Expectations for 2012?

[greyhammer90]

If anyone is going to be in Heisman race it is Cierre or Theo. They are going to be the bulk of the offense. I think you will be very very surprised with Theo

Not saying it won't happen. But how many preseason-hype chances does Theo get? Every year at ND has been "his year" so far. He's like ND's version of Tony Romo.

 

[military_irish]

Not saying it won't happen. But how many preseason-hype chances does Theo get? Every year at ND has been "his year" so far. He's like ND's version of Tony Romo.

To be fair to Theo, in 2010 he was transitioning to WR in a new offense and last year he had an ankle injury at one point which hampered his season.

The thing that is unfortunate for all college athletes is the fact they have a limited time to excel. Hopefully his final year he will go out with a bang.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

He is finally playing "his" position. He wasnt bad at WR, but the kid is a RB. Now he has more freedom in the offense with their schemes. Kelly couldnt move him around that much when he is the starting slot guy.

To those saying Kelly didnt adapt to his players as far as game planning....What would you have him do? There isnt a fullback on the roster so going to a prostyle offense wasnt going to work. Id prefer Tommy to be in the shotgun to be able to get a full view of the defense as well as get that extra split second to make a decision. I feel that they should have gone to the zone blocking scheme earlier no doubt, but I dont think he could have done much more different to cater to his hand on offense.

In my opinion if Hendrix was going to take the job, he would have gotten PT last year to show if he was a gamer. The kid may prove me wrong, but our QB play couldnt have gotten much worse as far as play making, so with him not getting PT its very telling. If BK was running option every series, or read plays yeah I would be the first to stay he is pulling a Weis and being stubborn. BK reeled it back so much it wasnt funny. You remember the hype of the "vertical" spread BK ran at previous stops? ND hasnt run that since Crist got hurt. Tommy is good 18 yards and under. That is what Kelly ran with the occasional deep shot that you HAVE to take. But other than that there wasnt many plays with deeper options.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

TP:

Do you think Kelly will lean heavily on the ground game this season? That seems to be where our offensive strengths are-- TE, OL and RB.

 

[woolybug25]

In my opinion if Hendrix was going to take the job, he would have gotten PT last year to show if he was a gamer. The kid may prove me wrong, but our QB play couldnt have gotten much worse as far as play making, so with him not getting PT its very telling. If BK was running option every series, or read plays yeah I would be the first to stay he is pulling a Weis and being stubborn. BK reeled it back so much it wasnt funny. You remember the hype of the "vertical" spread BK ran at previous stops? ND hasnt run that since Crist got hurt. Tommy is good 18 yards and under. That is what Kelly ran with the occasional deep shot that you HAVE to take. But other than that there wasnt many plays with deeper options.

I'm not sure I am with you on Hendrix getting PT. For a backup, he got some decent opportunities to show what he had, imo. Furthermore, although he ran the read option a lot, his pass plays almost always had deep shot opportunities in them. Take a look at the youtube of him and tell me what you think.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sop5_PEsmxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

and here's Tommy's game winning drive against Pitt. They threw the ball 8 times and 4 out of the 8 had deep options in them. He only took two of them (completed both, btw), but the option was there for half of them. I don't have time to go over all of the pass plays over the season, but I feel like that was pretty indicadive of the rest of the season. So I don't know whether it was Kelly "reeling back" or Tommy just taking the check downs too often. You tell me...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Kg6ljpk2kLE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I feel like both Rees and Hendrix got opportunities to show whether or not they were "gamers". I feel like we have a good idea of what we get with both of them.

 

[DSully1995]

I'd be content with Hendrix, however i personally dont see him getting us to a BCS level.

 

[ACamp1900]

Yeah it could have been more of a situation of Tommy simply preferring the underneath options more so than past BK quarter backs, every QB is different... I haven't looked at tape enough (at all over the last two years) to know for sure but that is a real possibility.

 

[NDinL.A.]

and here's Tommy's game winning drive against Pitt. They threw the ball 8 times and 4 out of the 8 had deep options in them. He only took two of them (completed both, btw), but the option was there for half of them. I don't have time to go over all of the pass plays over the season, but I feel like that was pretty indicadive of the rest of the season. So I don't know whether it was Kelly "reeling back" or Tommy just taking the check downs too often. You tell me...

I feel like both Rees and Hendrix got opportunities to show whether or not they were "gamers". I feel like we have a good idea of what we get with both of them.

I think Tommy just regressed as the season went along, and with that regression, his reluctance to go down the field grew. At the time of the Pitt game, he was still putting up big numbers and did so a couple of times afterwards against very weak teams. BUt by the end of the year, he was just awful. And I say this completely agreeing with BK that he should've started Rees over Crist (love Crist the human, can't get over the deer-in-headlights look from him though). Rees, another kid I love as a person, should not start again unless the other kids falter badly (wouldn't mind him coming off the bench in a close game though if the other QB fails - he is a gamer, no doubt, and seems to thrive off pressure situations when his mind is right).

As for Hendrix, I disagree with you. I think BK messed that one up. He didn't give Hendrix enough opportunities. There were games where he should have played him MUCH earlier (Maryland comes to mind), and much more (FSU comes to mind - he threw a bad pick but Rees was just putrid in that game). I would have loved to have seen more of Andrew so we could have a better idea of just what he can do, but unfortunately, we didn't get enough it. I love BK, but IMHO he screw the pooch there...

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Are tickets only available today through the ND box office? I have a ticketmaster gift card that I'd love to use on getting tickets. Does anyone know if they'll be on sale through ticketmaster today as well? Thanks.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

I agree Wooly to a point on Rees as far as options for deep plays earlier in the year. Let me ask you this though, how many times did our WR take it for a big game after the catch, or get behind the D and Tommy hit them? Not many on both bc he was throwing routes where the defense was on quick throws. For arguements sake outside of the occasional Floyd deep shot, there was never really any deep shots taken at any other position. TJ had the long one for a TD vs MSU, Theo had the one at the end vs Mich, and Eifert had a few. But look at a Okla St, Oklahoma, Clemson, WVU, they are taking shots down the seam, deep outs, etc all game. That is essentially what BK ran at Cincy/CMU. That is not what he is running at ND.

Yes ND is going to try to run the ball 40xs a game I get the feeling. Nothing is changing from the reports in the spring....2 and 3 TE should be the norm. I think it will be kinda like Florida offense to a point when Tebow was there minus the QB runs. You are going to see Cwood, Theo/GA3/Neal/Amir/etc in the backfield at the sametime, or motion one of them to the slot/outside. There is going to be more motion to take advantage of getting a Theo/Ga3/Neal/Amir on a OLB or against a safety. It will be interesting to see how much read they run bc they really cant afford an injury to the qb.

 

[Emcee77]

The real difference last year came when teams realized they could just drop back in coverage on Tommy and he wouldn't know what to do. Too slow to make them pay running the ball, and too spastic to wait till he could find an open guy (plus that's not really how the system is designed anyway; it's designed for the QB to make a quick decision).

I still think (along with Hollywood) that starting Rees was the right move. "Deer-in-headlights" look is exactly the right way to describe Crist on the field. When I see that I always think of Kordell Stewart for the Pittsburgh Steelers ... all the talent in the world, but you knew by that look that he was never going to make it as a starting QB in the NFL. Same with Crist (though I wish him all the best at KU).

 

[Black Irish]

Serious question, because I don't know; why can't you run a pro style offense without a fullback? Can't you do a 2 back set up using 2 HB/tailbacks? I know you wouldn't want to do this every play because you don't want to waste a good hands guy as a blocking back. But why not work a 2 back setup in here and there, especially when you have the RB depth that the Irish have this season?

 

[PANDFAN]

I'd be content with Hendrix, however i personally dont see him getting us to a BCS level.

i just see him being sooo damn rigid...he looks like a robot out there...fast ball every throw...and def agree on the BCS comment

 

[Josh007]

The start of consistency and growth at the quarterback position. Things might just fall into place then....

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Serious question, because I don't know; why can't you run a pro style offense without a fullback? Can't you do a 2 back set up using 2 HB/tailbacks? I know you wouldn't want to do this every play because you don't want to waste a good hands guy as a blocking back. But why not work a 2 back setup in here and there, especially when you have the RB depth that the Irish have this season?

It's not so much a personnel problem-- Kelly uses TEs, RBs, and OL as lead blockers frequently-- as it is a totally different philosophy. Without going into too much detail, spread teams utilize the entire width of the field, sideline to sideline, to "spread" the defense out, thereby creating exploitable matchup advantages (RB on LB, TE on CB, etc.) Conversely, pro-style teams tend to work vertically-- either running between or tackles or deep play-action passes-- to create advantages in that plane.

There are also significant differences in the type of athlete each style recruits at various positions, QB play, etc. In short, Kelly could not have simply switched to a pro-style offense to better suit Rees last season.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

Team had workouts inside the stadium today. Motto: Protect this House. We will see if this continues as a on the regular thing!

Mentality is changing fellas.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Talk about mentality changing. Our qb, (with no disrespect) used to be Bambi, and is rapidly becoming Simba.

I still think the ND offense was dictated by qb talent. And I don't think one of the two had(has) the physical ability to run the offense at the bcs level. Running Reese, (only choice early last year) takes away too many options, therefore tools. And that won't change for the next two years.

BK has a way of selecting his qb. He tried with Dayne, didn't work; he is putting the same pressure on EG right now. EG has the natural tools to make things work.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Just trolling around BleacherReport , cause they are such good reporters and all... Came accross a guy who bought the NCAA game and simulated all the games. Looks decent for us though.

Virtual Simulation Stimulation: Forecasting the Season with NCAA 13 | Bleacher Report

 

[sharksamardzija8345]

I expect kelly to pitter patter with the QB's, show ridiculous faith in his boy Rees and lead us to a 7-5 or 8-4 season while wasting a year of development for one of the younger guys which will ultimately lead to similar conversations next summer..

I hope he picks Golson, lets him deal with some of the growing pains and lets him hold the job without having to look over his shoulder the entire year even though we very well may go 7-5.. I really don't think we can get 9 wins with Rees, so what's the point in trotting him out there and limiting the effectiveness of the offense?

I also expect and hope Golson develops some strong connections with our relatively young WR group and finds someone he can count on on 3rd and 7 when Eiffert will be triple covered

I expect this year to be a MUST WIN NOW year in the eyes of the media, but I don't necessarily think it should be.. new QB, brutal schedule and inexperienced secondary lead me to believe next year is yet another building year, and I'm very much OK with that..

I know some of you (all of you?) may disagree.. winning is so huge for recruiting, but I hope a 7-5 or 8-4 season doesn't deter our commits and prospects, but in my heart of hearts I feel like that is this team's ceiling given the QB situation

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I expect kelly to pitter patter with the QB's, show ridiculous faith in his boy Rees and lead us to a 7-5 or 8-4 season while wasting a year of development for one of the younger guys which will ultimately lead to similar conversations next summer..
I hope he picks Golson, lets him deal with some of the growing pains and lets him hold the job without having to look over his shoulder the entire year even though we very well may go 7-5.. I really don't think we can get 9 wins with Rees, so what's the point in trotting him out there and limiting the effectiveness of the offense?

I also expect and hope Golson develops some strong connections with our relatively young WR group and finds someone he can count on on 3rd and 7 when Eiffert will be triple covered

I expect this year to be a MUST WIN NOW year in the eyes of the media, but I don't necessarily think it should be.. new QB, brutal schedule and inexperienced secondary lead me to believe next year is yet another building year, and I'm very much OK with that..

I know some of you (all of you?) may disagree.. winning is so huge for recruiting, but I hope a 7-5 or 8-4 season doesn't deter our commits and prospects, but in my heart of hearts I feel like that is this team's ceiling given the QB situation

Why would you expect this? Really? Why would someone work themselves to the top of their career ladder, and just shoot themselves in the foot? That is stupid, (beyond belief).

Since Kelly is not stupid, (my reference), I guess a more possible scenario, is listening to Kelly, he came to ND and found he did not have a quarterback that could run his offense. So, with what he had, he picked the one who could protect himself the best.

Now he has a quarterback. I am telling you, the spring, the spring game, and everything else you have seen is to get EG ready, and AH will spell him this year.

Golson has already made connections with numerous receivers. Kelly isn't worried about wins for recruiting; he is interested in winning a NC. Period.

 

[Patulski]

I dont agree with that, sure its the coaches job to understand their players and get them ready for each and every game. But a lot of Rees' mistakes were bonehead plays that had nothing to do with bad coaching, but poor player decision and just down-right *palm to the face* type of plays.

A team with a QB with poor decision making is always going to produce average to mediocre results. Whether a QB tries to make throws he can't physically make, or misreads coverages, or both, it's all the same. Failure. It's up to the coaches to understand the QB's weaknesses and strengths and adapt to them. It is also up to the coaches to recognize high risk plays with high failure ratios and adapt to them.

How many times in the past two years have our QB's thrown an interception on a roll out pass that was thrown down field? Crist did it, Rees did it, Kelly kept calling it. Crist had a stronger arm, which you would presume would give him an advantage throwing down field while rolling out, but both of them killed drives throwing that pass. And I can't remember any big completions down field on rollouts, can you? But I remember Crist killing a drive on that pass play against MSU in 2010, and I remember Rees throwing a pick on that play against BC in 2011. I know there are more than just two. I bring it up as an example of understanding the capability of your personnel-both physically and mentally- and adapting to it, as well as understanding which plays have high risk ratios and taking them out of the playbook. I believe the greats do this. I hope Kelly gets there.

 

[sharksamardzija8345]

Why would you expect this? Really? Why would someone work themselves to the top of their career ladder, and just shoot themselves in the foot? That is stupid, (beyond belief).

Since Kelly is not stupid, (my reference), I guess a more possible scenario, is listening to Kelly, he came to ND and found he did not have a quarterback that could run his offense. So, with what he had, he picked the one who could protect himself the best.

Now he has a quarterback. I am telling you, the spring, the spring game, and everything else you have seen is to get EG ready, and AH will spell him this year.

Golson has already made connections with numerous receivers. Kelly isn't worried about wins for recruiting; he is interested in winning a NC. Period.

I hope he understands that, but until he is announced as the starter I have my reservations.. I obviously didn't mean he'd pitter patter around on purpose, yes that would be stupid, but I think it still might happen based on history.. the quick pull of Dayne coupled with not starting Hendrix in the bowl game are the decisions I'm basing my opinion off of.. I am with you 100%, I think it's Golson and I hope it's Golson.. if it was 100% Golson, why wait to announce it?

I agree as well that he is interested in winning a NC.. but it isn't going to be this year, which is why I hope EG gets the nod to get the kinks out in year 1.. I think you misinterpreted the tone of my post or perhaps I wrote it to come off wrong.. I guess my way of looking at it is expect the worst and hope for the best with our QB situation.. I just want the competition to be over and for EG to be announced so we can move forward.. I don't like that it's still a competition with Rees in it.. his max ceiling is 8 or 9 wins (oklahoma, stanford, usc all pretty much good chances for losses) so I don't see the real difference in winning 8/9 games and winning 7/8 games if it means sacrificing the development of a terrific athlete..

 

[NDhoosier]

A team with a QB with poor decision making is always going to produce average to mediocre results. Whether a QB tries to make throws he can't physically make, or misreads coverages, or both, it's all the same. Failure. It's up to the coaches to understand the QB's weaknesses and strengths and adapt to them. It is also up to the coaches to recognize high risk plays with high failure ratios and adapt to them.

How many times in the past two years have our QB's thrown an interception on a roll out pass that was thrown down field? Crist did it, Rees did it, Kelly kept calling it. Crist had a stronger arm, which you would presume would give him an advantage throwing down field while rolling out, but both of them killed drives throwing that pass. And I can't remember any big completions down field on rollouts, can you? But I remember Crist killing a drive on that pass play against MSU in 2010, and I remember Rees throwing a pick on that play against BC in 2011. I know there are more than just two. I bring it up as an example of understanding the capability of your personnel-both physically and mentally- and adapting to it, as well as understanding which plays have high risk ratios and taking them out of the playbook. I believe the greats do this. I hope Kelly gets there.

Neither of his QBs were very good. a common criticism of Crist was that he had a deer in the headlights mentality. A coach can prepare a kid all he wants, but when he steps out on the field with that mentality, nothing he can do. And who was he going to play after Crist, Montana, Rees, or Hendrix... well you saw what happened.

As for Rees, you can prepare a kid all you want, but if he gets fixated on one WR, nothing you can do other than to say "dont fixated on that guy." I cannot imagine Kelly calling play after play with Floyd as the #1 WR as often as Rees looked at him. Besides, how is this Kelly's fault:

 

[Patulski]

A coach can prepare a kid all he wants, but when he steps out on the field with that mentality, nothing he can do. And who was he going to play after Crist, Montana, Rees, or Hendrix... well you saw what happened.

There is something you can do if you have lousy QB's: Adjust your offense to run the ball more, throw less and more conservatively. Ara did this in 1965 when he had Bill Zloch as his QB after having John Huarte in 1964. Then, having Terry Hanratty in 1966, he threw the ball more. Later on in his era at ND, Ara had Tom Clements run a very different offense than Hanratty did. He won two National Championships with two very different offenses.

Ara was a very adaptable coach who changed his offensive system to suit the strengths of his talent. That's why he's one of the greats.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

There is something you can do if you have lousy QB's: Adjust your offense to run the ball more, throw less and more conservatively. Ara did this in 1965 when he had Bill Zloch as his QB after having John Huarte in 1964. Then, having Terry Hanratty in 1966, he threw the ball more. Later on in his era at ND, Ara had Tom Clements run a very different offense than Hanratty did. He won two National Championships with two very different offenses.

Ara was a very adaptable coach who changed his offensive system to suit the strengths of his talent. That's why he's one of the greats.

So lets talk this situation you brought up. Run the ball more last year. Should we have run the ball more against Stanford, usc, or fsu? i mean the physicality was there in the trenches, but the blocks werent getting made. So you still continue to run it when its not working? What would you have done differently when arguably BK's 3 best explosive weapons last year were Floyd/Eifert/and Riddick? Cierre/Jonas couldnt have had better years minus the injuries. usf/mich i feel we ran the ball more than enough to win. I dont se e BK throwing INTs in the endzone, not turning around for a ball and have it bounce off his facemask for a INT, nor fumbling the ball inside the 5. Hell, those TO's im 110% sure you can't even coach that up. Theo has his guy beat by 2-3 steps and the ball is throw 3 feet behind him...thats common sense. The players realize its on them to step up and MAKE plays. Thats the difference between the last few years and what Kelly is bringing. Sure every coach has regrets in game plans/adjustments, but BK and co are doing more than enough to win games.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I have said too many times that I've never seen a coach who can't get a break like Brian Kelly here at ND. And because of that I refuse to lay any of our rotting fruits at his doorstep. He knew that he was in high risk territory when he took the job, because if Dayne couldn't do it, he had nobody. I mean really, the guy had to play Nate Montana at one point.

Along comes Tommy Rees, a kid beyond his years and tough in the heart. Kelly knew immediately that Tommy had a mediocre skill set --- heck he talked about bits of that all the time, masterfully as to psychology but it was all out there. But Tommy steps up to the plate with all he's got, and it turns out we start functioning reasonably well for a while.

But opposing DCs aren't sleeping their lives away. Some of them begin to believe that Tommy really IS NEVER going to do certain things even if they are open. They begin designing, in a way, weird stuff that you wouldn't use against a more rounded quarterback. All of a sudden, "surprises" occur. Tommy can't outwork "surprises" in the filmroom, so he's caught off guard. Turnovers increase. Tommy feels the pressure, even as tough an S0B as he is, and there's some hesitation.

Then DCs find that he's REALLY bad if he has to move to his left. Extra blitzes and pressures coming from our right to push that --- plus our somewhat lesser O-Line studs are over there. More flub-a-dub plays. Finally, convinced that Tommy wouldn't run even if it was only the St.Mary's nuns on the field, the DCs design baiting coverages where an extra "off" defensive back flows into the coverage [usually from Tommy's rightside vision when he's looking more or less middle, if my memory serves]. PICK.

So why when the DCs have figured Tommy completely out, and weird pass coverages are frequent, why don't we give it up and just start running it down their throat? Can you say Braxton Cave?? I believe that anyone who feels that we were anywhere near as good with Golic than Cave needs counseling.

Kelly couldn't adjust at that stage of the season because most of his directions were blocked off through no fault of his own, but rather injuries and clever DCs completely figuring a highly limited QB out and creating defensive wrinkles aimed right at that.

This is why I think that unless something really strange happens with Tommy's style of play, Coach has to start fresh, and this time with lots more athleticism. Maybe that's Hendricks, but boy I'm not impressed with his real time reads. Maybe that's Golson --- he screws up the reads too, but he's less experienced and you hold out a little more hope for a quick cornerturn.

I believe that we will win a couple of games, maybe even ugly, and then have a bloodbath with State. If we find a way to outscore them in a low-scoring heavyweight fistfight, then we are probably off and running to a better season than people are predicting away from the green koolaid stands. That start might well set us up for a constantly improving looking team at about 9-3. And since we'll peak at the end, a bowl win. 10-3 I'll take. With the QB problem solved going to next year.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

I have said too many times that I've never seen a coach who can't get a break like Brian Kelly here at ND. And because of that I refuse to lay any of our rotting fruits at his doorstep. He knew that he was in high risk territory when he took the job, because if Dayne couldn't do it, he had nobody. I mean really, the guy had to play Nate Montana at one point.

Along comes Tommy Rees, a kid beyond his years and tough in the heart. Kelly knew immediately that Tommy had a mediocre skill set --- heck he talked about bits of that all the time, masterfully as to psychology but it was all out there. But Tommy steps up to the plate with all he's got, and it turns out we start functioning reasonably well for a while.

But opposing DCs aren't sleeping their lives away. Some of them begin to believe that Tommy really IS NEVER going to do certain things even if they are open. They begin designing, in a way, weird stuff that you wouldn't use against a more rounded quarterback. All of a sudden, "surprises" occur. Tommy can't outwork "surprises" in the filmroom, so he's caught off guard. Turnovers increase. Tommy feels the pressure, even as tough an S0B as he is, and there's some hesitation.

Then DCs find that he's REALLY bad if he has to move to his left. Extra blitzes and pressures coming from our right to push that --- plus our somewhat lesser O-Line studs are over there. More flub-a-dub plays. Finally, convinced that Tommy wouldn't run even if it was only the St.Mary's nuns on the field, the DCs design baiting coverages where an extra "off" defensive back flows into the coverage [usually from Tommy's rightside vision when he's looking more or less middle, if my memory serves]. PICK.

So why when the DCs have figured Tommy completely out, and weird pass coverages are frequent, why don't we give it up and just start running it down their throat? Can you say Braxton Cave?? I believe that anyone who feels that we were anywhere near as good with Golic than Cave needs counseling.

Kelly couldn't adjust at that stage of the season because most of his directions were blocked off through no fault of his own, but rather injuries and clever DCs completely figuring a highly limited QB out and creating defensive wrinkles aimed right at that.

This is why I think that unless something really strange happens with Tommy's style of play, Coach has to start fresh, and this time with lots more athleticism. Maybe that's Hendricks, but boy I'm not impressed with his real time reads. Maybe that's Golson --- he screws up the reads too, but he's less experienced and you hold out a little more hope for a quick cornerturn.

I believe that we will win a couple of games, maybe even ugly, and then have a bloodbath with State. If we find a way to outscore them in a low-scoring heavyweight fistfight, then we are probably off and running to a better season than people are predicting away from the green koolaid stands. That start might well set us up for a constantly improving looking team at about 9-3. And since we'll peak at the end, a bowl win. 10-3 I'll take. With the QB problem solved going to next year.

Pretty well said, Michael.

 

[jason_h537]

8 win season. I expect the team to run the ball a lot. Similar to Stanford, come out with 2 or 3 TE and move Eifert out wide, or come out with 2 or 3 RB's and move Riddick out wide. Make them have to defend the run to find mismatches.

I expect the recruiting class will go the way of the season. ND NEDDSSSSSS CB's. 8+ wins and ND closes with some solid CB's and wideouts. Anything less and the class ends up disappointing like last year.

 

[chubler]

I honestly think putting in EG gives us at least 1 additional win we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. We can't predict when Tommy will make a mistake. We won't be able to predict when EG will make a mistake. But opposing defenses can gameplan for Tommy's physical shortcomings, while they have nothing yet to gameplan for as far as EG. Even if they play contain and try to make him beat them through the air, and he turns out to be just as bad as Tommy, we're better than where we were last year because they have to play contain now.

 

[stlnd01]

Mike speaks the truth.
Rees was the best we had at the time, but he's limited and, by mid-season, defenses had him figured out. Without Cave, and then Gray, we didn't have the horses to adapt. That's why the last few games were as rough as they were.
The answer is better depth and a more skilled QB. We're well on our way to both.