(11-09-2016 11:21 PM)Cowboy95 Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 10:49 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  Get him out of there....this is painful.

Not sure I would say terrible, but definitely not good. Kind of like #28.

Graham has limited ability but played within that ability in the first half. He made to 10 yard throws which opened up running lanes for him up the middle. In the 2nd half he reverted back to his missing the easy throws except to the 40 yarder to Golloday. Graham is not our guy next year it will be Marcus Childers. They did not want to break his redshirt.

(11-10-2016 01:44 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 11:44 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 11:44 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Next year's starter, folks. Count on it.

I will find a new team.

I won't find a new team but I'll be honest , if graham is the starter I may happen to miss a few games. He cannot be your starting QB next year. He is a a decent very serviceable backup

He will not be the starter period. Boy, if things don't go your way our fan base will do something that they don't want to see players do, quit.

I think we're saying the same things about Graham. Currently he is not bad but not good enough either. We need better QB play next year. I think Graham has the potential to get to the next level but if someone else is better so be it.

Lol. I pray that we have a QB better than Graham next year. Don't understand why he can't make simple throws. Kenny G is the only reason he looked halfway decent.

Graham is a very nice kid. With some practice and someone to teach him, he could become a very good QB. But I don't see him becoming a difference maker. And to get to and win the MACC, you need a difference maker. But, first and foremost, we need a new head coach and coaching staff.


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(11-10-2016 11:50 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Graham is in no way terrible, I'm not sure what people are looking at. He was 24 of 43 for 221 yards with 3 TDs and the one pick at the end when he underthrew Blake downfield. He also ran for 97 yards on 17 carries for an average of 5.7 ypc. That's a good day at the office.

Does he have room for improvement? Yeah, tons. He missed some throws and was late on others, no doubt about it. He needs to get better if he's going to lead our team and he especially needs to get better at translating those stats into points.

He's not bad now, he's just not as good as we need him to be. He needs to take the next step through next spring and summer. If he gets beat out by someone else who plays better next year that's fine with me, may the best man win. But terrible, no.

100% agree. Need better, but not terrible.

(11-10-2016 12:56 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 01:44 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 11:44 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 11:44 PM)niu_1087 Wrote:  Next year's starter, folks. Count on it.

I will find a new team.

I won't find a new team but I'll be honest , if graham is the starter I may happen to miss a few games. He cannot be your starting QB next year. He is a a decent very serviceable backup

He will not be the starter period. Boy, if things don't go your way our fan base will do something that they don't want to see players do, quit.

+1

(11-10-2016 12:30 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 11:50 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Graham is in no way terrible, I'm not sure what people are looking at. He was 24 of 43 for 221 yards with 3 TDs and the one pick at the end when he underthrew Blake downfield. He also ran for 97 yards on 17 carries for an average of 5.7 ypc. That's a good day at the office.

Does he have room for improvement? Yeah, tons. He missed some throws and was late on others, no doubt about it. He needs to get better if he's going to lead our team and he especially needs to get better at translating those stats into points.

He's not bad now, he's just not as good as we need him to be. He needs to take the next step through next spring and summer. If he gets beat out by someone else who plays better next year that's fine with me, may the best man win. But terrible, no.

IMO Graham has one un-correctable flaw. And it's not physical. His mechanics are nice. Arm strength adequate. Running adequate. Even his decision making is decent. To put this as nice as possible, the moment gets too big for him. His best game to date was in relief of Hare last year. He was forced into the game and didn't have the starter pressure all week. He got worse each game after once he was named the starter.
When I saw the surprise start last night I thought, "good, it was probably a last minute or day thing and he hasn't had it in his head all week". And he played ok in the first half. Then things got tight in the 3rd and he just crumbled. Passes at their feet. Rockets to receivers 5 yards away...the last pass that was picked. There were several pretty easy completions that he missed. The kind of misses from someone who tightens up. I hate to say that about a player, but it's just what I see.

You might be right about this and whether it can be improved or not time will tell. Some aspects of being a QB are teachable and some aren't, like pocket awareness for example. You either have it or you don't. Harnish and Lynch had the "it" factor, Dan Nicholson lacked it entirely.

(11-10-2016 02:44 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 12:30 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 11:50 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Graham is in no way terrible, I'm not sure what people are looking at. He was 24 of 43 for 221 yards with 3 TDs and the one pick at the end when he underthrew Blake downfield. He also ran for 97 yards on 17 carries for an average of 5.7 ypc. That's a good day at the office.

Does he have room for improvement? Yeah, tons. He missed some throws and was late on others, no doubt about it. He needs to get better if he's going to lead our team and he especially needs to get better at translating those stats into points.

He's not bad now, he's just not as good as we need him to be. He needs to take the next step through next spring and summer. If he gets beat out by someone else who plays better next year that's fine with me, may the best man win. But terrible, no.

IMO Graham has one un-correctable flaw. And it's not physical. His mechanics are nice. Arm strength adequate. Running adequate. Even his decision making is decent. To put this as nice as possible, the moment gets too big for him. His best game to date was in relief of Hare last year. He was forced into the game and didn't have the starter pressure all week. He got worse each game after once he was named the starter.
When I saw the surprise start last night I thought, "good, it was probably a last minute or day thing and he hasn't had it in his head all week". And he played ok in the first half. Then things got tight in the 3rd and he just crumbled. Passes at their feet. Rockets to receivers 5 yards away...the last pass that was picked. There were several pretty easy completions that he missed. The kind of misses from someone who tightens up. I hate to say that about a player, but it's just what I see.

You might be right about this and whether it can be improved or not time will tell. Some aspects of being a QB are teachable and some aren't, like pocket awareness for example. You either have it or you don't. Harnish and Lynch had the "it" factor, Dan Nicholson lacked it entirely.

what we have seen is what you are going to get with Graham. He is just limited athletically. QB is so important and our fall off started last year when Drew went down. We had Hare, Graham, Fiedler, Hare , Graham, Maddie, Graham. If Maddie was Playable last night we win that game. I have to believe from the people who tell me, Childers can Play. In spite of it, we make that tackle with 2:08 remaining, We either get in position for game winning FG or go to OT

I also believe Graham's decision making process is too slow, leading to him to not get the ball out quick enough. That could improve with experience but it may not.

Same Graham that led NIU to two 4th quarter scorea and a win over Toledo last year.

(11-10-2016 03:49 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Same Graham that led NIU to two 4th quarter scorea and a win over Toledo last year.

Yeah, he sucks...

so what's that say about Toledo....


Just kidding the whole MAC is god awful

Graham is a tough kid, who knows the offense well; makes solid decisions; he's an effective runner and an adequate passer; he will not lose games. If you are a complete team with an incredible difference maker (KG, Huff) Graham's skills should be enough to win. We lost because we could not protect a lead, and we put Graham in a position where he had to win the game (and he almost did). What we did well yesterday was pass and run block; Graham was hardly ever hurried. We also ran great routes and made every catch; some extraordinary. We had a great O and D game plan. What we did not do well was tackle in key situations. We also committed a few dumb penalties that cost us. I don't get the lack of respect and appreciation for Graham. We know what we have in Graham. If Santa is in the mix at all for next season, he needs to get reps. Use this time to evaluate, let him make the inevitable mistakes; learn and develop.

(11-10-2016 03:54 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 03:49 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Same Graham that led NIU to two 4th quarter scorea and a win over Toledo last year.

Yeah, he sucks...

so what's that say about Toledo....


Just kidding the whole MAC is god awful

It baffles me that he's not better this year than he was last year. The experience should have made him better. Maybe the QB coach has to go too.

(11-10-2016 05:21 PM)BDB5yp Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 03:54 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 03:49 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Same Graham that led NIU to two 4th quarter scorea and a win over Toledo last year.

Yeah, he sucks...

so what's that say about Toledo....


Just kidding the whole MAC is god awful

It baffles me that he's not better this year than he was last year. The experience should have made him better. Maybe the QB coach has to go too.

He's a game manager who can sometimes put in a good run. Not an accurate or even strong arm. Given the decline in coach preparedness, it's no surprise he is struggling.

The bottom of the MAC is way up and the top can get beat on any given night... WMU kind of excluded. We are far better than CUSA and better than the belt as well. Toledo over stAte. Akron's close contest with App State. Ball State's win over Georgia State and WMU's win over Georgia Southern show that.

I agree that Graham is not terrible but we have seen enough of him to know that he has a limited upside. Now that we know that we will not win the MAC and that we will not be eligible for a BOWL game it would be coaching malpractice to fail to give Santa (and others if we have any that are eligible to play without burning a redshirt) some reps and a chance to show what they can do.

(11-10-2016 06:57 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  I agree that Graham is not terrible but we have seen enough of him to know that he has a limited upside. Now that we know that we will not win the MAC and that we will not be eligible for a BOWL game it would be coaching malpractice to fail to give Santa (and others if we have any that are eligible to play without burning a redshirt) some reps and a chance to show what they can do.

Yeah...and we all know what will happen the next 3 games. Get ready for a heavy dose of Graham and JB. At least Carey can justify the Graham playing time since he'll likely be back.

(11-10-2016 08:50 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(11-10-2016 06:57 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  I agree that Graham is not terrible but we have seen enough of him to know that he has a limited upside. Now that we know that we will not win the MAC and that we will not be eligible for a BOWL game it would be coaching malpractice to fail to give Santa (and others if we have any that are eligible to play without burning a redshirt) some reps and a chance to show what they can do.

Yeah...and we all know what will happen the next 3 games. Get ready for a heavy dose of Graham and JB. At least Carey can justify the Graham playing time since he'll likely be back.

Yep. It will be same 'ol same 'ol.

I don't think one can overstate the effects of play calling. NIU communicates to their opponent that they are giving up through the play calling. It's like being behind the 8 ball before the game even starts