Dayne, Rees, Massa, or Hendrix

[chyrspchuck]

He was a walk-on. We had some free scholarships. He was going to be the backup, and they awarded him one. It's a 1 year contract. BGIF disagreed with me on this, but if we are close on scholarships - I have no doubt that they'll have his wealthy father foot the bill.

TT don't want you thinking I don't appreciate all your efforts, wasn't trying to insinuate I didn't appreciate your efforts just because I want BGIF posting daily again.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yes

Terry, Terry, Terry, Terry!

 

[jmurphy75]

Everyone with the "if" scenerios......well if my aunt had ball she'd be my uncle. I'm pretty sure that BK will play the best QB that's available.

 

[kmoose]

Sanchez and Vince Young spent 4 years in College.

So they are both, what, sophomores, academically?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronb
Sanchez and Vince Young spent 4 years in College.

So they are both, what, sophomores, academically?

They would be, but some of their classes didn't transfer, and their attendance wasn't too hot.

 

[Riddickulous]

The one good thing is that we'll see a ton of depth at the position in the next few seasons.

 

[bert2834]

I noticed in the post game celebration that Hendrix was dressed for the Utah game.

Has he dressed all season?

 

[IrishLax]

I noticed in the post game celebration that Hendrix was dressed for the Utah game.

Has he dressed all season?

He was the emergency QB for this game. I do not believe he has dressed all season.

 

[bert2834]

Thanks man!

 

[Riddickulous]

It will be a very, very interesting offseason for the Irish.

IMO, the depth chart heading into spring will be...

1. Rees
2. Hendrix
3. Massa/Montana

Keeping in mind that Dayne Crist's new knee injury will take a full six months to heal.

Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix are two different breeds of quarterback. Rees does not have a major arm, but has displayed great touch and accuracy in his throws with a quick release. Hendrix has the strongest arm on the team and mobility with a very quick release.

The offense Rees currently runs is a severely dumbed down version of our offense. It'll be up to Rees to learn the full package of plays in the offseason. He has a massive head start on Hendrix, who it has been implied knows little of the playbook. IMO, unless Dayne Crist miraculously recovers, it's Tommy's job to lose.

I'm loving our quarterback depth, which we haven't had in a long, long time.

 

[IrishLax]

It will be a very, very interesting offseason for the Irish.

IMO, the depth chart heading into spring will be...

1. Rees
2. Hendrix
3. Massa/Montana

Keeping in mind that Dayne Crist's new knee injury will take a full six months to heal.

Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix are two different breeds of quarterback. Rees does not have a major arm, but has displayed great touch and accuracy in his throws with a quick release. Hendrix has the strongest arm on the team and mobility with a very quick release.

The offense Rees currently runs is a severely dumbed down version of our offense. It'll be up to Rees to learn the full package of plays in the offseason. He has a massive head start on Hendrix, who it has been implied knows little of the playbook. IMO, unless Dayne Crist miraculously recovers, it's Tommy's job to lose.

I'm loving our quarterback depth, which we haven't had in a long, long time.

Spring game will certainly be interesting and may go a long way in deciding the depth chart in the fall. If Crist is healthy, I expect a completely open competition in the fall.

 

[Lou Holtz]

i live near Hendrix, saw him play and wasn't that impressed but maybe he has grown as a qb... that being said Tommy looked good yesterday

 

[BeatSC]

Rees equal Sharpley

Rees equal Sharpley

I think Rees has given the teama little spark but we will not be able to get the most out of our athletes with his limitations. MAkes good quick reads and has much better touch than DC but he will not be the QB to take ND in the spread offense to a BCS game.

 

[jason_h537]

Ress is better than Sharpley, he is a smart calm qb but he isnt gonna be the future unfortunatly.

I still say its Dayne if he recovers quickly. He is still more physically gifted than anyone on the roster except maybe Hendrix.

 

[PatsandBostonfan1975]

Rees may not be most gifted Qb on team but he does look really calm for such a young man. It's one game so I know it doesnt mean much but I cant remeber A win this big in a while that's got to count for something .

 

[IrishinSyria]

Ress is better than Sharpley, he is a smart calm qb but he isnt gonna be the future unfortunatly.

I still say its Dayne if he recovers quickly. He is still more physically gifted than anyone on the roster except maybe Hendrix.

I think this is about right. Rees managed the game very well against Utah and made 3 great passes (the two touchdowns to Duval+ the bullet to Eiffert), but that's not the type of football Kelly wants to play every game. Unless Tommy becomes the type of QB who can really air it out, I think Dayne is still the presumed #1 for next year.

 

[dshans]

Rees managed the game very well against Utah and made 3 great passes (the two touchdowns to Duval+ the bullet to Eiffert), but that's not the type of football Kelly wants to play every game. Unless Tommy becomes the type of QB who can really air it out, I think Dayne is still the presumed #1 for next year.

There were a few "midrange" passes that Rees threw/forced into very tight single or smothering double coverage that he was lucky to have wind up incomplete. Passes that could have been returned for significant yards if not TD's. They scared the hell out of me.

I can only hope that Crist heals and returns as sturdy as water buffalo. Otherwise I'd like to see Rees develop an arm for long throws (paging Paul Longo) and a more instinctive, quick read of coverage. At this point Hendrix is an unknown quantity. Indications are that he has arm strength, but does he have "touch" or "quicks?" Who knows? Time will tell and those close to him will know.

Regardless, I'll absorb and endure the ride. Whether I enjoy it or not is to be seen. Not that my individual, personal enjoyment means jack.

Excelsior!

 

[tommyIRISH23]

There were a few "midrange" passes that Rees threw/forced into very tight single or smothering double coverage that he was lucky to have wind up incomplete. Passes that could have been returned for significant yards if not TD's. They scared the hell out of me.

I can only hope that Crist heals and returns as sturdy as water buffalo. Otherwise I'd like to see Rees develop an arm for long throws (paging Paul Longo) and a more instinctive, quick read of coverage. At this point Hendrix is an unknown quantity. Indications are that he has arm strength, but does he have "touch" or "quicks?" Who knows? Time will tell and those close to him will know.

Regardless, I'll absorb and endure the ride. Whether I enjoy it or not is to be seen. Not that my individual, personal enjoyment means jack.

Excelsior!

Rees managed the game, and got a victory over a top 25 team, the first in 4 seasons. He is far from being a top QB, and has a ton of growing to do, both physically, and mentally. But, the offense looked like an offense with him at the helm. Was it because the rest of the guys had to rally behind him? Maybe? But whatever it was, the offense seemed to flow for the first time this season. He played football, and did not think. He shook the jitters early (jitters I still think Dayne had up until he got hurt), and came out to do his job.

I am sorry, but I do not think Dayne is number 1. His best case scenario is that he will come out and compete. His injury, and recovery is going to put him way behind the curve (especially if we go bowling). I think Dayne has the tools physically, but for whatever reason he was just not comfortable behind center, and had a lot of trouble understanding mentally what to do, and the team just could not get going. He seemed to lack confidence. Rees will get bigger/stronger, and learn the offense...especially if he ends the season with a bowl win/usc win, he'll go into the spring with a TON of confidence. He'll be hard to knock off.

Hendrix is the wild card. I think Crist best chance to play is to beat him out for the #2, and get some time if Rees does not pan out the first few games. But, Hendrix, will have those extra bowl practices, and all spring to learn, and compete.

It's an uphill climb for Dayne.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I have no more wisdom than the rest of us bull-s***ers, but since this is just that: I would like to see a quarterback who actually not only understood the entirety of Kelly's offense [and I believe that all four will do that by next fall], but understood the quirks of how his receivers actually run routes [who will be best at that??], can deliver the variety of passes with strength and touch [I have seen nothing to make me assume that Rees will not have both skills---look at the strength gain Jimmy put on one year to the next], can RUN without going to the hospital, and is willing to run [can Dayne do this??], can exhibit the demeanor and the actuality of a relaxed yet intensely competitive driver of the machine, make read-progressions [something that I think Rees has done pretty well], and can look the monsters in the huddle in the eyes and inspire them to make an even bigger effort this play than last [who can do this is a mystery].

I have seen no incontrovertible evidence separating Tommy Rees from Dayne Crist, nor anything at all for Andrew Hendrix or Luke Massa to help me evaluate this constellation of QB requirements. It's an intriguing stageplay for me at this point with no obvious plot finish, except hopefully a happy ending.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I have seen no incontrovertible evidence separating Tommy Rees from Dayne Crist, nor anything at all for Andrew Hendrix or Luke Massa to help me evaluate this constellation of QB requirements. It's an intriguing stageplay for me at this point with no obvious plot finish, except hopefully a happy ending.

Great post, however I will disagree with 2 points. One, as far as arm strength goes, I don't think there's any doubt that Dayne has a much stronger arm. (On the other hand, Rees delivers the ball on time with much more consistency than Dayne did, making up for his lack of big-time arm strength.)

And two, I've yet to see Rees run. He simply hasn't done it. On the sone-read play, he always gives it to the RB, whereas Dayne was starting to tuck and run. If you remember, BK played Montana more vs. MIchigan b/c he could run better than Rees.

I've been thoroughly impresses with Rees so far, but it does concern me that he hasn't run yet on the option read. We need that for this offense to purr...

 

[tko]

Great post, however I will disagree with 2 points. One, as far as arm strength goes, I don't think there's any doubt that Dayne has a much stronger arm. (On the other hand, Rees delivers the ball on time with much more consistency than Dayne did, making up for his lack of big-time arm strength.)

And two, I've yet to see Rees run. He simply hasn't done it. On the sone-read play, he always gives it to the RB, whereas Dayne was starting to tuck and run. If you remember, BK played Montana more vs. MIchigan b/c he could run better than Rees.

I've been thoroughly impresses with Rees so far, but it does concern me that he hasn't run yet on the option read. We need that for this offense to purr...

BK may be having Rees simply hand it right now. I'm sure he'll let him keep it in the coming games, depending on situations. The last thing we need is another man down.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Next spring will be interesting to see how the qb competition heats up. We really have some good kids at this position, but it is way too early to tell who will beat out who at this point because of all the variables. With everything else aside, Tommy really came out and played extremely well I think. We didn't need him to have a cannon of an arm and throw 60+yard bombs..., we just needed him to run and execute this offense and not make a lot of mistakes. He did exactly that..., he ran this offense pretty well and made few mistakes and to be honest that was a big key to our victory plus the outstanding play by our defense.

 

[Rocket89]

Great post, however I will disagree with 2 points. One, as far as arm strength goes, I don't think there's any doubt that Dayne has a much stronger arm. (On the other hand, Rees delivers the ball on time with much more consistency than Dayne did, making up for his lack of big-time arm strength.)

And two, I've yet to see Rees run. He simply hasn't done it. On the sone-read play, he always gives it to the RB, whereas Dayne was starting to tuck and run. If you remember, BK played Montana more vs. MIchigan b/c he could run better than Rees.

I've been thoroughly impresses with Rees so far, but it does concern me that he hasn't run yet on the option read. We need that for this offense to purr...

I agree, Rees doesn't have a big arm, but he is making up for it with good timing and smart decisions.

I also think he's benefitting from a simplified playbook that in many ways is more effective than what was run with Crist for most of the year.

Doesn't it seem like the Utah and Purdue games were pretty similar? Just a lot of easy reads for both QB's and a decent, but not overly impressive productive day on offense.

I too am concerned with Rees' lack of running. I was pretty shocked that the Irish ran the ball as well as they did considering Rees always hands the ball off. There was a play early in the game where he gave it to Wood and 9 defenders followed the running back leaving a massive opening on the right side of the field.

With even a marginally athletic kid with decent speed (quicker than Crist or Rees) that is a 20 or 30 yard gain and maybe a touchdown.

Rees has played great but he's going to have to exhibit that he is so much further along as a passer and decision maker than anyone else on the roster in order to keep his job, because an athletic QB who can run will make this offense 35% more effective.

 

[CanadianIrish]

Great post, however I will disagree with 2 points. One, as far as arm strength goes, I don't think there's any doubt that Dayne has a much stronger arm. (On the other hand, Rees delivers the ball on time with much more consistency than Dayne did, making up for his lack of big-time arm strength.)

And two, I've yet to see Rees run. He simply hasn't done it. On the sone-read play, he always gives it to the RB, whereas Dayne was starting to tuck and run. If you remember, BK played Montana more vs. MIchigan b/c he could run better than Rees.

I've been thoroughly impresses with Rees so far, but it does concern me that he hasn't run yet on the option read. We need that for this offense to purr...

Tommy should be able to run and perform the zone read effectively, because he's been playing in a similar offense for years. The fact that he isn't running leads me to believe that it's based on instructions from the sidelines - he's a small guy still and we don't have much backing him up if we really are dedicated to preserving Hendrix's eligibility.

Looking back at the game, the most promising of Tommy's throws was the third touchdown. It wasn't a true fade, but he showed incredible touch on that pass and it was basically undefendable. On the flip side, the second TD was another example of his lack of arm strength - Crist throws that in there on a rope, Tommy had to lob it in and if DK wasn't so wide open that would have been dangerous.

In any event, watching Tommy grow is lots of fun, and the spring certainly will be interesting.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Tommy should be able to run and perform the zone read effectively, because he's been playing in a similar offense for years. The fact that he isn't running leads me to believe that it's based on instructions from the sidelines - he's a small guy still and we don't have much backing him up if we really are dedicated to preserving Hendrix's eligibility.

Looking back at the game, the most promising of Tommy's throws was the third touchdown. It wasn't a true fade, but he showed incredible touch on that pass and it was basically undefendable. On the flip side, the second TD was another example of his lack of arm strength - Crist throws that in there on a rope, Tommy had to lob it in and if DK wasn't so wide open that would have been dangerous.

In any event, watching Tommy grow is lots of fun, and the spring certainly will be interesting.

I agree. Haha look how small he is out there, a middle LB would break him, and the fact we have nothing behind him, he's probably told not to run.

I think he will grow physically over the offseason. And, if he wins out, including a bowl, it will be his spot to lose come August.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Doesn't it seem like the Utah and Purdue games were pretty similar? Just a lot of easy reads for both QB's and a decent, but not overly impressive productive day on offense.
is a 20 or 30 yard gain and maybe a touchdown.

Yes. Kelly clearly dialed back the reads about 7 notches for both games.

Crist's line from Purdue

CRIST, Dayne 19-26-0 205 1 34(long) 3(sacks)

Tommy's line from Utah

REES, Tommy 13-20-0 129 3 26 2

13-20 for 130 yards is not the offense Brian Kelly came to run. Again, I think Tommy played great, but I'd say "not so fast" to anybody who is ready to call him the QB of the future.

 

[IrishBlood81]

Anyone else think it kinda strange that we didn't see Dayne on the sidelines at all during the game? And the Announcers didn't mention him once.
Usually, at the very least, they say Rees starting for Dayne after a season ending injury...or some update from the injury, but I was very surprised to see/hear nothing.

81

 

[IrishinSyria]

Anyone else think it kinda strange that we didn't see Dayne on the sidelines at all during the game? And the Announcers didn't mention him once.
Usually, at the very least, they say Rees starting for Dayne after a season ending injury...or some update from the injury, but I was very surprised to see/hear nothing.

81

I'm almost positive that I saw him talking to Rees after one of the touchdowns.

 

[CanadianIrish]

I agree. Haha look how small he is out there, a middle LB would break him, and the fact we have nothing behind him, he's probably told not to run.

I think he will grow physically over the offseason. And, if he wins out, including a bowl, it will be his spot to lose come August.

He looks tiny, I find it hard to believe his 'official' measurements. If I was coaching this team with Nate Montana as my backup and the third QB being someone I (apparently) want to desperately preserve eligibility for, I wouldn't let him run at all.