"Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

All of JaMarcus's impressive stats... and yet they came with these limitations on him. Gee, Flynn's 13 completions in the Peach Bowl sure does seem great considering he operated without any of these limitations.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

Well Russell "hit" alot more than he missed. His mechanical lapses are far overrated by some here. He did make some bad passes (especially early), but he grew as the season went on & he made good decisions most of the time.

Yes, look how well it worked for Tennessee last year. :dis:

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

Neither Clausen nor Ainge were considered proven, so your :dis: is unfounded.
I don't know if there was a single game that JR played where the offense clicked like it did in the Peach Bowl. Every game was a struggle.

We aren't coaches though.. :grin:

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

Not according to everyone who ranked Tennessee in the top 10 before the season. It is much the same situation regardless. You have a starting quarterback and you stick with him. History has told us that a short leash doesn't make a quarterback situation better.

I'll tell you right now - there wasn't. But it had little to do with Russell and everything to do with the rest of the team. Injuries to the running game, poor blocking by the line, poor catching by the receivers. The offense never got their mind clear. They get a few weeks of rest and time to relax and recover, and guess what - we suddenly have a great offense, no matter who the QB is.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

Nope ... offense was near the top in the SEC in most offensive categories.

Scoring offense - t2
Passing offense - 4
Rushing offense - 4
Total Offense - 4
Pass Efficiency - 2
1st Downs - 4
Red Zone offense - 1
3rd down conversions - 3

Russell finished t-2nd with Leak in passing efficiency. Shockley was 1 and the two nfl draftees, Croyle and Cutler, finished 4th and 7th.

I'd take that kind of offensive production with a stout defense anyday...

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

well, Rick Clausen hasn't had success anywhere he's gone (other than a Cotton Bowl victory) and Ainge is an unproven (junior?). The sportswriters don't know everything.

D. Bowe's eyesight difficulties aside, Craig Davis and Early Doucet routinely had to catch balls thrown in the ugliest positions. I remember one play (against Auburn?) where Early was wide open on a third down and the ball was thrown so horribly he had to turn his body all the way around to catch it and struggle to make first down yardage. JR routinely threw balls to receivers' shoetops because he waited too long and had to throw off of his back foot or running backwards.

I hope to see him improve so we can have the offense we should be having next year.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

As I said, regardless. You pick a starting quarterback and stick with him. Not to a fault mind you, but you do have to let them make mistakes on occassion - as Russell will, and Flynn would if he were playing.

I can't argue that this happened, but it wasn't with the regularity you remember it. And it got better as the season progressed. It was a problem in 04, but a mere aggrevation in 05. I expect 06 will be even better.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

No, he didn't. And that is exactly my bone of contention. He made the same mistakes near the end of the year as he did early on. If had shown improvement, I would have more faith in him. But thus far, I've seen little more than a complete unwillingness to change his bad habits.

One need not look any further than the last pass of the Alabama game to note his tendency. Yes, it was a completed pass. But they showed a camera angle from the end zone where he literally stares Bowe down at the line pre-snap and follows him the entire route. Additionally, as I've mentioned before, I noticed during the games in TS that I attended wide-ass open recievers not even so much as getting a look. I can't tell you how many times that happened. So, if he is checking off recievers, why would he insist on not throwing to one that had no defender within ten yards of him?

You're sadly mistaken if you think I'm suggesting a 2-QB system. So then, I guess we should just leave in whomever they choose to be the starter regardless of performance? Man, that makes perfect sense. Let's not play the best guy, let's stick with our decisions even if they're wrong, just like W.:dis:

Further, you're even more misled if you think that either of those clowns at UT are nearly as good as JR or MF. So the comparison is invalid.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

I'm well aware of that. I'm also well aware (as should you be) that many games were entirely too close because the offense was flat. To deny this is futile. Conference rankings don't mean jack if you're still squeaking by opponents that you should be mauling. You'd be disillusioned to believe that we had an offensive juggernaut last year. Also consider that the SEC wasn't exactly the pinnacle of offensive production.

 

re: "Russell has too much talent to sit" - resurrected thread (2006)

This statement is only as substantiated as ones insinuating that it was all the QB. You don't know this for a fact any better than those who believe that Flynn's great decision making and leadership spurned the rest of the offense.

I would argue that some of the key passes he made would have been missed by JR, based on what I saw the rest of the season. That 51-yd bomb to Davis would have probably split the uprights. And I've never seen him exhibit the kind of touch required to complete that 10-yd screen pass to Addai while backpedalling.