Zac Lee
- Thread starter Travis9
- Start date
I think Lee's eligibility remaining would only let him drop down to FCS or lower.
I hope he sticks around, we need a good backup around to let Gabbert redshirt next year. With Cotton's line, it will be a miracle to keep any QB healthy
We still have a third of the season to play, a good chance at a bowl game, a decent chance at the North title and even a chance, however slim, at the Big 12 Title...why would we want to "cut our losses and build for the future" already? We're 5-3, it would be a different story if we were 3-5 or 2-6, but we should just give up, throw the freshman in and hope for the best (ie that playing him now pays dividends somewhere down the line) when we still have the chance to have a very good season?
I know that the season has been rough so far and that the Iowa State game in particular was tough to watch, but the defeatist mentality of our fan base is ridiculous. I think that Lee had the probability of being a very good quarterback - was he going to rewrite the annals of Husker QB history? No probably not...but I think he still has plenty of potential and upside to offer the Huskers, more at this point in time than Cody Green. However, we have traded Lee, who while not being THE PLAYMAKER on offense wasn't hurting us with a lot of costly mistakes (ie pick-6s, lost fumbles....yes he had bad throws and several interceptions, but they usually didn't cost us in terms of opponent points as a direct result of them) for a true freshman in Green, who while he has a tremendous amount of talent really is not prepared to run our system at this point and will more than likely make similar errors as he made in Baylor, which unlike Lee's errors could very well cost us games.
I'm excited for the future and very excited to see what Green can do...I did and do fully expected next year for there to be an all out battle for the QB position during spring ball and the preseason. I think, however, that pulling Lee and putting Green in at this point in the season is removing our best chance for achieving a good finish, bowl game, north title, and Big 12 Title.
I wish Green all the best and hope that he can find some way to rally the troops, but basing all our offensive hopes on a true freshman is placing a load upon him that I'm not sure he can carry...Lee, at least as far as the fans are concerned, wasn't able to do it, I hope Green fares better. (I also hope that Lee gets several more shots to make some plays, but given this staff's history of not playing back-ups at the QB position, I don't see that as very likely unless Green, God forbid, is injured or makes some really costly errors.)
huskerstuckinmichigan
Special Teams Player
Very nice first post!!! Only problem is, I don't see (neither do many on here) Lee being able to get us to a North Title or even close to winning the Big Twelve. As I see it, Green gives us an added dimension that Lee never will. Green will make mistakes, but I do believe he gives us a better shot at those goals you mentioned than Lee will. I have to feel the coaches are thinking the same thing or he wouldn't be in there.
Fuzzy
All-Conference
What i was trying to get at was, most people like how young Cody is and how much we can build around him. So why doesn't every QB that is currently on the team that is older than Cody and has so much more expected out of him, just transfer or give up football altogether, would that make some of the Cody Green fans happy?
We currently have 7 QB's on this roster. Why not just let Zsc Lee, Latravis Washington, and Joe Broekemeier leave the football team, we still have Taylor Martinez, Kody Spano, and Ron Kellogg, not to mention we get Tyler Gabbert. Kick the old guys out and keep the young ones, right? Thats our mentality, am i right?
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Thanks! In regards to the above, I think the coaches, like much of the fan base, were hoping that Green, (in front of all of his friends and family and what essentially turned out to be a "home" crowd...I was shocked at how poor Baylor's fan support was), would provide a "spark" on offense. I think Green had a good game, but I don't think he had a great game and unfortunately, if any spark was generated it faded before the second half and made no re-appearance.
Between Lee and Green and the effect each would have on how the remainder of the season goes, as I said above I think that Lee is the one that, imo, gives the Huskers the best chance of achieving the winning record, bowl game appearance, north title and Big 12 title mentioned above.
My thought process in choosing Lee, is that despite Green's mobility, his lack of experience running the offensive scheme makes Lee the better choice. My main point of focus with regard to experience is mistakes; to be more precise, it's the type of mistakes that each QB would be more prone to making. Lee's mistakes, though plentiful, have not directly resulted in opponent points; most of his interceptions have come due to deflections off receivers and/or hail mary type passes but have not been returned for a lot of yards or for points. Despite the offenses lack of redzone production, he has been pretty good at avoiding costly mistakes and moving the team up the field and into a position to score - before fumbles, drops, turnovers and penalties outside of his control have killed and/or eradicated these drives.
Green, through no fault of his own, is inexperienced with the current offensive scheme and the game at this level. He will, in time, gain experience in both and become an even more valuable part of the Huskers than he already is; however, the mistakes he is makes are more likely to be costly in terms of opponent points because of that inexperience. I don't hold the mistakes he will make against him (as long as he learns from them), but don't think that this was the right time to make the change (I do think that Green did deserve more playing time than he was getting though, just that he should not have been named starter).
I think that with so much season still to be played, you go with the guy who is playing mostly free of costly mistakes vs putting in the guy who in the future COULD (emphasis on could, because I've seen nothing definitive yet) be THE PLAYMAKER on offense, but who is more likely to commit costly mistakes that even with the Husker's defense could be too much for our offense to overcome.
The Husker's offensive woes go much deeper than either Lee or Green though, and I'm not sure what needs to be done to solve them, but the offense in addition to putting some points on the board, needs to have some sustained drives to keep the Blackshirts from being on the field the whole time - I think Lee does it better and with fewer costly mistakes than Green and thus gives us a better chance.
Sorry for the book
huskerswrkhavoc
All-Conference
Fuzzy
All-Conference
Good read mate. very in-depth. I like that.
I like Green, i think he has a lot of potential but trying to force that potential out too early can hurt us more than it can help us, and i guess that has been my concern all year. When i look back, this season really has been a learning experience for our offense for the most part.
Even though its not over, i expect our offense to come back next year, with a huge turn around from what it is now. We get a lot of talent coming back next year. We only lose 3 WR's, only 2 have seen substantial playing time (Holt and Brooks). We lose 3 OL, Meyer, Hickman, and Christensen. and thats it. All the QB, RB, FB, and TE's come back next year.
I like Green, i think he has a lot of potential but trying to force that potential out too early can hurt us more than it can help us, and i guess that has been my concern all year. When i look back, this season really has been a learning experience for our offense for the most part.
Even though its not over, i expect our offense to come back next year, with a huge turn around from what it is now. We get a lot of talent coming back next year. We only lose 3 WR's, only 2 have seen substantial playing time (Holt and Brooks). We lose 3 OL, Meyer, Hickman, and Christensen. and thats it. All the QB, RB, FB, and TE's come back next year.
huskerswrkhavoc
All-Conference
I think you hit the nail on the head with that part.
As most of the people on here, I do think that Green is more talented and probably has a better future here at Nebraska....However, I don't think that this season is lost yet and I think Lee gives us the best chance to minimize big mistakes and win games. Sure he isn't as flashy as Green, but that doesn't mean he can't minimize mistakes. Even if we lost to OU saturday, we almost control our destiny in the North....unless you think ISU is gonna win vs OSU, CU, and @ Mizzou....
It comes down to future vs now....and why are so many people looking to the future when this season isn't over? Seem to remember a Goliath OU team getting upset by a nobody KSU team in the big 12 title game a few years back.....
I appreciate all the responses. I dont think every backup should transfer, not at all. Just Lee, and here is why.
Cody is starting now, a true frosh. You cannot put a true frosh into the role then bench him for making true frosh mistakes. also, their may be a QB competition in the spring and fall, but Cody is not going to lose it because they can't have him lose it.
Coaches use a grading system, and Cody is not going to outgrade Zac, ever. He didn't last week in practice. There wasn't an open competition in practice last week for the job. It was decided on Sunday that Cody would start.
In this case and this case alone, Lee needs to leave if he wants any chance to be the man anywhere else. yes it would suck losing him as a backup but it is what it is.
My question is, do you all hate him so much that you would want him to stay here and compete in a competition for a spot that would truly not be open. Do you all hate him so much that you wouldn't want to see him get a shot at leading at team for his Sr. Season even though it would be a DII school.
Cody is starting now, a true frosh. You cannot put a true frosh into the role then bench him for making true frosh mistakes. also, their may be a QB competition in the spring and fall, but Cody is not going to lose it because they can't have him lose it.
Coaches use a grading system, and Cody is not going to outgrade Zac, ever. He didn't last week in practice. There wasn't an open competition in practice last week for the job. It was decided on Sunday that Cody would start.
In this case and this case alone, Lee needs to leave if he wants any chance to be the man anywhere else. yes it would suck losing him as a backup but it is what it is.
My question is, do you all hate him so much that you would want him to stay here and compete in a competition for a spot that would truly not be open. Do you all hate him so much that you wouldn't want to see him get a shot at leading at team for his Sr. Season even though it would be a DII school.
Fuzzy
All-Conference
I think a lot of people on the board hate Zac Lee because they think he shouldnt start. haha