PP, Wilson also was a soph, starting for the first time in the SEC. He will "probably" be better this year. For whatever reason, probably coaching from comments I've read at tidefans.com, the o-line underperformed the last 2 years. If the o-line coaching is improved, and JPW has a years experience under his belt, I expect him to be much improved. Think Russell from soph to jr. years, there usually is a considerable progression (usual, but not guaranteed). JPW is a work in progress, IMO.
Do you think he'll be able to pass up Ainge or Woodson? Will he improve more than Stafford or Tebow who were not sophomores starting for the first time, but true freshmen playing less than a year removed from going against high school defenses? Will he improve more than Brandon Cox, who spent most of last year virtually immobile due to injuries? I'm not knocking Wilson. He was a relatively bright spot on a very average team last year. He is a competent SEC quarterback, but the people who see All-SEC material there are just wrong. He has not shown any phenomenal ability whatsoever. He won't hurt Bama, because he is pretty good, and maybe in his senior year he'll be one of the two or three best in the SEC, but then again, his competition will be Nickson, Stafford, Tebow, maybe Perrilloux, etc. And after this year, he'll be doing it with an inexperienced receiver corps. Let's just put it this way. Casey Dick had an very similar TD/interception ratio and a better yards-per-attempt stat, and he couldn't consistently stay in the starting lineup.
Have Ainge, Tebow, or Stafford shown anything more than Wilson? If anything, we as LSU fans saw he was very good. If Mike Shula was good at anything it was developing QB's.
Ainge was a MUCH better QB than Wilson was last year. More yards (on fewer attempts). more touchdowns. Fewer interceptions. A better yards-per-attempt stat (by a whopping 1.4 yards, which is a HUGE margin). Tebow, as a true freshman, was a key cog on a national championship team. I don't think I'm going out on too big of a limb when I say that without Tebow, Florida probably wouldn't have been national champion last year. I'd say that's showing something. His yards/attempt as a passer was a full 4 yards-per-attempt better than Wilsons. He had BY FAR the highest QB rating in the SEC. Granted, his was a special situation with a small data set and I don't expect it to repeat, but he's showing something. He's showing a lot. He's also a very accomplished rusher from the QB position, with only one SEC QB having more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, despite Tebow's limited role. Stafford showed he could come into a powerful program and earn a starting job as a true freshman. He struggled mightily at times, but also looked GREAT at times. His excuse for it and his reasons for optimism are even better than JPW's reasons for optimism. As his career progresses, he'll get more consistent. Barring injuries, he's on his way to a great career. There is just no statistical basis for the belief that JPW is anything more than an average SEC quarterback. He's better than Henig and Connor. He's better than Schaeffer. He was better than Mustain. But those are really the ONLY qbs in the conference that I can say Wilson was CLEARLY better than last year other than people who didn't start. Hell, Syvelle Newton's statistics extrapolated over a full season were significantly better than Wilson's. Brandon Cox had a terrible year but was still a full yard-per-attempt better with a similar TD/interception ratio despite being limited by injuries.
Now, now, PottedPlant...let's not confuse the issue with facts.:dis: Under Major Applewhite, surely JPW will win the Heisman...don't ya' know?:hihi:
I know Ainge has had his bright moments--but they've never come against LSU. I'm not sure I'm sold on that guy at all.
Ainge is ranked so high because he was 3rd in the SEC in passing yards, 3rd in the SEC in yards per attempt, behind JR and (oddly enough) Blake Mitchell, 4th in the SEC in touchdown passes, and his attempts/interception ratio was very good (very similar to JR's). His conventional QB Rating was higher than Leak's and 25 points higher than Wilson's. That's not "spin[ning] the stats however we want". That's telling you what the stats say. You can look at his mediocre performances against LSU or you can look at his body of work. His body of work was quite good. In every passing statistic, Ainge was near the top of the SEC. He was good in cumulative stats AND in rate stats. In contrast, Wilson was solid in cumulative stats, but had more passing attempts than anyone in the SEC other than Andre Woodson. His rate stats were in the bottom half of the SEC.
You have a high opinion of Ainge. No doubt. Have you considered he's walking into a brand new offense? I still want to know what your thoughts are on Nickson, who, I consider to be the best QB in the SEC. As to JPW, for the last 3-4 years I've pointed to the inept coaching on the OL. Now, we have an OL coach who considers that group to be the best on the team. Let's revisit this after the season, shall we? Inept? Yes. If I may, let me quote Bob Con..."there is no such thing as bull rushing in college football." I would say that's Dave Rader.
I believe what the statistics say, which is that last year Ainge was one of the 3 best QBs in the conference. As I've pointed out, he was 3rd in passing yards (despite missing almost two full games to injuries), 3rd in yards per attempt, 4th in touchdown passes, and had a very good attempt/interception ratio. There aren't a lot of other meaningful quarterbacking passing stats. he wasn't a good runner, and that was the only weakness to his game. Looking a little deeper, he didn't have a single game with less than 50% completion except the game where he got hurt and only attempted 6 passes, and only 3 games with less than 60% completion. He played excellently in games against Cal, Georgia, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt who weren't exactly chumps. As for his team, it was 9-2 in games that Ainge was able to start and finish. It was 0-2 in games where he wasn't. I don't know where the controversy is. Negatives: Threw way too many interceptions for his number of attempts; got more than half his passing yards throwing to one person; poor cumulative stats. Positives: Very good running QB; yards/attempt was solid (better than Wilson's, actually) I don't see much argument that he's the best in the SEC, at least not with Woodson around. He's shown he can throw to Earl Bennett and that he can run very well, but he throws a ton of interceptions and was more dependent on his #1 receiver than anyone in the SEC. He's got good and bad things about him, but he's pretty much mid-pack overall. His end-of-season performances don't really suggest he was a better QB at teh end than at the beginning.
