I think it's the receivers that aren't good. We know from Bradford good receivers make QBs look better. Once Shepard was out it was all down hill. I don't think the receivers get open and the QBs don't trust them .
I disagree with mot of your post. Bradford had good receivers but he was pinpoint accurate and threw a catchable ball. The receivers do need to get better at separation but they can't catch a ball that's 30 feet over their head or in the dirt 5 yards in front of them. So many catches they had to make required stopping their route, turning around to catch the ball behind them, or reach as far out as they could to get to it. You may have the separation but if you have to stop to catch the ball, the separation is gone. Accuracy is the problem and that's what I just can't figure out. They aren't getting basic passes(quick slant) to the receivers that most high school QB's can make.
For all the carping about recruiting going down, QB seems to be the one position where we've had mostly 4/5 * guys. But I've seen very little QB development since Sam left. Landry got better from his Fr to So year, but never got better after that and probably regressed. Bell was a highly recruited guy and never developed. Trevor outside of the one hit wonder is only marginally better than he was his first start. And while other programs can lose a starter and trot out a RS Fr QB and perform respectably, our RS Fr looks like he started playing the game a month ago. I've got to believe Cody was better in HS than he is now, otherwise why would he have gotten all those offers.
You can take a hard line stance if you want, but things are never this simple. Knight has talent and he has developed fairly well...at the throws he is good at. He just happens to be good at throws that have a minor impact on the college game. You just can't base an offense on the running game and sideline fades. In college football you have to be able to hit the slant for easy yards. Guess which throw Knight is horrid at? Thomas I'd argue is lacking on talent - he tries to finesse every throw and has no accuracy. The ball is in the air for a long time and seems to go to the spot where the defender has just as much chance at is as the receiver. His saving grace is that he has really good accuracy on the seam route. The good news is that you CAN base an offense off of the running game and the seam route IF you have a great TE. As I said earlier in the season, we are a team of mismatched parts under 2 very stubborn coordinators. Now, on this board, people make decisions in seconds without having to justify or sell their opinions. However, in every group situation, the following happens: 1. Evaluate the last game and come up with strengths weaknesses and their overall potential impact in future games 2. Determine whether the flaws are intrinsic or they can be fixed with more practice time on the flaw 3. Evaluate if you change the system or keep it 4. Determine how much practice time to change the system 5. Determine whether the change will increase/decrease chances of victory in the near term In other words, they are working on aggregated lagging indicators, not leading ones. And just like on this board, people may not agree or build up their evidence until several games down the road. For example, several of us said that Perine might be the best running back we have early in the season. Most people thought we were nuts and said Ford was. Right now, there are still people who think Ford is better. The same thing is occurring in the coaches offices - these guys know how to win, they've done it before, they will do it again.
Do I need to say it again? OUr offense is NOT the problem. You should be able to win every game when you score over 30 points. It is the DEFENSE that is the problem. We won the National Title 13-2.
If it was 1993 I might agree with you. College offenses are going to score. That said, I am not going to defend this particular defense...at all.
Ok, so thinking this through out loud..... QB development has been a problem if we're recruiting 4&5* guys.....who is our QB coach? Game planning/calling has been overly predictable making it harder on the young QBs.....who calls the plays?
I can't agree with your stance 100%, because we play in a conference where most teams can score 30 points in a half. However, I don't see the offense being a major issue on this team (when TK and Shep are healthy). The defense is what killed us in every one of our losses.
That's what I was wondering. He had a great O-line, great RB, and great TE. His WR's were average, though.
We lost 3 of our 4 games by 4, 3, and 1 point and missed more field goals than I can remember in a while. Defenses get tired when the offense can't put together drives. It was one thing when we used to go down and score quickly...key word being "score"...but now the offense just goes on and off the field quickly. (well, that's assuming we don't have any more timeouts to waste to change the play to something more predicable)
So let me take a step back in history here. Everyone on this board agreed that BV needed to either be replaced for various reasons - the primary being "hatred of the zone D" and the minority being "because our linebacker recruiting sucks". 3 years later, we now can look at the results. Defense in general - MS has been just as inconsistent as BV was - 2 bad seasons, 1 good one. Linebacker play has been marginally better. I don't look at every team and wish that we had their linebackers, just about 1/2 the teams. Every time I watch our D, it comes back to the same core problem -> our linebackers just aren't good enough to allow us to gamble anywhere else. So we have the same problem happening on O. The question is whether we can bring in anyone that can EVALUATE WRs and QBs better than what we have? Because history says it isn't that simple.
I think our bigger problem was not having a secondary that we could gamble more with, not the LBs. That's why we always gave the receivers HUGE cushions. LB play improved and if we had Shannon it would have been even better. We need a guy that can DEVELOP QBs better not EVALUATE them better. But, you are correct in that it is not that easy. I still remember the 90s. Ugh, my stomach just turned.
I watched Bradfords frosh highlites and there are plenty of receivers having to make adj to the ball. Let's examine Codys 3 starts Tx Tech- After his 3 picks in first half he leads OU to the biggest comeback for a first start frosh since 1961. He also had the #1 QB rating in the country for his second half of play. Kansas- Playing in a downpour he... 1. doesn't turn the ball over 2. forces Kansas to respect his read option play which in turns helps Perine set the new NCAA rushing record OK State- Did you see the graphic Fox put up on the broadcast? Cody is leading FBS qb's in yards per rush attempt. He also started the game with 8 straight completions. Do you know when the last time that happened? Sept 15, 2007- Sam Bradford ( Frosh) vs Utah State I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this kids next start!
#8 HOW DARE YOU INJECT FACTS! Everybody was all off in a fireeverybodynokillallthecoachesandplayersbulldozethestadiumsalttheearththenhangourselves pity party. And you had to come along and talk sense.
Umm, facts? I assume #8 works at a cherry farm because he sure did pick a bunch of them. But I like his attitude.
I did start my rant mentioning the 3 picks? Hey, Cody could be a big flop but he lead Texas 5A in all PASSING categories his jr & sr year and that aint easy to do. Couple that with all the offers from all the big time schools AND the fact the NEW YORK YANKEES drafted him? I'd say he at least has some potential, wouldn't you?
I'd hope he has potential by the fact that he got a Division I scholly from OU. However, I wasn't too convinced of it during his three game stint at starting at the end of the year. Sure, he came back and won the Tech game, but that was mostly due to his running, not down the field passing. Oh, and the Kansas win, wasn't there some stat about the most number of rushing yards in a single game by a running back set during that game?? Not sure, cuz my brain is getting old and crusty. As far as the most recent melt-down in Norman, yeah sure he went 8 for 8 at the beginning of the game, but how many of those were actual passes down the field longer than 5 yards? As I recall, a lot of them were sideline tosses, and short passes to Ford or Perine allowing them to get YAC after the reception. Ask yourself why the coaches never cut Thomas loose in Norman, and let him throw 20 or 30 yards downfield when his counterpart across the field, with less experience, was doing so? Thomas has been in the system for almost two full years now, he started two games before the meltdown. He had a bye week to get ready. I know the coaches had a lot of faith in Perine carrying the team on his back for a second straight week, but to keep Thomas in check all game, especially after Perine went down, makes me wonder if the coaches knew something the rest of us aren't aware of. Something like ... Cody is just not ready for prime time yet. And if that's the case, I find that unacceptable. As the #2 guy in the line-up this year, he has to have been getting some reps every week with the starting offense. He's started two games now, so he should have been over any case of yips by now. He had two weeks to prepare for this game, and he still can't throw pass down field longer than ten yards ! We can stare at this through rose-colored glasses, pump the sunshine, and drink the Kool-Aid all we want, but IMHO, based on what Thomas has shown so far, I've got some strong reservations he'll ever be better than even Nate Hybl. If I recall correctly, which is a big if, I don't recall Bradford having any reins on him by his third start.
I'm happy that Cody had a great HS multi-sport career and was rewarded with lots of offers along with a baseball draft selection. I'm not saying he doesn't have potential either. What I will say is that I watched all 3 games he played and he showed almost nothing as far a potential in the passing game. And I'm the one that wanted us to use the last 3 games more for looking at young players than worrying about winning the games. So I'll do a little (rotten) cherry picking of stats. Yes, he did start 8 for 8, but those were very short dink and dunk type passes that were taking advantage of a strong run game to mix it up. Only 1 of those passes was downfield and that was to a wide open Blake Bell. Any QB should have been able to hit that, but I'll give Cody full credit as it was right on target and very catchable. That was by far his best pass of the day. The TD pass he recorded was between 1-2 yards too far away from the goal line and Rip saved the day by going and getting it and then muscling through 2 tacklers for the score. But fine, 8 for 8 is still great. After that start and especially in the 4th qtr and OT when we *needed* a pass play after Perine went down, he went 2 for 9. He showed no pocket presence or ability to go through a progression. Some of those throws were way off target. Smallwood had very good separation on that comeback route on his very last throw and he threw it way out of bounds. That forced us to go for a 44 yard FG from our now very shaky kicker. Maybe Cody will be a great QB for us, but he is clearly not ready now.
