Spring Preview: Quarterbacks

[Gtbowhunter90]

I dont want this convo to dissolve into the "I want someone new every week" argument when Graham struggles for the first time of the year. He's our guy until he's not.

 

[croberts]

I love the Yellow Jackets..every single one of them...I refuse to criticize 20 yr old kids playing their absolute hearts out for GT....
But..since the posted thread asks for comment, I'll offer mine...
1) JG is not the guy...he does not run well and he is not, to say the least, an accurate passer.... James went 3 for 13 in one 2019 game...I told an old teammate, "Well, he threw 0 interceptions." ...to which he responded, "He was so very off-target that even the other team's DBs couldn't catch his throws... "
2) I admit I wanted to see more of Yates.....and I think Geoff butchered Jordan's red-shirt 4 game "freebie"...but maybe Geoff saw enough, in practice, to know that Yates ain't all that, either...
3) so....I'm voting for one of the Freshmen....either one..don't care which....just not JG and (apparently, according to 2019 Geoff) not TY......

Almost stopped me in my tracks with this one. James is a very good runner and dropped several long balls on a dime. I refuse to rule this guy out because I saw very similar performances from Little Joe and the Goose early on. I’ll add that I also saw a lot of catchable balls in the short game that were dropped and resulted in 3 and outs. On the other hand, I didn’t see anything in Yates game to make me feel any differently than you. The problem with that opinion is it obviously isn’t what others in the program are saying. I don’t recall a time at Tech where we have had 3 four stars and a high 3 star QB on campus together. Some would question James in that group as a QB and not an athlete but I know A lot of people loved his film during his JR year (prior to his injury). No matter our likes or dislikes, we should all have fun watching the results.

 

[Buzztheirazz]

I dont want this convo to dissolve into the "I want someone new every week" argument when Graham struggles for the first time of the year. He's our guy until he's not.

Don’t think we will throw our lambs to the wolves but I think after clemson we go with the most consistent guy. I think it will be Sims before the end of year but that’s just my opinion. Graham could settle in whereas e new guys will just freak the F out.

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

Don’t think we will throw our lambs to the wolves but I think after clemson we go with the most consistent guy. I think it will be Sims before the end of year but that’s just my opinion. Graham could settle in whereas e new guys will just freak the F out.

I just dont know many TRUE Fresh who come into a major D1 program and takes the reigns. Trevor Lawrence didnt even do that. So your prediction is probably dead wrong, but hey ya never know!! I personally think JG is one helluva QB. He has good arm zip and his footwork is good. Give him 3-4 seconds in the pocket and he will be much improved. I really like the kid.

Edit: If we play Sims or Gleason in big chunks of the season, we will be another 3 win team.

 

[D-man44]

I just dont know many TRUE Fresh who come into a major D1 program and takes the reigns. Trevor Lawrence didnt even do that. So your prediction is probably dead wrong, but hey ya never know!! I personally think JG is one helluva QB. He has good arm zip and his footwork is good. Give him 3-4 seconds in the pocket and he will be much improved. I really like the kid.

Edit: If we play Sims or Gleason in big chunks of the season, we will be another 3 win team.

North Carolina, Arizona State, and Auburn started true freshman at QB last year lol. Fromm started almost every game as a freshman. I don't think starting freshman especially that early enroll is some death wish.

 

[7979]

Almost stopped me in my tracks with this one. James is a very good runner and dropped several long balls on a dime. I refuse to rule this guy out because I saw very similar performances from Little Joe and the Goose early on. I’ll add that I also saw a lot of catchable balls in the short game that were dropped and resulted in 3 and outs. On the other hand, I didn’t see anything in Yates game to make me feel any differently than you. The problem with that opinion is it obviously isn’t what others in the program are saying. I don’t recall a time at Tech where we have had 3 four stars and a high 3 star QB on campus together. Some would question James in that group as a QB and not an athlete but I know A lot of people loved his film during his JR year (prior to his injury). No matter our likes or dislikes, we should all have fun watching the results.

Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong about JG.....hope he turns into Joe Hamilton....I have no idea about Yates as he only got about 20 snaps.....I hope he's great, too...
I don't care who our QB is.....I just know that, historically, for GT to be "good" it takes "great" QB play......not "game manager" stuff.....take the team, put it on your back and carry it quality.....
JG was not able to do that in '19....

 

[bobongo]

Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong about JG.....hope he turns into Joe Hamilton....I have no idea about Yates as he only got about 20 snaps.....I hope he's great, too...
I don't care who our QB is.....I just know that, historically, for GT to be "good" it takes "great" QB play......not "game manager" stuff.....take the team, put it on your back and carry it quality.....
JG was not able to do that in '19....

With our offensive line last year, Dan Marino couldn't have done it.

 

[JacketOff]

North Carolina, Arizona State, and Auburn started true freshman at QB last year lol. Fromm started almost every game as a freshman. I don't think starting freshman especially that early enroll is some death wish.

None of those 3 schools you listed had true freshmen come in and replace the previous year’s starter. All 3 of their starter’s from the previous year had left the programs. Bo Nix didn’t start over Jarrett Stidham, Stidham was a senior. Howell didn’t start over Nathan Elliott at UNC, he graduated and became a GA for Arkansas State. Jayden Daniels didn’t start over Manny Daniels, he was also a senior. Jake Fromm didn’t win the starting job vs. Eason. He only began starting and playing most of the snaps because Eason got hurt. Justin Fields didn’t start as a true freshman. Trevor Lawrence didn’t start as a true freshman. There’s very few true freshmen who come into a program and takeover the starting spot from the previous year’s QB on opening night. I’d be willing to bet there’s 5 or less of those cases per year.

 

[WreckinGT]

North Carolina, Arizona State, and Auburn started true freshman at QB last year lol. Fromm started almost every game as a freshman. I don't think starting freshman especially that early enroll is some death wish.

Some freshmen are more ready than others. Of our two freshmen, one completed 55% of his passes last year with 6TD to 8INT. The other completed 51% of his passes and went 12 for 31 in his last game. Both are very talented, but expecting them to come into a much higher level of play against a tough schedule and succeed right off the bat seems like wishful thinking.

 

[augustabuzz]

None of those 3 schools you listed had true freshmen come in and replace the previous year’s starter. All 3 of their starter’s from the previous year had left the programs. Bo Nix didn’t start over Jarrett Stidham, Stidham was a senior. Howell didn’t start over Nathan Elliott at UNC, he graduated and became a GA for Arkansas State. Jayden Daniels didn’t start over Manny Daniels, he was also a senior. Jake Fromm didn’t win the starting job vs. Eason. He only began starting and playing most of the snaps because Eason got hurt. Justin Fields didn’t start as a true freshman. Trevor Lawrence didn’t start as a true freshman. There’s very few true freshmen who come into a program and takeover the starting spot from the previous year’s QB on opening night. I’d be willing to bet there’s 5 or less of those cases per year.

Are you sure Trevor Lawrence didn't start as a true freshman?

 

[JacketOff]

Are you sure Trevor Lawrence didn't start as a true freshman?

He started but not in game 1, which is the point most people are trying to make on Graham vs. everyone else. Lawrence didn’t start for Clemson until after the Tech game, where he started to break out and it was obvious he was better than Kelly Bryant. That could be the case this year with Sims, Gleason, or Yates. But odds are Graham will start game 1, and probably at least 1 or 2 more games after that before somebody dethrones him, if they do at all.

 

[Buzztheirazz]

Are you sure Trevor Lawrence didn't start as a true freshman?

Didn’t he win the national title as a true freshman? Pretty sure he was the MVP too. Uh derp

 

[JacketOff]

Didn’t he win the national title as a true freshman? Pretty sure he was the MVP too. Uh derp

He sure did win the natty as a freshman. Still didn’t start in game 1. Jake Fromm won the Rose Bowl as a freshman, and played for the natty. Still didn’t start game 1. Tua Tagovailoa won the natty as a freshman. Still didn’t start game 1. Hell, he didn’t even start the national championship game. Jacob Eason didn’t start over Grayson Lambert in game 1 of his freshman year. The point is that there are many true freshmen who start games at QB at some point during a season, but very few of them take over the starting role by beating out the previous year’s starter in game 1. Nobody is saying that neither of the true freshmen or Yates will take over the starting role by the time the year is out. They’re saying it’s very unlikely anybody other than Graham start game 1 vs. Clemson, given normal circumstances. I feel like this isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp.

 

[Gtswifty81]

He sure did win the natty as a freshman. Still didn’t start in game 1. Jake Fromm won the Rose Bowl as a freshman, and played for the natty. Still didn’t start game 1. Tua Tagovailoa won the natty as a freshman. Still didn’t start game 1. Hell, he didn’t even start the national championship game. Jacob Eason didn’t start over Grayson Lambert in game 1 of his freshman year. The point is that there are many true freshmen who start games at QB at some point during a season, but very few of them take over the starting role by beating out the previous year’s starter in game 1. Nobody is saying that neither of the true freshmen or Yates will take over the starting role by the time the year is out. They’re saying it’s very unlikely anybody other than Graham start game 1 vs. Clemson, given normal circumstances. I feel like this isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp.

In several of those cases you had proven starters ahead of them going into the year. I would love it if JG came out as a much better QB, but our true freshman are going up against a QB who averaged about 100 yds a game and completed less than 50% of his passes. Granted there were OL pass blocking issues, but the true freshman aren’t having to be a Lawrence, Tua, or Fromm to win the job. I’m interested to see how Yates has progressed and I wouldn’t sleep on Tucker. Tucker May be the best passer in the group. His offensive line his senior was reportedly really bad or he may have been ranked higher than he was. As much as I’d love to see Sims with his athletically ability, I’ll need to see some reports to show he’s ready to be a consistent passer.

 

[JacketOff]

In several of those cases you had proven starters ahead of them going into the year. I would love it if JG came out as a much better QB, but our true freshman are going up against a QB who averaged about 100 yds a game and completed less than 50% of his passes. Granted there were OL pass blocking issues, but the true freshman aren’t having to be a Lawrence, Tua, or Fromm to win the job. I’m interested to see how Yates has progressed and I wouldn’t sleep on Tucker. Tucker May be the best passer in the group. His offensive line his senior was reportedly really bad or he may have been ranked higher than he was. As much as I’d love to see Sims with his athletically ability, I’ll need to see some reports to show he’s ready to be a consistent passer.

You’re right. For the most part those other QBs were competing for jobs with guys who were at least in the top half of their conferences the previous year. Jacob Eason is an exception. A 5 star QB who didn’t beat out Grayson Lambert, a guy that never even played in 12 games at UVA, and had a career completion percentage of 59%. Eason is now one of the top QB prospects in the draft. Obviously Graham didn’t play to the level of Jalen Hurts, Kelly Bryant, Eason, or Fromm that guys like Fromm, TLaw, and Tua had to compete with. He is however the only QB on the roster to have played significant snaps against P5 defenses. Did he play great last year? No. He was actually pretty bad at times. But at times he did show potential of being a very solid ACC QB. Also, look at the circumstances he was under. He missed the entirety of spring practice, was playing behind the worst OL in the country, learning new concepts from a new coaching staff, and his receiving corp was one of the youngest in the country. He also wasn’t in the same situation that Eason, Bryant, and the others were in.

Do I think Graham is the QB of the future? No probably not. But I do think he will almost definitely start vs. Clemson and Gardner Webb. Those 2 games will more than likely be blowouts and we’ll see a smorgasbord of QBs play a lot of minutes. Come Friday night vs. UCF I think you’ll see the QB of the future start. Might that be Yates/Sims/Gleason? Of course, and it likely will be one of those 3. My bet is still on Graham to start the first 2 games, and see where it goes from there.

 

[YJMD]

And what was the ranking of those recruits? I don't think we can draw any conclusions from these comparisons, and we don't have a say in any of it anyway. But I will say it seems hard to imagine Graham won't be better than last year, and if he gets beat out then the man taking his place figures to be even better than that. That gets me excited.

 

[33jacket]

This is fact. Ok. Hear me.

there is no qb right now. Its no ones to lose. Its everyones to win

the staff is simply not all in on Graham. End the darn discussion. I am not guessing. I will say due to the team, the guy who can make the proper checks and calls so everyone can practice better early on gets the most first team snaps. Ok. So thats graham. Remember the qb is responsible for everyone in the right spot and reads to get better in practice. Graham no doubt right now will get most atl first team reps.

but. Its not like he cant be caught. And he may. It could be spring. Fall. After game 4. Or never.

all i can say is its up in the air

 

[SteamWhistle]

Don’t know if anyone cares or not but I’m big into football gear and what players do to have style and be unique on the field. Love this helmet choice from JG, his helmet face mask combo last season was terrible imo, almost like he had a DL/LB face mask.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I’ll give my opinion on the QB after the bowl game next year.

 

[7979]

I dont want this convo to dissolve into the "I want someone new every week" argument when Graham struggles for the first time of the year. He's our guy until he's not.

2019 45.1% He's not.....