killed behind this O Line.  Which is a huge problem pointing at Cavanaugh.

3)  O'Brien is ready to go, they're not that worried about the O Line, but they think Lee is really the guy to lead us this season, meaning we have another Sam Keller situation on our hands.

4)  The coaches see no benefit to letting Lee view a series or two from the sideline to get his bearings.  This is patently false, though. 
# 3,  I mentioned this on the other thread. It seems a bit like the Sam Keller situation.  Keller was BC's 'next great QB' and played him even though the other players were not on board - there was discord in the player ranks because they knew Ganz was the better option but BC had made a commitment to Keller's dad, etc.  Keller eventually gets hurt and Ganz finishes out the season.  But the next year under Bo, it becomes readily apparent that BC made a big mistake the year before.  It was a demonstration of his arrogance - along wt not firing Cosgrove that led to his own firing by TO. 

 
Does anyone believe that if a running back had 9 fumbles, 4 of which were returned for TD's, he would see the field again before a secondary back was tried?

 
If we had a good one, yes. But our sports psychology department is one of those things that was left by the wayside in the early 00s, and I don't think we ever got the talent in that department that we had in the 1990s...


I agree with you. I read their research and wasn't impressed. Though you don't have to be a strong researcher to be a good sports psychologist. There are just not enough people who really understand human behavior well out there. 

 
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