Armstrong Leading the QB Race

Mavric said:
I know it's only one practice but I can't help piece together several reports that don't paint a great picture to me. As I've said before, I'm not anti-TA. I think he has a ton of ability. If he's the guy, I'll be cheering like crazy for him. But I just think QB is our weak spot right now.

Good news: There were reports that Tommy has dropped a little weight (probably traded "bad" weight for "good") and was moving better yesterday. Hopefully he knee is healed and he can really turn loose.

Bad news: I just don't get a good feeling from reading all the reports. Yes, it's only one practice. Yes, Pelini said it was tough to be a QB right now because they don't have a lot of offense installed. But I'm going back from what I saw last year, heard this spring and now am hearing from the start of camp.

The best report I heard about TA from yesterday was that he threw 3-4 really nice deep balls. That's his strength. But it's the reading between the lines on everything else that makes me think he really didn't look that good. Nothing really about him by name and we obviously have more than one QB but it sounds like TA got most of the first team reps so in reports about other players if they were first-teamers I'm assuming that there's a pretty good chance that they were playing with or against TA.

The media guys watching practice are looking for almost anything good to write about right now. If most of what we hear are excuses about why it's too early to judge, that tells me there wasn't much good to write about. We know at least one INT TA threw was right to Banderas. I think this is Tommy's biggest problem - he doesn't see the field very well. Happened a lot last year and this spring. If you're hitting the MIKE between the numbers, you're not seeing the defense. There were several other INTs thrown but it's not know who threw them. CJax dropped at least two INTs which I'm assuming came from TA. Also, there were reports of a highlight-reel grab by Reilly on an underthrown ball in double-coverage. That's great for Brandon but that also tells me that was a poorly-thrown ball and a poor choice to throw it there.

Pelini did say he like seeing TA throw the ball away or pull it down and run several times yesterday but the media guys also said they saw him forcing bad throws. If he can learn to pick and choose his spots, that will be a good improvement. But we were hearing about that in the spring and it sounds like he still has quite a ways to go.

That's how I see it. Rip away.
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Nothing he can't recover from at this point, but it is concerning.

 
HUSKER FREAK said:
I just really find it funny that the people that dismissed Tommy long ago are coming in and complaining about one damn pick on the first day of fall camp. If Tommy sits and Stanton or Fyfe take his place well so be it, but for Christs sakes give the kid a chance already.
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Exactly....heck, we don't even know what type of drill this was. Was it the fourth time in a row the same play was ran so the defense pretty much knew what was going on?

Crying out loud, this was the first day of fall camp.

 
Junior said:
saunders45 said:
knapplc said:
@RealMikeWelch

QB needs to develop timing before being fairly evaluated. Last night, all #Huskers QBs looked like it was the 1st day of Fall Camp.
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Look at this guy and his objective analysis. Burn him!
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How do we know his analysis is objective? I've never heard of the guy.
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He's the local drive-time radio guy here in Lincoln. 93.7fm The Ticket. Look him up if you like.

Is he objective? Seems to be. He's new to Lincoln, only been here about a year or so, came from Kansas City after covering sports down there for a while. He hasn't been here long enough to become a Husker homer, he really doesn't seem to have any attachments to any players other than Randy Gregory. He's pro-whatever-guy-I'm-talking-about-now, that's probably the best way to describe him.

He's been watching practice from what I understand, so he's at least seen the guys doing their drills.

 
BrayWyatt said:
Mavric said:
That's how I see it. Rip away.
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1. It will be very hard for anyone not named Tommy Armstrong to open Aug. 30 under center. There just aren’t enough opportunities for the other quarterbacks to make a move. The majority of the repetitions with the first-team offense need to go with the guy who’s going to be “the guy.” Armstrong would have to struggle, become a turnover machine in practices, to not win it. I anticipate him doing the opposite. If Johnny Stanton and Ryker Fyfe push Armstrong, that’s a good thing. There are plenty of home games this season when they should get some work. NU hasn’t had great depth at QB in a long time. It will make the team better.
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http://m.omaha.com/sports/shatel-a-handful-of-husker-football-insights-for-hot-august/article_cf1768cd-06f2-5363-af8a-1cc027ed967e.html?mode=jqm
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I agree with that 100%. There's really only one way he doesn't open up as the starter. It's more the fourth sentence that worries me. Not so much before the first game but after the first few.

 
Many seem to have missed or are ignoring this part:

Mavric said:
Yes, it's only one practice. Yes, Pelini said it was tough to be a QB right now because they don't have a lot of offense installed. But I'm going back from what I saw last year, heard this spring and now am hearing from the start of camp.
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Junior said:
Nothing he can't recover from at this point, but it is concerning.
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Totally agree. I can give him a pass for being thrown into a tough situation last year, especially as it seems he wasn't 100% healthy. But after taking most of the practice reps for the majority of the year last year, most of the reps this spring and had an entire off season to work, I hope he's improved noticeably. Perhaps he has and still will. But I didn't see a lot of compliments headed his way yesterday. Hopefully there are many more to come.

 
HUSKER FREAK said:
I just really find it funny that the people that dismissed Tommy long ago are coming in and complaining about one damn pick on the first day of fall camp. If Tommy sits and Stanton or Fyfe take his place well so be it, but for Christs sakes give the kid a chance already.
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I am not sure anyone isn't giving him a chance? They seemed to just be expressing their nervous feelings about him throwing INTs, something he struggled with at times last year. IMO, the nervousness is warranted.

 
Nope not ignoring at all In fact that is exactly what I was talking about. People didn't give him a chance then under what was a pretty damn hard way to get the starting(part time) position as a Freshmen. And now after one practice it seems people want to see a new guy because he threw one pick? Crazy SMDH. But, like I said, if he gets beat out by one of the others then so be it, but for the love of God at least give him a chance.

 
HUSKER FREAK said:
Nope not ignoring at all In fact that is exactly what I was talking about. People didn't give him a chance then under what was a pretty damn hard way to get the starting(part time) position as a Freshmen. And now after one practice it seems people want to see a new guy because he threw one pick? Crazy SMDH. But, like I said, if he gets beat out by one of the others then so be it, but for the love of God at least give him a chance.
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Let yer milk down dude. Nobody's calling for Tommy's head.
 
I think the concerns are valid. Tommy is a really promising player, but he's young and this is a pivotal time in his career. Does he make the jump, or fizzle? This time next year, if Tommy does it right, it won't even be a question. Until then, all eyes are going to be on his performance, fair or not.

This is the part that does worry me:

It will be very hard for anyone not named Tommy Armstrong to open Aug. 30 under center. There just aren’t enough opportunities for the other quarterbacks to make a move. The majority of the repetitions with the first-team offense need to go with the guy who’s going to be “the guy.”
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We were told it was going to be an all-out brawl for the starting position. Now, that's fine if either Johnny is so far behind or if Tommy has become such a revelation. If not, though, where's the competition? Throwing all resources behind the #1 guy sounds good, except it crucially takes away from the sense of competition that even the best need to stay on top of their game. This wasn't the case in Spring and it isn't now. I wish that Tommy had a fierce battle on his hands to decisively win, and it makes me uneasy about his chances that he hasn't had that.

Heck, even if Johnny is substantially behind -- open it up, coach. Make him sweat and earn it.

 
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Mavric said:
I agree with that 100%. There's really only one way he doesn't open up as the starter. It's more the fourth sentence that worries me. Not so much before the first game but after the first few.
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Many thought that when T-Mart came out of nowhere. Most of these QB's on the roster have had hundreds/thousands of reps more than Taylor before he started fall practice his RFR season. When it comes to QB, you never know with Bo. Tommy might be the better QB, but if there's a better athlete than him on the roster...I wouldn't count him out.

 
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