I don't know if flat out drops by the WR were the source or a source of our offense spurting last year. According to LSUSports.net, JJ completed 182 out of 296 passes (7 ints) which is roughly 61.5% completions. That means he had 114 incompletions. If 38% of the incompletions were outright drops that should have been caught JJ would have had roughly 43 (114 x .38) more completions for a total of 225 which would have made him 225 out of 296 passes which is roughly 76% completions. I don't think its realistic to expect a QB to complete that high a percentage of passes. What I saw is that JJ struggled to throw the ball down the field. Having said that, I'd rather him not attempt that throw if in truth he can't make it and would likely be intercepted. We will find out next year (maybe this spring) if this is something he can improve upon. He will need to in order to become a better quarterback. If Garrett can make that throw, he may end of being the starter sooner rarther than later. However, I fully expect JJ to be the starter at the beginning of the season.
His completion percentage was among the best in the SEC and his interceptions low, he was not overly risky. But the consequence of that "safe" play is that his total passing yardage was among the worst in the SEC as was his number of passing TD's. He never made the defenses respect the long pass, so they just killed the running game. If someone kept "missed opportunity" stats, Jefferson would have been high on it. He just never had a consistent long passing game and the safe passing kept us coming up short in the big games. Successful quarterbacks have to be audacious.
But that begs the question: how many of those short passes were designed plays going to the primary receiver, and how many were checkdowns? And if it's the latter, how many were bad decisions rather than receivers being bottled up, running bad routes, etc.?
5. Does Russell Shepard have an impact next season? He goes into the spring as a wideout. Appears he will be the #3 receiver.
WRs not dropping a single ball is not very realistic. But let's say they only drop 10%, which I think is a reasonable amount. That means he completes 32 more passes, still a 72% completion ratio, & (guessing 12 yards on his average pass length) 380 more yards. But beyond that, I heard that the WRs were making mistakes in their routes, and specifically finding open seems - limiting JJ's options when the first read wasn't there.
How did I forget about this forum? This is the best LSU football discussion I've seen in a long time. Not too much to add to what's already been said - excellent points by several people. The OL is probably the biggest question (other than playcalling) going into this season. Agree that Dworazyck (sp?) to RT seems likely as we have more promising G's than OTs, although would love to see Chris Faulk step up and take that job. I thought when he was recruited that he was the next great OT at LSU...hope he shows some of that this spring. Agree on Alem and Jones - both had flaws in their game that offset their strengths. We'll be ok without them. Also agree that Ridley or Ford probably start the season, but Ware ends up being the starting back at LSU a few games in. Quicker Ware picks up the playbook - particularly blocking assignments in the pass game - the quicker he ends the competition and locks down the #1 back position. JJ's flaws - mostly holding the ball too long, not making decisions quck enough - are probably coachable. Will also be interesting to see how much impact the new WR coach makes, as it's a good point that it's possible some of the problems were the WR not being in the right spot. The problem I have with that argument is that Brandon LaFell had plenty experience in the system, and Jarret Lee seemed to be much better at connecting with LaFell on hot reads to counter blitzes. I almost never saw the same connection with JJ at QB, which makes me think at least some of the problem was JJ, and not just the WR. Honestly, my biggest concern is Gary Crowton. We had too much talent last year to be so inept on offense, particlarly against the weaker teams we played. His grab-bag offense is an issue and I sure hope this team finds an identity on offense and develops it. Seems he wants to be able to do everything from power football to spread option and isn't doing any of it very well. Good stuff guys.
Great Forum and you guys are right on with your questions & answers. I am no expert but I sure expect that offense to be much better next year. I mean it has to be don't it?? No way we can be that bad again. As for JJ, I don't think he has it, about half way thur the season I started watching (focused on) him a lot & at times he sure seemed lost. I hope he has a great year & makes me look bad for saying he was one of our problems. What I really hope is that the coaching staff will start from scratch & play the best players at every positon regradless of class. If JJ is the best QB on this team I think we are in trouble.:geaux:
Things about JJ: He has all the physical tools to be a very good SEC QB. The baffling thing to me was his inconsistency. There were drives where he'd tear it up, complete 5 nice passes in row, short and medium routes, mix a little run, and he looked great. There were other drives where he was throwing at the ground, missing receivers wide, holding the ball too long. Later in the year he started throwing the ball away to avoid the sack, an improvement. But, he was just a RS frosh, IMO. There is time for him to learn and develop, that's what you'd expect a RS Frosh to do. Jarret Lee didn't make much progress last season. If it's not JJ at QB, then Gilbert will seem to be the kid who challenges him the most. I only saw him throw about 3 passes in a film clip from the 09 spring game, but his mechanics are great. I would like to see the coaches get meaningful playing time for the backup QB starting early in the season, so in case of an injury we have some experience going into the game. I thought it was a mistake last year to play JJ the whole time. Running back, I'm thinking Ridley and Ford, maybe with Ware contributing. Murphy has looked good in the spring game, but not the regular season. I'd like to be made wrong on that, but that's what I have seen. Edit: I agree this has been a good thread. It has hung around a bit, but the opinions add a little in each post. I have enjoyed the comments on the o-line, an area that clearly needs improvement, and the comments on the wide receivers and the drops.
