QBs and the TU Offense
An offense without a real returning QB is a fragile thing. Cody was the QB for most of last year and a returning starter who played on an 11 win team in 2012, but always had "issues" with mechanics, thinking, and yes, toughness. He was the anti-thesus of what we required this year imo and finally succumbed to an injury. But the replacement wasn't any better.
So where do we go from here? Will a more experienced Dane Evans improve to the point that he can win the big game? Will someone else pop up and become the next Jerry Rhome, Paul Smith? Well, I think the QB battle will be interesting, especially since we have some youngsters with intriguing potential - thank goodness.
IMO, we won't have much news in the spring on who's looking the best or who is in last place, so there'll be a lot of speculation on that position. BB never says much anyway on who is ahead. I know one thing, that position is critical to success and if we don't have a coach who can coach them up well, it will limit our future success and BB's tenure as HFBC at TU. Let me give my extremely limited observations of the QB's on hand.
Dane Evans - Dane has actually been here for 2 years, one a redshirt. So he is actually a sophomore in his mechanics and knowledge of the offense. He is listed at 6-2, but I doubt he is that tall which limits his ability as a pocket passer in our offense. Compare him with the Trevor Knight kid at OU (a true freshman) who had a rocky start, but will be talked about as one of the best young QBs in the nation. The OU staff has obviously worked hard on his mechanics and on field thinking. So I'm not sure how much of a head start DE has in the QB derby in spring ball. I do know one thing, BB had better not name a starter during spring ball like he did with Cody. Thats a huge mistake IMO.
Joe Calcagni - Joe is an upperclassman who has been with the program and the offense since BB got here. He has decent skills and isn't that far from DEvans' ability to move the ball IMO. But he's road the bench so long, I doubt he gets much of a realistic chance to win the position.
Ryan Rubley - Ryan has intriguing potential with his blazing speed, genes and size. The only thing I have to go on is his HS video. That looked like he was a very good player on a fairly bad team. He threw the long ball with power, but not necessarily good accurancy. I think, given the right players around him, he could develope into a very good QB at this level. He is probably a late bloomer who are always an X-factor in college. As far as a talent standpoint, he is the one that could become a star if his QB skills improve (our version of Blake Bortles). My big question is do we have a QB coach good enough to develope him from scratch at the college level?
Jabe Burgess - Jabe is a very, very good HS player who hasn't lost many games during his career and has the genes and the tools to be a star at TU. His offense was one of the best in the country and was both up tempo and high scoring. But my question for all the QB's is, will BB design an offense that takes advantage of their abilities or will he run an offense and style that limits them and their talents, yet one he can handle from the sideline. If I were BB, I'd adopt an offense similar to what JB had in HS, if JB is deemed to be the first team QB next year.
We need an offense that can be run by the talent we have and that the offense as a whole, can as well. But the QB is the key. He has to be coached up to be the difference with his arm and feet and not just limited to handoff mechanics.
One of those guys will be the QB in 2014.
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