James Graham??

[YJMD]

126. JAMES GRAHAM, GEORGIA TECH

No quarterback recorded a higher rate of uncatchable passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield in 2019 than Graham.


So I guess they are saying he should have taken the sack, or maybe risked an interception by throwing a "catchable" ball? This is dumb commentary.

It's confounded information, but it isn't dumb commentary. Look at the tape. James missed a ton of throws he had an opportunity to complete. This was often without a clean pocket but not to the point of considering him under duress. I still think that problem is heavily related to problems with OL, receivers not necessarily doing the right thing, and James' lack of knowledge, reps, and confidence with the system. Without any different work on his mechanics, I expect his completion percentage to go up as those things change. Or more likely he isn't QB1 at least by mid-season.

 

[Ibeeballin]

126. JAMES GRAHAM, GEORGIA TECH

No quarterback recorded a higher rate of uncatchable passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield in 2019 than Graham.


So I guess they are saying he should have taken the sack, or maybe risked an interception by throwing a "catchable" ball? This is dumb commentary.

Exactly, is he penalized for this throw where it’s pressure in his face and a drop by Carter? Would very interested in there qualifiers of inaccurate

 

[4shotB]

The 21st in big time throw rate is intriguing too. To me, it suggests he has talent just lacks time and consistency to make accurate throws.

I looked up some more stats from that site - the # 1 QB was of course T. Lawrence. His OL was ranked the #7 unit. The #2 guy was (of course) Justin Fields at Ohio State. His OL was ranked number 4 in the entire country. So, if I am JG's agent or PR guy, I am making the argument that JG performs relatively the same level above his relative offensive line ranking as do Trevor and Justin. (why not - statistics don't lie do they?)

More interestingly the #5 guy is at Minnesota. His passing grade rank went from 108th in 2018 to #8 in 2019. I can't speak to all the root causes (the article does very briefly) other than to say it does appear that a quantum leap forward, which is what we are hoping to see out of either James OR another at the position, isn't without precedent. That is encouraging.

What I hope hasn't happened is what you see in the NFL quite a bit - a guy with talent who gets thrown to the wolves behind a bad line and is shell shocked so bad that they never fully recover. There has been numerous examples in my life time.

 

[gtrower]

Exactly, is he penalized for this throw where it’s pressure in his face and a drop by Carter? Would very interested in there qualifiers of inaccurate

I don’t think that would fit their criteria of “uncatchable.”

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I give Graham a total pass on last season. He was a RS-freshman playing his first real football in 2 years behind an OLine that was a sieve and passing to receivers who were learning the playbook on the fly and honestly not the most talented group. But, I wouldn’t hand him the job because he was the only man standing the last half of the season. We have 4 guys to fight it out and I believe a few of them will step forward. Then add improvement on the line along with some young but talented WR’s and it’s a recipe for a huge step forward. And our talent level at the QB position will continue to improve thru recruiting. Heck, Sunshine may change the entire landscape in a year from now anyway.

 

[Techster]

I'm a fan of PFF. They do a lot of analysis on players. Remember, they were the ones that ranked Jordan Mason as one of the best RBs in college football, and one of top RBs after contact.

I wouldn't look at their rankings as an indictment on Graham himself or his potential, but at what happened in 2019 and his production with what he had to work with. If Graham and our offense improves, I'm sure his ranking will improve next year under PFF. PFF is just grading Graham based on last year....and let's be honest, there were maybe a handful of guys on the entire team that stood out.

 

[GTFLETCH]

SIMS or Gleason is the Future.....

 

[slugboy]

The 21st in big time throw rate is intriguing too. To me, it suggests he has talent just lacks time and consistency to make accurate throws.

That was one thing that surprised me last year--he'd throw a dime on a bomb, but he'd be nowhere near on a 10 yard out. Protection seems like a bigger issue on the bombs than the short and intermediate passes, but it didn't work out that way.

 

[ncjacket79]

Exactly, is he penalized for this throw where it’s pressure in his face and a drop by Carter? Would very interested in there qualifiers of inaccurate

No. That’s a catchable ball.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

It's confounded information, but it isn't dumb commentary. Look at the tape. James missed a ton of throws he had an opportunity to complete. This was often without a clean pocket but not to the point of considering him under duress. I still think that problem is heavily related to problems with OL, receivers not necessarily doing the right thing, and James' lack of knowledge, reps, and confidence with the system. Without any different work on his mechanics, I expect his completion percentage to go up as those things change. Or more likely he isn't QB1 at least by mid-season.

I was watching the Tech vs Virginia game from last year. A role model if you will for James would be Bryce Perkins the quarterback for Virginia. He could be that kind of guy for Tech. One thing that Perkins did so well was go to secondary receivers and make lightning fast decisions. James needs to work on that and his accuracy but none of that will matter if the blocking does not improve. He was under duress on almost every pass in that Virginia game.

 

[jgtengineer]

Honestly I think these stats remove obvious throaways.

 

[g0lftime]

He should be the front runner just because of his game experience. If we falter like some pundits predict and have another lousy season at some point we may see the extension of spring practice with a lot of player rotation which we might see anyway. I hope JG has made a lot of improvement in his reads and accuracy from last year. Otherwise he shouldn't be the starter by year end. Our early season success will depend a lot on his performance.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

This season is an extension of spring practice so be ready for some serious player rotation. Collins eyes are on the long term not 2020. The day is coming when we’ll be ready to compete every week with a talented roster. Right now we aren’t there yet so it’s a player evaluation season like last year. We’ll be better off for it.

 

[MidtownJacket]

This season is an extension of spring practice so be ready for some serious player rotation. Collins eyes are on the long term not 2020. The day is coming when we’ll be ready to compete every week with a talented roster. Right now we aren’t there yet so it’s a player evaluation season like last year. We’ll be better off for it.

I don't agree with this notion at all (neither that it is the right thing to do nor that he feels that way). We recruited well off a 3 win season, trying to do it again though would be tempting fate too far. I think if we see the wheels fall off he may switch to that, but I think we have a shot at going 500 on the year and we desperately need to get some swagger behind the talk of competition being king, and iron sharpening iron, etc. I know why the staff has been doing what they've been doing since the jump, but it is time to put some Ws up on the board or else we risk the possibility of losing all that good will they have so feverishly ginned up.

just my $0.02 but hey it was free of charge

 

[swarmer]

That was one thing that surprised me last year--he'd throw a dime on a bomb, but he'd be nowhere near on a 10 yard out. Protection seems like a bigger issue on the bombs than the short and intermediate passes, but it didn't work out that way.

He struggled when he had to think quick, throw quick. Has to get better there because that is pretty fundamental to the type of offense we are trying to run.

 

[YJMD]

I don't agree with this notion at all (neither that it is the right thing to do nor that he feels that way). We recruited well off a 3 win season, trying to do it again though would be tempting fate too far. I think if we see the wheels fall off he may switch to that, but I think we have a shot at going 500 on the year and we desperately need to get some swagger behind the talk of competition being king, and iron sharpening iron, etc. I know why the staff has been doing what they've been doing since the jump, but it is time to put some Ws up on the board or else we risk the possibility of losing all that good will they have so feverishly ginned up.

just my $0.02 but hey it was free of charge

I agree. It's possible that if we see a particular QB on our roster as a clear QB of the future we get him more reps from the get-go, but beyond that we are a team that is always going to get a lot of players on the field and try to bring young guys up to speed in actual games so that they are ready to step up when others get injured or move on. And also to keep people fresh and take advantage of different things you can do with different personnel. All this is especially important in 2020 assuming we actually play the games since we can predict need for groups of players to be quarantined at any moment.

Although our talent pool is weak if looking at time for development in the system and production on the field, we have reason to believe our staff's approach is putting us in a particularly good position for the upcoming season. We make sure everyone gets reps and individual development attention, and the results of off-season strength and conditioning speak for themselves. We, of course, are working to improve the talent and athleticism of the personnel over time, but we have now the necessary stock of the kind of athletes that are needed to be competitive at the P5 level. It's time to see if they are ready to put it all together to execute cohesively on the field.

 

[WreckinGT]

This season is an extension of spring practice so be ready for some serious player rotation. Collins eyes are on the long term not 2020. The day is coming when we’ll be ready to compete every week with a talented roster. Right now we aren’t there yet so it’s a player evaluation season like last year. We’ll be better off for it.

I really wish we would quit making excuses before we even take the field. It's such a loser mentality.

 

[SWATlien]

I don't agree with this notion at all (neither that it is the right thing to do nor that he feels that way). We recruited well off a 3 win season, trying to do it again though would be tempting fate too far. I think if we see the wheels fall off he may switch to that, but I think we have a shot at going 500 on the year and we desperately need to get some swagger behind the talk of competition being king, and iron sharpening iron, etc. I know why the staff has been doing what they've been doing since the jump, but it is time to put some Ws up on the board or else we risk the possibility of losing all that good will they have so feverishly ginned up.

just my $0.02 but hey it was free of charge

Collins wants to win.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Collins wants to win.

No argument here, and I think SOWEGA (if I may presume to respond on their behalf) also thinks CGC wants to ultimately win, just that there are ways to do that. The notion of trading this year for future success is a viable alternative, but I think a riskier one than our current situation warrants. We aren't facing the transition he spoke to last year in many, real ways; to wit: we have bigger bodies on the line, we aren't learning new schemes, we have had a full year of strength and conditioning in his system.

I am in no way saying the transition is complete, just that I think we should have enough of a foundation to be competitive and with a few bounces of the ball get to .500. I believe that would be a larger boon to our future success by way of recruiting uptick, than we would see from another "developmental" year approach as suggested by SOWEGA.

Again, I won't venture putting more words or logic behind the assertion as it was SOWEGA's position and not mine. I will say from my perspective that this being a weird season and schedule sets up for us to go full out and try to pick up some Ws.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Guys, no where did I say I didn’t want to win. I simply said this year is another year of finding out what we have in stock (primarily at the QB position). I hope we win every game and our coaches get to evaluate all 85. But, I also know we aren’t winning every game and probably won’t be in the college football playoff in 2020. I also have been alive long enough to read between the lines. Collins is here for long term success and TStan has bought in. Hence, 2019 and 2020 will be in Collins rear view soon and he knows if he picks the wrong QB and the others transfer out that puts his career at risk way more than any Wins and losses right now. I imagine by 2021 we’ll all be happy where Collins has us at that point.