Demetrius Jones has made significant strides during the summer as he rehabilitates from his torn labrum surgery of last fall, but Brian Kelly said today that the Notre Dame transfer is not yet ready to compete for the starting quarterback job which, for now, belongs to senior Dustin Grutza.
Kelly said Jones has reached the point where he could probably be effective in short spurts - maybe 10 to 12 passes in a game - but that Jones is not physically ready to play an entire game at quarterback.
"He can't beat out Dustin Grutza yet," Kelly said. "Can he strengthen his position as a part-time player? Absolutely. But he is not in the picture to take over the team and lead it to a championship."
Kelly estimated it would take about a month for Jones to position himself to be able to compete with Grutza, which means it's more and more likely that Grutza will be UC's starting quarterback when the Bearcats line up on Aug. 28 to open their season against Eastern Kentucky.
"I can say definitively that Dustin Grutza would be the starting quarterback against Eastern Kentucky," Kelly said, "unless circumstances change."
In other words, if the NCAA rules that Ben Mauk can play another year, the job will be his.
"If Mauk is in the picture," Kelly said, "then all bets are off."
When might the NCAA make that ruling? Kelly still has no idea.
link to Koch blog
bearcatfan Wrote:Demetrius Jones has made significant strides during the summer as he rehabilitates from his torn labrum surgery of last fall, but Brian Kelly said today that the Notre Dame transfer is not yet ready to compete for the starting quarterback job which, for now, belongs to senior Dustin Grutza.
Kelly said Jones has reached the point where he could probably be effective in short spurts - maybe 10 to 12 passes in a game - but that Jones is not physically ready to play an entire game at quarterback.
"He can't beat out Dustin Grutza yet," Kelly said. "Can he strengthen his position as a part-time player? Absolutely. But he is not in the picture to take over the team and lead it to a championship."
Kelly estimated it would take about a month for Jones to position himself to be able to compete with Grutza, which means it's more and more likely that Grutza will be UC's starting quarterback when the Bearcats line up on Aug. 28 to open their season against Eastern Kentucky.
"I can say definitively that Dustin Grutza would be the starting quarterback against Eastern Kentucky," Kelly said, "unless circumstances change."
In other words, if the NCAA rules that Ben Mauk can play another year, the job will be his.
"If Mauk is in the picture," Kelly said, "then all bets are off."
When might the NCAA make that ruling? Kelly still has no idea.
link to Koch blog
Well, that sucks. Grutza has a better arm than Mauk but doesn't make as good of decisions. The Bearcats will be in trouble without a decent QB!!
Bcat Wrote:bearcatfan Wrote:Demetrius Jones has made significant strides during the summer as he rehabilitates from his torn labrum surgery of last fall, but Brian Kelly said today that the Notre Dame transfer is not yet ready to compete for the starting quarterback job which, for now, belongs to senior Dustin Grutza.
Kelly said Jones has reached the point where he could probably be effective in short spurts - maybe 10 to 12 passes in a game - but that Jones is not physically ready to play an entire game at quarterback.
"He can't beat out Dustin Grutza yet," Kelly said. "Can he strengthen his position as a part-time player? Absolutely. But he is not in the picture to take over the team and lead it to a championship."
Kelly estimated it would take about a month for Jones to position himself to be able to compete with Grutza, which means it's more and more likely that Grutza will be UC's starting quarterback when the Bearcats line up on Aug. 28 to open their season against Eastern Kentucky.
"I can say definitively that Dustin Grutza would be the starting quarterback against Eastern Kentucky," Kelly said, "unless circumstances change."
In other words, if the NCAA rules that Ben Mauk can play another year, the job will be his.
"If Mauk is in the picture," Kelly said, "then all bets are off."
When might the NCAA make that ruling? Kelly still has no idea.
link to Koch blog
Well, that sucks. Grutza has a better arm than Mauk but doesn't make as good of decisions. The Bearcats will be in trouble without a decent QB!!
Grutza has a better arm than Mauk?
seriously?
Kelly is just calling him out for motivation. I think D Jones may take the start in Norman.
Bcat Wrote:bearcatfan Wrote:Demetrius Jones has made significant strides during the summer as he rehabilitates from his torn labrum surgery of last fall, but Brian Kelly said today that the Notre Dame transfer is not yet ready to compete for the starting quarterback job which, for now, belongs to senior Dustin Grutza.
Kelly said Jones has reached the point where he could probably be effective in short spurts - maybe 10 to 12 passes in a game - but that Jones is not physically ready to play an entire game at quarterback.
"He can't beat out Dustin Grutza yet," Kelly said. "Can he strengthen his position as a part-time player? Absolutely. But he is not in the picture to take over the team and lead it to a championship."
Kelly estimated it would take about a month for Jones to position himself to be able to compete with Grutza, which means it's more and more likely that Grutza will be UC's starting quarterback when the Bearcats line up on Aug. 28 to open their season against Eastern Kentucky.
"I can say definitively that Dustin Grutza would be the starting quarterback against Eastern Kentucky," Kelly said, "unless circumstances change."
In other words, if the NCAA rules that Ben Mauk can play another year, the job will be his.
"If Mauk is in the picture," Kelly said, "then all bets are off."
When might the NCAA make that ruling? Kelly still has no idea.
link to Koch blog
Well, that sucks. Grutza has a better arm than Mauk but doesn't make as good of decisions. The Bearcats will be in trouble without a decent QB!!
Uhhh...Grutza did pretty damn well in his only start last year. If a kid has a good arm i think he will thrive in Kelly's system. Just my opinion, but i think qb's at UC will start to get a label of a "system qb" like Hawaii qb's. I feel completely comfortable with Grutza at the helm in Kelly's system...Now Dantonio's system, Uhhh...I don't feel comfortable with Grutza.
BK has been singing about this since the spring game, I just find it hard to believe that Grutza is and will remain the starter into BE play. Demetrius and Chazz have so many more weapons that our offense can utilize now. I'd be surprised if Grutza starts more than 4 games this year.
faNATIc Wrote:Kelly is just calling him out for motivation. I think D Jones may take the start in Norman.
So do I, but I am confident in Dustin to lead the team this year if that is what happens. Grutza is better than a lot here give him credit for.
We still have a whole training camp to go through. Once camp is over we will see who has earned the start.
Grutza is a seasoned veteran and will do just fine. His major downside is his arm strength but I am confident Coach Kelly will account for that in his offense.
Grutza also needs to make quicker decisions but he did much better last year (when he played). And he is good runner/scrambler when he needs to.
I echo others comments that Grutza is a fine option. He has good running skills and he has the skills to throw. Maybe he doesn't have the strongest arm, but he lit it up in his 1 start last year and I think he is a good fit for the new system. Sure he has made some dumb mistakes, but he has 2 years in BK's system and got to work with BK to make him a better QB. I think Grutza could be a nice surprise. He has played in some hostile environments (Remember he was the starter the year we played the brutal schedule with trips to OSU, Va Tech, etc).
I agree, and think that Grutza could make a fine QB. I sometimes forget that he is now 2 years older than he was in 2006 and that he probably would make much better decisions. I know for a fact that he has been working his butt off since the end of last season.
On the other hand though remember that BK was saying Mauk was no where near being ready this time last year as well. I think this might be ploy to get Demetrious going.
I agree somewhat. Grutza is a great guy to have on your roster. How many teams have a senior quarterback with 10+ starts and decent numbers that might end up being the backup? The thing is his skills- they're adequate- he gives us the whole 'not going to win games for us, just don't lose any' kind of mentality. With the right QB play this year the team around whoever it is has the potential to win the league- this year is our best shot with all the experience we have. I think Dustin is a average college QB, just not the kind on a team that could win the league. Hopefully I'm wrong.
bearcatfan Wrote:Grutza is a seasoned veteran and will do just fine. His major downside is his arm strength but I am confident Coach Kelly will account for that in his offense.
Grutza also needs to make quicker decisions but he did much better last year (when he played). And he is good runner/scrambler when he needs to.
He has a ton of starts under his belt so I feel pretty good with him as the starter. If Chazz or DJ can beat him later so be it.
i'm surprised at some of the responses so far. i do not want grutza being the starting quarterback of this team. for a season opener against a team we should likely pummel anyways, sure, but in the big east? and especially suiting up in norman? no thanks!
i agree with all of what dshell has already posted. this football team, imo, simply can't win the big games with grutza as the qb.
I know less about football than many here, but last year, I thought Grutza looked very good in the games he played. Fortunatelyfor the Bearcats, Coach Kelly is making the decisions instead of me.
Grutza won't end the season as the starting QB, I think most people are in agreement with that. I find his comment bout Jones only being ready for 10 to 12 throws a game right now really interesting. I think that Kelly will get him several series a game to ease him into the role. Its an idea and a method that has worked before. very interesting.
Tymanh99 Wrote:i'm surprised at some of the responses so far. i do not want grutza being the starting quarterback of this team. for a season opener against a team we should likely pummel anyways, sure, but in the big east? and especially suiting up in norman? no thanks!
i agree with all of what dshell has already posted. this football team, imo, simply can't win the big games with grutza as the qb.
I don't Necessarily want Dustion to be our starter, but I think that if it comes down to it I think that he will have better decision making abilities than he did in the past.
I just keep thinking back to last year when BK was saying Mauk wouldn't be ready because of his arm, and then magically Mauk was good to go. I know he needed injections and stuff but still, I think this is just to get Demetrious working even harder than he already is.
Grutza is not glamorous, and he has occasionally made bad gameplay decisions, but he has started and won.
I think the word is "serviceable". He will get us there, just not in style.
In BK I trust. Edit: To have something up his sleeve, that is.
I watched highlights of Grutza vs Miami OH and Marshall and he actually looked pretty good....granted, it was Miami OH and Marshall....but at least, with the exception of Oklahoma, if Grutza is the starter in our first five games or so we should be fine being the games are vs teams like Akron, Marshall, Miami OH, etc. This at least gives DJones time to prepare for the BE or worst case scenario Grutza will be good and ready by then.
Overall, I think in BK's system, we'd be fine with Grutza......
now, come on NCAA, let's give Mauk another year!
Jones isn't ready yet, but would be in a month. Yah, that's saying a lot there, coach speak in its finest.