I completely agree with Arians. All this running quarterback garbage is really going to end up killing the position. The Elways, Marinos, Kellys, Foutzes, Breeses, Mannings, etc etc of the world are fading away. The traditional pocket passer is a dying breed and it's a shame.
Still talking about Quinn I see.... LOL two whole drives in a season he killed. Let us just forget how many Jennings killed lol. The Cam comment was great. Apparently you were born in 2014. Completely missed the 2013 show. The difference between 2013 and 2014 was between the ears buddy.
Luginbill wrote about the spread/shotgun issue 6 years ago. Similar take but his focus was more about the footwork. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/columns/story?columnist=luginbill_tom&id=4324678
Quinn and the other receivers killed many more than two drives with drops. But you're partially correct Jennings' performance was disappointing to a greater degree. However the difference between 2013 and 2014 was MUCH MORE than just " between the ears" buddy. Combine either Jennings limititations and Harris's apparent immaturity with basically an all freshman/ inexperienced receiving corps You should be able to understand that the differences between 2013 & 2014 in the passing game are fundamental. It's not fair to place all the blame on Jennings. This lies on all from coaches on down. The play calling did not help. Passes were not called with the intention of getting them into a comfort zone or to their strengths. Quinn with his lack of size was not the best choice over the middle on crossing routes (if going over the middle he should have had routes where he found a hole and settled down). Dupree was too slight to avoid getting pushed around. Dural was the 3rd option last year and didn't face double teams etc. I could point out out receivers issues too but the point is they were all facing defenders and defenses that they couldn't just beat by physical superiority for the first time. They were nothing like ODBJr or Landry in capability or experience. I think Cam was the stubborn one and his game planning/play calling hurt us. He seemed to expect Jennings, Harris and the receiving corps to follow last year's group with out a drop off. That was unreasonable. Hopefully he as he has said recently he has learned and is taking a different path now. We will see if Harris matures and assumes the role required. I think Jennings is doing the best he can but doesn't have much more ceiling. The one thing we tend to forget is that they are kids and the rate they mature varies. Hopefully they will make great strides in growing up. Part of that is on the coaches and part on the players but much is on nature and how they mature physically and mentally.
Pretty much agree on what Winston said. I will get very specific about the issues...down to individuals 1) Jennings is basically a primary receiver guy...that is why he gets so pissed if the primary receiver is blocking instead of looking for the ball 2) Harris doesn't seem to know the plays and he has little poise (thus explaining the rockets he threw into Row 15 during the Auburn game on simple sideline routes...he panics....ooorrr his motion is so bad that he can't control where the ball goes) 3) To be fair to Quinn, when I said he dropped 2 drive killing 3rd down passes in the 4th quarter vs Alabama he did but.... People may forget that he got his bell rung earlier in that game and they had to stop the game to attend to him. A good case could probably be made he shouldn't have been in there in the 4th quarter to begin with. But I thought he might be a Wes Welker type in college like WW was at TX Tech. Nope, not so far 4) Dupre just has to get stronger or LSU will have to keep him away from the sidelines. The CBs and Ss and just going to shove the guy out of bounds every time 5) Dural needs to get new shoes issued. I have never seen a guy who falls down more on simple pass routes. And he needs to play hard on every play. Even on passes that are not perfectly accurate thrown to him, he QUITS on fighting for the ball. He's lucky I'm not throwing to him. He does that one time to me, he doesn't see the ball again. If there has ever been a "fair weather receiver", Travis Dural is it! 6) Cameron needs to learn how to call 1st and 2nd down plays other than "run between LT and LG". That puts LSU in 3rd and long too many times. Unfortunately, most DCs are not 3rd and Chavis to allow 3rd and longs to be commonly converted. The only game I was really impressed with CC playcalling was the A&M game where he used misdirection, a couple of trick plays, etc 7) LSU is going to have find a couple more good OL to pass block effectively....C and RG were not doing their jobs on pass blocking and since LSU rarely ran the ball to the right, apparently RG wasn't the strength of run blocking either As far as the articles quoted above, yeah it is pretty obvious that looking off receivers and finding secondary receivers is becoming a problem all across the board. For one thing, it you spend time teaching and practicing the read option, roll-outs, etc, guess what? That takes away time from development of the QBs throwing the ball, reading coverages, finding secondary receivers, etc. There are only so many minutes in a practice and you can use those however you want.
Nice read.... NFL Combine Day 5: SEC QBs better athletes than passers Christopher Smith February 21, 2015 @ Auburn’s Nick Marshall may not be the only SEC quarterback in the 2015 NFL draft class that needs to change positions in order to build a professional football career. After working with the cornerbacks at the Senior Bowl and declaring he’d be content making the switch away from quarterback, Marshall did throw for NFL scouts in Indianapolis, though he’s also working out as a defensive back for select teams. His 4.54 40-yard dash is excellent for a quarterback, but slow for a corner. His 37.5-inch vertical leap should come in handy when combined with his size and frame. Regardless, Marshall didn’t do anything major on Saturday to change his projection as a late-round project as a defensive back. The only other SEC quarterback in Indianapolis, Blake Sims of Alabama, also worked out. While Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston generated tons of buzz with tremendous workouts, especially throwing the ball, Sims had analysts talking position switch. Sims also went sub-4.6 as a quarterback, prompting some to wonder if he should join Marshall in his quest to become an NFL defensive back. Brian Billick ✔ @CoachBillick Follow N. Marshall should just put on his DB colors & get ready for Monday's drills. Drop back & arm action is terribly inconsistent...not a QB. Bryan Fischer ✔ @BryanDFischer Follow If Blake Sims wants to attempt to make it in the NFL, it’s going to have to be at another position besides QB. I think he could be a safety.
Yeah, I think the most unfair thing I ever read about the LSU QB situation is that IF you believe the garbage being posted, LSU is the ONLY FBS team with QB issues. I then go through the ones I'm familiar with in the conference. Besides LSU, here are other teams that in just the SEC with real QB ?s IMO from 2014 Florida, Arkansas, Ole Miss (yes, Bo was Bad Bo way too much), Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and A&M (Hill ended up on the bench and Kyle Allen was up and down (showed me little vs LSU). That really only leaves Auburn, S Carolina, Georgia, and Miss State with QBs I thought were consistently good. And of course the other stats quoted against LSU are the national rankings of the passing game, etc. First, LSU plays in the SEC not the Mid American or Conference USA or the ACC, etc thus the defenses have something to say about your efficiency. Second, when you are a run oriented team, your passing stats are SUPPOSED to be down. That doesn't excuse say a 50% completion rate but does excuse passing yards in general not being ranked that high. If you don't pass a lot, you aren't going to have a lot of passing yards compared to teams that don't run the ball much...simple as that.
Meanwhile, still waiting for the light to turn on for JJ. Keep waiting guys. I am just amazed that guys look at Jennings play football and think of "other problems".
Here's the thing, when you have a qb that struggles, it's up to the receivers to bail him out not be more of a burden. That happened a lot in 2014. The offense as a whole save the running game, never clicked. When Jennings played well, his receivers didn't, when the receivers were on, Jennings wasn't, and then there were times when the entire unit just stunk. But you can't lay it all at Jennings feet, that doesn't even tell half the story. That being said, I still don't think he or Harris will ever be anything more than serviceable.
