Luke Del Rio is gone - Blake Sims / QB discussion

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
12,757
94
67
I've said it a lot of times, and this was the best example possible. Clearly, they see something in practice that the rest of us haven't really seen. Blake played terrible, no way around that, but his other scrimmage stats were very good. There's limitations, with any quarterback, but it would appear a lot of them are psychological.

I wasn't surprised he would support Blake though, I saw the press conference, he just said the truth. And the truth is, and at this point is fairly obvious, that Sims performed (far) better in practice and regular scrimmages than he has done in front of crowds. There's some serious issues though...

There's no point to us getting overly anxious about this though (not necessarily you). Some guy goes back several pages just to dislike an old post I made, and not even one that was really defending Sims. If Sims plays like he did at A-Day, in a meaningful situations, he only starts because the alternative is even worse. There's no point in people getting all worked up about that, that's just how it is.
What good does it do to ace a practice exam and then fail the real exam? Sure you can tell everybody that you were a beast on the practice exam but people like to see results when they count.
 

TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,187
1,156
187
Anniston, Alabama
Yup..That tells me he folds in front of a big Bama Crowd that's watching him, some kids can't handle that kinda pressure, but, shines when the big crowd isn't there watching him..That's not good when you're trying to become the starter at Bama..Cause you're going to be in the spotlight from the moment you're named the starter at Bama..That's why I honestly think Bateman or Coker will become our starter & Blake will come in ever so often with special packages designed just for him, that will give rival DC's something to think about, and will have to take time to prepare for when they play us..JMHO
What good does it do to ace a practice exam and then fail the real exam? Sure you can tell everybody that you were a beast on the practice exam but people like to see results when they count.
 

danb

All-SEC
Dec 4, 2011
1,088
6
0
Hazel Green, AL
I agree BS didn't look great yesterday. I can remember in past A Day games where AJ didn't look too great either. All I know is sitting around the 45 yard line on the home side about 35 rows up, I saw many spot on balls thrown by BS and CB that were right in the receiver's hands and were dropped. I saw AM take snaps, then run for his life due to blown blocking assignments. This doesn't all fall on the QB's, especially when they are limited in their ability to elude pressure due to limited contact rules. The defense looked pretty doggone good but, there needs to be work done in all aspects of play for our team to be great. That's what the spring game is for. To give the coaches areas to work on, and I believe they got plenty of input on where we need to improve.

I'm not ready to go into "the sky is falling" mode just yet!!!
 

hacksaw830

2nd Team
Jan 20, 2007
313
0
0
Not that it matters but the game was about as I expected. Bland and not showing your hand which is fine by me, it looked like we ran about 10-12 plays and that's cool, I thought all of the QBs were mehhh, but they were handcuffed against a D that is going to be in the top 3 in the country. Its Sabans way why show ANYTHING to your opponents, its a scrimmage more about individual matchups than the score, No sweat I see 10-3 or 11-2 this year with some struggles along the way even with Coker, I think the kid is really good but he is going to be behind these guys when he arrives because of the spring practices he missed. But look out for the tide in 2015.
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
10,615
4,540
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kraizy.art
What good does it do to ace a practice exam and then fail the real exam? Sure you can tell everybody that you were a beast on the practice exam but people like to see results when they count.
You're right, we can only hope that the fact that A-Day didn't really count was part of the issue. I sat there perplexed during the first quarter, wondering why on earth Blake looked better playing QB as a true freshman on A-Day, than he has since then. The only conclusion I could reach is that a big part of it was psychological, and I think some of the statements made afterwards backed that up. But, psychological, or physical, it doesn't matter, it's an issue and Alabama is in trouble if their QB plays like that.

I don't think it's all bad though. Cooper needs development, but he showed clear signs of what he could become. Blake clearly wasn't really able to play his style game either, and I can't imagine how Coker could make the situation worse. As long as there's some type of improvement in the fall, who ever earns the job should do a fairly good job (and I believe that will be Coker).
 
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Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
I hope Blake turns out to be the next Kevin Norwood. Nobody, except me and a few others, gave Norwood credit for even being decent until his senior season, no matter how many critical big plays he had made. Then suddenly, after a great senior year, everybody "always knew" he was going to be something special!!!
I have no idea though, about Blake. He does tend to make some bad decisions. That's obvious.
But when he had a chance to perform last season, and the year before, he's done pretty darn good.
Right now, it's all an enigma. Our offense is kind of floating adrift at sea, and everybody, even the coaches, are probably wondering---where is our ship going to land? Where it does finally settle will determine the future of our football team next year. This is where we have to have faith in the coaches.
If Coker comes in and starts, then I have no problem with it. If Blake starts, I have no problem with it, because, in either case, they're going to start the guy they feel can help us win.
They're smarter than we are guys. They see these kids everyday, and that's why they get the big bucks.
sip
 

TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,187
1,156
187
Anniston, Alabama
As always I agree 100% with ya Brother..I think Coker, Bateman or possibly Morris, Cornwell will become the starter & share some snaps with Blake as a change of pace on offense..And it will make DC's have constant heartburn game-planning & preparing for that wrinkle in our offense..Do you see that happening sip..

I hope Blake turns out to be the next Kevin Norwood. Nobody, except me and a few others, gave Norwood credit for even being decent until his senior season, no matter how many critical big plays he had made. Then suddenly, after a great senior year, everybody "always knew" he was going to be something special!!!
I have no idea though, about Blake. He does tend to make some bad decisions. That's obvious.
But when he had a chance to perform last season, and the year before, he's done pretty darn good.
Right now, it's all an enigma. Our offense is kind of floating adrift at sea, and everybody, even the coaches, are probably wondering---where is our ship going to land? Where it does finally settle will determine the future of our football team next year. This is where we have to have faith in the coaches.
If Coker comes in and starts, then I have no problem with it. If Blake starts, I have no problem with it, because, in either case, they're going to start the guy they feel can help us win.
They're smarter than we are guys. They see these kids everyday, and that's why they get the big bucks.
sip
 

Ole Man Dan

Hall of Fame
Apr 21, 2008
8,982
3,421
187
Gadsden, Al.
If Sims has issues with pressure, he'd best get over em fast.
Pressure is every play as a starting Alabama Quarter Back.

The last couple of years has taught us that opposing teams like to bring everyone after our QB.

Until our OL provides better protection for whoever wins QB, we can expect everyone to come and pressure the QB. If our OL does their job, pressuring the QB will be a thing of the past.

Whether Sims settles down and plays under pressure like he is reported to play in practice,
Or Coker comes in and takes the starter job...
It ain't gonna matter who wins the starting job until we fix our OL.
We can make either player look better by giving them time to make their reads.
We can make our Running Backs look better if our OL creates holes for them to run thru.

Maybe I'm being over hard on our OL, but they haven't impressed me.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't have an in to observe practice, I read whats said,
but I tend to make my judgements on what people show me.
A-day is one of the few chances I have to make my own observations about who
gets the job done and who doesn't.
It doesn't matter if it was a very Vanilla Offense, and restrictions are placed on our players.
I judge em on what they show me. Period. If players can't handle a Vanilla Offense,
how will they do running a complex Offense against another teams Defense?
It's about making passes, hitting receivers.
It's about making few mistakes. I CALL IT MAKING A GOOD SHOWING.
From my standpoint it's either you do, or you don't.
 
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TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,187
1,156
187
Anniston, Alabama
You make some fair & valid points..The O-Line wasn't impressive at all & it's hard to lay the problems they had, at the feet of the QB play or vice versa, I think its combination of both & the offenses suffered really bad cause of it..When the QB is off or when the WR's doesn't catch balls that's in their hands, it puts unneeded pressure on the O-Line, that wouldn't be there with a descent passing game..Our offense is at it's best, when our play action passes opens up the offense for our running game, and the play action passes were a fail bigtime at the A_Day Game Saturday..I have a feeling our offensive troubles, was due too it was playing against the best D, that it will face all year this coming season..I loved what we saw from our D, and think this group on the Dside of the ball, has the potential of becoming one of the best ever at Bama..All the tools & talent are in place for a magical season on the D side of the ball that's for sure..

If Sims has issues with pressure, he'd best get over em fast.
Pressure is every play as a starting Alabama Quarter Back.

The last couple of years has taught us that opposing teams like to bring everyone after our QB.

Until our OL provides better protection for whoever wins QB, we can expect everyone to come and pressure the QB. If our OL does their job, pressuring the QB will be a thing of the past.

Whether Sims settles down and plays under pressure like he is reported to play in practice,
Or Coker comes in and takes the starter job...
It ain't gonna matter who wins the starting job until we fix our OL.
We can make either player look better by giving them time to make their reads.
We can make our Running Backs look better if our OL creates holes for them to run thru.

Maybe I'm being over hard on our OL, but they haven't impressed me.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't have an in to observe practice, I read whats said,
but I tend to make my judgements on what people show me.
A-day is one of the few chances I have to make my own observations about who
gets the job done and who doesn't.
It doesn't matter if it was a very Vanilla Offense, and restrictions are placed on our players.
I judge em on what they show me. Period. If players can't handle a Vanilla Offense,
how will they do running a complex Offense against another teams Defense?
It's about making passes, hitting receivers.
It's about making few mistakes. I CALL IT MAKING A GOOD SHOWING.
From my standpoint it's either you do, or you don't.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
If the OL's play Saturday is what we see for 12 regular season games, I want Blake to be the QB for the sole reason of his mobility. He can at least escape the pocket to make a play. The other QBs can, too. Blake's speed would allow him to get a few more yards, though.

Early in the game, Blake had a few bootlegs. He hit Chris Black in the hands, but Chris dropped the pass. He hit Nudie on a dumpoff on the next one. On both occasions, he could have pulled the ball down and gotten a first down if he needed to.

I won't argue Blake didn't have a game Bama wants out of its QB. The coaches didn't help him by limiting the playbook. If he's able to run, I believe we would have seen a different player.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,935
282
Boone, NC
I understand the concerns over the OL, but at this point I think the defensive line may just be leaps and bounds ahead of our OL.

It looks like we are going to return to having a little more push from the DL and the OL is just being slow to adjust to how good they really are.

QB issue and OL concerns aside, I think we should be really excited about what we are going to see in the defensive line and front seven!
 

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
5,346
4,417
187
51
I keep seeing a lot of comments on how things were bland from a playcalling standpoint. But I am still worried because at the end of the day you must be able to execute the play that is called. We simply did not do that on Saturday. The game was mostly a passing game meant to highlight the progression of BS/Bateman as passers and develop some coverage consistency with our DBs and improve our OL pass blocking. Our two weakest groupings going head to head. Simply, the groups that needed the work got the work. CNS said that we didnt feature certain players like we would in a game. However, I disagree on his point. The game featured the passing abilities of the QBs and the pass blocking of the OL. CNS, I think, is trying to send a message to BS/Bateman that this is what we are going to do in our offense regardless of who is under center and you can either execute it or we will find someone that can (aka, Coker).

There was a lot of basic stuff called on Saturday that we ought to be able to execute with a fair degree of proficiency that didnt look very well from my vantage point.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
McElroy on JOX this morning said that he wasn't impressed with Blake Sims and that "Coach hates when QBs force throws."
 

Bamabuzzard

FB Moderator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2004
30,562
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Where ever there's BBQ, Bourbon & Football
McElroy on JOX this morning said that he wasn't impressed with Blake Sims and that "Coach hates when QBs force throws."
I think Greg's assessment is accurate. Sims wasn't very impressive. Neither was Bateman's or the offensive line. One thing's for sure. I don't think we have to worry about this team getting the big head leading into the season. Because I think the overall public opinion expressed after Saturday's game wasn't a vote of confidence. Since the game there have already been several articles written on QB and offensive line concerns.
 

BamaJama17

Hall of Fame
Sep 17, 2006
16,365
8
47
34
Hoover, AL
I think Greg's assessment is accurate. Sims wasn't very impressive. Neither was Bateman's or the offensive line. One thing's for sure. I don't think we have to worry about this team getting the big head leading into the season. Because I think the overall public opinion expressed after Saturday's game wasn't a vote of confidence. Since the game there have already been several articles written on QB and offensive line concerns.
Yes there are some concerns about the O Line but by August 30th when CNS has the 5 starters picked, looking back on this 3 may have been playing in the Crimson side while the other 2 were in the white side. On the other hand Dominick Jackson whom I'm pretty sure will be a starter hasn't even arrived on campus yet. IMO QB play will be what makes or breaks this season for winning the SEC and NC.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
If the OL's play Saturday is what we see for 12 regular season games, I want Blake to be the QB for the sole reason of his mobility. He can at least escape the pocket to make a play. The other QBs can, too. Blake's speed would allow him to get a few more yards, though.

Early in the game, Blake had a few bootlegs. He hit Chris Black in the hands, but Chris dropped the pass. He hit Nudie on a dumpoff on the next one. On both occasions, he could have pulled the ball down and gotten a first down if he needed to.

I won't argue Blake didn't have a game Bama wants out of its QB. The coaches didn't help him by limiting the playbook. If he's able to run, I believe we would have seen a different player.
I'm going to agree with you, 100% on this post.
 

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