Open Practice Report from Crimson Cover

BamaMoon said:

My point is, we are not going to suddenly become an Auburn type offense with a qb who is a "run first" and "throw second" type qb. That is not our identity.

If our qb can't complete basic passes occasionally, it'll be a long season.

Nobody doubts Sims can't run the spread option. The concern is when he would have to drop back and pass and the evidence we have seen is not reassuring.

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I get all that. That sample size is very limited, though. It doesn't include the big variable - the plays that Sims does well. When he does those plays, the defense has to adjust. Instead, the defense was able to pin its ears back during A-Day.

If Sims does what he did during A-Day with those plays being used, I completely understand. Until then, I don't believe it's fair to use them against him.

There's very little public-viewing-evidence for any of the three possible starters. Because of that, I believe Blake starts against WVU only because of his familiarity of players and the system.

We have two main guys that are working hard to become the starter. Both bring different skills to the table. These two guys are career back ups and there are reasons they have not been starters. I believe Jake has the edge simply because of the offense we run but regardless of who wins the job, I see our quarterback play this year as being average at best. Our OL will determine if they will be above average.

RTR91 said:

I get all that. That sample size is very limited, though. It doesn't include the big variable - the plays that Sims does well. When he does those plays, the defense has to adjust. Instead, the defense was able to pin its ears back during A-Day.

If Sims does what he did during A-Day with those plays being used, I completely understand. Until then, I don't believe it's fair to use them against him.

There's very little public-viewing-evidence for any of the three possible starters. Because of that, I believe Blake starts against WVU only because of his familiarity of players and the system.

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My only thing about that is we have been hearing about the plays that Blake does well for the past several years. When will we ever see them? Why is the coaching staff supposedly hiding plays? There's nothing to hide. We aren't going to come out in a formation that has never been seen. Even with those plays, he has to be able to make throws from the pocket. That's my biggest concern with BS. I have no confidence BS can stand in the pocket and keep his eyes down the field and make a deep corner throw to move the chains on 3rd and long. Can JC? Idk. At least he has the physical tools to do it. His issues seem more fixable such as high throws and timing.

BamaMoon said:

My point is, we are not going to suddenly become an Auburn type offense with a qb who is a "run first" and "throw second" type qb. That is not our identity.

If our qb can't complete basic passes occasionally, it'll be a long season.

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First, those two sentiments are not mutually exclusive. Alabama can have a run oriented offense, and still be able to complete basic passes, and if you are strictly talking about "basic" passes, then there's plenty of reason to believe both Blake and Jacob can do that adequately. Ironically, despite all the talk about Blake not being able to make the deep pass, the eye witness concerns point to Jacob being the one struggling in that regard...

Secondly, I think there's some selective memory and perception going on here. Alabama had a wildcat package under Saban, and the guy running the wildcat (quite successfully in one game in particular) couldn't even pass. It's not rocket science, Alabama did something similar with David Palmer, who never really was much of a threat to pass either. There's been speculation for years about a Blame Sims run oriented offense (perhaps up tempo), but there happened to be a lot of good reasons to just stick with AJ. Despite his shortcomings, it's also easy enough to believe he has more in common with Nick Marshall as a passer than he does with Palmer or Ingram.

Saban has said, several times in several ways that what Blame Sims can and does do on offense is different. After A-Day, he took pains to make it clear that Blake was playing a different style in practice. He's specifically said Blake can do things the other QBs can't. So, what is it then if not something different? Of course, Alabama isn't suddenly going to go full triple option no huddle hurry up, but can they go up tempo run oriented? Sure they can, they have all the weapons they need.

Clearly, I think that's a plan B, and Alabama would prefer not go away from their traditional offense, or end up looking like LSU's offense in 2011. But, there's no question in my mind based strictly on what Saban said that it's a possibility.

Edit:

CrimsonForce said:

My only thing about that is we have been hearing about the plays that Blake does well for the past several years. When will we ever see them? Why is the coaching staff supposedly hiding plays? There's nothing to hide.

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Who says they are hiding anything? In A-Day, the QB can not run and the offense is intentionally vanilla! In mop up duty, Saban is both risk adverse and unwilling to run up the score. So, there's plenty of good reasons we haven't seen Blake Sims doing those sorts of things. Beyond that though, and his obvious struggles we have witnessed, there's an incomplete picture a lot of people have of him. Either the coaches have been lying to us all this time, and the stats we were given from scrimmages were lies, or he clearly can perform better than he did at the last two A-Day games (his mop up duty is kind of irrelevant considering Coker looked worse in mop up duty). If you paid close attention, to video, to his first A-Day, etc... you'd notice that is indeed the case.

KrAzY3 said:

Who says they are hiding anything? In A-Day, the QB can not run and the offense is intentionally vanilla! In mop up duty, Saban is both risk adverse and unwilling to run up the score. So, there's plenty of good reasons we haven't seen Blake Sims doing those sorts of things. Beyond that though, and his obvious struggles we have witnessed, there's an incomplete picture a lot of people have of him. Either the coaches have been lying to us all this time, and the stats we were given from scrimmages were lies, or he clearly can perform better than he did at the last two A-Day games (his mop up duty is kind of irrelevant considering Coker looked worse in mop up duty). If you paid close attention, to video, to his first A-Day, etc... you'd notice that is indeed the case.

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Mop up duty is as irrelevant as the a day games in terms of the assessment of should start. If we were going off that Alabamas 2nd string offense would torch Florida states second string offense.

JBama_in_PCOLA said:

Never said great, more like good enough. I've been reading as many articles as I can on him. Just to get a good "feel" of what's going on. One article from BOL reporter Trevor Hewett says

" The quarterback situation is one that I don't think we will have a definite answer on until West Virginia. There is no doubt that Jacob Coker has all of the physical tools, but watching him on Sunday you could see that there are definitely still some timing issues that need to be worked on."

Timing gets better with time. (Haha) But we still can't count out B Sims in this either. Will they make mistakes yes. I believe Sims will throw some INTs too. All in all, it's a waiting game for us. I'm more concerned over the OL right now than anything, heard there is no push against the DL. But we may have the best DL in college football.

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I agree on the OL concerns. If they don't block well enough it doesn't matter who's playing QB.

RTR91 said:

I get all that. That sample size is very limited, though. It doesn't include the big variable - the plays that Sims does well. When he does those plays, the defense has to adjust. Instead, the defense was able to pin its ears back during A-Day.

If Sims does what he did during A-Day with those plays being used, I completely understand. Until then, I don't believe it's fair to use them against him.

There's very little public-viewing-evidence for any of the three possible starters. Because of that, I believe Blake starts against WVU only because of his familiarity of players and the system.

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bingo

I just hope that whoever Saban does play at QB, that we, as fans, support him and cheer him on. I get a feeling if BS starts and makes a mistake, our whole fanbase will start on the "I told you so" bandwagon. We don't need to bash the QB's, especially the first few games. Both will be 1st time starters and will surely make mistakes. I hope we can be patient and allow the QB situation to work itself out and for each to make improvements.

If the fans start boo-ing or complaining, Saban will be put in a bad, no-win situation and so will all QB's. No QB wants to go in to play when the fans just boo-ed the last QB off the field. It is tough enough for Qb's to support each other when you are competing for the same job. Even tougher when the crowd is choosing sides.

As far as my prediction, I expect it to be a lot like 2011 when AJ and Phillip split snaps pretty evenly over the first game or 2. Hopefully a starter will emerge.

Tidefan1 said:

Judging Blake Sims based on previous game performances is ridiculous. The only times he's ever played were in blowouts running a watered down version of the offense. Rarely has he even had the opportunity to throw a pass in a live game.

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Ridiculous or not, it is all I have to form/base an opinion upon. Not Sims fault, but not mine either. I'd like to see him in action at practice (wouldn't we all), or even hear of his exploits from folks that can get into a practice. The kid has been here 4 years and the only thing I know for sure about him is that if he has a seam, he can outrun everyone to the endzone - quickly. QB's in our system have to be able to do more than that. Eventually he is going to have to stand in the pocket and complete passes. I hope he can, but he hasn't shown that ability - yet. GMac didn't get many chances to impress either, but he did some things with those limited opportunities to cause me to be cautiously optimistic. I'm not anti-Sims, I've just not reached a level of confidence with him, but I'm not opposed to being pleasantly surprised should he prove himself capable. That is why I'm more intrigued by the unknown of one moreso than what I do know of the other.

When all is said and done, I'll be in my seat in Atlanta, BDS, and Knoxville cheering for all our boys - including Sims should he be the qb.

Alasippi said:

I think the staff realized that Cooper Bateman, although he has great potential, probably isn't quite ready for back up duty yet, and they thought, "My goodness, what are we going to do if our starter gets hurt"? Especially with Del Rio leaving.
Whether that starter ends up being Coker or Blake I think the coaches felt like we needed some insurance at the back up spot.

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Honestly before he leaves Bama I think Cooper Bateman will be better than Sims or Coker. He just needs to be developed.

We have the best head coach in all of football and possibly the best quarterback coach in college football. We have 5 very talented guys at the position so I see no reason to worry. This team will go as far as the offensive line will take it. Finding the best 5 there is my only concern.

Anyone think we will have another log jam at QB next year? One would assume Coker would be back next year along with Bateman, Cornwell, and Blake Barnett incoming. Bateman, Cornwell, and Barnett are not all going to sit and wait their turn, I don't think. I could see several transfers next year like we had this year.

CrimsonForce said:

Anyone think we will have another log jam at QB next year? One would assume Coker would be back next year along with Bateman, Cornwell, and Blake Barnett incoming. Bateman, Cornwell, and Barnett are not all going to sit and wait their turn, I don't think. I could see several transfers next year like we had this year.

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I doubt it. If Coker wins the job next season, Bateman would be the expected backup as a RS sophomore. Cornwell would be a RS freshman, and Barnett would be redshirted. The following spring would be the time for one of them to transfer, and I expect Bateman would be the only one. His decision would be based on where he finishes spring 2016 camp.

CullmanTide said:

Honestly before he leaves Bama I think Cooper Bateman will be better than Sims or Coker. He just needs to be developed.

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I'll say this--he was by far the best QB performer in the A-Day game. Still, Blakes legs are one of his biggest assets and the QB wasn't allowed to run in the A-Day game. That's tough.
Imagine the effectiveness of Johnny Manzeil if he wasn't allowed to run the ball. Makes a difference.
I just hope everyone understands that I'm not anti nor pro Coker. When I say I haven't seen him do anything to earn the job I mean I literally haven't "seen anything". There's very little video from FSU and he hasn't taken a snap in a game or a scrimmage at Bama.
But I'll agree that Bateman looks like he has great potential. He's very accurate and I like the touch he has on his passes a lot.
sip

Alasippi said:

I'll say this--he was by far the best QB performer in the A-Day game. Still, Blakes legs are one of his biggest assets and the QB wasn't allowed to run in the A-Day game. That's tough.
Imagine the effectiveness of Johnny Manzeil if he wasn't allowed to run the ball. Makes a difference.
I just hope everyone understands that I'm not anti nor pro Coker. When I say I haven't seen him do anything to earn the job I mean I literally haven't "seen anything". There's very little video from FSU and he hasn't taken a snap in a game or a scrimmage at Bama.
But I'll agree that Bateman looks like he has great potential. He's very accurate and I like the touch he has on his passes a lot.
sip

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If you are not anti Coker then don't say you will be disappointed if he plays, like you stated earlier in the thread. Everyone can have an opinion but still support whoever is playing.

CrimsonForce said:

Anyone think we will have another log jam at QB next year? One would assume Coker would be back next year along with Bateman, Cornwell, and Blake Barnett incoming. Bateman, Cornwell, and Barnett are not all going to sit and wait their turn, I don't think. I could see several transfers next year like we had this year.

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I don't see the problem. Playing a true freshmen at QB is just a horrible idea 99% of the time. Barnett is better off sitting that first year no matter what and I'm sure he knows that. Bateman, is actually well positioned, as he figured to get a pretty good shot at starting as a junior. That's the potential log jam year though. Next year, either Coker returns and is the heir apparent, or he has a great year, leaves and Alabama pushes an inexperienced guy out there.

Anyway, Bateman looks to be first in line as a junior, with Cornwell as redshirt sophomore, and Barnett as a redshirt freshman. Who ever happens to find themselves third in the depth chart (I assume no true freshman would jump any of them, but who knows?) probably will look at their options, but there's plenty of reasons for all of those guys to stick around until them. Blake Sims will be gone after this season, Coker after the next for sure, Morris is pretty much out of the picture, so it's really just those three...

CullmanTide said:

Honestly before he leaves Bama I think Cooper Bateman will be better than Sims or Coker. He just needs to be developed.

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I can't see Bateman beating out Blake Barnett. I think he eventually transfers.

RTR91 said:

Coker has the arm to stretch the field. Might not be the most accurate pass, but it'll stretch the field.

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Agreed. And you don't have to connect on those passes, just make 'em long and incomplete, and that's enough to keep the defense honest and free up the box a bit... Now of course, it would be nice if the QB would complete at least a "FEW" of those deep bombs, though , lol.