Starting QB speculation

[Milwaukee]

It’s easy to pick on the QB. But if you think Sims is having a rough start then we should call out half our defense. Carpenter has been non existent and his lack of tackling and lack of cover ability have led to TD’s. The only time I’ve seen Thomas has been on other teams highlight videos. Sims is not our problem and is the best QB we’ve had around here in years. He’s making rookie mistakes and will get better. A lot of our other guys aren’t rookies and still get burned. Y’all are ridiculous with this instant win mentality. We will consistently win when we have better players and it will take recruiting to get better players. We are ahead of schedule based on Sims and Gibbs alone.

This.

 

[WreckinGT]

After seeing Yates play against Syracuse, I've tempered my expectations and appreciated Sims a lot more. I hope to see Gleason at some point as well, but Sims is most likely the best we have on the roster right now. You all just have to be patient with him right now.

I actually agree with this. I do think he is the best we have. He has to clean up the turnovers though. Its not just because he is a true freshman. There are several true freshmen who played last year who had less interceptions for the entire season than Sims has had in his first 3 games this year. While we should show patience, that is going to wear thin quickly if he continues to not take care of the ball. These two weeks are actually big. If after two weeks of film and practice he comes out and throws 2-3 INTs against Louisville then he probably has to sit for a while.

 

[Jacketman99]

The irony is Graham and Sims both have the same amount of Spring Practice experience.

Yet Graham is in year 3 on campus and has much more experience in the offense. He should have been able to produce enough distance between him and the others that it would not have been a question.

 

[BuzzinWreck]

I'd think that he wasn't ready to start but trust the staff that he was our best option.
assuming tight ends return and since our running game is good, he might get some benefit with easier receiver progressions from play action passes under center. I still think his future is bright

 

[UgaBlows]

Like I said, when he was given time, he still couldn’t hit many throws. We all saw it.

Exactly, our OL was actually playing decent imo the last few games of the year. Graham had devent protection in the Pitt and UVA games and couldnt hit the broadside of a barn unless it was 50 yards downfield

 

[Gtswifty81]

The backup is almost always the most popular player when a team is struggling. Generally backups aren’t the starter for a reason and you have to trust the coaches but it’s fair to question with all of the turnovers. When it comes to Graham I remind myself this is the same starting QB who failed to exceed 100 yds passing on 4 occasions and twice didn’t crack 50 yds. The attempts were less, and some of that was due to the Oline but a lot of that was also ineffective QB play. If someone is better than Sims, I’d love to see him play.

 

[SWATlien]

IIRC Sims was 3/14 for 51 yards with 3 interceptions in the first half. He was 10/14 for 125 yards with 1 INT in the second half. He had a really poor 25 minutes IMHO, not a poor full game.

Whether running or passing, Graham averaged 4.9 yards per play. Sims averages 6.5.

Graham played in 10 games last year and averaged 145 yards per game, l.5 TD per game, 1 turnover and 1.7 sacs.

Sims averages 285 yards per game, 1.6 TD per game, 3 turnovers and 0.3 sacs.

not to mention some of those int’s weren’t on Sims.

 

[7979]

I Hate-Hate-Hate criticizing individual players.....these are 20 yr olds doing the absolute best that they can, play-to-play.
I got my *** handed to me dozens of times and, if we'd had anyone better, he'd have replaced me. I was doing the best I could but, sometimes, I sucked.
I love James Graham as a GT brother..
But...his best plays last year were those where he got 4 secs and threw it as far as he could..and A Brown ran under it....he was not remotely accurate in short medium passing scheme, regardless of pressure... sometimes, "the past forecasts the future".....
It is Geoff's call. If JG was the guy, he'd be in there

 

[dmel25]

But...his best plays last year were those where he got 4 secs and threw it as far as he could

Some of those were on the run and still amazingly beautiful passes down the field. I just think if he improved his short and intermediate passing we should let him start a game. We are really missing his deep ball right now, Sims has made 1 deep pass. We need to be able to throw it deep to back defenses up so they aren't crowding the line.

 

[WreckinGT]

Exactly, our OL was actually playing decent imo the last few games of the year. Graham had devent protection in the Pitt and UVA games and couldnt hit the broadside of a barn unless it was 50 yards downfield

Graham went 15-22 against UVA for 229 yards and 2 TD.

 

[DeepSnap]

This crowd would have never let Joe Hamilton back on the field after about the 4th or 5th game of his R-FR season.

Sims is making rookie mistakes, just like #14 did. In all likelihood, Sims won't approach #14's accomplishments, but you can't learn carrying a clipboard. I'd rather him learn now in this whack-o season than a few years down the road.

 

[gville_jacket]

Yet Graham is in year 3 on campus and has much more experience in the offense. He should have been able to produce enough distance between him and the others that it would not have been a question.

Actually Graham and Yates have the exact same amount of time in this offense. And to be fair, that experience essentially stopped at the end of last season because of cancelled spring and summer. So the true freshman aren’t very far behind.

Graham’s extra year on campus was not in this offense.

 

[Jacketman99]

Actually Graham and Yates have the exact same amount of time in this offense. And to be fair, that experience essentially stopped at the end of last season because of cancelled spring and summer. So the true freshman aren’t very far behind.

Graham’s extra year on campus was not in this offense.

Graham has had an entire season in the offense including multiple games started. That is much more experience than Sims or Gleason coming into this season. If he is as good as some seem to think he would have held on to his starting job. It should not have been close.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Some of those were on the run and still amazingly beautiful passes down the field. I just think if he improved his short and intermediate passing we should let him start a game. We are really missing his deep ball right now, Sims has made 1 deep pass. We need to be able to throw it deep to back defenses up so they aren't crowding the line.

This is not true. We don't need to be able to throw it deep to back defenses up so they aren't crowding the line. We need to stop throwing the ball to the other team. The intermediate passing game is enough to keep the LBs and SS honest. An occasional deep ball attempt to keep the safeties back is warranted, but those don't even have to hit to be effective.

 

[WreckinGT]

This crowd would have never let Joe Hamilton back on the field after about the 4th or 5th game of his R-FR season.

Sims is making rookie mistakes, just like #14 did. In all likelihood, Sims won't approach #14's accomplishments, but you can't learn carrying a clipboard. I'd rather him learn now in this whack-o season than a few years down the road.

This is true but its probably worth noting that we fired our offensive coordinator after Joe Hamiltons underwhelming freshman season and replaced him with the best OC the program has ever had.

 

[DeepSnap]

This is true but its probably worth noting that we fired our offensive coordinator after Joe Hamiltons underwhelming freshman season and replaced him with the best OC the program has ever had.

Fine, but so what?

The discussion is about FR QBs, not OCs, which is a whole 'nother exhaustive and worthless thread.

 

[dmel25]

This is not true. We don't need to be able to throw it deep to back defenses up so they aren't crowding the line. We need to stop throwing the ball to the other team. The intermediate passing game is enough to keep the LBs and SS honest. An occasional deep ball attempt to keep the safeties back is warranted, but those don't even have to hit to be effective.

I want some of what you are smoking.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I want some of what you are smoking.

Well, it's obvious you don't know much about football, so I'll just let you be you.

 

[dmel25]

Well, it's obvious you don't know much about football, so I'll just let you be you.

How so? How does throwing deep and it being a incomplete pass, as you said, get the defense to back up? That just tells them, "Oh hey this guy can't hit squat deep, we don't have to worry about that as much." and then they creep forward. They would focus more on the short/intermediate passes and the run game.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

How so? How does throwing deep and it being a incomplete pass, as you said, get the defense to back up? That just tells them, "Oh hey this guy can't hit squat deep, we don't have to worry about that as much." and then they creep forward. They would focus more on the short/intermediate passes and the run game.

Because you are just making things up.