Which QB gives us the best chance at winning the remaining games? I am really torn on who should be the starting QB. Here are the current NIU stats from ESPN
http://www.espn.com/college-football/tea.../_/id/2459
While stats often do not tell the whole story, looking at the 3 QB stats shows why this is such a tough call.
Santa's completion % and yards are impressive; but the 6 TDs v. 5 picks pretty much shows the high risk/high reward with Santa. Would Santa improve his decision making and would the ratio between TD and picks improve? Carey’s post game comment was: “We’ve got to stop turning the ball over at the quarterback spot. That’s the biggest take away right now." Are the coaches willing to give Santa a chance to improve the TD v. interception ratio in upcoming games? Carey’s comment and knowing how conservative he is may mean he will not go with Santa.
Carey is right; we do need to limit turnovers from the QB position, Our D is so good; if we limit mistakes and the O is productive we have a shot in every remaining game. The key is that the O must be productive; they don’t have to score a ton of points, but they have to be productive for many reason, not the least of which is that the D being on the field too long will cost us.
Graham’s 40% completion % equated to the O not being productive in the BC game; his inaccuracy killed several drives, and how many times did he over throw long passes by 5 yards or more? Is Graham really that “safe”? While his 3 to 1 TD v. interception ratio is OK, I recall that there were 2 passes in the end zone/at the goal line that should have been picked in the BC game. I don’t think that Graham is as “safe” as he looks on paper, and his negatives are tough to overcome.
It is tough to judge Childers passing based on the horrible conditions yesterday. Childers over threw almost all of his long passes; however, all those passes were with a strong wind at his back. Graham v. Childers look about the same running on paper from the stats; however, Childers is a much better running QB, both with designed QB runs/read option and scrambles. We know Santa can run; however, it seems the coaches do not want him running.
Several have said go with the QB that gives us the best chance at winning; I agree. But which of the 3 is that? I see going with Graham equates to struggling to win every game; I just don’t think he has the skills to be our starting QB. I like others do not care for the 2 QB system; but maybe that gives us the best chance at winning every game for the rest of the season. Other than the 1 pass in the Nebraska game that set up the winning TD (and that was a big-time pressure completion), Santa has struggled passing in the red zone this year. So maybe we go with Santa between the 20s, and Childers in the red zone and other situations where his dual-threat capabilities are best utilized.
So, which QB gives us the best chance at winning the remaining games? This is a tough call for Carey and the other coaches, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. As I said before, I am OK with either Santa or Childers starting, but I am not OK with Graham starting. As much as I am concerned with a 2 QB system, I am sort of leaning to the Santa/Childers situational combination for now, and maybe the play on the field will answer the question.