Armstrong at QB

[knapplc]

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.

Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.

What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.

Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

It's not that I'm missing something, it's that the point is incorrect. Tommy does, on occasion (and admitted as much in Monday's presser) lock on to a receiver and not go through his progressions. Other times, he does. He did not do this against FAU, but he did against MSU. So you're saying "he does" something based on one bad game. Yes, that bad game he did do that thing, but it's not what he always does. Very important distinction there. Everyone has bad games.

OK, now which is it - did he have pressure or did he have "excellent protection?" Because you're mixing the signal here with your reply to #2. He had good protection against FAU, but against MSU, he faced pressure all game. The O Line played atrociously Saturday, contributing not only to Tommy's terrible passing game but also to Ameer's 54 yards rushing.

I'll rewatch the game tonight if I have time. Not only will I be looking at how many times we ran the Option, I'll be looking at how successful it was.

 

[teachercd]

I think the "he throws a great deep ball" is a bit of a myth, I think he throws a nice looking deep ball but its no more on target that T-mart. T-mart was short...TA is long. But T-Mart completed 65% of his passes.

Tommy's struggle with the deep ball are due to lack of chemistry and timing with his receivers. Taylors was simply cuz he wasnt very good at throwing the ball. Tommy is no less effective at it now than Taylor was as a senior. Tommy has LOTS of room to grow. At least Tommy appears to have a natural skill, as well as a desire to push the ball down the field. Does he and/or Beck get a little carried away with it? Sure. So far. But just that threat is going to come in handy. We just didnt have much of a deep thread with Martinez for whatever reason. Maybe he was reluctant. Maybe it was line play and not enough time. Who knows. But it wasnt there. But it's there now. Tommy has dropped in some pretty nice 30+ yard passes as well already this year that I just dont think Martinez was capable of. And it just stems back to Tommy being an actual quarterback. And sophmore passing Tommy compared to sophmore passing Taylor? I think Tommy is much farther along.

My guess...he has already thrown over 1000 passes to each of his WR's, if not more...I can't imagine that he needs more chemistry and timing. I think he is what he is, pretty good but probably around 55%

 

[RedDenver]

Yes, Tommy has a very strong arm and can run, but:

1. He is bad under pressure. He almost always will throw the ball to who ever he is looking at, even if he is covered, when the pressure comes. Almost never throws it away or extends the play by moving around the pocket (other then designed roll outs).

2. Routinely doesn't hit the receiver where he can run with it. Not only are the 10 yard misses hurting us, the plays where the receiver has to stretch, jump, extend, etc to catch it are very problematic, especially when he has very little pressure. How many time did a receiver basically have to catch the ball at their feet during the last game?

3. Almost always calls an option when he audibles, and it rarely works. I believe he thinks he can always get the yards from the option, but the problem is that he's calling the audible when it's not there. Ie he needs to audible to other things as well.

4. Needs to have more short passes to Abdullah. Requiring a defense to cover Abdullah out of the back field would help open up the rest of the field.

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.

2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.

4. Agreed.

Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).



Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

1) TA does throw it away. He predetermined some throws against McNeese, but he also made reads early in that game and throughout the FAU game. And when a QB is under pressure, where should he throw it? Somewhere other than where he's looking? The point is that there isn't time to look somewhere else.

2) Completion percentage has very little to do with hitting receivers in stride. IMO TA has hit more guys in stride than TM did, even though TM has a better completion percentage.

3) I've rewatched the game. You're wrong. (I'm somewhat sarcastic here since we don't really know what his options are for audibles.) TA mostly audibles which direction the play is going. He also audibled to some play-action against FAU.

 

[Mavric]

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.

Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.

What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.

Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

It's not that I'm missing something, it's that the point is incorrect. Tommy does, on occasion (and admitted as much in Monday's presser) lock on to a receiver and not go through his progressions. Other times, he does. He did not do this against FAU, but he did against MSU. So you're saying "he does" something based on one bad game. Yes, that bad game he did do that thing, but it's not what he always does. Very important distinction there. Everyone has bad games.
OK, now which is it - did he have pressure or did he have "excellent protection?" Because you're mixing the signal here with your reply to #2. He had good protection against FAU, but against MSU, he faced pressure all game. The O Line played atrociously Saturday, contributing not only to Tommy's terrible passing game but also to Ameer's 54 yards rushing.

I'll rewatch the game tonight if I have time. Not only will I be looking at how many times we ran the Option, I'll be looking at how successful it was.

Generally speaking, the protection so far this year has been very good.

TA was worse at locking on against McNeese but even against FAU he was mostly throwing to his one guy. Two times I remember he tried to go through his progression but the results weren't any better. Once he threw way behind Moore on a short in route and once he hit a FAU linebacker in the hands but he dropped it. I'd say about 85% of the time he's already decided where to throw it at the snap. It's just that the entire offense worked much better against FAU so it wasn't as noticeable.

 

[Minnesota_husker]

Its a fact damn it.

Name me one season since 2001 that our oline play could be logically deemed as "consistent".

Im taking this way to serious aint I?

As i stated.. I agree with your OPINION... but doesnt make it a fact

That being said.. as inconsistent as we have been, we have still had some very good rushing totals.

I am too lazy to look it up now, but i would assume we are near the top in "Rushing yards" over the last 13 years.

 

[True2tRA]

The deep passes are part of the playbook to keep defenses honest. It seems like they're a great idea every time we connect a long pass, a terrible idea whenever we throw an incompletion.

It's great to have that ability to go deep and it also is a necessity to keep the defense honest. I love when we complete them and I understand that many of those throws are going to fall incomplete. It's not a high percentage play. Its not a big part of what any team does and I'm sure you could at least agree that we go to that well a bit too often.

 

[True2tRA]

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

It's not that I'm missing something, it's that the point is incorrect. Tommy does, on occasion (and admitted as much in Monday's presser) lock on to a receiver and not go through his progressions. Other times, he does. He did not do this against FAU, but he did against MSU. So you're saying "he does" something based on one bad game. Yes, that bad game he did do that thing, but it's not what he always does. Very important distinction there. Everyone has bad games.
OK, now which is it - did he have pressure or did he have "excellent protection?" Because you're mixing the signal here with your reply to #2. He had good protection against FAU, but against MSU, he faced pressure all game. The O Line played atrociously Saturday, contributing not only to Tommy's terrible passing game but also to Ameer's 54 yards rushing.

I'll rewatch the game tonight if I have time. Not only will I be looking at how many times we ran the Option, I'll be looking at how successful it was.

Generally speaking, the protection so far this year has been very good.
TA was worse at locking on against McNeese but even against FAU he was mostly throwing to his one guy. Two times I remember he tried to go through his progression but the results weren't any better. Once he threw way behind Moore on a short in route and once he hit a FAU linebacker in the hands but he dropped it. I'd say about 85% of the time he's already decided where to throw it at the snap. It's just that the entire offense worked much better against FAU so it wasn't as noticeable.

How about giving Tommy some credit and acknowledging the fact that he's not going to be perfect.
You pointed out the protection has been good this year. Then pointed out TA only threw to his "one guy" against FAU and you pointed out he struggled worse against McNeese St. You pointed out only two times you saw him go through his progression, but with poor results. He threw behind Moore and should have been picked and 85% of the time he knows where he's going to throw as soon as he snaps it.

The only time you acknowledged anything worked was when you said "the entire offense" worked better so Tommy's issues weren't as noticeable.

No offense in football "works" without the quarterback. Tommy did some things very well against FAU and against McNeese St. Although clearly McNeese was much more difficult. Still, we didn't set records and score 55 despite Tommy, we did it with Tommy. Give the kid some damn credit and acknowledge that he has a lot to work on.

Also, I'm tired of this sentiment floating around out there that somehow the people who were optimistic about Tommy somehow have already handed him the Heisman trophy? Nobody said the guy wasn't gonna make mistakes. Some said he has the skills and the work ethic to be very good someday. I expect him to improve.

 

[True2tRA]

Yes, Tommy has a very strong arm and can run, but:1. He is bad under pressure. He almost always will throw the ball to who ever he is looking at, even if he is covered, when the pressure comes. Almost never throws it away or extends the play by moving around the pocket (other then designed roll outs).2. Routinely doesn't hit the receiver where he can run with it. Not only are the 10 yard misses hurting us, the plays where the receiver has to stretch, jump, extend, etc to catch it are very problematic, especially when he has very little pressure. How many time did a receiver basically have to catch the ball at their feet during the last game?3. Almost always calls an option when he audibles, and it rarely works. I believe he thinks he can always get the yards from the option, but the problem is that he's calling the audible when it's not there. Ie he needs to audible to other things as well.4. Needs to have more short passes to Abdullah. Requiring a defense to cover Abdullah out of the back field would help open up the rest of the field.

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.4. Agreed.

Haha, you responded to that nonsense. Good for you. I didn't have it in me.

 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

This is funny as I heard this same argument about TMagic when he was a SO. He was not over 60% until he was a Jr. Just like now, everyone was questioning his decision making. No matter who the QB is, there will always be haters.

 

[Landlord]

This is funny as I heard this same argument about TMagic when he was a SO. He was not over 60% until he was a Jr. Just like now, everyone was questioning his decision making. No matter who the QB is, there will always be haters.

I think Taylor took a notable step backwards his sophomore year due to the turf toe. The only games that he really impressed throwing the ball that year were against Ohio State and Northwestern.

 

[BigRedBuster]

This is funny as I heard this same argument about TMagic when he was a SO. He was not over 60% until he was a Jr. Just like now, everyone was questioning his decision making. No matter who the QB is, there will always be haters.

I think Taylor took a notable step backwards his sophomore year due to the turf toe ankle injury. The only games that he really impressed throwing the ball that year were against Ohio State and Northwestern.

This is a HUGE factor in Taylor's Sophomore year.

 

[Dagerow]

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.

Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.

What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.

Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

It's not that I'm missing something, it's that the point is incorrect. Tommy does, on occasion (and admitted as much in Monday's presser) lock on to a receiver and not go through his progressions. Other times, he does. He did not do this against FAU, but he did against MSU. So you're saying "he does" something based on one bad game. Yes, that bad game he did do that thing, but it's not what he always does. Very important distinction there. Everyone has bad games.
Yes and no. There have only been two games, and in one he faced pressure. So, yes I'm basing it on one game. But that's all we have this season. We'll see how's it plays out. I hope he doesn't make the same mistakes.

OK, now which is it - did he have pressure or did he have "excellent protection?" Because you're mixing the signal here with your reply to #2. He had good protection against FAU, but against MSU, he faced pressure all game. The O Line played atrociously Saturday, contributing not only to Tommy's terrible passing game but also to Ameer's 54 yards rushing.

As it appears you are being genuine, I'll explain. On almost every occasion when they didn't blitz, he had ALOT of time and a nicely formed pocket. When they blitzed, or on the rare occasion the line/rb didn't pick up the defender, he exhibited the problems I mentioned.

When I watch a team, I'm look for strengths and weaknesses. Those attributes may only come out in certain situations (like how Abdullah responded to the defenders in the last play of the day, and how Armstrong responded to pressure), as that will likely determine how we will respond to a better team.

I'll rewatch the game tonight if I have time. Not only will I be looking at how many times we ran the Option, I'll be looking at how successful it was.

When you rewatch the game, I'm confident (provided you have an open mind, which I have no reason to believe you won't), you will see why I believe what I do. The more the game goes on the more Armstrong reverts and exhibits these bad habits.

 

[admo]

This is funny as I heard this same argument about TMagic when he was a SO. He was not over 60% until he was a Jr. Just like now, everyone was questioning his decision making. No matter who the QB is, there will always be haters.

And those sideline to sideline passes often helped it too

 

[Dagerow]

Yes, Tommy has a very strong arm and can run, but:

1. He is bad under pressure. He almost always will throw the ball to who ever he is looking at, even if he is covered, when the pressure comes. Almost never throws it away or extends the play by moving around the pocket (other then designed roll outs).

2. Routinely doesn't hit the receiver where he can run with it. Not only are the 10 yard misses hurting us, the plays where the receiver has to stretch, jump, extend, etc to catch it are very problematic, especially when he has very little pressure. How many time did a receiver basically have to catch the ball at their feet during the last game?

3. Almost always calls an option when he audibles, and it rarely works. I believe he thinks he can always get the yards from the option, but the problem is that he's calling the audible when it's not there. Ie he needs to audible to other things as well.

4. Needs to have more short passes to Abdullah. Requiring a defense to cover Abdullah out of the back field would help open up the rest of the field.

1. He's not bad under pressure. He has bad moments, at times, under pressure, but every quarterback is less effective under pressure. That's why teams bring pressure. Several times against Georgia, FAU & McNeese State Tommy faced pressure and made a bad play. Several times he made a great play, in all three games. The hope is that, as he grows into the role, the percentage of good plays increases. He's already doing well. He's just not perfect yet.
2. Not true at all. Sometimes he doesn't, but several times he does. He threw a nifty pass right over the head of the LB against FAU, Westy caught it & would have taken it to the house if the safety wasn't right there. Westy scored on a catch-and-run against McNeese State. Enunwa caught that 99-yard pass in stride on his way to the house against Georgia. Armstrong can do this, he just doesn't always.

3. Not even remotely true. Tommy's audibles are not "always options," and frequently his audibles result in good plays. Georgia, 4th & 2, he audibled to the slant pass to Kenny Bell, executed it perfectly, Kenny caught the ball and ran with it (see your point 2 above) and we had a 26-yard gain. There have been several comments about Tommy's audibles being successful already this year. If you haven't seen them, you're intentionally trying to miss them.

4. Agreed.

Of course pressure effects qbs. But your missing the point. He just throw it at who ever he was looking at before he is hit. He usually doesn't try to elude the hit or just throw it away. Yes, he needs to work on it.

What's his completion percentage? Buff said, and that's with, for the most part, excellent protection. (Also, I'm looking at the film from this year, not last year).

Again, I'm not talking about last year, and I stand by my comments. Rewatch the game again and tell me I'm wrong.

1) TA does throw it away. He predetermined some throws against McNeese, but he also made reads early in that game and throughout the FAU game. And when a QB is under pressure, where should he throw it? Somewhere other than where he's looking? The point is that there isn't time to look somewhere else.
He should throw it out of bounds, or attempt to evade the defender. What he shouldn't do is throw it into coverage.

2) Completion percentage has very little to do with hitting receivers in stride. IMO TA has hit more guys in stride than TM did, even though TM has a better completion percentage.

Of course it does. If you complete more passes, it very likely you throw it on target.

3) I've rewatched the game. You're wrong. (I'm somewhat sarcastic here since we don't really know what his options are for audibles.) TA mostly audibles which direction the play is going. He also audibled to some play-action against FAU.

Well, I could tell as he was calling it (before the play), that it was an option. The only thing I couldn't was which side.

 

[Mavric]

It has been mentioned that TA should have taken more check down routes and Bo mentioned this play post-game. This is the play before the Pick Six. Obviously, TA really wanted to throw to Westerkamp in the back of the end zone but if he throws to Turner right now it's an easy six. He eventually short hops it at Turner's feet as Turner is standing on the sideline.

Crazy how a little "mistake" can get magnified.