The Realists' Thread (Defense, QB's, etc.)

I hope so, too. The remaining conference games aren't easy...

:geauxtige

 

Kudos to me for not calling him a "F'in idiot" while I was drunk. :thumb: :hihi:

 

Alem can complain, and rightfully so about the pathetic schemes and lack of adjustments. But he should call out his teammates too, becaue they dont know how to tackle this year or cover. I also dont see quite the same speed on D that we have grown accustomed to. The DL didnt step its game up by any means against a maligned UGA OL. Miles has a lot of work to do to keep this ship afloat before more and more fingers are pointed.

 

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Let me preface this by 1st saying that I agree that Lee is not playing very well right now and that it is an issue. But everyone sit back and think about this for a while. This will be somewhat long as well.

Well, what if one of those guys comes in next year and makes the same rookie mistakes? No, Lee is not an SEC caliber QB right now. He's learning on the job. If next year we go with either Jefferson or Sheppard, we will once again be depending on a QB who is figuring out the college game while we're trying to win the SEC. That'll put us in pretty much the same situation we are in right now.

Playing Lee as much as possible is the only real option right now. He MUST learn how to play QB in this league, and the only way to do that is to play the games. I sat next to a Georgia fan at the game yesterday. He said straight up that our QB looks exactly like Stafford did 2 years ago. Makes poor reads, telgraphs his throws, etc. It's part of the learning curve. He will get better, and we'll be a better team because of it. Benching him now will not help us this year. Going with a green QB again next season will not help us then.

Does everyone remember '04? JaMarcus was as talented a QB as anyone who has come through Baton Rouge in a long time. But he struggled to the point that Marcus Randall (never to be confused with a great QB) got just as much playing time. The more playing time JR got, he got better and better. This year is '04 all over again. We have an inexperienced, but talented QB that is making mistakes that sometimes costs us games. Next year will be '04 yet again if we go with Jefferson. Then people will say he ain't working, lets put in Sheppard instead. Then '10 will be like '04 too.

The point is, sticking with Lee is the right move. Yeah it sucks to lose games like this. Yes it's annoying as hell to see all that talent on offense struggle. But we have to. We will be a better and stronger team in the future because of it. Changing QBs every year will only make matters worse, and future QB prospects will not be interested in signing with a school that's constantly benching their stud recruits.

 

I disagree with these points in mind.

Lee is not improving at all. He is getting worse. Making more mistakes, and showing zero signs of benefiting from game experience.

Jamarcus took his bumps and bruises, but was always improving, and always seemed like he could win the game for you and not lose it.

Lee is just the opposite, I am scared to death every time he drops back to pass. Hell I'm scared every time he is in shotgun because he cant catch the damn snap. I expect the other team to score when He throws a pass. That is not the sign of a promising future.

I think it is a very low chance that he is next years starter, so what is so frustrating to me is that with that possibility in mind, we should make some adjustments and give JJ a chance. At best he gets some experience, learns the game a little and gets a chance to get ready for next year. At worst he plays like Lee. At least he can run to add another dimension to the offense without putting Hatch in. And if he shows the same inability to progress then you blame the coaching staff because there is something wrong when you have two guys with that much raw talent and nobody on your staff can bring it out in them.

I just don't see what we are doing getting us anywhere.

 

The light didn't click in Jamarcus' head until the 2nd half of the Tennessee game his JUNIOR year. Dude made lots of DUMB reads and bad passes (remember Florida in '06?). Big difference is that our Defense kept the games low scoring and he was able to win some for us (just like Lee did vs Auburn and So Carolina).
Lee is doing the same things. He's doing it more often than JR did, but it's still the same mistakes.

 

The thing with Lee is this, he has to take his lumps. It's almost a right of passage of sorts. We're not going to repeat this year and now getting to the SEC title game is, well, it's not looking all that great. Offensively, we did really well, almost 500 total yards and 187 yards rushing, on the 3rd ranked rushing defense in the country. Defense gave up some big plays but really, UGA just moved the ball, little by little and set up for manageable 3rd downs. When they had a 3rd and distance, defense stopped them all but once, which was the 49 yards TD pass.

I think the difference in the game is that once we started making a run, we gave the ball up. The interception when we were driving to try and tie the game was a back breaker.

Another thing, I would have probably put Hatch in for that 4th and 4 and run a little pass run option to Dickson or something. Running the ball was not a problem at all.

To sum it up. UGA was obviously the better team and just made better plays and they're defense made things happen. But, unlike the Florida game, I think we had a chance to win the game going into the 4th. UGA was certainly moving the ball, but I thought we could contained them.

 

This is just not true. Sure he made a few mistakes, but he got better every game. I'll give you the Bad game he had at Florida but that was the only one of his career.

Anyway, none of that matters, it was a long time ago. What matters is Lee is not improving at all. It may be his fault for not learning, or it may be the coaching staff's fault, i don't know, but it ain't working and not doing anything about it is insanity.

 

What's so bad about a two-loss season? Remember last year? We lost two games and still won the national championship. Did any of you really expect us to win every single game? Sure, we have given up a combined 103 points in our two losses which is really embarrassing considering the national recognition our defense gets every year, but it's damn near impossible to have a PERFECT season in the SEC. If we win out and end up 10-2, there is still a possibility of us getting into a BCS bowl. Hell, we can still make it to Atlanta if we can beat Bama, and with a little help from Auburn. Anything can happen in college football, and last season is a good indicator of that. Who knows, Bama can take a stumble, and we all know TT will do ANYTHING it takes to beat Bama for the 7th consecutive year. I'm just saying all is not lost yet my friends...(of course we still have a lot of work to do with our QB's and our defense, but hopefully we will have it all turned around by the time Bama comes into town)