I said it earlier in the year, and the recent games only make me believe it more... Book and PJ are the same QB, just with their arm talent flipped.
They both are at their best when they are free-styling and picking the right times to use their legs (either to run or throw), and they both leave plays on the field that hold their offense back from being 'elite' because of their limitations.
Phil has a cannon, but with accuracy issues that compound sometimes poor decisions to attack the deep middle of the field.
Book has better accuracy, but his unwillingness to test the deep parts of hte field compound with his perceived lack of arm strength.
Put either of them in the no-huddle with one-read plays, and they're really good. Let them run the full system, and they are both pretty good, but with limitations that hold back very similar playing styles.
Insert *they're the same picture* meme.
The difference between the two is philosophical at the instinctual level.
Phil always looks downfield. Always has. Go back and look at his HS film. Phil is not about 5 yd outs and letting his players make plays in space. I you want the ball from Phil in space, go get 5 yds separation on the CB 40 yds from the line of scrimmage. Watching Phil reminds me of Air Coryell in the 80's. I remember a game where Fouts threw a couple of deep Int's and Charlie Jones said he was going to put the punter out of a job because his Int's were 55 yds down field and the punter only averaged 30 something. That philosophy has always stuck with me = Giving up deep INT's on 3rd is better than a punt... with a lot of upside if you connect. It's risk reward, Phil racks up yards playing downfield but throws into coverage and is wild at times. Lets see what that looks like next year. See #2 below.
I do want to address what I see as the big problem in the Phil vs Book war ND fans have on every site I visit. Here's my take.
1. Long obviously was a cancer. Whatever it did to Phil, Rees did not like how he handled it and it poisoned that well too. BK needed to grab those two by the ears like Moe did Larry & Curley and tell them numbskulls to knock it off. He didn't or at least he didn't/couldn't stop it. I wish we could watch the alternate ending to see just how many guys would've left had BK not booted Long. Bottom line is they let the highest ceiling QB rot on the vine and he walked out before his NFL dream died with it.
2. No one should be comparing Phil to Book, head to head this year. Even I, the creator of 5*Phil, could look at where Book was at the end of the year and what was coming back for ND this year and say Book's the better choice for '20. This was not the year to change QB's. '21 would've been as that will be a reboot season. Now, if a Joe Moorhead type would have been the OC in '18 when Phil showed up, good chance this is all different. What we see next year out of Phil will be what we missed. Besides not having a real off season to acclimate to new school/staff/scheme/targets, I think the problem no one talks about is their OL being in a huge transition year. They have a new coach, new playbook and in one year have flipped the script from being a Top 5 running attack dependent on an elite RB to being a team that relies on a new guy chucking it. They need time to get baked-in over the off season. I expect BC and Phil to take a huge jump next year offensively. So in the end, you can't look at what Phil is doing at BC and say it's better or worse than what Book's doing for ND. It's literally comparing apples and orangutans.
3. We know what Phil is this year. It's already written. What will be interesting is to see what he, his line and receivers look like in year 2 after a real off season. Knowing a playbook and being able to do everything in the playbook when the lights are on, without thinking, are two different things. Will Phil take the next step? Will he take another huge leap like he did this season vs where he bottomed out at in South Bend? Will he be more accurate with practice & confidence in the playbook?
Also, what kind of QB is he going to be from a physical standpoint? I thought Phil was going to be the next Randall Cunningham. Long and athletic, a huge threat in the running game like he was in HS. Phil has turned into an NFL bodied guy who plays slow when out of the pocket. This shocks me. Will Phil make some physical changes next year? Will he be a more confident, creative runner next year or will he continue the transition into more of a Ben Roethlisberger?
This is a fascinating career to follow. Saw plenty of his HS work, saw him unravel at ND, saw the pretty good reboot in year 1 at BC and will get a chance to see if he can take it to the level we thought he was capable of next year.
