(01-26-2017 10:30 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  No offense taken, I know most Huskie fans are not high on Graham.

Athletic-wise I think he's plenty athletic enough to succeed in our system. He suffers in comparison to freaks like Harnish, Lynch and even Maddie but most do. He will not run as well as them but he can run enough to keep defenses honest. I thought he ran well against Toledo.

His arm is stronger than people give him credit for. His problem is accuracy, which I'll get to in a minute. He throws a tight spiral and has plenty of arm to make the basic throws our offense requires. I'll share an anecdote I posted a year or so ago. I was at a practice, probably in spring, when they let fans stand inside the Chessick Center to watch them scrimmage. So basically I was standing on the sideline. Our offense was about 20 yards downfield to my left, heading in my direction. Graham threw a deep out from the opposite hash that came straight for my head and I literally feared for my life as I dove out of the way. That thing was coming so hard and fast I thought I would be killed if it hit me in the head, and I sure wasn't sticking my hands in front of it. So I think he has plenty of arm.

Accuracy is his biggest problem. Also maybe a little bit poise in the pocket but who can blame him with the number of times he's been killed back there. Anywho, the Toledo game is a great example. If you look at all the throws he missed in the second half, those were pretty easy throws. We're not asking him to be Aaron Rodgers out there, just complete the easy ones. There's an adage about QBs that you can't improve their accuracy but I think that mainly applies to deeper, harder throws in tight windows, etc. Easy throws are easy by definition. There's no reason he can't get better at those.

He has to get better for sure. His play last year did not translate to points or wins which is what it's all about. I think he has the potential to make the leap as a junior is all I'm saying. Whether he realizes that potential time will tell. If somebody else is better they obviously should play.