QB race could be paired down after Saturday's Scrimmage

[MojoRisen]

Sounds like Wilson is chomping at the bit to pair down the QB race - indicating that the scrimmage on Saturday is going to be a big measure on who they are going to go with.

They kind of side stepped a bit- but I have the feeling Saturday is going to be a big bench mark in making a decision and we should expect to see a lot of the playbook used.


Rivals article today...

[TheUnnamedSooner]

That's good to hear.

[The_Red_Patriot]

Between halze and bradford.

[Theskipster]

My guess is that unless Keith separates himself this Saturday, we will be seeing Bradford starting, Halzle as backup, and Nichol redshirted by Monday's practice.

[8910arecoming]

I think it was the Aug. 6th practice where it showed the qbs throwing under pressure. It showed all three qbs throw a few times each and Nichols looked really really bad. All of his passes were way off and just looked horrible. i was really pulling for this kid but after that I do not see him playing this season.

[MojoRisen]

I don't know guys- that sounds logical. He will have his shot this Saturday - for sure.

Huepel had a lot of praise for him - said he is light years ahead of where he was at the start of spring. Could be to lesson the blow - we will see.

It will be good though to get a Starter more reps - starting next week if possible. I think they will be challenged this weekend -

[NormanPride]

Practice != Performance

Hybl and White were complete opposites in this respect. Hybl was the great practice guy, while White was the one that lit a fire under everyone in the games.

Of course, they both turned out to be great, but that's besides the point. ;)

[OU-HSV]

I think it was the Aug. 6th practice where it showed the qbs throwing under pressure. It showed all three qbs throw a few times each and Nichols looked really really bad. All of his passes were way off and just looked horrible. i was really pulling for this kid but after that I do not see him playing this season.
I noticed that as well, but it's impossible to gauge anything from the few under pressure passes we saw on those vid clips. And IMHO none of the 3 looked to light it up in that under pressure drill.
But my guess is Bradford gets named the starter if he has any kind of separation from the other 2 at this Saturday's scrimmage. If there is no separation, then who knows what will happen. I mean we're only a few weeks away from kickoff...the coaches may decide to do what they did w/bomar and PT a couple seasons ago, and go into the first game open to benching someone if they perform sub par. However, I'd prefer to see one of the QBs separate themself from the other two and we can stick with one starting QB. But that's just me.

[illinisooner]

Why would Nichol be redshirted if he doesn't do OK in this scrimmage? There are still 2 more! Coaches have said he's now working with the full playbook like Halzle and Bradford, although scrimmages usually feature vanilla/Chuck Long offenses anyway. All of the QB's looked pretty bad on the practice video, and all of Nichol's deep passes were overthrown--better than underthrown, that's for sure. I wouldn't really take too much from those videos anyway, at most we see five passes per QB. But we'll learn quite a bit from this scrimmage, I just don't think we should count any of the 3 out if they hit 3-11 for 24 yards with a pick or two...it's still early on in fall practice.

[Harry Beanbag]

Why would Nichol be redshirted if he doesn't do OK in this scrimmage? There are still 2 more! Coaches have said he's now working with the full playbook like Halzle and Bradford, although scrimmages usually feature vanilla/Chuck Long offenses anyway. All of the QB's looked pretty bad on the practice video, and all of Nichol's deep passes were overthrown--better than underthrown, that's for sure. I wouldn't really take too much from those videos anyway, at most we see five passes per QB. But we'll learn quite a bit from this scrimmage, I just don't think we should count any of the 3 out if they hit 3-11 for 24 yards with a pick or two...it's still early on in fall practice.


I would think since none of them have any experience at all, that it would benefit the team to pick the best of the lot and give them as many reps between now and Sept. 1st as possible.

[jk the sooner fan]

while we're on the subject of practices.....i realize they are closed but are there any scoops on who's having a good camp and who isnt? any pleasant surprises, etc etc

[illinisooner]

We're talkin about practice.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

http://www.stlallsports.com/pics/allen_2Diverson_2Dcrying.jpg



If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? ... Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. ... Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice ... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?

[85Sooner]

I noticed that as well, but it's impossible to gauge anything from the few under pressure passes we saw on those vid clips. And IMHO none of the 3 looked to light it up in that under pressure drill.
But my guess is Bradford gets named the starter if he has any kind of separation from the other 2 at this Saturday's scrimmage. If there is no separation, then who knows what will happen. I mean we're only a few weeks away from kickoff...the coaches may decide to do what they did w/bomar and PT a couple seasons ago, and go into the first game open to benching someone if they perform sub par. However, I'd prefer to see one of the QBs separate themself from the other two and we can stick with one starting QB. But that's just me.


I hope not because they benched the wrong one which is what led us to the position OU is in today.

[MojoRisen]

Why would Nichol be redshirted if he doesn't do OK in this scrimmage? There are still 2 more! Coaches have said he's now working with the full playbook like Halzle and Bradford, although scrimmages usually feature vanilla/Chuck Long offenses anyway. All of the QB's looked pretty bad on the practice video, and all of Nichol's deep passes were overthrown--better than underthrown, that's for sure. I wouldn't really take too much from those videos anyway, at most we see five passes per QB. But we'll learn quite a bit from this scrimmage, I just don't think we should count any of the 3 out if they hit 3-11 for 24 yards with a pick or two...it's still early on in fall practice.

He doesn't have to redshirt - at all- he could be crazy good mid season and pull the shirt if need be.

I think that he needs to do well to stay in contention- as Wilson I am sure wants the last two scrimmages to be real speed and game like for the person you plan on starting opening day. Meaning the D should throw the house at em.

[Sooner74]

I think it will be between Nichol and Bradford. I didn't like Hazle in spring ,but thats my completely biased opinion.

[colleyvillesooner]

I hope not because they benched the wrong one which is what led us to the position OU is in today.

In hindsight they benched the wrong one. But if Bomar wouldn't have been an idiot off the field, and was entering his 3rd year as starter, there would be NO ONE still talking about how Paul was wronged back in 2005.

To me they made the right call at the time and for the future. **** happens.

[colleyvillesooner]

You know what would be really funny? Is if Halzle wins the job and has a monster year, when most people count him out as the choice.

[MojoRisen]

There is another thread for this- but in reality we did bench the wrong one because Bomar should have started from the get go. Paul played bad and we were 4 touchdown favorites over TCU- we did not know they should have been 11 - 0.

If it is that close- go with more eligiability -

[Sooner74]

You know what would be really funny? Is if Halzle wins the job and has a monster year, when most people count him out as the choice.

Not to completely eliminate Halze ,but he didn't look sharp in spring ball. I just lacked the sense that he was really fighting for this job. On the other hand Bradford and Nichols looked like they wanted to win the job by throwing risky and difficult passes with some mistake ,but they capitalized on the opportunity to seperate from one another.

Here's to Jamy Bricholze: A truly three headed monster that will win us a National Championship.

[colleyvillesooner]

Not really meant to single you out, there are a LOT of people who feel hes

[stoopified]

In hindsight they benched the wrong one. But if Bomar wouldn't have been an idiot off the field, and was entering his 3rd year as starter, there would be NO ONE still talking about how Paul was wronged back in 2005.

To me they made the right call at the time and for the future. **** happens.
Exactly $hit does happen.You can't plan for the unexpected.

[arcman46]

I hope not because they benched the wrong one which is what led us to the position OU is in today.

What led us to the position that we are in today is too many people thought that Bomar was the second coming of Elway. Everyone anointed him as starter. Grady didn't think that he had a chance, having to play catch up in a summer session, and ended up transferring. If Grady had been here last year, we would have ended up with a competition between Grady and PT. Grady would more than likely have been the starter this year.

Now I know that there are those that will say "but Grady can't even get the start in Utah". Living in Salt Lake, approximately 3 miles from the U, I follow the Utes pretty closely. Utah's offense is an absolute spread offense. Grady's problem last year was a difficulty in learning the spread. As a pro style QB, he is hard to beat. This year they have Johnson coming back from knee surgery. Johnson is a spread QB, plus he has a year under his belt leading the offense.

Where am I going with this. Any one of the QB's we have is capable. All have upsides and downsides. We need to let the coaches do their job and pick the one that will best help us have a winner now. I for one really don't care who starts because I know whoever does will be the best one for the job.Hook 'em

[oumartin]

did Hays graduate?

[MojoRisen]

We are able to think 3 dimensional- I think we need to let the best player be the one who has the best scrimages- sorry but not the first time we have been in competition for a starting role!

[MojoRisen]

Also being in corporate management- and wanting to build something. I have to say that I am very proud of all the QBS pushing each other to be better. The fact is we have a better Dynamic now with information sharing and healthy competition. That means a lot- but it doesn't mean a cake walk for the less talented more senoir. Just that they are leaders and did good by us-

That is a hard question to answer- but the most competetive and smartest and most capable of winning the MNC this year should start- and if ground gives here and there- keep that in mind. If it is close - please someone choose between Bradford and Nichol.... Hazel is the Coach - with the least amount of ability - he should be #2 at worst....

[goingoneight]

You don't choose eligibility over what wins games. Paul resigned from the starting QB position because the TCU loss tore him up and he said he questioned his ability to lead the team to victory. Rhett may have messed up time and time again, but he was still neck-and-neck with PT and wanted that job badly. When you're a head coach at Oklahoma, you don't say "well, this guy's gonna be good someday..." you start whoever you feel can command your team to victory. If you were to go with eligibility, we'd have played Paul or Rawls over JW. I watched the practices when Rhett was a n00b; he made mistakes, but was eager to learn and was a firey player. Paul was quiet, nervous and unsure of himself. Just so happens that a good football player isn't always the sharpest tool in the shed or the most favorable personality.

[BornandBred]

I predict that the staff will start Hazle because he has the most real game experience. They will redshirt Nichol, hoping to maximize his ability, long term. Then, Bradford will step up to fill in quickly in mop up duty. He will eventually earn the starting position, before conference play, but he will not start the first couple games. I think Stoops and crew want build a system that is stable at QB, something we've lacked the last few years, and I think this is the best way to do it. Eventually, we may have another competition for QB in 2 years or so, or maybe we run a dual quarterback attack like Florida did last year. I just don't see Stoops making the commitment to another freshman QB outright, like a couple years ago, and running all future prospects off. I could be wrong, it has happened before.