Spring Quarterback Competition

[Landlord]

Really frustrating that after 7 years, we are left with a position that lacks the one fundamental that makes the position. Accuracy.

You make it sound like players are on 7+ year scholarships.

Name a QB under Bo who had it? That's my point. NU has not had an accurate passer under Bo. Ganz? Not his recruit. Martinez? Better, but a private QB coach helped more than anything. NU, IIRC was the only school to offer Martinez a shot to play QB.

No, accurate QB's have not been the calling card of a TimBo Wats offense.........

Make up your mind on what point you're trying to make. Bo and Beck didn't recruit or develop highly accurate passers? Okay sure. But your original statement had an implication that neverending progress on accuracy should have been made from year 1 to year 7, which is weird and nonsensical, because different players come and go over a time period that long, and coaches don't have magic fairy dust to make each year's quarterback more accurate than the year before.

If we have 65% passers for the next five years, and then have a new quarterback that struggles around 55%, are you going to say, "I can't believe after six years we don't even have an accurate quarterback by now!"

 

[Mavric]

Really good discussion but it had strayed significantly from the topic.

Tough to know where to split it but I've moved most of today's conversation here. Carry on.

 

[Mavric]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

 

[Army_Allen]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

I think that Darlington's smaller arm forces him to utilize his checkdowns more as maybe some of the deeper throws are tougher to get a feel for. Just conjecture though.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

Sounds like Darlington is doing extremely well with the playbook and reads. Has "it" in between his ears.

 

[admo]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

It does play well. Langsdorf specifically mentioned that half way through camp. Said some guys were forcing passes, when they had a check down open in front of them.

 

[True2tRA]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

It does play well. Langsdorf specifically mentioned that half way through camp. Said some guys were forcing passes, when they had a check down open in front of them.

I root for Armstrong and I think he's gonna be a good one, but honestly, if he doesn't start hitting those wide open second or third options or the HB standing all by himself in the flat, then I'm gonna flip. I watched Ameer standing all by himself far too many times last year.

If I'm the coach, the guy that does go through the progressions and hits the wide open routes is far more valuable than the guy with the strongest arm or any of those other things. Turnovers have been the difference between this team being an 11 win team or a 9 win team and that was under Bo Pelini and his merry band of yes men. I don't know if I can stand to watch a QB force throws all year long and destroy his teams chances for another season.

 

[admo]

During this last post game press conference, Riley said he likes how AJ has come along in 14 practices, and Tommy as well. Mentioned that Tommy has shown more confidence out there than anyone. It's something a QB must have. Also that the teammates have a lot of respect for him.

Another thing to keep in mind, although it could pertain to QBs or not, but this holds true: Some guys on the team can make a leap by how they play in the Spring game. Riley has seen guys come out of nowhere during spring games in the past (at Oregon State) that made all the difference going into fall and playing on Saturdays.

 

[lo country]

I'd take whichever guy can successfully dink and dunk down the field over the guy who only has the Hail Mary long ball. As much as Cally gets a bad rap, he made his money with Lucky and the RB screen.

With "less" of a running game (AA gone hurts), teams will really stack the box this season. A QB who can hit the quick routes and flats will really help the O as a whole IMO.

 

[The Dude]

I still get the feeling it's Tommy then AJ then everyone else.

 

[suh_fan93]

I still get the feeling it's Tommy then AJ then everyone else.

You know it's going to be Tommy. I do however think there is a leash this time around. At least I hope so.

 

[admo]

I still get the feeling it's Tommy then AJ then everyone else.

You know it's going to be Tommy. I do however think there is a leash this time around. At least I hope so.

I agree with you both. That's where it seems to be at right now. But if AJ struggles and someone like Darlington shows to be a gamer, well then it could mix things up a bit.

 

[admo]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

It does play well. Langsdorf specifically mentioned that half way through camp. Said some guys were forcing passes, when they had a check down open in front of them.

I root for Armstrong and I think he's gonna be a good one, but honestly, if he doesn't start hitting those wide open second or third options or the HB standing all by himself in the flat, then I'm gonna flip. I watched Ameer standing all by himself far too many times last year.

If I'm the coach, the guy that does go through the progressions and hits the wide open routes is far more valuable than the guy with the strongest arm or any of those other things. Turnovers have been the difference between this team being an 11 win team or a 9 win team and that was under Bo Pelini and his merry band of yes men. I don't know if I can stand to watch a QB force throws all year long and destroy his teams chances for another season.

I root for him too. I get frustrated with multiple forced throws that makes me ask "what is he doing?!" (ah hem, USC most recently). I respect his confidence and arm strength. But so far during his young career, he has shown a redundant tendency to "go for it" too much (the mid range play downfield). And usually it coincides with him locking onto a single route. If he can shore up his decision making, progress as a quarterback within the system, and continue running hard for yards, he will help this team out a lot.

 

[Army_Allen]

I still get the feeling it's Tommy then AJ then everyone else.

You know it's going to be Tommy. I do however think there is a leash this time around. At least I hope so.

I hope HCMR doesn't play TA only on the fact that he's more experienced and instead goes for the best all round guy regardless of the backlash of playing a guy who hasn't played a snap of college ball.

 

[HuskermanMike]

Kind of interesting. Though they put forth the caveat that they can't see everything, one media guy says TA had the best day of the QBs. Another guy said he threw a few interceptions today and was up and down. I guess it just depends on when you're watching which players.

Another report noted Darlington again. Didn't hear much about him through the first half of practices but he's been a daily feature lately. It was noted that he gets to his checkdowns quite a bit better than TA or Stanton who often try to force it downfield. That probably plays well with the coaches, I would think.

It does play well. Langsdorf specifically mentioned that half way through camp. Said some guys were forcing passes, when they had a check down open in front of them.

I root for Armstrong and I think he's gonna be a good one, but honestly, if he doesn't start hitting those wide open second or third options or the HB standing all by himself in the flat, then I'm gonna flip. I watched Ameer standing all by himself far too many times last year.

If I'm the coach, the guy that does go through the progressions and hits the wide open routes is far more valuable than the guy with the strongest arm or any of those other things. Turnovers have been the difference between this team being an 11 win team or a 9 win team and that was under Bo Pelini and his merry band of yes men. I don't know if I can stand to watch a QB force throws all year long and destroy his teams chances for another season.

I root for him too. I get frustrated with multiple forced throws that makes me ask "what is he doing?!" (ah hem, USC most recently). I respect his confidence and arm strength. But so far during his young career, he has shown a redundant tendency to "go for it" too much (the mid range play downfield). And usually it coincides with him locking onto a single route. If he can shore up his decision making, progress as a quarterback within the system, and continue running hard for yards, he will help this team out a lot.

I thought he had a good game against USC for throwing the ball 51 times he only threw one interception, which shows some improvement. If he throws the ball that many times this year though I have no clue what to expect from him or this offense. I still agree he could have hit other receivers better, but I wasn't expecting a 43/51 performance out of him for that game, he did better than I thought he would. He needs to hit backs in rhythm better and needs to get that short and mid range improved to make this offense go. I can say this year Tommy improves because he will have proper coaching unlike previous years and I can say that with confidence. Also, his completion percentage improves this year in my mind, if he gets that up and doesn't turn the ball over he is the starter all year and he doesn't regress a lot in another area.