Post spring game QB depth chart

Huskinator said:
Serious question.... What are the chances that Darlington gets a chance to win the startin job over Tommy
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I'd guess slim to none before the season. Putting a freshman in to start against a very good BYU defense is rolling the dice a little much. TA is the much safer choice going into the season, regardless of what the fears ar about him.

Purely from a non-football view, do you start the guy who has experience and then put in someone else if the starter struggles? Or, do you start a freshman and, if he struggles, replace him with the guy who has shown over 2 years that he completes half of his passes? The effect on the psyche of those players could be big.

 
That's kind of my thought as well. Plus judging how someone is handling a new offense after spring ball is purely speculation. Did Zac look good saturday, Ya not bad.... But Tommy sturggled and showed the exact issues he's always had.

I would hate to have to decide and I hope riley is a damn good qb coach. Could be an interesting fall for us boys and girls

 
Huskinator said:
Serious question.... What are the chances that Darlington gets a chance to win the startin job over Tommy
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Just to clarify the question, if you're talking about simply getting a chance to compete then I think he's definitely got a chance. The coaches aren't going to let ZD ride the pine if they legitimately think he's the best guy for the job.

But, will he be the starter come fall? I'd say the chances are low. He had a good looking spring game, but we can't forget A.J. Bush was getting pretty rave reviews in the last month either. Nerves and an off day could've plagued him, things he may overcome.

But, just like in political races, it's tough to oust the incumbent. I don't think TA has done enough to stamp his mark as the guy, but, he's got a pretty good winning record and by far the most experience of any QB here. He also has great leadership abilities and intangibles, something that also shouldn't be overlooked. I'm sure ZD and Bush could become great leaders, but I get the feeling a lot of guys look to TA already and respect him, which helps him a bit.

This is pretty much the same thing we saw in 2010 with the QB race. Some of the variables are different but even then I said it'd be tough to beat out Lee. Martinez did just because of insane playmaking ability. I think one of the younger guys may have to show a really special spark to overcome TA.

 
BellyOption said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Mavric said:
Riley has already said several times that he likes to stretch the field vertically which is the weak part of Darlington's game but you don't have to be able to throw it 70 yards to stretch the field. If you can put it on the money at 40, that'll do.
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It's yet to be seen if we have the personnel on the receiving end of those long balls to even make that a point that matters in our quarterbacks.
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And, it's yet to be seen whether Darlington can throw the deep ball. He wasn't called on to do it on Saturday. People seem to accept the "deep ball weakness" and "less athletic" stuff as fact. That sounds more like people simply repeating the TV announcers. We haven't seen what he can or can't do in these areas.
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Does he TD pass to Turner count as a "deep ball"? It was 30+ yards IIRC.

 
Red Five said:
BellyOption said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Mavric said:
Riley has already said several times that he likes to stretch the field vertically which is the weak part of Darlington's game but you don't have to be able to throw it 70 yards to stretch the field. If you can put it on the money at 40, that'll do.
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It's yet to be seen if we have the personnel on the receiving end of those long balls to even make that a point that matters in our quarterbacks.
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And, it's yet to be seen whether Darlington can throw the deep ball. He wasn't called on to do it on Saturday. People seem to accept the "deep ball weakness" and "less athletic" stuff as fact. That sounds more like people simply repeating the TV announcers. We haven't seen what he can or can't do in these areas.
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Does he TD pass to Turner count as a "deep ball"? It was 30+ yards IIRC.
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I think technically speaking that would've been a "deep ball." Watching the play, though, it wasn't one of those where he dropped back and heaved it down field which is what people tend to think of when they think "deep ball." He rolled out and had a pretty low arching trajectory on it. But, yes, again I think most people consider a deep ball something 30+ yards.

 
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Mavric said:
Finally got a chance to *really* watch the game.

If saunders is conducting the Darlington train, I'm definitely on board. I know, I know. It's a very small sample size. But it's the only thing we fans have seen. We got basically the same thing out of TA that we've seen for the past two years - 50% completions, some good plays and some bad throws. The only thing we have for Darlington is to assume that he can play at a similar level to what we saw Saturday.

Darlington is smooth and skilled. Easily had the best completion percentage at 7 for 11. But two of those incompletions were drops - including one that would have been a touchdown - and he got his arm hit on a third. So he really only mis-fired on one throw - and that was a play where he had to scramble, direct traffic and just overthrew Turner going to the corner. In addition, not only was he completing passes, but he was getting to guys in stride where they could run with it. Hit Turner on a nice crossing route early that Turner was able to turn into a really good gain because he caught it full speed and kept going. Also, is easily doing the best job of checking through his progression and finding the open guy.

As Benning said, best mechanics and probably best football IQ. Also, Darlington said his goal for the spring was to work his way into contention, which he's obviously done. Now he said his goal for the summer is to win the respect of his teammates - in that he needs to convince them he can do the job. Like the attitude and the outlook.

Biggest hurdles for him are overcoming two guys with more physical abilities including one (TA) who seems to have the backing of the team (rightfully so). Riley has already said several times that he likes to stretch the field vertically which is the weak part of Darlington's game but you don't have to be able to throw it 70 yards to stretch the field. If you can put it on the money at 40, that'll do.

Give me the guy who can consistently get the ball to Westerkamp, DPE, Carter, Newby, etc. and let them make the plays.
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I thought the talent and prowess definitely goes to Darlington. There was a play where he took a snap in the gun and went through all 3 reads and then checked down to a running back open in the flat where he ran 8 yards for a first down. I know it's early and it wasn't true game stress but the fact that a redshirt freshman was progressing through reads is the most positive QB news we've had in a long time.

 
MasterPulverizer said:
I thought the talent and prowess definitely goes to Darlington. There was a play where he took a snap in the gun and went through all 3 reads and then checked down to a running back open in the flat where he ran 8 yards for a first down. I know it's early and it wasn't true game stress but the fact that a redshirt freshman was progressing through reads is the most positive QB news we've had in a long time.
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That's where I'm at. He was the only QB that actually looked calm and cool under pressure. Went through reads that neither TA or AJB did. I want to roll the dice with ZD to start things out.

 
Huskinator said:
Serious question.... What are the chances that Darlington gets a chance to win the startin job over Tommy
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I don't think it's that far-fetched. It's an uphill climb but he climbed a long ways in 15 practices.

Reading between the lines of what the coaches are saying, I think it's still TA's job to lose but he's a long ways from securing it. He's got the physical and experience advantages but the coaches are still looking. They keep talking about having an open competition which is far from a ringing endorsement when you have a guy who's started 20 games competing with guys who've barely played or haven't even seen the field. They want accuracy and decision-making and those are not TA's strong suits. Darlington showed a lot of both Saturday.

 
it's really tough to start a new guy over experience.....everyone knows that, but prob all depends on how Darlington progresses this fall......it will make things interesting.

 
Hedley Lamarr said:
MasterPulverizer said:
I thought the talent and prowess definitely goes to Darlington. There was a play where he took a snap in the gun and went through all 3 reads and then checked down to a running back open in the flat where he ran 8 yards for a first down. I know it's early and it wasn't true game stress but the fact that a redshirt freshman was progressing through reads is the most positive QB news we've had in a long time.
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That's where I'm at. He was the only QB that actually looked calm and cool under pressure. Went through reads that neither TA or AJB did. I want to roll the dice with ZD to start things out.
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Yeah, that play really impressed me as well. I don't understand why Tommy A. has such a hard time with that. The one throw that ZD misfired on was actually a pretty nifty play up until that point. He read the field, made a smart, controlled scramble to his right and communicated with Turner to go out on a corner route with him. It turned out to be a nice play where he orchestrated everything right and then just misfired. Looking at how accurate he was with everything else, I would think he hits that throw most times and that was the type of big play that his poise could create. If he continues to really work at this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts to win over his teammates and closes the gap going into Fall Ball. IIRC it was Benning who said that Darlington realized that early in the Spring he was 5th and he needed to really come on to change the situation so he took it as an opportunity to really work to catch the coaches's eyes and make ground up and now he is focused on continuing his climb with his teammates.

 
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