UT football

[MikeDeTiger]

mccarrons ability wasn't so much his arm strength, accuracy, and certainly not his scrambling ability. his most impressive ability was pre-snap reads and getting us out of bad plays and into better ones. he really came into his own in late 2011, after lsu part 1, and it flourished in 2012 and 13. in lsu part 1 and before, they didn't really let him make many decisions, not many checkdowns and changing plays cause he was a young, first year qb. after lsu part 1, they started to let him loose, and in the bcs title game, they knew they had to take that risk or it'd be another 6-3 game.

this ability, imo, is so much better than any ability to scramble or chunk it 75 yrds.

This, x100.  
But I'll reiterate, maybe I'm just biased because of his two games against LSU, but Manziel wasn't even THAT great a scrambler and improviser against a team with some amount of discipline and talent.  The kid literally had one crazy game against Alabama, which was their annual sleepwalk that Johnny Football just happened to benefit from, and some legend about his greatness was born.  He wasn't a good passer, period, and he was nowhere close to a Vince Young, Cam Newton, Tebow type who could single handedly make things happen against even stout defenses.  He just didn't.  
Also, might be more of my LSU bias, but I completely agree, I'll take the QB who can read a defense and get into the right play.  We've lacked it for 10 years, and while the current guy's numbers tend not to be great, his impact on the offense via checks at the line and reading a defense in motion have been tangible.  I'll take that guy, on any team.  
Because it doesn't matter what kind of team you have.  Manziel will only make you look better against weaker teams, he can't help a flailing roster to more W's.  McCarron on the other hand is worth an extra win or two just by virtue of the fact he can...you know....do quarterback things.  Obviously Bama in particular didn't need the help, but put McCarron on A&M and they stand a much better shot of beating LSU one of those years.  

[Gigem]

Bah humbug for hatin’ on JFF. If you recall that first LSU game was decided by a (missed) fg or two and one of the big time LSU linemen were saying “give him the heisman” after the game. 

Johnny also played behind an extremely talented OL and had some first round talent at WR. 

No way Vince was a better passer. 

[OrangeAfroMan]

Vince Young wasn't a great passer, period.  He's gotten a halo effect from the Rose Bowl game.  If USC had simply spied him, he wouldn't be nearly as revered now.



Manziel was a better passer, sure, but threw a lot of jump balls.  A quality passer doesn't do that.  



Both QBs' greatest strength was scrambling.  That's good to have, but I'm not sure you want it to be the #1 thing you're good at.  

[Cincydawg]

Well, I think the Vols are on the "way back", but how far they get is unclear to me unless they can start getting top ten recruiting classes.

I know that is a "necessary but not sufficient" thing and some programs do pretty well without top level recruiting, but in the SEC it's rare.

They could be on the way back to 8-5 type seasons.

[Drew4UTk]

Offensive Biggun's is what UT need's right now... some with some football intelligence, and NOT named Chance Hall.  

With them, UF likely loses this past season's game, or it's at least a helluva lot more competitive, as an example.  Finding freshmen that fit the bill may be difficult at best, so it may be time to poach some jr colleges or lessor tiered schools with components that want to play on national tv... 

UT is okay certainly not great but okay in the skilled positions, has a decent LB corps, and a young secondary that should show improvement by next season.  their D line isn't really all that bad either but cold also use some very attentive work... 

I firmly believe they are no longer push overs with just that 'fix', and can likely be instant 3rd place SEC East as a floor... 

[Cincydawg]

USCe has shown signs of life, and I thought Muschamp was a bad hire.

Mizzou is not right now chopped liver, and UK is dangerous.

If we guess at the rank order 3 years down the road, most would have UGA-UF in the first tier, followed by USCe and Tenn, and perhaps Mizzou.

[MikeDeTiger]

Bah humbug for hatin’ on JFF. If you recall that first LSU game was decided by a (missed) fg or two and one of the big time LSU linemen were saying “give him the heisman” after the game.

Johnny also played behind an extremely talented OL and had some first round talent at WR.

No way Vince was a better passer.

Yes, and JFF's miserable game had nothing to do with it being close, it had to do with LSU having a(nother) miserable offense.  He scrambled around and made the D-linemen work for their sacks.  But think about that, if it's linemen running down a legendary QB.
Vince Young set some records at Texas in games, some passing efficiency ones, it was not just the Rose Bowl.  Spying VY....yes, because that worked so well for the teams who tried it.  I don't think Pete Carroll needs to take defensive notes from any of us here.  

[OrangeAfroMan]

Name the most prolific passing QB pre-Young.  lol

[OrangeAfroMan]

 Spying VY....yes, because that worked so well for the teams who tried it.  I don't think Pete Carroll needs to take defensive notes from any of us here.  

Ehh, did any of them have the talent of USC?  

[MikeDeTiger]

Name the most prolific passing QB pre-Young.  lol

No idea, but the numbers were objectively great.  When you complete nearly 90% of your passes in a game, that's good regardless of who played QB before you.  
People just see NFL washout and assume he was a collegiate running QB who couldn't read a defense or do actual QB things.  And those people did not watch many UT games from that time period either.  

[MikeDeTiger]

Ehh, did any of them have the talent of USC?  

Did any of them have the defensive coaching acumen of Pete Carroll?

[rolltidefan]

pre-2005, vy wasn't a great passer, though he wasn't terrible either. but 2005 he was very good. top 20 in yrds and td:int ratio, top 10 in comp%, top 5 in y/a, top 3 in qb rating.  not to mention his running ability.

i wouldn't say he was a world beater passing, but he was quite good. among the best that season.

[Cincydawg]

What if Tenn signs a QB of the caliber of say Drew Lock next season?  A guy who starts as a freshman and makes mistakes but shows signs of becoming a very good one.  They might finish say 7-6 next year, but could be dangerous as he matures.

[gymvol]

What we have are people who keep blaming poor QB play on the OL because the QB can't read defenses, pick up a blitz and get the ball out quickly.

It's the QB who runs the offense one of his jobs is to let his lineman know what the defense is doing so they can adjust accordingly. That's why UT's OL looks terrible at times with JG at QB.

They're getting the blame for his lack of ability at reading the defense. You can see it in his audibles too.


We saw how much that changed when Chryst came into the game against BAMA.