Starting QB speculation

[kalld12]

Im gonna lean on what the players have been saying. Sims is legit.
Graham has options I know it sucks to get beating out but he could move to another position or transfer. I’m sure a school like Kennesaw would take him. If he wants to play P5 football he’ll just move to another position.

He has tape, he can do better than Kennesaw State, do better man! If Vad Lee can go to James Madison, JG's ceiling is much higher

 

[Jacketman99]

Graham had all the opportunity in the world to nail down the starting job. If after a year of experience it is close with a true freshman who did not have the opportunity of a full spring and summer then he probably is not as good as some think he is. From what I have read from the reporters that cover Tech Graham was number 4 behind Gleason and Yates.

 

[CuseJacket]

I think our record and offensive production would be about the same or better if Graham had started. I think a poster above nailed it: Collins is going to start/play players he recruited. If the difference isn't that great - probably isn't between Sims and Graham - he'd start Sims and hope he develops quickly. But I don't think there's any doubt that behind this year's line Graham or Yates would be as productive.

This is SOP. Last year, Howard was our second best RB by YPC and Griffin got the carries. (No coach in his right mind would sit Mason down.) New coaches want to go with players they recruited, no matter what.

Soooooo … I expect Graham to transfer, unless he gets a chance and lights things up. It's too bad. He's a superlative talent and we don't get too many of those. We might loose Yates too.

I think it's more reasonable that Collins is like every other P5 program in that he didn't/doesn't see Graham as P5 starter at quarterback. Especially not when there are other P5 recruited QBs on the roster. GT is evaluating and projecting the QBs like most every other program now, whereas we were the only P5 to recruit Graham for QB. That's nothing against Graham who earned his 4* rank as an athlete. He would be well served to try WR/DB if his shot at QB doesn't come.

The yards per carry argument on less than 25 carries is kind of bogus, given the number of variables and volatility with a low sample size. Griffin is averaging more yards per carry this year than Howard did last year, and I think that's a silly argument too. To start, they probably didn't run the same subset of plays, play against the same defenses, etc. Same reason you don't take Marcus Marshall's better ypc than Skov and define that as a coaching blunder to not play Marshall, when Marshall wasn't bringing other aspects to the table e.g., Blocking.

Re: "new coaches want to go with players they recruited", keep in mind that Paul Johnson recruited Jamious Griffin too. Griffin just wasn't willing to come to GT under the prior offense. (Please everyone just take this at face value rather than blow this up as a coach vs. coach thing.)

All of this is a way of saying, I think for each of your points you are ignoring the major transition re: what is expected at each position and the body types/skill sets to accomplish the goal.

 

[JacketOff]

LOL.... is it though? Its all about perception and let me tell YOU, CGC is all about perception and building a brand/culture. Its absolutely ignorance to think CGC wouldn't start a recruit he recruited over someone he didn't. This sends a message to recruits that you can come in and play early. You comparing other position groups to QB doesnt have the same clout and proves nothing. Get your head out of the mud.

It’s still utter bull****e. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. RB doesn’t have clout? Damn. I guess all that hype about Gibbs is meaningless and has gone unnoticed then. No clout at WR? Damn, guess all the love AB got last year was meaningless. TE doesn’t have clout? I guess all the people clamoring about Darren Waller don’t know wtf they’re talking about. Juanyeh and Tariq get a ton of love on social media. It’s been duly noted that Swilling being missing is one of Tech’s biggest hampers right now. But I guess it doesn’t matter since the DB position also doesn’t matter.

You’re right, Collins is about branding and culture. You know what else he’s about? WINNING. Collins knows that winning is the best branding anyone can ask for. He’s not going to risk playing a worse player in hopes that it pays off on the recruiting trail, when he knows for a fact that winning will have more of an impact in perception and recruiting anyway. Get off your high horse. Just like Cuse said. Nobody else wanted Graham to play QB. Jeff Sims was an Elite 11 QB. Tucker Gleason held numerous P5 offers. Yates was the GHSA player of the year. If you seriously think that James Graham is the best guy in that room then you’re delusional. That may sound like I’m taking a shot at Graham, but I’m not. It’s more of an appreciation for the other guys. Graham took a beating last year, and GT football will be better because of it. He’s obviously a great athlete, but he’s not a great QB. It’s as simple as that. If you can’t see that, then I don’t know what I can tell you.

 

[WreckinGT]

I think it is pretty possible that we would have done better or the same offensively had Graham been in there. If it was going to be the same though then it still makes more sense to let the younger guy with presumably a higher ceiling play.

 

[kalld12]

NM

 

[forensicbuzz]

Graham's a better QB than I am. I'll go as far as to say he's a better QB than anyone on this board. I'd also say that none of us really knows anything about the depth chart and what the coaches think. It's okay to speculate, but, My God!, let's keep it civil. (Good job to those of you who are)

 

[kalld12]

It’s still utter bull****e. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. RB doesn’t have clout? Damn. I guess all that hype about Gibbs is meaningless and has gone unnoticed then. No clout at WR? Damn, guess all the love AB got last year was meaningless. TE doesn’t have clout? I guess all the people clamoring about Darren Waller don’t know wtf they’re talking about. Juanyeh and Tariq get a ton of love on social media. It’s been duly noted that Swilling being missing is one of Tech’s biggest hampers right now. But I guess it doesn’t matter since the DB position also doesn’t matter.

You’re right, Collins is about branding and culture. You know what else he’s about? WINNING. Collins knows that winning is the best branding anyone can ask for. He’s not going to risk playing a worse player in hopes that it pays off on the recruiting trail, when he knows for a fact that winning will have more of an impact in perception and recruiting anyway. Get off your high horse. Just like Cuse said. Nobody else wanted Graham to play QB. Jeff Sims was an Elite 11 QB. Tucker Gleason held numerous P5 offers. Yates was the GHSA player of the year. If you seriously think that James Graham is the best guy in that room then you’re delusional. That may sound like I’m taking a shot at Graham, but I’m not. It’s more of an appreciation for the other guys. Graham took a beating last year, and GT football will be better because of it. He’s obviously a great athlete, but he’s not a great QB. It’s as simple as that. If you can’t see that, then I don’t know what I can tell you.

LOL...not wasting time with you

 

[JacketOff]

LOL...not wasting time with you

I could say the same to you. Since you’re trying to stir up a controversy when there is nothing controversial about Jeff Sims being a better quarterback than James Graham.

 

[kalld12]

I could say the same to you. Since you’re trying to stir up a controversy when there is nothing controversial about Jeff Sims being a better quarterback than James Graham.

HAHA try reading the entire thread next time champ! I stated by opinion about both, I dont see much diff between the two, you're arguing your opinion. Great for you buddy!

 

[ChicagobasedJacket]

I think our record and offensive production would be about the same or better if Graham had started. I think a poster above nailed it: Collins is going to start/play players he recruited. If the difference isn't that great - probably isn't between Sims and Graham - he'd start Sims and hope he develops quickly. But I don't think there's any doubt that behind this year's line Graham or Yates would be as productive.

This is SOP. Last year, Howard was our second best RB by YPC and Griffin got the carries. (No coach in his right mind would sit Mason down.) New coaches want to go with players they recruited, no matter what.

Soooooo … I expect Graham to transfer, unless he gets a chance and lights things up. It's too bad. He's a superlative talent and we don't get too many of those. We might loose Yates too.

Agreed with pretty much everything you said/suggested except that Graham should be playing over Sims. I am probably one of the biggest Graham fans and even I could tell his short pass accuracy was lacking last year. Could/would it improve with pass protection this year? Yes, it’s very likely to have been better this year but could CCG and CDP risk it? We still have fans clamoring for CPJ to come back or for us to have hired Monken from Army. Sims is demonstrating better accuracy and ability to read the field than JG did last year albeit different sample size.

 

[SWATlien]

If you can’t see the difference on the field between when Graham played vs now with Sims, then yeah, I have to question your football acumen. It’s a very clears difference. I’m sure Graham would be improved in year 2 of the offense but BOTTEM line he got beat out and would have possibly been beat out by Yates or Gleason. At the point coach nor the team is evening mentioning Graham at qb, so I’m not sure what his future is within the program.

 

[JacketOff]

HAHA try reading the entire thread next time champ! I stated by opinion about both, I dont see much diff between the two, you're arguing your opinion. Great for you buddy!

If you can’t see much difference between the 2, then you haven’t watched a single offensive play this year. It also seems to be everyone involved in college football holds the same opinion. Once again, Sims held 11 P5 offers and one from UCF, plus an Elite 11 appearance. James Graham had 1 P5 offer to play QB, and it came from a school that ran the 3O at the time. There is a very clear difference in their abilities to play QB at the P5 level.

In Graham’s first 2 games as a starter, he completed 21 of 48 passes for 271 yards with 2TDs and 3INTs.

In Sims first 2 games, he’s went 42 for 71 for 521 yards with 2TDs and 4INTs.

Graham completed 50% or more of his passes 3 times in 9 games as a starter. Sims has already done it twice in 2 games.

Graham threw for 200 or more yards twice in 9 games. Sims has already done it twice in 2 games.

Graham threw for 100 or fewer yards 5 times in 9 games. Sims has yet to do so.

Graham competed 25% or less of his passes twice in 9 games. Sims has yet to do so.

So in more than half of Graham’s games as starter, he failed to throw for more than 100 yards. For a QB in a spread system, that’s unacceptable. Would Graham be paying much better this year? Yes, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s painfully obvious that he doesn’t have the ability to be the primary QB for a P5 team. 64 other coaching staffs would agree. I’m not sure why you think Tech’s downplaying his abilities for the sole reason of playing their own guys. Once again, that’s ridiculous.

 

[wrmathis]

If you can’t see much difference between the 2, then you haven’t watched a single offensive play this year. It also seems to be everyone involved in college football holds the same opinion. Once again, Sims held 11 P5 offers and one from UCF, plus an Elite 11 appearance. James Graham had 1 P5 offer to play QB, and it came from a school that ran the 3O at the time. There is a very clear difference in their abilities to play QB at the P5 level.

In Graham’s first 2 games as a starter, he completed 21 of 48 passes for 271 yards with 2TDs and 3INTs.

In Sims first 2 games, he’s went 42 for 71 for 521 yards with 2TDs and 4INTs.

Graham completed 50% or more of his passes 3 times in 9 games as a starter. Sims has already done it twice in 2 games.

Graham threw for 200 or more yards twice in 9 games. Sims has already done it twice in 2 games.

Graham threw for 100 or fewer yards 5 times in 9 games. Sims has yet to do so.

Graham competed 25% or less of his passes twice in 9 games. Sims has yet to do so.

So in more than half of Graham’s games as starter, he failed to throw for more than 100 yards. For a QB in a spread system, that’s unacceptable. Would Graham be paying much better this year? Yes, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s painfully obvious that he doesn’t have the ability to be the primary QB for a P5 team. 64 other coaching staffs would agree. I’m not sure why you think Tech’s downplaying his abilities for the sole reason of playing their own guys. Once again, that’s ridiculous.

I believe Sims is the better QB, but like everyone here stated, the OL is light years better this year than last. I do believe JG would have performed better this year, but he got beat out in the limited practice. Sims has the higher ceiling.

 

[Gtswifty81]

I think our record and offensive production would be about the same or better if Graham had started. I think a poster above nailed it: Collins is going to start/play players he recruited. If the difference isn't that great - probably isn't between Sims and Graham - he'd start Sims and hope he develops quickly. But I don't think there's any doubt that behind this year's line Graham or Yates would be as productive.

This is SOP. Last year, Howard was our second best RB by YPC and Griffin got the carries. (No coach in his right mind would sit Mason down.) New coaches want to go with players they recruited, no matter what.

Soooooo … I expect Graham to transfer, unless he gets a chance and lights things up. It's too bad. He's a superlative talent and we don't get too many of those. We might loose Yates too.

I’ve never understood the perception of a coach not playing his best players. Collins is about branding and emphasizing competition. If he didn’t live up to that his players would realize he was being disingenuous. Now if they are playing at an even level, sure I expect Collins to pick his guy because he probably believes he has more long term potential.

 

[JacketOff]

I believe Sims is the better QB, but like everyone here stated, the OL is light years better this year than last. I do believe JG would have performed better this year, but he got beat out in the limited practice. Sims has the higher ceiling.

I agree with all of what you just said. And I’ve said exactly that with my comments. What others have said, and what I’m responding to, is that Graham is either outright the better player, or that Sims is only marginally better than Graham. Neither of those do I believe to be true, nor does the rest of the college football world. But people here are saying exactly that while claiming the coaches are playing “their” guys. That’s a ridiculous claim to me. If Sims had come out and thrown passes at a 40% completion rate for 150 yards per game, I’d be all on board with that sentiment. But he hasn’t, nor do I expect him to any time soon.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Has Sims hit the deep ball? I bet AB misses Graham. Some of you thing Sims is the second coming of Jesus Christ, personally i dont see a huge difference. Sims is making the same mistakes Graham made and rightfully so, they're both young QBs. Sims hits the intermediate throws, but cant throw the deep ball and they both have the same ability to extend the play. The difference I can see is the diff in Oline play, Sims is reaping the advantage there. SO where lies the diff between the two? Teams will continue to stack the middle until he can show he can throw over top. I like Sims, but personally i don't see a huge difference.

You dont see a difference? 3x the passing yards, 2x the rushing yards, a significantly higher completion percentage (30% higher on a relative basis)? I mean we can keep going...our offense is more than doubling the yards we were putting up last year. After just 2 games, Sims has almost half the total yards JG got in all of 2019.

 

[bikeseat]

JG is a nice kid but you're deluding yourself if you think the results would be the same. No chance. I think people just want to second guess the staff

 

[wrmathis]

I believe Sims is the better QB, but like everyone here stated, the OL is light years better this year than last. I do believe JG would have performed better this year, but he got beat out in the limited practice. Sims has the higher ceiling.

when i say JG would have preformed better this year, i dont mean in relation to Sims. I mean on how he did compared to last year.

 

[Techster]

David Curry who some have beaten to death with disparaging remarks over the years, is a great example of CGC playing the best guy available.
Demetrius Knight who came in as a QB, and CGC moved over to LB is another.

CGC recruited 3 LBs in the 2020 class who were all higher rated than those guys, and this year is a "freebie", so the staff could have easily gave the young guys playing time to build towards the future. That they didn't is proof this staff is putting the best guy in to win.

In regards to Jeff Sims, you have to be blind not to see he's completing passes with ease that our QBs last season struggled to even see. Look how many different receivers have catches every game compared to last season. Sims is making freshmen mistakes, but QB play is night and day better compared to last year.