MGB: Key questions series Part I -- Who starts at QB?

[Brett Vito]

MGB: Mason Fine returns, but  can another player beat him out? What about the backup spot with Alec Morris out after graduation?

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2017/02/key-questions-of-the-offseason-part-i-how-does-the-qb-race-play-out.html/

[AustinFromUNT]

I want whoever gives us the best chance to win to play. With that being said the ideal situation would be mason starting with Isadore backing up and Cade red shirting. But whoever is the best should get the position.

[Wag Tag]

The beauty of Fine is whether he wins it or not you know he is working his butt off. That in turn will push the competition! Would like to see Issy start that will mean he is better tha Fine with nicer size. Red shirt the freshman. O'Hara also a back up.

[EagleMBA]

I hate to keep playing the same song, but if Fine plays I want him to be at 100%. That nasty injury and his recovery from it has me very concerned. He will have the best mental command of the game...his arm may be suspect at this point.

I pretty much agree with WagTag's post above concerning the pecking order and strategy. I would, however, like to see Fine start.

[BTG_Fan1]

Izzy to start over Fine... Izzy has the size and the arm that this offense needs... Fine did not have the ability to make defenses respect his deep ball, and he got lucky most of the time. Fine should push Izzy, and allow us to RS Pearson, but don't be sleeping on Pearson.. the kid has great accuracy which was needed this year

I don't get how Izzy is viewed as a long shot... he is the highest rated QB we brought in LOL

[Army of Dad]

10 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

I don't get how Izzy is viewed as a long shot... he is the highest rated QB we brought in LOL

This long shot is brought to you by the letters A, C, and L.

Then top

that off with the fact that most to many JUCOs are crapshoots...

[TreeFiddy]

Vito calling for the walk on Isadore to start?

[AustinFromUNT]

3 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

This long shot is brought to you by the letters A, C, and L.

Then top

that off with the fact that most to many JUCOs are crapshoots...

This is really the biggest thing holding Izzy back. If he comes in 100% after recovering from his ACL injury then he could beat out Fine. If Izzy is still limping or his motion is messed up because of it then Mason gets it.

[BTG_Fan1]

2 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

This long shot is brought to you by the letters A, C, and L.

Then top

that off with the fact that most to many JUCOs are crapshoots...

ACL isn't a hard injury to come back from anymore... nor does it seem to bother him with his workouts in the gym or throwing vs air... Izzy should be and is likely viewed on the same ground as Fine and Pearson.. Fine did not do anything to lock this up nor put himself into a category above anyone on this list.. Yes fine had a presence but he also had games that he was a weakness. 

1 minute ago, AustinFromUNT said:

This is really the biggest thing holding Izzy back. If he comes in 100% after recovering from his ACL injury then he could beat out Fine. If Izzy is still limping or his motion is messed up because of it then Mason gets it.

In all of his videos he looks great, the only worry is how he reacts when people start hitting him.. Which it is good that we have Lamar first to give this team hopefully something to use as a building block for the season. 

4 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

Vito calling for the walk on Isadore to start?

I sure hope so! Also, believe he has a chance to earn a scholarship in the fall as well

[TreeFiddy]

3 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

ACL isn't a hard injury to come back from anymore... nor does it seem to bother him with his workouts in the gym or throwing vs air... Izzy should be and is likely viewed on the same ground as Fine and Pearson.. Fine did not do anything to lock this up nor put himself into a category above anyone on this list.. Yes fine had a presence but he also had games that he was a weakness. 

In all of his videos he looks great, the only worry is how he reacts when people start hitting him.. Which it is good that we have Lamar first to give this team hopefully something to use as a building block for the season. 

I sure hope so! Also, believe he has a chance to earn a scholarship in the fall as well

Vito has not been too keen on walk ons in the past.  Any time one has been given the time of day by the board, they have pretty much been summarily dismissed in later articles.  Thought it was a little odd.  Really need O'hara to show some life this Spring.  He did not even seem competitive last Fall.  

Based on the amount of time that it took Morris to adjust to this offense, I am giving a sizable advantage to the guys that were here in the Fall.

[BTG_Fan1]

1 minute ago, TreeFiddy said:

Vito has not been too keen on walk ons in the past.  Any time one has been given the time of day by the board, they have pretty much been summarily dismissed in later articles.  Thought it was a little odd.  Really need O'hara to show some life this Spring.  He did not even seem competitive last Fall.  

Based on the amount of time that it took Morris to adjust to this offense, I am giving a sizable advantage to the guys that were here in the Fall.

Pearson and Izzy are both on campus.. and we can be keep comparing this to Morris, but in the HoD he played great...and Morris played well vs SMU and was our leading passer till week 4 or 5.. 

[TreeFiddy]

Being here in the Spring should definitely help Pearson and Izzy assuming they can both go 100%.

 

[SilverEagle]

How was Izzy rated at the end of his senior year and during recruiting?

If he was two star or above, how did he end up at juco?

[EagleMBA]

My concerns in a nutshell re: the guys being discussed:

Fine - arm; Isadore - knee and mental*; Pearson - mental*.

* My definition is leadership, command of the offense and comfort with the D-1 speed and size.

[GOMG2013]

I think all 3 will pick up the offense well. The issue is reading defenses.  Who will be able to make the right reads and be able to take advantage of the mismatches.  Fine hurt teams by running, but he's gonna have to be able to hurt teams by throwing too.  If not, he won't hang onto the job.  The good teams aren't going to lose to a qb that can't hurt you in the air.

[Aldo]

14 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

ACL isn't a hard injury to come back from anymore...

Ehhhhh with good doctors, rehab regimen, hard work, and focus on the rehab, sure. Let's not dismiss the severity of an ACL injury, and the physical and mental return to the field.

While NFL supastars come back in a year, Isadore isn't and he'll be less than a year removed from surgery at the start of next season.

We're setting him up for failure if we assume that he'll be ready to compete this spring. If he is, that's amazing, but I would think he'd be eased in to fall comp.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Aldo

[GMG24]

15 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

How was Izzy rated at the end of his senior year and during recruiting?

If he was two star or above, how did he end up at juco?

http://247sports.com/Player/Devlin-Isadore-38217?PlayerInstitution=62715

 

With the offers he had I would assume qualifying was an issue, his HS tape is questionable and not good quality. 

Edited February 7, 2017 by GMG24

[Harry]

Isadore was a big time prospect prior to the injury.  He evidently had grade issues coming out of high school which led him to Angelo State and juco.

When he was at his peak he had tons of interest from the likes of TCU, Baylor etc...

Quote

 

So if Baylor could find a 3-for-3 junior college quarterback who is 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds and has started a total of five games in junior college should they take him? In 2016? Yes.

What if that quarterback has heard from the likes of Houston, TCU, Texas and Texas A&M as a 2017 prospect and led his junior college team to the Southwest Junior College Football Championship game after taking over for the final five games of the season following an injury to the starting quarterback?

That would equate to finding gold somewhere in the Brazos River for Baylor fans.

link:  http://baylor.247sports.com/Article/Baylor-Football-Recruiting-Junior-College-Quarterback-Devlin-Isa-46614405

 

Obviously Littrell and Harrell felt it was a risk worth taking.  He appears to be taking his rehab very seriously.  That is really what it comes down to -- how motivated is he to get back on the field.

One question I have is will Isadore participate in spring drills?

[keith]

While QB is the single most important position on the team, it won't make any difference who starts if the offensive line doesn't protect him and his receivers don't get open and catch.  How's that for being Capt. Obvious?  With that said, I think Fine goes in as your starter with the others given every opportunity to unseat him.  There are no sacred positions on this team.  Put the best players on the field regardless of their classification, star rating or anything else.

[Harry]

8 minutes ago, keith said:

While QB is the single most important position on the team, it won't make any difference who starts if the offensive line doesn't protect him and his receivers don't get open and catch.  How's that for being Capt. Obvious?  With that said, I think Fine goes in as your starter with the others given every opportunity to unseat him.  There are no sacred positions on this team.  Put the best players on the field regardless of their classification, star rating or anything else.

My biggest question on Fine is he healthy?  Will his rehab keep him limited in spring drill?  The kid from Texarkana is dead serious about starting and will be there in the spring.

[BTG_Fan1]

3 hours ago, Harry said:

One question I have is will Isadore participate in spring drills?

I would think with how Izzy is looking in his videos, that he would be most likely be a full go, if not he should be very close to a full go. I would think that the staff would only limit him in terms of being tackled. Which I doubt that they allow the QBs to be hit in Spring ball at all.

2 hours ago, Harry said:

My biggest question on Fine is he healthy?  Will his rehab keep him limited in spring drill?  The kid from Texarkana is dead serious about starting and will be there in the spring.

The injury depends on how badly it was... http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/92337-overview#a8 According to the link, the AC Joint goes from Grade 1(lowest) to Grade 6(highest) with Grades 4-6 sometime requiring some type of surgery... I would assume, if Fine needed Surgery they would have already had get it sometime between WKU and HoD(which he was warming up), so that he could have more time to recovery and be ready for the Spring.

With that being said, I would think the staff maybe more cautions with Fine's Shoulder in terms of easing him back into throwing(if he hasn't already) than with Izzy, and both Izzy and Pearson getting more reps. I'm also wondering if this makes the staff look for another QB as a PWO like we did with Carson? With Fine, Izzy, and O'Hara coming off injuries the only healthy QBs would be Quinn, Pearson, and Carson.

[Harry]

11 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

and O'Hara coming off injuries

Would be interested to know his status as well.  You need 4 in my mind.

[BTG_Fan1]

32 minutes ago, Harry said:

Would be interested to know his status as well.  You need 4 in my mind.

Quinn just tweeted out that Fine threw for the first time today.. So wondering if he did have surgery

Forget this comment, skimmed over it to quickly..

Edited February 7, 2017 by BTG_Fan1

[TreeFiddy]

2 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Quinn just tweeted out that Fine threw for the first time today.. So wondering if he did have surgery

 

Umm... sure you read that correctly?

[BTG_Fan1]

1 minute ago, TreeFiddy said:

Umm... sure you read that correctly?

oh LOL I missed the up part of the work out.. my bad, thanks for picking that up