Sims and Turnovers

bke1984

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Jeff Sims is the future... He is not the problem he has had to play without JPM, both TE at times this season... We need a defense if anyone thinks we are losing becuase of our improved QB play that is just sad....

Can Sims play better yes.... Can everyone on the team yes....but this year the issue is not the "O" it is the "D" or lack of Defense ..IIWII
Leading the nation in turnovers is a problem. Go find me how many teams with a QB that led the nation in turnovers and had a good season (for sake of argument, let’s say a winning record) and we can talk.
 

Deleted member 2897

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Man I hate the bad snap excuse in shotgun formation. The ball isn’t always going to be delivered directly into your hands. QB has to get the ball. Was yesterday a bad snap? What about the one against Clemson? If you can get your hands on it then it’s on you as a QB to secure the ball.

I encourage you to go rewatch the Clemson one. Yea it would be nice if he had had been able to find the ball before the free running defender,but the origin of that problem is the center, not Sims.
 

Deleted member 2897

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Leading the nation in turnovers is a problem. Go find me how many teams with a QB that led the nation in turnovers and had a good season (for sake of argument, let’s say a winning record) and we can talk.

Nobody is arguing any differently.
 

yeti92

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I encourage you to go rewatch the Clemson one. Yea it would be nice if he had had been able to find the ball before the free running defender,but the origin of that problem is the center, not Sims.
The center certainly shares some blame, although the snaps have been way better than what Graham was getting chucked at him last year. Sims seems to be doing what a lot of receivers do and "turning up field" so to speak before the ball has been secured.

I am less concerned about the interceptions, I see those as mostly freshmen mistakes. But the fumbles and the lack of effort in resecuring the ball concerns me. Whenever Sims fumbles the snap he seems to treat it like a dead ball. Both can be cleaned up though, let's hope they do.
 

RyanS12

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The center certainly shares some blame, although the snaps have been way better than what Graham was getting chucked at him last year. Sims seems to be doing what a lot of receivers do and "turning up field" so to speak before the ball has been secured.

I am less concerned about the interceptions, I see those as mostly freshmen mistakes. But the fumbles and the lack of effort in resecuring the ball concerns me. Whenever Sims fumbles the snap he seems to treat it like a dead ball. Both can be cleaned up though, let's hope they do.
I noticed that about the “dead ball” also saw something that reminded me of Vad Lee when he could’ve picked up a first down but cut to the sidelines. I think he’s taken some shots the last few weeks and is hesitant about taking more hits. He’s gotten rocked in the UCF, Louisville and BC games.
 

slugboy

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I thought Cooper was going to be the center this year, but it’s Minihan. Lay still seems to be the #2. I wonder how much Minihan being in a new position contributes to this.
 

yeti92

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I noticed that about the “dead ball” also saw something that reminded me of Vad Lee when he could’ve picked up a first down but cut to the sidelines. I think he’s taken some shots the last few weeks and is hesitant about taking more hits. He’s gotten rocked in the UCF, Louisville and BC games.
Agreed on the running too - he's very fast, but he doesn't seem to run tough. Maybe it is self preservation, although I would think he'd be better at sliding if that was the case, but comparing his running vs Tobias or Graham and he just doesn't seem to run hard and get the tough yards.
 

slugboy

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Agreed on the running too - he's very fast, but he doesn't seem to run tough. Maybe it is self preservation, although I would think he'd be better at sliding if that was the case, but comparing his running vs Tobias or Graham and he just doesn't seem to run hard and get the tough yards.
I think he’s just learning to slide, and the coaches might be teaching him to slide for the first time in his career. It’s not natural for him yet, and he has to remind himself to slide, which makes some of his moves look awkward.
 

bke1984

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Nobody is arguing any differently.
You said he’s not the problem. Given that he’s leading the nation in turnovers I think that means he’s kind of been a problem. He’s the best we’ve got though...just needs to get past this
 

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You said he’s not the problem. Given that he’s leading the nation in turnovers I think that means he’s kind of been a problem. He’s the best we’ve got though...just needs to get past this

You are conflating two items. First of all, in terms of what is preventing us from winning, to me the data shows that it’s not him. But that’s just my opinion.

Secondly, and what you’re getting close to, if you want to pull him, you’re going to have to know that you have someone with a reasonable chance of being better. We have no evidence that exists.

Clearly he needs to get better. But he has 2 interceptions in the last 3 games. Against I think 7 TDs.
 

gtrower

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He’s struggling with a lot right now. The fumbles and the running decisions are harder to watch than the picks. 2min mark 1st qtr down 14-0 because of the fumbled snap already: we have 3rd and 4, beautiful playcall QB Draw from CDP, Jeff literally is following Gibbs through the hole and will WALK for the first down but for some weird reason he immediately STOPS and cuts hard left toward the sideline. Go back and watch this. These are game changing plays that have been happening way too often. Drive killers, momentum killers, offense can’t stay on the field. He’s simply struggling bad right now, it’s time for Gleason to get his chance.

Curry was pissed on that play. As he was jogging onto the field for the punt he was yelling at Sims.
 

Tadams6599

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I’m going to give Sims the benefit of being a freshman with no spring preparation on a covid influenced year, but his deep ball has looked better and when he’s on he’s on. Give him time to develop he has a good head on his shoulders and I don’t think many freshman could do much better thrust into a position where your down 21-0 to start most games, a lot of his miscues are on blitzes not picked up. The kid has talent I think we will see leaps and bounds of growth out of him next year for Christ sake the kid didn’t even know how to slide coming into this year he’s going to learn.
 

stech81

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He’s struggling with a lot right now. The fumbles and the running decisions are harder to watch than the picks. 2min mark 1st qtr down 14-0 because of the fumbled snap already: we have 3rd and 4, beautiful playcall QB Draw from CDP, Jeff literally is following Gibbs through the hole and will WALK for the first down but for some weird reason he immediately STOPS and cuts hard left toward the sideline. Go back and watch this. These are game changing plays that have been happening way too often. Drive killers, momentum killers, offense can’t stay on the field. He’s simply struggling bad right now, it’s time for Gleason to get his chance.
Last year it was the offense, this it's not great but is better . Our big problem is the defense just not sure if it is coaching or players or both.But right now we can't tackle ( way to many mistackles ) bad angles and DB's who can't keep up with the WR's too many miss assignments . Our defense is a joke. Yes Sims may make a mistake but our defense makes a mistake almost every play.
 

Deleted member 2897

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Keep in mind that our offense in regulation against FBS teams averaged about 13 points a game last year. 5 games we scored either 1 touchdown or less. Let that memory sink in.

This year we’re averaging 23 points a game despite missing on average about 2 points a game from the kickers.
 

lv20gt

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If we had an experienced QB who could move the ball and not have turnovers, he'd be playing already. We don't. It's a big reason we're having to throw a true freshman to the wolves early.

And despite his mistakes, Sims is a lot closer to where we need our QB to be this year than Graham was last year, and the quarter or so Graham got against BC doesn't really make me think he's addressed the issues he had last year. Sims has issues with turnovers, but largely that is issues on a small number of plays, and while those have big consequences, it's easier to solve an issue that affects 3 or 4 plays a game than one that affects 30+.

Sims had basically 8 drives against BC (not counting the drive starting at the 17 with 26 seconds left). He led us to 3 TDs, for a ppd of 2.675 which is a very respectable number and a significant increase from last year. That is with another drive that probably should have ended with 3 if not for us having no kicker. A FG there would have put us at 3 ppd which is certainly a good mark.

To compare, Graham came in, had 4 drives, 1 TD, a 3 and out, a 4 and out, and a solid drive ending in FG range, that started on their side of the field after an onside. His ppd was 1.75 (giving him the extra point because that missed point had nothing to do with Graham at all). If we make his FG then he's sitting at 2.5 ppd.

The truth is Sims moves the ball and produces more than Graham did last year by a good bit, and likely more than our other QBs. It's why he is playing. What we as a team is what Sims gives us AND for the TOs to be cut out. When we did that we put up nearly 4 ppd. It doesn't do much good to make the change to cut the TOs at the expense of the playmaking and ability to sustain drives. That would make more sense if we had a good defense which lends more value to the field position that comes with punting instead of turning it over. But we don't have a good defense so the relative value of a punt vs a turnover isn't as high. And before people say that he isn't improving or learning from his mistakes, he threw 8 Ints in his first 3 games, and while not all were entirely on him, a good many were. He's cut that to 2 in the last 3 games. So there is improvement on the INT front. He has to address the fumble issues but part of that dynamic is getting a center that is more consistent with snaps as two of the fumbles he's had recently have been snap related.
 

Jacketman99

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Not having a spring and summer basically means our 2 freshmen are having to learn a lot of things during the season. We are just going to have to live with their play this season and hope to see progression. If the coaching staff felt there was a better option I am sure that person would be playing. While Sims will take his lumps this year I think the experience as well as having a full spring and summer will set him up for major improvement for next year. I hope Gleason stays around because you never know when he will be needed. However, if he does leave I can understand. I never expected we would keep both he and Sims.
 
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