Quarterback Stuff

[MeanGreen61]

Any info/observations on how the 'young guns' are firing/misfiring ?

[DeepGreen]

Any info/observations on how the 'young guns' are firing/misfiring ?

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I'd settle for information on anything. Hell, I'd even settle for some of PlummMeanGreen's 4 page epistles!

[medpilot21]

Any info/observations on how the 'young guns' are firing/misfiring ?

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I was at practice this morning. Matt (Illuvius) will do a very good practice write up this afternoon for you guys.

Bottom line is this team will be different from what we have seen in the past. Get ready for the QB by committe, because it looks like that is the way we are going.

Phillips did not practice today, but Meager and Woody did. I have mixed feelings about what is going on at the QB spot so far. To be honest, I have never been a proponent of the multiple QB system. I dont see how this creates a consistent offensive flow for the offensive line? Linemen block differently for a guy who stands back there and waits for a receiver to get open, versus a QB who will take off and run after two seconds? That said, I can see how the NT coaches think the multiple QB thing may work here. Each QB had his moments this morning. Both looked good at times... and bad at times. It is, of course, still very early in practices...but here are some of the things we saw today at the QB spot. Matt will cover the rest of practice in his post.

Danny Meager

Positives: He is stronger than last year..no argument there. Several times on deep routes he over threw Quinn or Nwigwe and we cheered on the sidelines about that. He still throws very precise middle routes and gets rid of the ball quickly. He has improved physically and doesnt grab his shoulder after long passes or collisions.

Negatives: Danny tends to look at the receiver he is going to and doesnt look-off the defenders. He was intercepted (I think it was Desmond Chatman) and all the guy did was watch Danny and read his eyes. It was a good defensive play, but we need Danny to look around a bit more. He has plenty of practices left to get that down.

Woody Wilson

Positives:very quick QB and more mobile in the pocket than any QB we have had. Woody on the run is like having another Jamario back there. On one play he was trapped... turned upfield, made two cuts and ran 70 yards for a touchdown. I have never seen after-burners like that on a QB. Woody can freakin fly, and would be almost impossible to sack. His throws in middle routes are good, and he did throw a couple of deep passses well. He has the ability and focus to be a very good QB in our system.

Negatives:Woody is one run away from spending some recovery time in the Emergency Room. He tends to pull the ball down quickly and take off. If he gets into the open, maybe Deon Sanders could catch him. But when he turns into the defense, as he did several times this morning, he takes the most horrific shots to the body and legs. During one run he took off and ran directly into the middle of our new 3-4 defense. The first hit was delieverred by Brandon Monroe, and that was a head-popper. As Woody was fighting for another yard he got low-balled (around the knees) by Montey Stevenson. Matt and I both at the same time yelled "Oh man, he got lit???". I thought for sure he was hurt. He got up from that one, thank God... but he will leave the UT game on a stretcher running into traffic like that? The guy has unbelievable speed, but that wont matter much if 290 lb linemen keep getting their shots at him. Woody needs to calm down a bit and not be so fast to abandon his reads. There is still plenty of time before the UT game for his "patience-medication" to take effect. Woody will be a good one for us.

Matt Phillips: Did not practice.

There were two walk-on QB's in practice today, and both rotated in as backups with the second and third team offenses. Other than that, we were really watching Woody and Meager.

Who's HOT: WR-Joel Nwigwe: If there is a potion for break-away speed after the catch, Nwigwe drank about four bottles. He ran his routes today like he has something to prove. Well, he is starting to show what he can do. Every pass that went his was was either caught or over-thrown. He would have had scored several TD's in this practice. At one point he caught a sideline pass from Meager, and we heard him yelling "Man you're slow" at the DB as he streaked down the sideline past us. We laughed at that one, but the point is Nwigwe is playing with a lot of confidence, and speed kills. The remainder of the practices will show if this is the real thing or not.

Who's NOT: DB Brian Nelson: It is still very early into two-a-days, but Nelson is having real trouble getting into position and making his reads. On several occaisions the DB coach would get frustrated with his mistakes and become very vocal. Nelson is athletic, but tends to lose track of where his man is, or where his shift needs to be. This is only the first day of pads, so I'm sure Brian will get it together.

Check for Matt's post later... there will be some really good stuff in that one.

GMG!!!

[MeanGreen61]

Thanks !

[Green Crazy]

I was at practice this morning. Matt (Illuvius) will do a very good practice write up this afternoon for you guys.

Bottom line is this team will be different from what we have seen in the past. Get ready for the QB by committe, because it looks like that is the way we are going.

Phillips did not practice today, but Meager and Woody did. I have mixed feelings about what is going on at the QB spot so far. To be honest, I have never been a proponent of the multiple QB system. I dont see how this creates a consistent offensive flow for the offensive line? Linemen block differently for a guy who stands back there and waits for a receiver to get open, versus a QB who will take off and run after two seconds? That said, I can see how the NT coaches think the multiple QB thing may work here. Each QB had his moments this morning. Both looked good at times... and bad at times. It is, of course, still very early in practices...but here are some of the things we saw today at the QB spot. Matt will cover the rest of practice in his post.

Danny Meager

Positives: He is stronger than last year..no argument there. Several times on deep routes he over threw Quinn or Nwigwe and we cheered on the sidelines about that. He still throws very precise middle routes and gets rid of the ball quickly. He has improved physically and doesnt grab his shoulder after long passes or collisions.

Negatives: Danny tends to look at the receiver he is going to and doesnt look-off the defenders. He was intercepted (I think it was Desmond Chatman) and all the guy did was watch Danny and read his eyes. It was a good defensive play, but we need Danny to look around a bit more. He has plenty of practices left to get that down.

Woody Wilson

Positives:very quick QB and more mobile in the pocket than any QB we have had. Woody on the run is like having another Jamario back there. On one play he was trapped... turned upfield, made two cuts and ran 70 yards for a touchdown. I have never seen after-burners like that on a QB. Woody can freakin fly, and would be almost impossible to sack. His throws in middle routes are good, and he did throw a couple of deep passses well. He has the ability and focus to be a very good QB in our system.

Negatives:Woody is one run away from spending some recovery time in the Emergency Room. He tends to pull the ball down quickly and take off. If he gets into the open, maybe Deon Sanders could catch him. But when he turns into the defense, as he did several times this morning, he takes the most horrific shots to the body and legs. During one run he took off and ran directly into the middle of our new 3-4 defense. The first hit was delieverred by Brandon Monroe, and that was a head-popper. As Woody was fighting for another yard he got low-balled (around the knees) by Montey Stevenson. Matt and I both at the same time yelled "Oh man, he got lit???". I thought for sure he was hurt. He got up from that one, thank God... but he will leave the UT game on a stretcher running into traffic like that?  The guy has unbelievable speed, but that wont matter much if 290 lb linemen keep getting their shots at him. Woody needs to calm down a bit and not be so fast to abandon his reads. There is still plenty of time before the UT game for his "patience-medication" to take effect. Woody will be a good one for us.

Matt Phillips: Did not practice.

There were two walk-on QB's in practice today, and both rotated in as backups with the second and third team offenses. Other than that, we were really watching Woody and Meager.

Who's HOT: WR-Joel Nwigwe: If there is a potion for break-away speed after the catch, Nwigwe drank about four bottles. He ran his routes today like he has something to prove. Well, he is starting to show what he can do. Every pass that went his was was either caught or over-thrown. He would have had scored several TD's in this practice. At one point he caught a sideline pass from Meager, and we heard him yelling "Man you're slow" at the DB as he streaked down the sideline past us. We laughed at that one, but the point is Nwigwe is playing with a lot of confidence, and speed kills. The remainder of the practices will show if this is the real thing or not.

Who's NOT: DB Brian Nelson: It is still very early into two-a-days, but Nelson is having real trouble getting into position and making his reads. On several occaisions the DB coach would get frustrated with his mistakes and become very vocal. Nelson is athletic, but tends to lose track of where his man is, or where his shift needs to be. This is only the first day of pads, so I'm sure Brian will get it together. 

Check for Matt's post later... there will be some really good stuff in that one.

GMG!!!

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Great stuff. What did the O-Line look like?

[NT80]

Matt Phillips: Did not practice.

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Thanks for the report. What happened to Phillips?

[Guest JohnDenver]

So what people should remember about Wilson when judging his spring performances...

1) He was coming off a broken collar bone

2) He was new to the system.

I heard some gripes about his long passes in the spring. His sore|healing clavicle explains that. I hear he has much more strength in his arm in the summer practices... he doesn't have the arm of Phillips yet, but maybe that time is coming?

I also hear gripes about his running up the middle. This is a valid complaint. We don't want an injured QB. He is still pretty new to the system. If he doesn't see the play developing or thinks it is broken, he runs. In the past (JUCO and HS ball) he was able to make a play in the middle and out run everyone. It is easier to teach him to run out of bounds or SLIDE feet first in those situations that it is to teach a QB to stop trying to force a throw in the same situation. So IMHO, it is better to have a QB that runs (because it is easier to teach them not to) than having a QB that tries to force a throw or throws the perpetual deep jump ball.

Edited August 11, 2006 by JohnDenver

[Stan R]

So what people should remember about Wilson when judging his spring performances...

1) He was coming off a broken collar bone

2) He was new to the system.

I heard some gripes about his long passes in the spring. His sore|healing clavicle explains that. I hear he has much more strength in his arm in the summer practices... he doesn't have the arm of Phillips yet, but maybe that time is coming?

I also hear gripes about his running up the middle.  This is a valid complaint. We don't want an injured QB. He is still pretty new to the system. If he doesn't see the play developing or thinks it is broken, he runs. In the past (JUCO and HS ball) he was able to make a play in the middle and out run everyone. It is easier to teach him to run out of bounds or SLIDE feet first in those situations that it is to teach a QB to stop trying to force a throw in the same situation. So IMHO, it is better to have a QB that runs (because it is easier to teach them not to) than having a QB that tries to force a throw or throws the perpetual deep jump ball.

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Why do I have a mental picture of quincy carter???

[Guest JohnDenver]

Why do I have a mental picture of quincy carter??? 

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I dunno, I don't want to jump to conclusions about your subconscience.

Maybe you could replace your negative image with a Randall Cunningham?

Q-Car threw a jump ball all the time. He would LITERALLY scramble and then jump in the air and throw the ball (instead of running) and got hit. He had the worst of both options...

[Coach]

Why do I have a mental picture of quincy carter???

Because you read about a black quarterback who likes to scramble.

Carter sucked so bad that he started for Georgia, got drafted into the NFL, and started for a playoff team. If the worst is true and Wilson is a Carter clone as you fear, there is clearly no room for that kind of player on a 2-9 Sun Belt team.

[UNTFan23]

I think more of Vick then I do Carter when mentioning a scrambling QB that can burn a defense if they tuck it and run.

IMO, Carter's downfall was he made bad decisions when under pressure. Throwing the ball away is good so long as the defense has no chance of fielding the ball.