Quarterback-What to do?

[apaladin]

Obviously there is a huge drop off from PJ to the current stable. Many have questioned the OL play. It has not been that great but we are averaging over 150 yds a game rushing with NO passing game. It would be 175 ypg if you take away that 28 yd. bad snap loss in the CU game we would be averaging 175 yds. What are the options at QB? Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer and we really don't have a prolific passer on the roster. Here are some stats:

Darrin Grainger- Played WR until his senior season. Threw for 2,125 yds and averaged 177 ypg but completed barely 50% of his passes.

Jemar Lincoln- Threw for only 886 yds in his senior season or 74 ypg. Did not realize he had such minimal passing stats in HS.

Harris Roberts-Hurt his senior season in HS and played only 5 games. Averaged lees than 100 ypg. passing his senior season and in his career.

Hamp Sisson- Threw for 2,451 yards his senior season and completed 66% of his passes. and averaged 204 ypg. He played at a 7A High school in Alabama.

If you go strictly by stats Sisson is the most accomplished passer. With that said he did not look good in the preseason scrimmage but CCH said he had really looked good in fall camp. Right not it looks like we don't have an obvious choice at QB as far as throwing it goes. If we ever could use another Ingle Martin it is now. I am hoping someone will step up and become a good QB. Who that might be I have no idea. I do know that it seems like we have always had a QB in waiting but I do not think we have that now thanks to the previous staff. QB should be the #1 priority this recruiting system. Didn't we have a good QB de-commit and go to JMU? I have no idea what the coaches will do but I do know we are in the toughest position at QB that I can remember.

[AstroDin]

The player that de-committed and signed with JMU was Hayden Mann, they plan to move him to safety.

Sisson and Grainger are the QBs they wanted — but I'm not sure. Concerning Grainger, everyone I talk to believes he's got huge upside. The coaches have two more games before the new redshirt rule takes effect.

I wonder if we will see Sisson get some prep work this week? Also, I wonder when Harris will be 100%?

[apaladin]

Do you think we will HR if he is 100% healthy?

[sluggo]

Do you think we will HR if he is 100% healthy?

That dead horse has been beat worse than Elon beat Furman.
It was over when he couldn't beat JL out during spring practice.

Too much time, effort and hot air have been used to try to make the guy the starter and that's the only
reason he started against Clemson.
Why yank a player after 3 plays if you think he should be the starter?
And why start someone who you think shouldn't start?
Answer : Because of the hype in the media.

The head coach satisfied the media for 3 plays and then went back to coaching.

[Jasper]

or the kid is injured - possibly with a broken thumb.

[sluggo]

or the kid is injured - possibly with a broken thumb.

Whatever the reason; thinking he is going to be the starting QB doesn't seem to fit any reality I'm seeing.

[AstroDin]

Do you think we will HR if he is 100% healthy?

That dead horse has been beat worse than Elon beat Furman.
It was over when he couldn't beat JL out during spring practice.

Too much time, effort and hot air have been used to try to make the guy the starter and that's the only
reason he started against Clemson.
Why yank a player after 3 plays if you think he should be the starter?
And why start someone who you think shouldn't start?
Answer : Because of the hype in the media.

The head coach satisfied the media for 3 plays and then went back to coaching.

totally agree Sluggo.

[fufanatic]

I believe we all owe PJ a big apology. Guy was unbelievable last year and covered up a lot of holes in the program with his steady passing and solid running (also missing Schmidt, Bush, Wilcox and Schumpert). Feel like there were some rumblings that we could just plug any ole QB into this system and it would be smooth sailing, but that's clearly not the case. I think we have some QBs that can get the job done, but they aren't quite ready yet. Hopefully they'll use this non-conference portion of the schedule to get some things figured out on the line and at QB and then be ready to go for the SoCon slate.

[apaladin]

I believe we all owe PJ a big apology. Guy was unbelievable last year and covered up a lot of holes in the program with his steady passing and solid running (also missing Schmidt, Bush, Wilcox and Schumpert). Feel like there were some rumblings that we could just plug any ole QB into this system and it would be smooth sailing, but that's clearly not the case. I think we have some QBs that can get the job done, but they aren't quite ready yet. Hopefully they'll use this non-conference portion of the schedule to get some things figured out on the line and at QB and then be ready to go for the SoCon slate.

Not only that but it looks like the entire system has changed too.

[ccoates]

I think there's plenty of blame to go around.

The offense is lethargic. Not even a pale shadow of what it was last tear. The rookie QBs seem to have trouble with the option reads, not terribly surprising given their inexperience, but disappointing nonetheless. The offensive line has been inconsistent at best and not the disciplined unit we saw last year.Key personnel losses have hurt. The loss of the OC did not help.

However, I don't think the system has changed as much as the people we have played have adjusted to it. Clemson? Well, they're Clemson. Dabo said we're hard to prepare for. Hard, but not impossible. Elon is not Clemson, but Cignetti is an impressive coach. His resume as a Saban Assistant and as Head man at Indiana (Pa), a tough DII school bears that out. Whatever he did sure had our number. I think some of us forgot, in our euphoria, that Elon went from 2-9 to 8-4 last year, a better improvement than Furman. It may be heresy, but I think we greatly underestimated them, not unlike Kenessaw State a couple of years ago.

Whether we sink or swim depends on how well we adjust back. Not gonna be easy. Saturday was a real shock to the system.

[gofurman]

or the kid is injured - possibly with a broken thumb.

THIS

[mathprofhiker]

I'll support CCH in whatever decision he makes, but I think within a couple of weeks he is going to have to pick one QB as the #1 guy, even if that choice changes later this season. My reasoning: normally the upside to playing 2 QB's is to make opposing defenses prepare for both of them, which usually makes them not prepare for at least one of them as well as they otherwise would. In our case, Lincoln and Grainger have very similar skill sets, so if a defense prepares for one they have essentially prepared for both. So we're creating discontinuity for our offense without gaining any preparation advantage. While I agree with everyone else that Grainger has huge upside, I think our best QB right now is Lincoln: he seems to understand the playbook better and make better decisions, on average. Of course, if we don't get better play out of our OL, neither QB will be very successful.

P.S. Yes, Blaze was very underappreciated last year. He would have been great (as opposed to just good) had he been able to run this offensive scheme for 4 years.

[gofurman]

I'll support CCH in whatever decision he makes, but I think within a couple of weeks he is going to have to pick one QB as the #1 guy, even if that choice changes later this season. My reasoning: normally the upside to playing 2 QB's is to make opposing defenses prepare for both of them, which usually makes them not prepare for at least one of them as well as they otherwise would. In our case, Lincoln and Grainger have very similar skill sets, so if a defense prepares for one they have essentially prepared for both. So we're creating discontinuity for our offense without gaining any preparation advantage. While I agree with everyone else that Grainger has huge upside, I think our best QB right now is Lincoln: he seems to understand the playbook better and make better decisions, on average. Of course, if we don't get better play out of our OL, neither QB will be very successful.

P.S. Yes, Blaze was very underappreciated last year. He would have been great (as opposed to just good) had he been able to run this offensive scheme for 4 years.

I think many of us did appreciate Blaze. For some reason others kept telling us that you could plug Any QB into this system and it would work ... that, similar to Wofford, QB wasn’t a big deal. I always got a little frustrated when I read that. Now I think we see the fallacy in that. Look, playbook experience and passing accuracy matter. Blaze had tremendous passing accuracy. When it’s 3rd and 7 and there is a small window for the pass some QBs can make the throw and some can’t. It’s that simple. And those plays change the game outcome. Does the drive continue or are we punting?

I’ll allow that until OL play improves the QB isn’t the only issue for sure. Any QB woulda struggled yesterday. But still. CMON - QB matters.

But yeah. Lots of blame - OL. Defensive tackling (or lack thereof!!). And the fact we just gave up. A buddy texted at half “let’s see if we can go from 28-0 to where we lose by 14... “. he texted me mid-3rd Q “that ain’t gonna happen”.

We will find out more this week.

MY MAIN CONCERN - our old OC is scoring 40+ at Lenoir Rhyne on offense already - Coincidence ???

[sluggo]

As long as everybody keeps worrying about the QB instead of fixing the OL, we'll keep losing.

Simple as that.

Seriously; if the QB can't throw the ball then what's stopping us from running it?

[The Jackal]

It's a hard question.

This may be odd to say, but I like what we are trying to do offensively. We have an identity, we have a game plan, but we are not executing it well.

I noted this on the other thread, but we have to look at the QB play in context. Clemson is a tough defense to play against. Elon is a tough defense to play against (they are big up front and have an All American MLB). This is not exactly the scout team out there.

From my view, our QBs are rushing things. They are missing completions to open receivers. They don't look comfortable back there yet. Both guys have big arms and I think will eventually be successful.

I'd prefer us to pick a QB and go with him instead of rotating both guys on a schedule. It almost seems like we are still holding a tryout audition for the long-term starter. Maybe we are.