BQ sphomore year vs Tommy

[03euroSVT]

Comparing BQ and Tommy's sophomore years and I am rather excited about seeing Tommy growth as a college QB.

BQ finished his sophomore year with 2586 yds, cmp % 54.1, 17 td and 10 int.
Tommy currently has 2392 yds, cmp % 67.2, 19 td and 10 int.

I know that they are two different offenses and Tommy has a lot of studs to throw too. Tommy is improving and I can see him being our #1 QB next year and putting up Quinn like numbers.

We also have a lot better running game than we've had in a long time. Cierre Wood is averaging 5.6 yds per carry and Jonas Gray is at 7.1. Can you imagine, had we not gotten off to poor starts in two of our three losses, we could have two backs go over 1000 yards. Too bad Jonas Gray won't be on our team next year.

GO IRISH!!!!!!

 

[03euroSVT]

Oops forgot the o in the title. My bad

 

[Riddickulous]

Rees doesn't have Quinn's physical tools.

 

[BurningRiver]

Rees doesn't have Quinn's physical tools.

Yeah they aren't really comparable. I hope Rees grows the way BQ grew but it's probably unlikely that well see the jump between sophomore/junior year that we saw with BQ

 

[Carlyle Javar Holiday]

In Quinn's sophomore year Willingham had Shelton starting over the Shark.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

I hope Tommy does grow and mature because next year will be a rude awakening for the offense. We won't have a Stovall, a Samardjiza, a Tate, or definitely a Michael Floyd. We will have a lack of depth in the RB position, so Tommy is going to have to do a lot more than he is now.

Currently, the reason why teams are hesitant to bring a safety near the LOS to stop the run is that it would leave man on man coverage on Floyd. We won't have that luxury next year. Man are we going to miss having MFloyd.

What I think will help us mitigate the loss of Floyd is our defense. It will be more stout. Lynch, Tuitt, and possibly Ishaq...that front seven will do some damage. Young fast though inexperienced DBs on the backside.

Kelly has made the decision that Tommy is the man no ifs, ands, or buts. Next year will tell us if Kelly is right.

 

[BestBIrish47]

I have been critical of Tommy's lack of pocket presence, and physical tools in the past. I have to admit that his throw to Eifert on the TD was really encouraging (Cierre Wood's block was great). Physical tools are going to remain an issue unless he hits puberty this offseason, but at least he is getting better.

 

[GreatGolson]

lets not forget the BQ didn't get as big as he was until his Jr and Sr season, he was much smaller as a freshman

 

[magogian]

lets not forget the BQ didn't get as big as he was until his Jr and Sr season, he was much smaller as a freshman

By "big," do you mean the body of a Greek god?

 

[irishog77]

I wonder if Tommy will have to deal with off field issues like Brady did, meaning-- will the hottness of his sister and who she is dating play any role in his performance?

:idea:

 

[Riddickulous]

In Quinn's sophomore year Willingham had Shelton starting over the Shark.

And Shelton was productive. 515 yards with 6 TDs on a mere 20 receptions (almost 26 yards per catch).

Part of the reason Shark was so productive in 2005 was because Rhema McKnight was out for the year with a knee injury 1.5 games into the season.

I hope Tommy does grow and mature because next year will be a rude awakening for the offense. We won't have a Stovall, a Samardjiza, a Tate, or definitely a Michael Floyd. We will have a lack of depth in the RB position, so Tommy is going to have to do a lot more than he is now.

Currently, the reason why teams are hesitant to bring a safety near the LOS to stop the run is that it would leave man on man coverage on Floyd. We won't have that luxury next year. Man are we going to miss having MFloyd.

What I think will help us mitigate the loss of Floyd is our defense. It will be more stout. Lynch, Tuitt, and possibly Ishaq...that front seven will do some damage. Young fast though inexperienced DBs on the backside.

Kelly has made the decision that Tommy is the man no ifs, ands, or buts. Next year will tell us if Kelly was right.

If anything, our defense will be less stout. We lose as many as six players with 20+ starts under their belts (Johnson, Fleming, Gray, Blanton, and Smith; also Te'o is possible) and three of them are in the secondary.

Yes, Ishaq is more physically impressive than Fleming, but he has no idea what he's doing. There will be some growing pains. The new starters at corner should have a combined zero starts. Lo Wood's interception was awesome, but he's small and he got absolutely undressed by Robert Woods and again last night on a deep out. Our new starter at safety will be Zeke Motta. Ouch.

lets not forget the BQ didn't get as big as he was until his Jr and Sr season, he was much smaller as a freshman

It's not really size we're concerned with.

Quinn had a far stronger arm and was far more athletic.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

If anything, our defense will be less stout. We lose as many as six players with 20+ starts under their belts (Johnson, Fleming, Gray, Blanton, and Smith; also Te'o is possible) and three of them are in the secondary.

Yes, Ishaq is more physically impressive than Fleming, but he has no idea what he's doing. There will be some growing pains. The new starters at corner should have a combined zero starts. Lo Wood's interception was awesome, but he's small and he got absolutely undressed by Robert Woods and again last night on a deep out. Our new starter at safety will be Zeke Motta. Ouch.

I think what we lose in experience we gain in athleticism. Losing Johnson and Fleming will hurt, but I think having a more experienced Lynch, Tuitt, and Nix along with a Schwenke more than makes up for their loss. We have a plethora of LBs who I think will be one year wiser and stronger(with Te'o).

You are right about the secondary. It will be again our weak link but my thinking is that we really do not rely on our secondary to make any plays now. It is rare that we play tight man to man coverage. So the young guys that we might start next year will not have to win games for us. They just have to read and react just like Smith and Gray. The biggest loss is Blanton. He is a player. Slaughter will likely take over Smith's position. Same as the front seven, we will lose some experience but I think we gain in athleticism...especially speed.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

BQ and the O-Line were a QB sneak success nearly every time. Tommy has some work to do there.

 

[Riddickulous]

BQ and the O-Line were a QB sneak success nearly every time. Tommy has some work to do there.

So successful that Hammond/Haden wouldn't shut up about it every time we ran a QB sneak for years afterward.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

So successful that Hammond/Haden wouldn't shut up about it every time we ran a QB sneak for years afterward.

Man, why you gotta put me in a grouping with those guys? Damn.

 

[IrishinSyria]

1) Combine an easy schedule (minus Stanford) with a ton of experience on D, O-line, and some key skill positions (going to miss you Floyd) and this was our "perfect storm" year.

2) Brady Quinn's story was always linked to Weis- until Charlie came along he was basically un-coached, and he played like it.

3) The difference in talent level between the 2004 ND fighting Irish and this year's team make this comparison absurd.

I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the point. As good as Tommy's been this year, the thing he excels at is getting the football to Floyd and Eifert and letting them be better than the defense. So far, he's run into huge problems when those two are effectively covered. I just don't see that changing, and I'm very worried about what happens to our offense next year if Rees remains the started and Floyd is gone.

Basically, it feels like Tommy is playing at the top of his game right now, with the exception of the odd poor throw. Quinn was nowehere near that, it was the key to Charlie's early success that he unlocked the potential in BQ. Don't see a similar thing happening next year.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

1) Combine an easy schedule (minus Stanford) with a ton of experience on D, O-line, and some key skill positions (going to miss you Floyd) and this was our "perfect storm" year.

2) Brady Quinn's story was always linked to Weis- until Charlie came along he was basically un-coached, and he played like it.

3) The difference in talent level between the 2004 ND fighting Irish and this year's team make this comparison absurd.

I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the point. As good as Tommy's been this year, the thing he excels at is getting the football to Floyd and Eifert and letting them be better than the defense. So far, he's run into huge problems when those two are effectively covered. I just don't see that changing, and I'm very worried about what happens to our offense next year if Rees remains the started and Floyd is gone.

Basically, it feels like Tommy is playing at the top of his game right now, with the exception of the odd poor throw. Quinn was nowehere near that, it was the key to Charlie's early success that he unlocked the potential in BQ. Don't see a similar thing happening next year.

I agree with a lot of what you said here. But, I don't necessarily see that Tommy can't get better. His ceiling isn't as high as Brady's was because of his physical limitations. But, he's gradually reading defenses better, going through progressions, making effective audibles, etc. He's getting better every game.

 

[obi wan mahoney]

I'd like to see him fine tune his accuracy on the deeper passes so we can stretch the field more often.

 

[BobD]

Rees doesn't have Quinn's physical tools.

Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it. ~Jeff Spicoli

Zero relevance, it just popped into my mind when I read your post.

 

[Patulski]

3) The difference in talent level between the 2004 ND fighting Irish and this year's team make this comparison absurd..

Absurd?


Starters from 2004 team that were drafted:

Justin Tuck
John Sullivan
Brady Quinn
Victor Abiamiri
Ryan Harris
Derek Landri
Tom Zbikowski
Dan Stevenson
Maurice Stovall
Anthony Fasano


Other meaningful players and NFL draftees on 2004 team:

Ryan Grant (Free Agent) still in NFL
Mark LeVoir: Free Agent, still in NFL
Mike Richardson (Started 4 games): Drafted
Dan Santucci (started one game in 2004) Drafted
Chinedum Ndukwe (special teams in 2004): Drafted
Trevor Laws (played 121 minutes in 2004) Drafted
John Carlson *Started 2 games in 2004/Special teams): Drafted

 

[GreatGolson]

I think this week was very important in Tommy's development, yes he played a very weak secondary, but he made great reads and put the ball on the money almost every time, i haven't checked his stats but this was one of his most accurate games.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I think this week was very important in Tommy's development, yes he played a very weak secondary, but he made great reads and put the ball on the money almost every time, i haven't checked his stats but this was one of his most accurate games.

30 for 38, 296 yards, 2 TDs.

And had 3 drops from his WRs.

 

[#1irishfan]

MY GOD!!! You all are so good at telling the future of someone who has done nothing but win, that I'm starting to believe you when you say "He sucks"..........NOT!

 

[GreatGolson]

the one thing it seems a lot of people take as a foregone conclusion is that "Tommy has reached his ceiling" and that he wont get better. We have to remember how good of a QB developer BK is. im not sure if tommy will get better, but i do not understand why no one thinks tommy can improve?

 

[IrishJayhawk]

.

 

[03euroSVT]

I'm not to concerned about Tommy getting a body of a greek god as someone else already said. Tommy has good touch on the ball and makes some awesome throws and reads. Then he does some really stupid stuff that makes no sense to me. I can see him getting even better and if our running game is just as good next year, I see no reason why Tommy can't improve.

Tommy has a better completion percentage than both BQ and JC in their sophomore years.

 

[ryno 24]

the one thing it seems a lot of people take as a foregone conclusion is that "Tommy has reached his ceiling" and that he wont get better. We have to remember how good of a QB developer BK is. im not sure if tommy will get better, but i do not understand why no one thinks tommy can improve?

He has not reached his ceiling and as I said to OMM in the post game thread he is our quarterback this year. But he does have a lower ceiling and he is limited by his physical tools. But he has matured a lot this year and I am impressed by his leadership ability

 

[midnightrider28]

Tommy is the better manager. Just needs a bit more arm strength though.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

I agree, it is nice to see him getting better. And even with moving in the pocket. The problem I have still is that his running ability, the pass to Eifert was a very short (a really nice pass, but short) and not a longer pass on the run. Is his running ability going to get better? Is he going to become a better athlete in a year? The other problem I have is his arm going to get stronger over the next year? Can he throw on the run while rolling out? Or flushed, and has to be longer than 15 yards? I think it is no to these and this is the problem I really have with him, outside the turnovers that he is now looking to be improving.

If we are fine with this short passing game, great. IF we want to extend the field Tommy is not the guy. And this is why I firmly believe Tommy is not a good QB. Good teams (not the Wake's and Marylands of the world, but really good teams) will figure us out and this short passing game. There isn't any vertical passes, and if they are thrown guys have to slow down and come back for the ball, AKA the Wide open Floyd two games ago on a 35 yard pass--where he almost had to stop for the ball.

I am super happy Tommy is getting better, it makes us a better team. But, is he really going to get arm strength or athletic ability in a year? I don't think so, so this short passing game is here to stay as long as Tommy is our QB. At least he isn't turning the ball over at an epic rate.

And the overall comparisons to him and BQ are crazy. Brady was an athlete, a vocal leader, big arm--right now Tommy has none of those abiliies. The only one he can get is the vocal leader the athlete and big arm--can you really improve on those???? I don't think so, maybe a little on the arm. Either God gave you those or not.

 

[irishpat183]

Hate to say it, but physical tools will keep Tommy from reaching "that" level. Especially in this offense. Love what he's done, but I see Hendrix or Golston (or a QB of that nature) take over this offense before long.

And his turnovers seem to come at the worst times...BQ really didn't turn the ball over in crutical spots, at least from what I remember. Tommy has some Romo in him.

Tommy could end up like Dayne...benched his SR year for a more athletically gifted QB.