On the flip side, you certainly can't say he would not have had similiar success earlier in the year. The entire problem is we just don't know because the coaching staff bet on the wrong horse(s). It happens. Hopefully they (Crowton and Miles) will learn from this. It's not the first time this has happened under Miles. I bet we see a different Miles from here on out playing the best players possible no matter what year they are in.
I can say that his knowledge of the playbook & performance in practice did not lend itself to him performing this well early in the year.
Well first of all you don't know the extent of his knowledge of the playbook. That is an absolute guess on your part, unless you personally talked to him. Maybe you did and I apologize in advance if that's the case. He was 3rd string and getting very little reps in practice. The coaching staff should have seen in Spring that Hatch offered little in the passing game and would have too limited of an effect while on the field. Jefferson should have been given the chance to be the backup behind Lee and seen significant playing time in the 2 blowout wins early in the year.
You could also insert the name Elvis Grbac or a few other names around here this year and say that maybe they knew the playbook better or practiced better but sure didn't play better when it counted. Please tell us wise one, what knowledge did the starting QB's have this year. This is just stupid, time to geaux watch bowl games!
People that watched him in practice have said it, so while I don't have first hand knowledge, I wouldn't call it a guess either. And its not like it is some reach for a true freshman to not know the playbook early in the year... I understand that the coaches wanted Lee to get as many snaps as possible to make him a better QB. Does that mean it was the right decision? No, because Lee didn't improve no matter how many snaps he got this year. However, had Lee improved due to more snaps, it would have been a good decision.
Further, his performances against Arkansas & Ole Miss weren't near as good as his bowl performance. It is pretty apparent that he has made much progress. It happens to all coaches, but I am curious what other times you are talking about? I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but I do think he'll start playing younger players more - in large part due to the recruiting class we're bringing in. I still expect him to favor understanding the playbook over playmaking ability though.
Two years ago with KW and Holiday. If Miles had these two playing by the Auburn game, we win that one. Then we play UF in SECCG and with the way LSU was playing at the end of the year, we probably beat Florida. Then we would have beaten OSU in NCG. Of course it's easy to speculate, but there's a great chance that's exactly how it would have turned out.
Well then that makes it an educated guess on their part passed down to you. Nothing more, nothing less. It could very well be the case, but no effort was made to ramp him up quickly. He was projected to be redshirted and that means there was a lot less time invested in him to get him prepared for the season. That was a mistake by this coaching staff.
I agree. Maybe JJ would have played like Lee and ruin his confidence. Or maybe JJ would have been great. We'll never know. I'm just glad how it all turned out. Better late than never.
