Quarterback Competition Update (4-11-11)

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

I have info (albeit secondhand) about the QB situation from someone as close as possible to the competition, and he said that Hendrix & Rees had separated from the pack in the coaches' eyes. I would be surprised if Golson or Kiel won the race. I think it'll be Rees.

 

[Patulski]

I have info (albeit secondhand) about the QB situation from someone as close as possible to the competition, and he said that Hendrix & Rees had separated from the pack in the coaches' eyes. I would be surprised if Golson or Kiel won the race. I think it'll be Rees.

If this is true, then Brian Kelly is going to have a PR problem come September when Rees throws his first interception of the first game, and the stadium crowd starts booing. Every time Rees throws another pick, the booing is going to get worse.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I have info (albeit secondhand) about the QB situation from someone as close as possible to the competition, and he said that Hendrix & Rees had separated from the pack in the coaches' eyes. I would be surprised if Golson or Kiel won the race. I think it'll be Rees.

I wouldn't mind it being Hendrix if he could learn to read a defense...but if it's Rees I'm going to flip my **** and be done with BK.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Kelly is wasting valuable reps on tom. Hes hitting that point were hes invested so much time in Tommy that Kelly may not want to start over.

Moral is. Andrew and Ev should split all the first team reps. It'll make them much better.

 

[tadman95]

I have info (albeit secondhand) about the QB situation from someone as close as possible to the competition, and he said that Hendrix & Rees had separated from the pack in the coaches' eyes. I would be surprised if Golson or Kiel won the race. I think it'll be Rees.

If true, it can't be based on the play making ability. I was surprised at how little Rees had seemed to improve, looked like last year's tape. Hendrix, I don't know. To me if you take away the one big run from last year (Let's remember that was against Purdue) would we really think of him as that much of an improvement over Rees? Just sayin....

If Golson is a distant third, then I challenge him to get in Kelly's back pocket and do what he has to do to make things right. Take a million snaps, call the staff at 2:00 in the morning with questions, turn the lights on in the Gug every morning.

It seems like there have been enough comments and snippets that maybe Golson has had a hard time adjusting to college life, I don't know if that's an accurate evaluation, but hopefully he grows into the role of QB quickly.

I'll be honest, when Rees and now Hendrix a little, step on the field I seem to be feeling "please don't screw up" too much. Maybe not fair but it's how I feel.

 

[NDhoosier]

I have info (albeit secondhand) about the QB situation from someone as close as possible to the competition, and he said that Hendrix & Rees had separated from the pack in the coaches' eyes. I would be surprised if Golson or Kiel won the race. I think it'll be Rees.

that doesnt make any sense after what we just saw... I dont think the source knows what he is talking about or the phone tag phenomenon applied here...

 

[Irish Fam]

The offense will be basic and continue to struggle against top teams if we give Rees the nod. plain and simple.

 

[BobD]

If Tommy is the starter, I'll be convinced he has something on Kelly.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

that doesnt make any sense after what we just saw... I dont think the source knows what he is talking about or the phone tag phenomenon applied here...

This is pre-spring game, but I trust the source a lot. A little biased but they would know everything about the competition.

 

[Sweetness34]

None of the sources stuff matters because there is too long from now to the beginning of the season for things to change.

 

[IrishMoore1]

It really shouldn't be a competition. Golson should start no matter what. He can throw the same 14 interceptions that Rees threw this past year but the difference is he can make something out of nothing. Denard Robinson throws a lot of picks but is still in the Heismen conversation because of what he can do with his legs. Golson won't run as much Robinson but he will run and get 7 yards instead of lose 3. He's a championship QB!

^THIS.

Golson can make up for his mistakes by making more key plays with his feet. Rees cannot do that.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Any way you slice it, with the quagmire at QB and the rag-tag receiving corps, its gonna be a long season unless Cierre channels his inner Barry Sanders. Think EG gives the offense the best chance to score, but we all know Rees will be the one taking the first snap in Dublin.

 

[BobD]

Any way you slice it, with the quagmire at QB and the rag-tag receiving corps, its gonna be a long season unless Cierre channels his inner Barry Sanders. Think EG gives the offense the best chance to score, but we all know Rees will be the one taking the first snap in Dublin.

Why do you say that?

 

[returnofthemack]

Soooooo......the guy that is CLEARLY winning the job won't get us to 8 wins, but the guys who CLEARLY are losing the battle against him could make the very same team special. Hmmmmmmm, why does that sound absolutely backwards???

Why can't people give Tommy an ounce of credit in saying that A: he can and has improved, as MANY soph to jr QBs are wont to do, and B: The kid is a friggin' competitor. I love that about him - you can go to 'war' with kids like that.

Now, I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see one of the other QBs take the bull by the horns and give us a more athletic option, but they're just not doing it yet. Perhaps they start doing it tomorrow, but as of right now they haven't. And LOL at you blaming Kelly, when BY ALL ACCOUNTS (Kelly, Martin, every singe damn reporter at the practices, every single reporter with sources inside the program, Rick Neuheisal), Rees is far ahead of the other 3. What do you want Kelly to do? Start the guy NOT good enough to earn a starting job from a kid who almost everyone this board claims 'sucks'??? Yeah, that would get the team on your side.

God I love looking at these through the scope of hindsight. As far as getting the team on Kelly's side,I'm confident they'll be fine with a QB who can throw more than 20 yards. And if you try to counter that with Rees' " long" ball to Daniels, slap yourself. Watch it again and you'll see how easily a good QB would have led him for a TD. Face it, Rees was a good story but he's not good enough to be an ND starting QB.

 

[returnofthemack]

If Tommy is the starter, I'll be convinced he has something on Kelly.

You can take away the italics and that's my stance.

 

[returnofthemack]

IrishIllustrated.com - Rees shows his experience

Pete Sampson
IrishIllustrated.com Editor
4/20

I've seen you posting this all over. Yeah Rees put up more efficient stats than Jimmy or Brady's sophomore year. One enormous difference you seem to keep ignoring is that Jimmy and Brady didn't play in a shotgun spread where the farthest they were expected to throw was 10 yards. Jimmy didn't have a twentieth of the time Rees usually had in the pocket and neither he nor Brady had running games as effective as last year's to bail them out. Their defenses were also much worse. You cannot compare them in this way. If you can't see that, that's fine. I just wanted to establish how skewed those comparisons are.

 

[Irishbounty28]

I feel like I should get my first post out of the way. So my first post is Please, Please, Please do not be Tommy Rees as the starter in Dublin.

 

[returnofthemack]

Apologies BGIF, i don't know if it was you saying that the other day, but someone was. And I strongly disagree with the premise of the comparison.

 

[returnofthemack]

I feel like I should get my first post out of the way. So my first post is Please, Please, Please do not be Tommy Rees be the starter in Dublin.

Welcome. Watch out for a man with a mullet. His name is herecometheirish and he's Tommy's #1 cheerleader. He's not going to take it lying down... unless you have the face and hands of a ten year old and have trouble throwing more than 20 yards. Then he'll take it however you want.

 

[Irishbounty28]

Welcome. Watch out for a man with a mullet. His name is herecometheirish and he's Tommy's #1 cheerleader. He's not going to take it lying down... unless you have the face and hands of a ten year old and have trouble throwing more than 20 yards. Then he'll take it however you want.

Thanks for the heads up. I will keep that in mind. I am of the mindset that I will root for whoever lines up behind center in the fall, but I have my disbeliefs in Tommy's ability.

 

[condoms SUCk]

After watch the spring game, TR is done; make him the General of the Red Hat Army. Start EG, throw in AH as a change of pace, and preserve a year of eligibility for GK. Run the ball 60-65% of the time, have EG or AH throw to keep the opposing D honest and try to control both lines of scrimmage.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

There's some truth to this; some people, like Rees, are just naturally poised, and others are naturally nervous. but let me share this anecdote ...

When I was in high school I went to a university basketball camp and they had a sports psychologist who worked there talk to us. One kid asked a question about how to cope with a lack of confidence on the court. The psychologist said to practice more. The kid clarified that he meant, how do you cope with the problem of being unable to do when it matters the things you successfully do during your training. The psychologist looked a little taken aback and said that that doesn't happen. Confidence comes from practice; people who can do it know they can do it. Over the years this has come to seem very true to me. Often when people complain of a lack of confidence I've found that their real issue is a lack of competence; that is, inconsistency occurs when someone hasn't put in the time to fully master the skill they are trying to master, not because they have some irrational or personal fear or nervousness that is holding them back. So I'll say that it may be that Hendrix just hasn't quite gotten there yet. When he does fully grasp the offense and can execute it consistently and fluidly, the confidence to lead the team will come with that competence.

This is maybe the smartest thing I have seen in print on IE. This is exactly
right! When Kelly got here he didn't even have thirty guys on the team who were close enough to that level to even perform adequately on the team. That is what Kelly was talking about last year; it was not personal. Last year he was up to a little over half the team. From the spring game, the biggest thing I have noticed is it appears that he is up to around 65 to 70, and Hendrix and Golson are closer than you think.

Sitting at the spring game: I saw the first qb that couldn't move the O was Tommy. Hendrix looked to have the fastest start and move the team with less effort. Golson looked to be the most productive overall. They both need a lot more practice and it will pay off, as somebody stated above in several posts. Kelly also made it clear that the kee to qb next fall is working harder this summer; which leads me to believe we all are on the same path. Tommy couldn't lead his receiver to save his @ss. His passes seemed to lack what they needed all day. If his receivers had not come back so well, by in large, he would had a brutal day.

And I don't see where he can run any better now than last year. Watch the cut of the SC game, and the draw play from the first Rees drive, (I believe). It's the same stuff. Also, I was blessed to see all three qb's that may assume the role this year run the option. Hendrix and particularly Golson were dynamic. It was only that our edges are so much better this year, that either were kept from scoring touchdowns. (Day, FA-A, Williams, Tuitt, etc.) Rees, not so much. It was a tremendous advantage for the offense to not have to defend against the quarterback on the option when he was in.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I know I'm not a coach or teammate who sees the QBs play daily, but my opinion after getting the minimal exposure during the BG game was that the QB play was mediocre at best. It's a complete crapshoot. If you could combine all of them, you'd have a hell of a player...

BK mentioned that Golson gives him a heart attack when he plays. Some may take this as Golson just flying by the seat of his pants and you don't know what to expect. That may be true. But to me, I see a playmaker on the field, making things happen...who just so happens to have a control freak of a coach on the sideline waiting to pick him apart. I think BK just needs to get Golson out there, and let the kid play.

 

[Rhode Irish]

God I love looking at these through the scope of hindsight. As far as getting the team on Kelly's side,I'm confident they'll be fine with a QB who can throw more than 20 yards. And if you try to counter that with Rees' " long" ball to Daniels, slap yourself. Watch it again and you'll see how easily a good QB would have led him for a TD. Face it, Rees was a good story but he's not good enough to be an ND starting QB.

Watching the game again, Rees's best play was an audible - calling for a run play that was designed to go right to instead go left, away from a blitzing linebacker coming off the right edge. The call worked and there was a nice gain. That is unquestionably what Tommy does better than the other two guys, but when you're a QB and your best play is a running play, I think that is a problem. Golson may not be totally ready today, but if he gets every first team rep before Dublin he will be more ready. No excuse not to give him those reps, IMO.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Why do you say that?

Just my gut feeling, based on what I read here and over at the 4HL.

 

[irish1958]

Give Golson 25 plays; have him run them and only them from the start of fall practice with the first team, from the start of practice until the end. Forget the system and let him loose.
The defenses will have to defend all 11 players on the field, not just ten as we had last year.

 

[BobD]

Just my gut feeling, based on what I read here and over at the 4HL.

Well take a Tum's or some Pepto-Bismol cause thats a terrible gut feeling! : ) I hope it's not contgious.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Watching the game again, Rees's best play was an audible - calling for a run play that was designed to go right to instead go left, away from a blitzing linebacker coming off the right edge. The call worked and there was a nice gain. That is unquestionably what Tommy does better than the other two guys, but when you're a QB and your best play is a running play, I think that is a problem. Golson may not be totally ready today, but if he gets every first team rep before Dublin he will be more ready. No excuse not to give him those reps, IMO.

I think the best way to summarize this is what I have heard from various talking heads and some posters and that is this. No QB on the roster now will be exactly what we want and need for 2012. They all have flaws and they are documented. They will all most likely turn the ball over in 2012. The difference between the three is that EG gives you the ability to also hit the homerun. TR and AH don't. Simple as that. Go with the guy that will most likely put the most points on the board.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I think the best way to summarize this is what I have heard from various talking heads and some posters and that is this. No QB on the roster now will be exactly what we want and need for 2012. They all have flaws and they are documented. They will all most likely turn the ball over in 2012. The difference between the three is that EG gives you the ability to also hit the homerun. TR and AH don't. Simple as that. Go with the guy that will most likely put the most points on the board.

Well put. Thanks.

EG '12

 

[Riddickulous]

Personally, I'd start Golson, let him take his lumps, and lean on the running game while he develops.

But I'm not a football coach, so my opinion doesn't really matter.