Question: Would you guys be okay if Coker got the start this week?

I feel certain both will play a significant number of snaps, so it doesn't matter to me, caveat, unless there really is something up with Coker's knee....

Sims deserves to start, but he really needs to stretch the field with his passing. We got big time WR’s now and this is the time to take advantage of their talents. Very hard to utilize their talents if Sims can’t throw the ball downfield with authority. This is where Coker comes in and really makes our offense more of a major threat with his arm rather than Sim’s arm. As much as I love Sims and the leadership he provides for Bama, I just can’t see us winning a championship with him behind center. If Saban says the competition is far from over, that tells me that he believes Coker will catch up with the offense terminology between now and the Florida game along with taking plenty of snaps in the next two games to get a good feel of how he manages the game. If Coker succeeds, he’s taking the reins starting with the Florida game. I love everything about Sims, but once he learns to pass better downfield and spread out the offense, I’m taking my chance with Coker and his rocket arm to really make a splash with all the offensive weapons we have on this team.

How about just get us to playoff for now, and then we'll deal with championship

playball31580 said:

Sims deserves to start, but he really needs to stretch the field with his passing. We got big time WR’s now and this is the time to take advantage of their talents. Very hard to utilize their talents if Sims can’t throw the ball downfield with authority. This is where Coker comes in and really makes our offense more of a major threat with his arm rather than Sim’s arm. As much as I love Sims and the leadership he provides for Bama, I just can’t see us winning a championship with him behind center. If Saban says the competition is far from over, that tells me that he believes Coker will catch up with the offense terminology between now and the Florida game along with taking plenty of snaps in the next two games to get a good feel of how he manages the game. If Coker succeeds, he’s taking the reins starting with the Florida game. I love everything about Sims, but once he learns to pass better downfield and spread out the offense, I’m taking my chance with Coker and his rocket arm to really make a splash with all the offensive weapons we have on this team.

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playball31580 said:

Sims deserves to start, but he really needs to stretch the field with his passing. We got big time WR’s now and this is the time to take advantage of their talents. Very hard to utilize their talents if Sims can’t throw the ball downfield with authority. This is where Coker comes in and really makes our offense more of a major threat with his arm rather than Sim’s arm. As much as I love Sims and the leadership he provides for Bama, I just can’t see us winning a championship with him behind center. If Saban says the competition is far from over, that tells me that he believes Coker will catch up with the offense terminology between now and the Florida game along with taking plenty of snaps in the next two games to get a good feel of how he manages the game. If Coker succeeds, he’s taking the reins starting with the Florida game. I love everything about Sims, but once he learns to pass better downfield and spread out the offense, I’m taking my chance with Coker and his rocket arm to really make a splash with all the offensive weapons we have on this team.

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This^^^^^

playball31580 said:

Sims deserves to start, but he really needs to stretch the field with his passing. We got big time WR’s now and this is the time to take advantage of their talents. Very hard to utilize their talents if Sims can’t throw the ball downfield with authority. This is where Coker comes in and really makes our offense more of a major threat with his arm rather than Sim’s arm. As much as I love Sims and the leadership he provides for Bama, I just can’t see us winning a championship with him behind center. If Saban says the competition is far from over, that tells me that he believes Coker will catch up with the offense terminology between now and the Florida game along with taking plenty of snaps in the next two games to get a good feel of how he manages the game. If Coker succeeds, he’s taking the reins starting with the Florida game. I love everything about Sims, but once he learns to pass better downfield and spread out the offense, I’m taking my chance with Coker and his rocket arm to really make a splash with all the offensive weapons we have on this team.

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That has been my only knock on Sims all along. I think some people have a misconception about what throwing deep is and making a defense defend every part of the field. That punt that Blake through that CJ dropped was not a display of arm strength as a lot of people thought it was. I can throw the ball 50 yards. I cant throw it 50 yards on a rope though. Its not just about throwing deep bombs on go routes. If the ball is spotted on the far hashmark the QB should be able to make a deep out throw to the near hash mark. Otherwise the CB and safeties don't have to defend that area of the field. That is what is meant by stretching the defense with arm strength. Not throwing a punt pass for 50 yards that the receiver has to stop and wait on for 3 or 4 seconds..

Edit: CJ should have still caught the pass. I wasn't saying the pass was not catchable just that the throw, IMO, wasn't a great display of arm strength.

dWarriors88 said:

So I just thought of something, since we have the luxury of having two quarterbacks that could start for most any team in college football this year. Could we possibly play one quarterback against one team depending on the defense and the strength and weaknesses and then play another quarterback the next week?

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Are we able to do this? Yes. Is it likely? Based on what Saban has said, no. He is big on a QB getting into a rhythm and switching, even from game to game can throw off a QBs rhythm.

CrimsonForce said:

That has been my only knock on Sims all along. I think some people have a misconception about what throwing deep is and making a defense defend every part of the field. That punt that Blake through that CJ dropped was not a display of arm strength as a lot of people thought it was. I can throw the ball 50 yards. I cant throw it 50 yards on a rope though. Its not just about throwing deep bombs on go routes. If the ball is spotted on the far hashmark the QB should be able to make a deep out throw to the near hash mark. Otherwise the CB and safeties don't have to defend that area of the field. That is what is meant by stretching the defense with arm strength. Not throwing a punt pass for 50 yards that the receiver has to stop and wait on for 3 or 4 seconds..

Edit: CJ should have still caught the pass. I wasn't saying the pass was not catchable just that the throw, IMO, wasn't a great display of arm strength.

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I said something very similar to this in another one of our many qb threads. It's not just throwing it up 50 yards down field but throwning it on an angle that sometimes may be actually throwing it 60+ yards and then placing it in a spot that only our guy can catch it.

Alot easier said than done, for sure.

BamaMoon said:

I said something very similar to this in another one of our many qb threads. It's not just throwing it up 50 yards down field but throwning it on an angle that sometimes may be actually throwing it 60+ yards and then placing it in a spot that only our guy can catch it.

Alot easier said than done, for sure.

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Yep. And it doesn't have to be 50 yards down field to show arm strength. Can Blake put enough zing on a pass to squeeze it between a safety and corner on a 20 yard post? Idk. I haven't seen it yet. Again I feel Blake played well but going back to the original point, it will be hard to lean on our ground game if we can't stretch the field and make the defense defend the entire field and not just stack up at the line of scrimmage..

Here is something to think about. Sims' longest pass to Jones was a 58 yard throw using the field markings but in actuality was more like 65 from the angle. The pass traveled from his release till it hit Jones' hands 3.3 seconds. I compared that to several pro QB's throws of that same distance which traveled that far in 2.8-3.1. His throw to Cooper was a 52 yard pass that took 3.1 seconds. Comparing that to some of AJ's 52 yard throws last year of 2.8-2.9 seconds. So there is not a huge difference.

Adding 2 seconds to take a snap and release a pass we would need a receiver running a 4.3 40, and then he would have to run an additional 18 yards in 1 extra second to not be overthrown. I am pretty sure we don't have anyone that fast. Sims' arm strength is adequate and not a major issue, even throwing down the field.

Bamabuzzard said:

Then why didn't they put Coker in? Personally I don't think the plan was to play Sims the entire game. I think the game got tight and they didn't have the confidence in Coker to put him in. Sure, he started warming up but that didn't last long. They stuck with Sims. That says a lot, IMO.

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The game did get tight and that had an impact on why Coker didn't play but I don't think it was a lack of confidence in his ability as much as CNS didn't want to chance a new QB having to be under intense pressure or waste a couple of series for him to get in rhythm.

dWarriors88 said:

So I just thought of something, since we have the luxury of having two quarterbacks that could start for most any team in college football this year. Could we possibly play one quarterback against one team depending on the defense and the strength and weaknesses and then play another quarterback the next week?

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I think this is exactly what coach is thinking.

I think we are looking at a Jordan Jefferson / Jarrett Lee situation this season. I think it's going to take the skills of both these players to navigate the season.

I also think the staff is being completely honest with both players and the team. By all accounts Sims is a team player that shows a lot of maturity. He is a 5th year guy as well. I am pretty sure he knows what his limitations and areas of improvement are despite the solid outing he had last week. Sims knows he has virtually no shot at a pro career. He knows this is his opportunity to contribute to provide leadership even if it is in a complimentary roll with Coker.

I expect that Sims maturity is what is allowing CNS to risk getting significant reps for Coker as well because there will come a point in the season where Sims is going to have no answer for what's being thrown at him. His game is just not at that level. We are going to need someone to stretch the defense a few times this season and he going to have to see demonstrate that to a level the other team will respect. Hence the reason I think we need 2 capable QB this season.

CrimsonForce said:

Yep. And it doesn't have to be 50 yards down field to show arm strength. Can Blake put enough zing on a pass to squeeze it between a safety and corner on a 20 yard post? Idk. I haven't seen it yet. Again I feel Blake played well but going back to the original point, it will be hard to lean on our ground game if we can't stretch the field and make the defense defend the entire field and not just stack up at the line of scrimmage..

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I just want him to not throw those that dropped at the wide open WR's feet. Those 3 passes looked horrible. You can't miss wide open guys by throwing 15 yd passes short.

dWarriors88 said:

So I just thought of something, since we have the luxury of having two quarterbacks that could start for most any team in college football this year. Could we possibly play one quarterback against one team depending on the defense and the strength and weaknesses and then play another quarterback the next week?

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I think we have two good QB's battling for a job, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they could start for most anybody. There's some mighty dog gone good Quarterbacks out there.
sip

derek4tide said:

I just want him to not throw those that dropped at the wide open WR's feet. Those 3 passes looked horrible. You can't miss wide open guys by throwing 15 yd passes short.

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I would rather see the ball low than high , high overthrows and tips get picked.

A starter who plays well usually is afforded the honor of starting the next game. Here's hoping Blake and JC will both have ample playing time on Saturday.

derek4tide said:

I just want him to not throw those that dropped at the wide open WR's feet. Those 3 passes looked horrible. You can't miss wide open guys by throwing 15 yd passes short.

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People who use Twitter or visit TiderInsider probably know Jimmy Stein. He said on his podcast this week that he saw plenty of the passes at the feet during the scrimmage he attended. They were thrown by Coker, not Sims, though.

RTR91 said:

People who use Twitter or visit TiderInsider probably know Jimmy Stein. He said on his podcast this week that he saw plenty of the passes at the feet during the scrimmage he attended. They were thrown by Coker, not Sims, though.

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Actually, the knock on Coker at FSU was the he sailed his passes. almost every clip of Jake you see, the receiver has to jump for the ball.

bamaga said:

Actually, the knock on Coker at FSU was the he sailed his passes. almost every clip of Jake you see, the receiver has to jump for the ball.

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Just repeating what a person said he saw at the scrimmage.