You're right. It's not pretty.
Of course all you couch potato QB's would get right up and be slinging it fearlessly. Right?
It's beginning to smell like NDNation here with all the one sided criticism of Rees.
As for all of you " teams figured out Rees and now he's finished" theorists: Did you ever consider that Rees is only as good as his offensive line? And USC, BC and Stanford whipped our offensive line?
Furthermore, did you ever consider that the combination of a better offensive line and a another year in the weight room Rees will bring improved results? Is it even possible for you to acknowledge this? Or has Rees been condemned to the NDNation equivalent of "purple faced Kelly" here at IrishEnvy?
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First of all, our offensive line played incredibly well overall last year in pass protection. For the vast majority of the season I remember we were in the top 10 in sacks allowed per drop back.
So any argument that starts with blaming the OL for not being all-world and giving up zero sacks is automatically invalid. In fact, the sacks Tommy did take were usually completely his fault for holding onto the ball too long or lacking the athletic ability/wherewithal to step up in the pocket and make a throw under pressure.
The point you raise about the OL not playing well against USC, BC, and Stanford is semi-valid only with respect to the Stanford game. They did not play well in that game overall and had multiple breakdowns against complicated pressures. With that being said, Andrew Hendrix came in and with a very limited playbook/practice reps was able to move the team much more effectively than Tommy and didn't get blown repeatedly... because he's not a statue.
BC and USC did not "whip" our OLs in any sense of the word. BC got ZERO sacks and allowed us to rush for 161 yards. And USC also got ZERO sacks in 43 pass attempts. So while you try to blame the OL, they did just about as good of a job as possible in protecting the passer. Which brings us to.....
"Of course all you couch potato QB's would get right up and be slinging it fearlessly. Right?"
Well, frankly, that's what's expected of a QB. It's truly a part of the job description. Peyton Manning or any great QB will always step up in the pocket and deliver the ball even though they know they're going to get destroyed.
My problem with Tommy is not him getting hit... it's what happens when he gets hit. He has an astronomical fumble rate on hits he takes because of his small hands. And against Stanford and Florida State.... the only two teams to hit him.... as soon as he took a big lick he got inexcusable jitters. Just completely shell shocked. For someone who gets hit as little as he does, it just makes no sense.
