Vad Lee's Ceiling

ATL1

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It was pretty obvious in the Spring game who was more elusive/slippery/quick, especially in tight spaces. Not that Vad is bad at this, it's just the Thomas is better.

I was there and when Justin played with the #2's he looked very elusive and against the #1's not so much. I also watched Vad break for great yards against the 1's. I watched a similar result at the scrimmages as well, but I will admit that in the scrimmages JT didn't play with the #1's much. So I'm gonna wait and see before making the proclamation of superior elusiveness. He appears to be shifty and nibble and you can't deny his speed, but I'm tabling these absolutes concerning both QB's until live bullets start flying.
 

John

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Probably, but you can't play the what if game.

We shouldn't play the "blame Tevin" game either. Some of these games didn't need to have ended up the way it did and Tevin wasn't the only one that was out on that field.
 

AE 87

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Probably, but you can't play the what if game. Reggie may not have been so frustrating had he not made some decisions like throwing it away on 4th down but the fact is he did and that shaped our perception.

Tevin was very good at running the base option. He made good reads most of the time. However, he was not super athletic and rarely had breakaway runs. Vad has a great deal more athletic ability. I also think that for us to be as successful as we can be we need a QB that would be successful in a more traditional offense as well. Tevin would have been a horrible QB in a traditional offense. I saw him miss way too many wide open plays and he was not very good at passes over the middle. I've already seen Vad make those kinds of throws as well as deep passes that Tevin never had the arm to make. The biggest knock on Vad is his decision making and that certainly comes with experience. As he improves that then I believe his ceiling is very high.


In my mind, it's important to distinguish between emotional and factual claims. I have no problem with someone saying that they react to Tevin like they react to Reggie because when they felt we needed a big play he didn't deliver. However, my earlier question still stands with respect to what passes Vad made that TW was incapable of making. Which throws at what distance did Vad make that TW didn't have the arm for?

Of course, your "way too many wide open plays" is subjective and beyond challenge. 2 or 3 in crucial situations is way too many in my book, at an emotional level, but that doesn't translate into assertions about his ability. For example, I expect that USC's Wittek is one of the best QB's of his class in terms of strict QB ability and capability of making the throws, but he crapped the bed in this category of missing wide open plays in the Sun Bowl. Would you also say that Wittek's a horrible QB?

On what basis do you assert that he "was not a very good passer over the middle," an emotional reaction or do you have facts to back that up? Again, I have no problem with people expressing their emotional reactions to players, I just wish that it didn't translate into sounding like they were stating objective facts. By the way, I'm prepared to see the objective facts to back-up your claim; I'm not saying that YOU don't have them.
 

SoCal_GT_Fan

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This video shows the 2012 GT offensive plays in the 1st half of the BC game. Just love watching this video because you get to see the potential that Vad Lee has in this offense as he works in the triple-option formation and the pistol formation. This video also shows the difference between a Tevin Washington pass and a Vad Lee pass. To me, its like night and day. I love the fact that Tevin did compete and do so much with his talent but you could see that Vad was the better passer and better runner. I figure we will pass a lot more with Vad at the helm and guys like Tony Zenon and BJ Bostic will have a field day catching passes out of the backfield. Hopefully, a WR emerges from the group that can spread the field out as well.

What is his ceiling? He's got the talent, its going to be a matter of whether his decision-making will be on par with his talent. If that's the case, we are going to be in for a treat the next couple of years. It'll be like our offense from the last couple of years on steroids. Whomever is going to be wearing that Buzz outfit better be ready to do LOTS and LOTS of pushups.
 

ATL1

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This video shows the 2012 GT offensive plays in the 1st half of the BC game. Just love watching this video because you get to see the potential that Vad Lee has in this offense as he works in the triple-option formation and the pistol formation. This video also shows the difference between a Tevin Washington pass and a Vad Lee pass. To me, its like night and day. I love the fact that Tevin did compete and do so much with his talent but you could see that Vad was the better passer and better runner. I figure we will pass a lot more with Vad at the helm and guys like Tony Zenon and BJ Bostic will have a field day catching passes out of the backfield. Hopefully, a WR emerges from the group that can spread the field out as well.

What is his ceiling? He's got the talent, its going to be a matter of whether his decision-making will be on par with his talent. If that's the case, we are going to be in for a treat the next couple of years. It'll be like our offense from the last couple of years on steroids. Whomever is going to be wearing that Buzz outfit better be ready to do LOTS and LOTS of pushups.


What I liked about that was the fade toss to the back corner. That's something that has been missing from this offense for since CPJ has got here, and you would think with a receiving corp averaging 6'2 that would be a staple.
 

gt13

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This video shows the 2012 GT offensive plays in the 1st half of the BC game. Just love watching this video because you get to see the potential that Vad Lee has in this offense as he works in the triple-option formation and the pistol formation. This video also shows the difference between a Tevin Washington pass and a Vad Lee pass. To me, its like night and day. I love the fact that Tevin did compete and do so much with his talent but you could see that Vad was the better passer and better runner. I figure we will pass a lot more with Vad at the helm and guys like Tony Zenon and BJ Bostic will have a field day catching passes out of the backfield. Hopefully, a WR emerges from the group that can spread the field out as well.

What is his ceiling? He's got the talent, its going to be a matter of whether his decision-making will be on par with his talent. If that's the case, we are going to be in for a treat the next couple of years. It'll be like our offense from the last couple of years on steroids. Whomever is going to be wearing that Buzz outfit better be ready to do LOTS and LOTS of pushups.



I think the big takeaways from this video are at 6:07 and 10:14.

6:07 Tevin makes one of the better plays of his career and that's because he knows exactly what's going on and where his A-back is. One of my favorite plays by him. IMHO, Vad doesn't make that pitch in the same situation - at least not at that point in his first season. I 100% believe he has the potential to make this kind of play soon though.

10:14 is about when Vad shows us what I hope we will see much more of in the future. On his TD run, he actually beats the defense. He makes 3 or 4 BC defenders miss. The next play he throws an absolute bullet to Autry in step. And that throw had some real sauce on it. It looked like a Nesbitt-esque throw, but perfectly in step.

Believe it or not, I think Tevin has been the quarterback who understood our offense the best since CPJ started here. If Vad can reach Tevin's level of understanding by his junior year, he will be very, very special. He has the intangibles.
 

xenoabe

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Believe it or not, I think Tevin has been the quarterback who understood our offense the best since CPJ started here. If Vad can reach Tevin's level of understanding by his junior year, he will be very, very special. He has the intangibles.


I wouldn't disagree with that. If you combine Tevin's knowledge of the offense with Vad's physical capabilities then our offense is absolutely deadly. If Roof brings the D up to snuff then we can witness some special things.
 

BainbridgeJacket

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I think the big takeaways from this video are at 6:07 and 10:14.

6:07 Tevin makes one of the better plays of his career and that's because he knows exactly what's going on and where his A-back is. One of my favorite plays by him. IMHO, Vad doesn't make that pitch in the same situation - at least not at that point in his first season. I 100% believe he has the potential to make this kind of play soon though.

10:14 is about when Vad shows us what I hope we will see much more of in the future. On his TD run, he actually beats the defense. He makes 3 or 4 BC defenders miss. The next play he throws an absolute bullet to Autry in step. And that throw had some real sauce on it. It looked like a Nesbitt-esque throw, but perfectly in step.

Believe it or not, I think Tevin has been the quarterback who understood our offense the best since CPJ started here. If Vad can reach Tevin's level of understanding by his junior year, he will be very, very special. He has the intangibles.

Good analysis. Video shows for far away vad was from grasping the whole playbook.
 

gt13

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It was from him being in the system for a much shorter amount of time.


I agree. But one thing that really excites me is if you look at the huge leap Nesbitt made from the 2008 to the 2009 season. Granted, Vad hasn't started for a complete year yet but he has been in the system for coming up on his 3rd season - I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect a similar jump, maybe not of the same magnitude, but close. Once things start "slowing down" for him, as the coaches like to call it, he'll finally be playing and reacting instead of thinking.
 

xenoabe

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I agree. But one thing that really excites me is if you look at the huge leap Nesbitt made from the 2008 to the 2009 season. Granted, Vad hasn't started for a complete year yet but he has been in the system for coming up on his 3rd season - I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect a similar jump, maybe not of the same magnitude, but close. Once things start "slowing down" for him, as the coaches like to call it, he'll finally be playing and reacting instead of thinking.

100% on board with ya.
 

JacketTrain

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It was pretty obvious in the Spring game who was more elusive/slippery/quick, especially in tight spaces. Not that Vad is bad at this, it's just the Thomas is better.

JT didn't show anything against the 1's in the spring game. Until he can at least do that, the Vad/JT comparisons are about as laughable as some posters saying Byerly will be in the QB rotation/mix.
 

John

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JT didn't show anything against the 1's in the spring game. Until he can at least do that, the Vad/JT comparisons are about as laughable as some posters saying Byerly will be in the QB rotation/mix.

What's weird to me is that CPJ is the one that continues to talk Justin up. Every time the QB question comes up, CPJ would say something like (para-phrasing) "Looking forward to seeing what Vad can do but don't forget about Justin now".
 

ATL1

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What's weird to me is that CPJ is the one that continues to talk Justin up. Every time the QB question comes up, CPJ would say something like (para-phrasing) "Looking forward to seeing what Vad can do but don't forget about Justin now".

He does and he doesn't. I think he really values competition at every position and being pushed only makes players aware that there job isn't coming with out work. He has also say that Vad is the starter before camp and it's his job to lose.
 

AE 87

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What's weird to me is that CPJ is the one that continues to talk Justin up. Every time the QB question comes up, CPJ would say something like (para-phrasing) "Looking forward to seeing what Vad can do but don't forget about Justin now".


He did the exact same thing with Tevin last year. In fact, last summer he was talking about both Synjyn and Vad. It's kind of weird thinking about it but I think Synjyn came in against VPI when TW's helmet came off.
 

Ramblin Wrecker

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CPJ even says in "The Process I" that his job as a coach is to find which button to press to motivate these kids. My guess is that he see's JT and competition as the button to keep pushing Lee.
 

jayparr

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CPJ even says in "The Process I" that his job as a coach is to find which button to press to motivate these kids. My guess is that he see's JT and competition as the button to keep pushing Lee.

CPJ even says in "The Process I" that his job as a coach is to find which button to press to motivate these kids. My guess is that he see's JT and competition as the button to keep pushing Lee.

I really believe that CPJ believes that JT is ALSO the real deal!!!
 
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