I hope Turner or another QB gets a long hard look this offseason.

[California Husker]

Let me start by saying, I am not a huge fan of Tayor's, but it is really hard to put too much of the blame for yesterday's meltdown on him. How many times was NU in an unfavorable down-and-distance in that game? Too many questionable calls by Beck, too many times Martinez was put in a position where he HAD to make a play. I think with better play calling, and if we could cut back on some of those F-ing penalties, Taylor would be fine...perhaps not great...but fine. But you can't keep putting him in the position of having to come up with big plays in 2nd-and-15 or 3rd-and-11 situations; particularly against a D-line like S. Carolina's. He came up with some of those plays yesterday, but he was in that situation way to often. The O-line play was not great, too many penalties, questinable play calling, and the dropped passes were just too much for Taylor to overcome. Maybe he should be replaced, but I would love to see how he would do with more consistent O-line play (including fewer penalties), better play calling from the booth, and receivers who actually catch passes that hit them in the hands. As someone said above, and I will paraphrase here, yesterday's game was a team cluster-f**k, it was not allTaylor's fault.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

My only wish for Taylor wast that he could scramble. He's not very quick right and left. North and South he's very quick but he's also had some of that coached out (which we needed) along with still seeing the effects of his injury. Personally I think he grew a lot this season. He probably did better the second half of the year than I expected. For a guy in his 3rd or 4th year of playing QB he does relatively well.

That being said. There will be a QB battle again this spring and I hope that who ever is best gets the chance.

This is a huge point that a lot of people are forgetting. Taylor has only been playing the quarterback position for about 3-4 years. There's a lot to learn when playing quarterback: reads, throwing motion, buying time in the pocket, scrambling, etc... To me, he grew a great deal from last season to this season and even from the first half of this season to the second half of this year. The mistakes he made were at a lower number this year and he didn't put the ball on the ground as much as he did last year. And of course, he wasn't helped very much by his wide receivers.

What does he bring to the table? Well, we do run an option type offense and it helps to have an run threat like Taylor at QB. The fact that he can throw the ball out of the option gives a defense 3 things to worry about: him running, him pitching, or him throwing. That requires a lot of discipline on the defensive side of the football.

I would like to see Turner move back to the QB position [he was a QB once right] and have a three way battle between Brion, Taylor, Jamal and see who wins. I think Taylor will be our starter next year because it keeps everything consistent, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone else was under center at the start of next year.

 

[Stickney]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

So Luck overthrows a guy and it's nothing. Martinez does it 1 time in the game and it's the end of the world. Not every throw is going to be perfect. If you told me before the game that Martinez was going to throw the ball 16 total times and 14 of them were in the hands of the receiver (which is the only point X that matters out there) I wouldn't have had an issue w/ his passing at all. Would you?

Do you expect him to stick it the receiver's facemask - Little Giants style? Because he tried...Kinnie dropped that one to.

Who mentioned Andrew Luck? Are you comparing Martinez and Luck? I wasn't. I am saying that your "he missed by that much" excuse is getting old. In big games T-Mart HAS to hit that pass.

You are emphasizing that Martinez was fine. I am emphasizing, that again, in a big game Martinez made very few plays to win.

How fans can sit and watch Rex Burkhead leave EVERYTHING on the field and contrast that with Martinez who plays with such little sense of urgency and not be a left scratching their heads is beyond me.

I dearly hope T-Mart progresses and proves me and all naysayers wrong. But I just don't see it happening.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

If you are in a position to catch the ball....you should catch the ball. To blame the drops all on the QB is ridiculous. About 75% of the balls that Taylor threw which were drops were very catchable for our wide outs.

 

[Stickney]

For a guy in his 3rd or 4th year of playing QB he does relatively well.

This excuse never held much water. Next year, I sure hope it isn't trotted out again.

But I suspect Bo will jump on the media and fans and point out Taylor "is just a junior and hasn't graduated."

There are lots of players on that roster that have moved position since HS or who are young. I didn't hear that excuse when Andrew Green was getting beat early in the year, cause he's only played CB for 3 or 4 years. And kudos for Andrew Green for making BIG steps in half a season.

 

[Mavric]

Giving up 6 sacks is really handing it to the D-Line :sarcasm yeah I know three of those came on the last three plays but that just shows the lack of heart and fire our o-line plays with. FIRE BARNEY!

When it comes to Taylor, is it really the OL 'giving up' sacks?

We ran pretty well on a very stout DL. They should get some credit for that. It wasn't dominating by any means, but they held their own decently well.

If our tackle gets flagged for holding even though he barely slows the guy down coming around the corner for a sack, I'd say that's on the line. It was a tough spot as they knew we were throwing and the guy is a stud but still...

Overall, I was fairly impressed with the OLine - considering the quality of their DLine - but they were just inconsistant enough in the second half that we had trouble keeping the chains moving. The first half was really good - two TDs, punted in SC territory, fumbled inside the 10 and threw an INT in SC territory. Second half started OK with a nice drive but missed FG. Then it got bad. Formation penalty, holding, false start, false start, punt. Next possesion: rush for 3, rush for -3, sack, punt. Next possesion: false start, rush for -2, sack, punt. Final possesion: sack, sack, sack.

I was worried about Caputo after last year but he did OK. Hardrick started slow this year then came on but finished terrible. Hopefully we've some of the young OLinemen will come around ...

 

[California Husker]

And then there's pocket awareness.

I agree with this (assumeing you mean Taylor lacks it). This is kinda the biggest problem with TM. He is not really a QB. He is an athlete who plays QB. I would rather have a QB who is athletic...that being said, I an not sure how much better anyone else would do given the same set of circumstances. Maybe they would be better, I am just not convinced.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

So Luck overthrows a guy and it's nothing. Martinez does it 1 time in the game and it's the end of the world. Not every throw is going to be perfect. If you told me before the game that Martinez was going to throw the ball 16 total times and 14 of them were in the hands of the receiver (which is the only point X that matters out there) I wouldn't have had an issue w/ his passing at all. Would you?

Do you expect him to stick it the receiver's facemask - Little Giants style? Because he tried...Kinnie dropped that one to.

Who mentioned Andrew Luck? Are you comparing Martinez and Luck? I wasn't. I am saying that your "he missed by that much" excuse is getting old. In big games T-Mart HAS to hit that pass.

You are emphasizing that Martinez was fine. I am emphasizing, that again, in a big game Martinez made very few plays to win.

How fans can sit and watch Rex Burkhead leave EVERYTHING on the field and contrast that with Martinez who plays with such little sense of urgency and not be a left scratching their heads is beyond me.

I dearly hope T-Mart progresses and proves me and all naysayers wrong. But I just don't see it happening.

You don't think Taylor plays with any sense of urgency? Maybe they have two different types of personalities. To say that all football players react the same way in different situations is about as ridiculous as saying that the drops were all on the quarterback.

When we were down 10 and it was the 4th quarter and we needed to make a play, Taylor stepped up and threw it to an open Tim Marlowe and what does he do? He drops the ball. Again, later in that drive, when we needed to make a play, Taylor throws it into double coverage right on the money to Brandon Kinnie and what does he do? He drops the ball. Seems like he played with a sense of urgency, but we never got the opportunity to continue drives because our WRs didn't catch those two passes.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Giving up 6 sacks is really handing it to the D-Line :sarcasm yeah I know three of those came on the last three plays but that just shows the lack of heart and fire our o-line plays with. FIRE BARNEY!

When it comes to Taylor, is it really the OL 'giving up' sacks?

We ran pretty well on a very stout DL. They should get some credit for that. It wasn't dominating by any means, but they held their own decently well.

If our tackle gets flagged for holding even though he barely slows the guy down coming around the corner for a sack, I'd say that's on the line. It was a tough spot as they knew we were throwing and the guy is a stud but still...

Overall, I was fairly impressed with the OLine - considering the quality of their DLine - but they were just inconsistant enough in the second half that we had trouble keeping the chains moving. The first half was really good - two TDs, punted in SC territory, fumbled inside the 10 and threw an INT in SC territory. Second half started OK with a nice drive but missed FG. Then it got bad. Formation penalty, holding, false start, false start, punt. Next possesion: rush for 3, rush for -3, sack, punt. Next possesion: false start, rush for -2, sack, punt. Final possesion: sack, sack, sack.

I was worried about Caputo after last year but he did OK. Hardrick started slow this year then came on but finished terrible. Hopefully we've some of the young OLinemen will come around ...

Would it be fair to take away those last 3 sacks? It was obvious that we had packed it in by then.

 

[74Hunter]

He runs the zone read and play action as well as I have seen anyone run it.

You cannot be serious.

Yes, I am. You can ask the defenses that he plays against. 90% of the time, it is really hard to tell who has the ball.

I still think Burkhead runs the zone read from the QB spot better than anyone we have.

Amen. We have a RB on our team that runs the zone read better than Martinez. If you want to call it the zone "guess" I will give the advantage to Martinez.

Id bet that you didn't know that Rex was a qb in high school who ran zone read, so he might just be more experienced at it.

 

[Blackshirt39]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

So Luck overthrows a guy and it's nothing. Martinez does it 1 time in the game and it's the end of the world. Not every throw is going to be perfect. If you told me before the game that Martinez was going to throw the ball 16 total times and 14 of them were in the hands of the receiver (which is the only point X that matters out there) I wouldn't have had an issue w/ his passing at all. Would you?

Do you expect him to stick it the receiver's facemask - Little Giants style? Because he tried...Kinnie dropped that one to.

The difference is that Taylor is fundamentally flawed and Luck is fundamentally sound. I can't believe I had to say that. Luck is also one tough sob when he runs, Taylor one weak sob.

This will draw flak from the community but it is absolutely true. There isn't a single team in the top 25 that would let him play QB, let alone let him start. We need to develop someone else.

 

[junior4949]

In the second half, a lot of those long 3rd downs were created by penalties. It's tough to pin the loss on any one group or coordinator. For the most part, they all played bad in the second half.

 

[3rd and long]

Although I'm far from being a TM fan, I think one thing would really stand out. We need at least one receiver who has outstanding hands. A Peterson or Swift type player. I really believe our receiving corps is marginal at best, and if you don't hit them perfectly in stride and on the numbers, most times they won't make the catch (and sometimes even that is not enough). How many drives would have been kept alive if we could make just a little bit tougher than average catch? Someone who turns a off-the mark pass into a completion. We have a barely average QB throwing to barely average WR's.

All that being said, does anyone who is not a "rose colored glasses fan" really believe that there is any question who next years starter will be?

 

[74Hunter]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

Rex could have done this really weird thing called diving for the ball, but then again, maybe only certain players have that ability, no knock on Rex.

 

[Stickney]

Martinez goes 10-16 with 3-4 drops and we call him into question? Even the pass at Burkheads finger tips was well thrown...just led him 8 inches too far.

Just because a pass is a spiral doesn't mean it is well thrown. But, I guess it was Rex's fault for not growing that extra inch back in 8th grade.

Martinez sprays it around folks. You can blame all the drops on the receivers, but they aren't. When a pass is supposed to be placed at point X, and it consistently is placed anywhere but point X, it is a recipe for the dropsies.

So Luck overthrows a guy and it's nothing. Martinez does it 1 time in the game and it's the end of the world. Not every throw is going to be perfect. If you told me before the game that Martinez was going to throw the ball 16 total times and 14 of them were in the hands of the receiver (which is the only point X that matters out there) I wouldn't have had an issue w/ his passing at all. Would you?

Do you expect him to stick it the receiver's facemask - Little Giants style? Because he tried...Kinnie dropped that one to.

Who mentioned Andrew Luck? Are you comparing Martinez and Luck? I wasn't. I am saying that your "he missed by that much" excuse is getting old. In big games T-Mart HAS to hit that pass.

You are emphasizing that Martinez was fine. I am emphasizing, that again, in a big game Martinez made very few plays to win.

How fans can sit and watch Rex Burkhead leave EVERYTHING on the field and contrast that with Martinez who plays with such little sense of urgency and not be a left scratching their heads is beyond me.

I dearly hope T-Mart progresses and proves me and all naysayers wrong. But I just don't see it happening.

You don't think Taylor plays with any sense of urgency? Maybe they have two different types of personalities. To say that all football players react the same way in different situations is about as ridiculous as saying that the drops were all on the quarterback.

When we were down 10 and it was the 4th quarter and we needed to make a play, Taylor stepped up and threw it to an open Tim Marlowe and what does he do? He drops the ball. Again, later in that drive, when we needed to make a play, Taylor throws it into double coverage right on the money to Brandon Kinnie and what does he do? He drops the ball. Seems like he played with a sense of urgency, but we never got the opportunity to continue drives because our WRs didn't catch those two passes.

Fine, you think the drops are the WRs fault. I suspect their solid catches on poor throws are dumb luck.

A couple years ago, the Vikings WR corps was dreadful. Instead of cutting them, they went and got a new QB.

BAM! Suddenly these receivers had glue for hands and were catching everything.

You know why? Cause the passes were now reliably on time and on target. Same WRs, different result.

As mentioned, I hope T-Mart improves and proves me wrong. I really do.