Well, I went to the game and was not impressed with Bell. He kind of shot puts the ball. Roback has much greater arm strength, is elusive in the pocket, and even picked up 30 yards using his legs. Roback had a long pass to Russell who dropped the ball. In fact our receivers dropped too many balls and must improve. If Roback gets the majority of the snaps then it is hands down his job. Go EMU

i couldn't agree more. it's obvious that Roback needs to be the starter going forward. he's very poised and has a cannon for an arm.

To be fair Bell does have a great upside but needs more experience, yes he doesn't have the arm, he also makes poor decisions under pressure. However all of those can improve with experience. I like Roback because of the downfield dimension he brings to the passing game.

Bell is more mobile, but that's where it ends.

Roback has the arm, and is no stiff running the ball when needed.

I also get the impression that Roback has better command of the huddle and his teammates.

(08-31-2014 11:51 AM)Huron Boy Wrote:  Bell is more mobile, but that's where it ends.

Roback has the arm, and is no stiff running the ball when needed.

I also get the impression that Roback has better command of the huddle and his teammates.

Yep. I still don't know why Bell started.

OBVIOUSLY Roback wasn't hurt. He looked great on that 30 yard run.

Maybe the staff wanted to see what Bell could do as a 'Plan B' QB, but that doesn't make sense. Plan B - running QB - should be Bolden.

Bell should hold the clipboard in 2014 and back up Roback in 2015 while Bolden exhausts his eligibility this year.

Maybe the staff wanted to ascertain if Bell could back up Roback OR if Bolden needs to be that QB. The 'loser' goes to WR???????

The whole QB situation makes NO sense to me. Sorry. And I NEVER believed that Bell beat out Roback.

My 'skeptical' side says they gave Bell a chance to prove that he isn't ready yet to be a D-I starting QB. Kind of a reality test...

Bell doesn't look like he has any muscle or fat on him.

(08-31-2014 12:25 PM)DexterDevil Wrote:  Bell doesn't look like he has any muscle or fat on him.

Looks like a WR, ATH, which what he was recruited as for EMU.

I'm sure the staff would like to know IF he is really a FBS QB, either starter or backup, OR really a WR or some other position.

We all knew this, except apparently our head coach.

(08-31-2014 12:08 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 11:51 AM)Huron Boy Wrote:  Bell is more mobile, but that's where it ends.

Roback has the arm, and is no stiff running the ball when needed.

I also get the impression that Roback has better command of the huddle and his teammates.

Yep. I still don't know why Bell started.

OBVIOUSLY Roback wasn't hurt. He looked great on that 30 yard run.

Maybe the staff wanted to see what Bell could do as a 'Plan B' QB, but that doesn't make sense. Plan B - running QB - should be Bolden.

Bell should hold the clipboard in 2014 and back up Roback in 2015 while Bolden exhausts his eligibility this year.

Maybe the staff wanted to ascertain if Bell could back up Roback OR if Bolden needs to be that QB. The 'loser' goes to WR???????

The whole QB situation makes NO sense to me. Sorry. And I NEVER believed that Bell beat out Roback.

My 'skeptical' side says they gave Bell a chance to prove that he isn't ready yet to be a D-I starting QB. Kind of a reality test...

I don't get the logic on this one.

Either CC and company see something in Bell we didn't yesterday, or they are not the most brilliant coaches to find their way to EMU.

Very curious how this plays out next few weeks, especially if they consider Old Dominion a readily winnable game (all are winnable, but let's be real.....)

I'll say this, if Bell can develop his arm and learn some composure he could be a very deadly weapon with that speed he has, he's a freshman right?

(08-31-2014 05:15 PM)DexterDevil Wrote:  I'll say this, if Bell can develop his arm and learn some composure he could be a very deadly weapon with that speed he has, he's a freshman right?

Redshirt freshman. Recruited by English as an athlete but some think he has QB potential.

To me, he has 47 more games (exclusive of a bowl game ) so he has plenty of time to put weight on, develop arm strength OR if not, switch position as was the plan when he was recruited.

Who knows maybe in four years he is an excellent runner but fair to ave. thrower.

(08-31-2014 05:40 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 05:15 PM)DexterDevil Wrote:  I'll say this, if Bell can develop his arm and learn some composure he could be a very deadly weapon with that speed he has, he's a freshman right?

Redshirt freshman. Recruited by English as an athlete but some think he has QB potential.

To me, he has 47 more games (exclusive of a bowl game ) so he has plenty of time to put weight on, develop arm strength OR if not, switch position as was the plan when he was recruited.

Who knows maybe in four years he is an excellent runner but fair to ave. thrower.

He'd be great to have beside Roback if we ever decide to run a wildcat variation.

(08-31-2014 05:48 PM)DexterDevil Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 05:40 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 05:15 PM)DexterDevil Wrote:  I'll say this, if Bell can develop his arm and learn some composure he could be a very deadly weapon with that speed he has, he's a freshman right?

Redshirt freshman. Recruited by English as an athlete but some think he has QB potential.

To me, he has 47 more games (exclusive of a bowl game ) so he has plenty of time to put weight on, develop arm strength OR if not, switch position as was the plan when he was recruited.

Who knows maybe in four years he is an excellent runner but fair to ave. thrower.

He'd be great to have beside Roback if we ever decide to run a wildcat variation.

More I think about it, as they started him CC must think that he has potential to be at least a backup QB and needed a 'test' of D-I football so that he could develop (kind of hard to develop unless one gets some game experience).

Maybe playing Bell against Morgan made sense, only because it is the only (early) game which it would make sense.

One would not start him vs. Florida or MSU. ODU is a winnable game which CC needs to do everything possible to win and starting a redshirt frosh QB isn't one of them.

I'll take it at face value that Bell had an excellent week and earned the right to play 1/2 the game with Roback the other half. (seemed almost like a NFL x-hibition game strategy to me - think Manziel and Hoyer).

the first couple of drives Bell did fine, I can see why the staff likes him from an athletic ability perspective, Bell to me is high reward, high risk type of QB, again given time he may develop the arm or better yet make better decisions throwing the ball.

(09-01-2014 07:12 AM)emu79 Wrote:  the first couple of drives Bell did fine, I can see why the staff likes him from an athletic ability perspective, Bell to me is high reward, high risk type of QB, again given time he may develop the arm or better yet make better decisions throwing the ball.

I agree. Folks need to realize that even QBs like Manziel and Winston redshirted as frosh.

Bell has a long ways to go, but the development process for a QB is long, which is why it was difficult, at times, watching Roback play as a true frosh last year.

That said, it appears that if someone was looking at the 2015 2-deeps it would be: Roback and Bell.

It appears that WMU will try to redshirt their very talented from QB, Chance Stewart, even though their starter is not a world beater.

The thing that frustrates me is that it doesn't matter how good of an arm Roback has if receivers don't catch passes.

I like the idea of using Bell as a WR or as an occasional wildcat QB. Use his strengths to help the team.

(09-01-2014 08:09 AM)KPJ Wrote:  The thing that frustrates me is that it doesn't matter how good of an arm Roback has if receivers don't catch passes.

Yep, and two of our best, Jones & Jones (Quincy and Jay) were MIA Saturday night.

W/out Creel (Thank God we have him healthy) we would have had a complete void at that position.

I just watched the first half (ESPN3 replay) and I like Bell more than I did Saturday night.

He doesn't have a great throwing motion but it isn't as bad as some indicate. Bell just will never throw a 30 or 40 yard go route.

One of his bad throws, the toss to a wide open Russell, most QBs would have been on the seat of their pants and never got the ball off.

I do see him as a change of pace QB so that EMU can use him in circumstances when needed.