I'll give you that one. Blake converted a lot of third and long with his eyes and in the shadow of his own end zone with one being from the end zone. To me, he was the difference.
Nick Saban raves about Lane Kiffin's debut as Alabama's offensive coordinator
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Since this has devolved into a Blake Sims thread, I guess I'll finally bite.
I have, since the beginning of the QB competition, been pulling for WHOEVER gave us the best chance to win. Obviously the answer to that (as of right now) is Blake Sims. He was given full confidence to lead the team during the duration of the game Saturday, and that says a lot. Was I completely satisfied with his performance? I won't lie and say yes. Despite what anyone tries to say, his deep ball is not very good. Defenses will not REALLY be stretched by his arm, but he has so many weapons at skill positions who can make a play (combined with the play calling, which was amazing) that it will help to stretch the defense. How many times did we have a receiver take a short pass and turn it into a 10-15 yard gain? Those kinds of plays will help keep defenses honest in itself.
Do I think he was supremely efficient? Yes I do. When you complete 70% of your passes, and don't get sacked, you are doing SOMETHING correctly. There was nothing I saw him do to the negative (a few errant passes, looking down his first option, getting a bit frazzled at the line on checks once or twice) that won't work themselves out with more repetition. He did what was asked of him, and aside from the pick, played fairly well.
I will admit there were several times in the game, despite Blake's solid play, I wanted to see Coker get in. In for nothing else, I was ready to see one of the hard play-action/deep throws we've become accustomed to the last few years. The reality of it is this, he obviously doesn't have enough grasp on the offense to do what the staff wants him to do. If the wins keep adding up, Blake continues to play mostly mistake free (he only made a couple of real mistakes), and the offense continues to click are we still going to get all the negative comments?
I do think we'll see both guys play a good bit in the next two weeks, but I think we HAVE our starting QB. As much "talent" as JC has, Blake has a grasp on the offense, the confidence of his teammates, and obviously the trust of the coaching staff. Anyone who thinks we CAN'T win with him needs to rewind to 2009. We won (as others have mentioned in many threads) pretty handily, despite stretches of what MOST would call poor QB play.
I have, since the beginning of the QB competition, been pulling for WHOEVER gave us the best chance to win. Obviously the answer to that (as of right now) is Blake Sims. He was given full confidence to lead the team during the duration of the game Saturday, and that says a lot. Was I completely satisfied with his performance? I won't lie and say yes. Despite what anyone tries to say, his deep ball is not very good. Defenses will not REALLY be stretched by his arm, but he has so many weapons at skill positions who can make a play (combined with the play calling, which was amazing) that it will help to stretch the defense. How many times did we have a receiver take a short pass and turn it into a 10-15 yard gain? Those kinds of plays will help keep defenses honest in itself.
Do I think he was supremely efficient? Yes I do. When you complete 70% of your passes, and don't get sacked, you are doing SOMETHING correctly. There was nothing I saw him do to the negative (a few errant passes, looking down his first option, getting a bit frazzled at the line on checks once or twice) that won't work themselves out with more repetition. He did what was asked of him, and aside from the pick, played fairly well.
I will admit there were several times in the game, despite Blake's solid play, I wanted to see Coker get in. In for nothing else, I was ready to see one of the hard play-action/deep throws we've become accustomed to the last few years. The reality of it is this, he obviously doesn't have enough grasp on the offense to do what the staff wants him to do. If the wins keep adding up, Blake continues to play mostly mistake free (he only made a couple of real mistakes), and the offense continues to click are we still going to get all the negative comments?
I do think we'll see both guys play a good bit in the next two weeks, but I think we HAVE our starting QB. As much "talent" as JC has, Blake has a grasp on the offense, the confidence of his teammates, and obviously the trust of the coaching staff. Anyone who thinks we CAN'T win with him needs to rewind to 2009. We won (as others have mentioned in many threads) pretty handily, despite stretches of what MOST would call poor QB play.
No, not really and I don't want to bash Blake because I thought he did an outstanding job. The long ball is his limitation and it's ok. We have plenty of playmakers for him to get the ball in their hands that they can stretch the field on 15-20 yard passes and explode for many more yards after the catch. I'm on the Blake Sims bandwagon. I want nothing but success for Blake because success for Blake means success for Bama.
Perhaps Greg could say "When you struggle delivering the long pass it can suggest your career will evolve into being a commentator rather than a player. I've been there."
First, Blake did a great job. Our offensive philosophy has changed some, it is almost all west coast now. However, Intermediate passes, and even some of the short sideline throws have too much air. He needs more zip. His deep passes have hang time that would make Ray Guy envious. The one CJ dropped was so high the DB just got bored. All that might work against WVU, but will not work against faster, better DB's around the SEC.
BLAke will improve and get better, but you can't teach arm strength in a few weeks. I don't recall any option or read option Saturday, which surprised me a little. It also worries me a little. I read into that not wanting to take a chance with getting Blake hurt.
It's hard to believe that at U of A , this is the best QB talent we have .
BLAke will improve and get better, but you can't teach arm strength in a few weeks. I don't recall any option or read option Saturday, which surprised me a little. It also worries me a little. I read into that not wanting to take a chance with getting Blake hurt.
It's hard to believe that at U of A , this is the best QB talent we have .
^^ Sims may not be the best QB talent we have. Heck, he probably isn't the best QB talent we have. However, the head coach who has 3 national championships in the last 5 years obviously thinks Sims is the better choice to win games at this point in the season. I'm guessing the subject of the thread - who has been a NFL head coach and a head coach in the SEC and Pac-12 - agrees.
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I agree Bama. If I were ranking pure talent, Sims wouldn't be on top of the list. What he has, though, is what I said previously. He knows the offense, he has the trust of his teammates, and he won over the coaching staff. That means more than talent a lot of times.
agree, but with Sims we also get a very mobile QB who can get out of trouble with his feet if need be. if it was AJ or GMac back there, 3-4 sacks would have been on the stat sheet.
True, staff may have wanted him to stay healthy. but IMO, the game plan was to make him get into a rhythm and build confidence which worked out very well. why switch gears with a read option which may cause a turnover and mess with his psyche?? I do believe the read option will be available down the line esp. in the redzone, but for now getting reps and the basic mechanics down are the most crucial aspect for his development.
He's not the most talented QB we have. But he's the the best QB that has the most command of the offense we have. Would you rather a guy be out there who doesn't know the offense?
Another ironic aspect here, is that a lot of the reasons for doubting Blake as a QB, are the same reasons Alabama didn't recruit Pat White as a QB, Texas didn't recruit JM as a QB, etc...
At some point, it becomes kind of ridiculous. There is a long list of kids who were doubted, who didn't fit the prototypical NFL mold and still were tremendously successful as college QBs. The irony is Alabama fans are fine with having a QB that isn't really NFL material, providing he is slow and can throw the ball down-field. That's a typical Alabama QB, but I sure recall other people wondering why on earth Alabama didn't get Pat White...
At some point, it becomes kind of ridiculous. There is a long list of kids who were doubted, who didn't fit the prototypical NFL mold and still were tremendously successful as college QBs. The irony is Alabama fans are fine with having a QB that isn't really NFL material, providing he is slow and can throw the ball down-field. That's a typical Alabama QB, but I sure recall other people wondering why on earth Alabama didn't get Pat White...
To be fair, things have changed drastically in the SEC since Pat White left the state to go to WVU. And the coach that didn't offer JM at Texas is now out of a coaching job.
Tim Tebow and JM, hate 'em or love 'em, have changed the SEC.
The slow, drop back passer that has been typically associated with pro style teams like us is giving way to a more athletic, faster player who can actually pass the ball too.
Good news is we seem to have transitioned into that type of qb as well. BS and Coker are supposed to have very good mobility.
-- On Kiffin on sidelines: "If he wasn't on the sidelines, we would have had a lot of issues."
-- "That was critical."
YUP!
-- "That was critical."
YUP!
I agree with you. Everyone talked of how horrible Blake was at the A Day game. From where i was sitting, I saw several beautiful spot on passes that were flat dropped by the receivers. Add to that, his scrambling ability being taken out of the equation due to the A Day rules, and on paper it was a bad showing. Granted he didn't have a stellar performance, but it wasn't as bad as everyone let on. He performed well under what I'd call a stressful game situation yesterday. He didn't have the luxury of the smothering defense keeping the opponents score at bay, yet he kept his composure somewhat, and took care of business.
Then you have his competition, J. Coker. You'd think they'd go ahead and award him the Heisman before he took a snap at Bama by listening to the hype that has built him up to be a football God. I'm like everyone else, I'm anxious to see what he's got outside of "mop up duty". That being said, I really feel sorry for the boy having almost unrealistic expectations placed on his shoulders from all the media outlets during the off season. Now he's got not only the pressure to perform to Alabama standards, but an even higher bar that's been set by this "legend" that has been put forth by all the media outlets.
To all of you, you are missing the point. I guess it should be rephrased. Why is Blake Sims our only option. I guess the better question would be why haven't the big name recruited , strong armed QB's that have been in the program for over a year not developed better? I know Lane has only been OC for a short period, But our offensive philosophy has not changed since Nick arrived . short , safe passes. run the ball, play action passing, and 3 or 4 vertical passes per half.
really not apples to apples. Blake's arm strength isn't near Johnny's. , I don't recall anyone wanting Pat White as our QB. He was a 3* athlete out of HS, not QB. I think RichRod is the only one recruiting him as QB, and then only as a running spread system QB, he only passed for about 120 yards per game at WVU . they tried to make him a receiver with the Dolphins. I am not doubting Blake, I just think there should be better options at QB. If you look at all my observations prior to saturday's game, I was in favor of Blake starting, my concerns are based on Saturday's game.
Agreed. I have no idea where all this talk came from of Coker being the next Peyton, it just seemed to come out of the blue and I feel sorry for the guy having to deal with all that manufactured pressure.
However, I would like to see him play and I am sure I will in the next two weeks. I want to see what Coker can do in our offense. I was also impressed with Sims' composure on Saturday and he didn't scare the bejeezes out of me with his passing decisions like I expected him to.
I am still scratching my head over how we can be between a converted athlete/RB and a transfer for starting QB when we had at least 3yrs to develop just one of our top rated QB recruits into the next QB though. Not too sure how we got here.
I am as well. You'd think over the years recruiting top notch talent, we'd have a definitive starter that was actually recruited to be a QB. Granted, I know several QB's have transferred, but you'd think we would have a clear cut replacement for AJ rather than a competition between a late transfer and a player recruited as an athlete to plug in where needed.
Irregardless, coach Saban has proven to know his stuff, so I'm not gonna start doubting him now!!
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