Deleted member 2897
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Yes, significantly so.
Is Graham 2020 an improvement over Graham 2019? We have no way to know. Pure speculation until we see it.
Starting QB speculation
- Thread starter bensaysitathome
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Yes, significantly so.
Is Graham 2020 an improvement over Graham 2019? We have no way to know. Pure speculation until we see it.
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We had a 1st and 35 last Saturday, and we converted it. There’s no offense that’s really “built for that”, but a third and long isn’t that crazy with the players we have. This team has plenty of offensive players who can score and score fast.
There are several places to fix things, and it’s a lot
- Offense: Cut down on the penalties related to mental errors (illegal shift, false start, etc.)
- Offense: Make the right reads (we’ve had players open for passes out of the backfield or similar that just don’t get the ball)
- Offense: Some of the turnovers will drop off once we make the right reads
- Offense: More consistent blocking (getting better, but still not quite there)
- Defense: Make the right reads
- Defense: Hold on for one more series after we start coming back. Just one.
smokey_wasp
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For those who are all moonbeams and unicorns,
Statistically, the offense is better than last year, considering Tech finished dead last in total offense (in the ACC). There was only one direction to go.
Defense this year, just looking at total defense, is currently ranked 12th out of 15, (in the ACC) just like where Tech finished last year.
2020 Football - Overall Statistics - Atlantic Coast Conference
The official 2020 Football cumulative statistics for Atlantic Coast Conferencetheacc.com
Since this is a thread on starting quarterbacks, my missive is that whoever was the starting quarterback this year, would have a better offense around them than last year. The offensive line is improved, especially in pass protection. So Grahams 45.1% completion percentage would be improved upon no matter who the starter. Sims is currently at 54%. But has 8 interceptions to 3 TDs. Graham only had 7 ints all season. Is Sims an improvement over Graham?
As has been pointed out, we are not at practice or team rooms, so we, as a internet board have no clue how the quarterback competition is going. We can only speculate. And look at stats. I am not convinced after the first three games that Sims is that big an improvement. Nor has he improved over the last 3 games.
Versus:
FSU 23/34 with 277 yards. 1 TD, 2 interceptions
UCF 18/36 with 244 yards. 1 TD, 2 interceptions
Syracuse 13/28 with 174 yards. 1 TD, 4 interceptions
After a bye week, I would not be overly shocked to see a new starter at QB. (Last time I looked there were 4 QBs ATL) Nor would I be shocked to see Sims come back and have an impressive game.
Graham was not ATL for the Syracuse game, but we don't know why. I expect Sims to start, myself. Obviously he just had a horrible game, but it was just one, so far.
Deleted member 2897
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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.
Josh H
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Seems like one of the coaching points may be to recognize when a play is a disaster and protect the football.
smokey_wasp
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It really seems to boil down to that, which, to me, seems easier to fix than just not being able to hit the open guy.
Deleted member 2897
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Yep. By illustration, Peyton Manning in his first year in the league threw nearly 30 interceptions and had more interceptions than touchdowns. He had 31 total turnovers in 16 games - basically 2 per game. 5% of his passes were interceptions. Jeff Sims is at 3 turnovers per game and 8% of his passes were interceptions. Peyton got better as the season went along, but it didn’t happen overnight. 1-2 turnovers per game is manageable. 3 from one single person is not.
Jacketman99
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Sims needs experience and reps. Not having a spring and most of summer really hurt in my opinion. I do not think we need a new starter. However we may need someone to come in for a series if he is having a terrible game to settle him down. I would also like to know how much in game coaching we have since the oc is in the box. It may be better for him to he on the sideline to better coach these young QBs between series.
lv20gt
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From last year absolutely. Part of that is just different strengths. Graham was good on the long ball but weak in the short to intermediate passing. Sims is the opposite for the most part. For what our offense needs, the latter is much better than the formed from a skill set perspective. Last year we asked a lot less out of Graham than we have out of Sims because the short and intermediate passing wasn't his strength, and we didn't have the blocking for the long ball. As a result Graham had fewer opportunities, drives stalled more, and we saw overall less production. This year, Sims at QB gives us a player who's strength aligns with what the offense needs more of so we've leaned on him more. As a result we've had more sustained drives and more production, but also more opportunities for mistakes to happen which have happened.
jgtengineer
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It's almost as if james graham was recruited to play in an offense that often threw the ball 20 yards or more down field when it threw it. OR 35 yard smoke routes to the flats.
Techster
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For those who are all moonbeams and unicorns,
Statistically, the offense is better than last year, considering Tech finished dead last in total offense (in the ACC). There was only one direction to go.
Defense this year, just looking at total defense, is currently ranked 12th out of 15, (in the ACC) just like where Tech finished last year.
2020 Football - Overall Statistics - Atlantic Coast Conference
The official 2020 Football cumulative statistics for Atlantic Coast Conference
Since this is a thread on starting quarterbacks, my missive is that whoever was the starting quarterback this year, would have a better offense around them than last year. The offensive line is improved, especially in pass protection. So Grahams 45.1% completion percentage would be improved upon no matter who the starter. Sims is currently at 54%. But has 8 interceptions to 3 TDs. Graham only had 7 ints all season. Is Sims an improvement over Graham?
As has been pointed out, we are not at practice or team rooms, so we, as a internet board have no clue how the quarterback competition is going. We can only speculate. And look at stats. I am not convinced after the first three games that Sims is that big an improvement. Nor has he improved over the last 3 games.
Versus:
FSU 23/34 with 277 yards. 1 TD, 2 interceptions
UCF 18/36 with 244 yards. 1 TD, 2 interceptions
Syracuse 13/28 with 174 yards. 1 TD, 4 interceptions
After a bye week, I would not be overly shocked to see a new starter at QB. (Last time I looked there were 4 QBs ATL) Nor would I be shocked to see Sims come back and have an impressive game.
Our offense just isn't efficient. We're top 5 in ACC for offensive production (passing + rushing) and #12 in scoring. Pretty big disparity. All those fumbles, INTs, and missed FGs when we have scoring opportunities are hurting us.
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There were only three QBs ATL last week. Not sure if JGs status UTL is permanent or not.
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and penalties as well.
Jacketman99
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This is a problem with ball protection and special teams. I am fine with the offense we are running. Once we fix those issues the offense as a whole will look a lot better.
Techster
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That's the silver lining in this. If we can clean up the self destructive mistakes, we should be more efficient, and in turn get more wins.
SteamWhistle
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Graham had 12 TD and broke records with the worst OL in school history. Collins just wanted to bring out his shinny new toy. If Graham isn’t considered for the UL game I’ll be very upset.
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I see giving Graham slack because of last year’s OL play, but what meaningful records are you talking about?
I think you’d need to be really selective in the numbers you pull to call him a record breaking QB.
| Pass | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 1 | James Graham | 87 | 193 | 45.1 | 1164 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 12 | 7 | 109.0 |
| 2 | Lucas Johnson | 21 | 37 | 56.8 | 187 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 1 | 1 | 102.7 |
| 3 | Tobias Oliver | 11 | 26 | 42.3 | 177 | 6.8 | 3.3 | 0 | 2 | 84.1 |
| 4 | Jordan Yates | 4 | 12 | 33.3 | 38 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 59.9 |
| 5 | Pressley Harvin III | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 41 | 41.0 | 61.0 | 1 | 0 | 774.4 |
[thead] [/thead]
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 10/2/2020.
Here are the 2017 numbers for comparison
| Pass | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 1 | TaQuon Marshall | 43 | 116 | 37.1 | 927 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 10 | 5 | 124.0 |
| 2 | Matthew Jordan | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 3 | Pressley Harvin III | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
[thead] [/thead]
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 10/2/2020.
He’s got two more passing touchdowns, but he’s not as good as TaQuon from 2017.
Here’s 2006 Reggie Ball:
| Pass | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 1 | Reggie Ball | 135 | 304 | 44.4 | 1820 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 20 | 14 | 107.2 |
| 2 | Taylor Bennett | 35 | 58 | 60.3 | 523 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 5 | 2 | 157.6 |
| 3 | Kyle Manley | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 8 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 133.6 |
[thead] [/thead]
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 10/2/2020.
and 1999 Joe Ham
| Pass | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 1 | Joe Hamilton | 203 | 305 | 66.6 | 3060 | 10.0 | 10.3 | 29 | 11 | 175.0 |
| 2 | George Godsey | 5 | 13 | 38.5 | 57 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 0 | 1 | 59.9 |
[thead] [/thead]
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 10/2/2020.
Deleted member 2897
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Sims is averaging more touchdowns per game than Graham, 2x the yards (285 vs 145), significantly more yards per play, and so on. The only stat he is underwater in compared to Graham is turnovers per game - Sims is averaging 3, and Graham averaged 1. Graham had trouble hitting open throws while not under pressure last year.
jacketup
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Last year stats vs this year stats don't mean anything. A better OL this year (people don't seem to understand how important the OL is), new offense for the entire team to learn last year, and Graham did not have spring practice and missed part of fall, whereas Sims had some spring practice and all of fall.
The only thing that matters is what the coaches have seen and are seeing practice. None of us know what that is.
Deleted member 2897
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Like I said, when he was given time, he still couldn’t hit many throws. We all saw it.