So CNS and/or CLK call and ask you what to do about QB. What's your advice?

What was the last year we used more than one starting QB in a season?

Crimson1967 said:

What was the last year we used more than one starting QB in a season?

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2001 "willingly" and 2004 "unwillingly"

Can we please stop throwing our quarterbacks under the bus? We were put in a huge hole thanks to 2 turnovers in the kicking game and it allowed Mississippi to pin their ears back. Pulling Bateman was unfair and premature IMO. It made him look like a scapegoat. Up until that time he was 11 of 13. It appeared to me the receiver ran the wrong route on the pic play. Both got little protection from that swinging door we call an offensive line. You win and lose as a team guys.

IMO the biggest coaching mistake we have made this year was taking Coker out in the Wisconsin game.

I know they wanted to see Bateman get some game reps but Coker was playing well enough to warrant playing the whole game. Think about last year, we stuck with Sims for the entire first game and that gave him the confidence he needed.

Coker is clearly our QB but I'm worried it might be too late now

According to Sagarin, we still must play #3 and #5. and the rest of the SECW slate provides plenty of opportunities to lose games. I'm with Saban when he says, he picks the guy who gives the team the best chance to win. I'm not sure I want to lose to cowbell because we'd rather groom a quarterback than win.

This is not to say that BB is not our best, or no worse, quarterback right now. Only that the coaches see these guys day in, day out, and at some point they have the data and make the call.

But any of the 5 guys we have could have won the game, without the fumbles.

crimsonaudio said:

And apparently we aren't developing OL and WR as well. It's baffling that a team with essentially one good recruiting class (which wasn't even as highly tanked as Bama's that year) can come into BDS and play with Bama, a team that has had the #1 recruiting class for five straight years. And they don't seem to have the same issues.

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If the biguns up front could keep the other team out of the back field for just 1/2 second, things may have been better for either of the qbs. Seems coach cristo needs help.

"Nope. Coker has the arm."

I am tired of hearing about his arm strength as he has not been able to lead a receiver at any point this season on the deep ball. They have all been under thrown. I was ready for Morris last night. Why not? Could he have been worse for the team? Most likely, not.

bamacpa said:

I just don't see this defense as special so far. The DBs still do not find the ball in the air, and we don't force turnovers or perform very well on 3rd down.

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I've honestly decided that this is something that isn't going to change. We should just expect it and learn to live with it.

CullmanTide said:

Can we please stop throwing our quarterbacks under the bus? We were put in a huge hole thanks to 2 turnovers in the kicking game and it allowed Mississippi to pin their ears back. Pulling Bateman was unfair and premature IMO. It made him look like a scapegoat. Up until that time he was 11 of 13. It appeared to me the receiver ran the wrong route on the pic play. Both got little protection from that swinging door we call an offensive line. You win and loose as a team guys.

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I thought Bateman played very well too. Why we pulled him I have no idea.

I'd say just put Jacob Coker in and let him run the offense. He lead Alabama to victories over two tough teams, and while I'm reluctant to criticize coaching, I don't think it did anyone favors to wait until Alabama was in a hole to put him in. He just seems like more of a leader, he seems more in control of the offense, mistakes or not (and it's not fair to judge him entirely on the basis of trying to dig his team out of a hole).

If they do use Bateman? They have to run him! He underthrows the ball, the lack of zip make sit an easier pick, if you use him you better use his legs because frankly his arm is nothing special.

As to Barnett, I just don't want to see that poor kid get wrecked. Unless they are 100% sure he's ready just put Coker up there and honestly, Alabama can beat teams with him.

Catfish said:

I've honestly decided that this is something that isn't going to change. We should just expect it and learn to live with it.

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It really is baffling. I will say credit the players for doing what they're told, but sometimes you just have to make a play. Several times in the last couple seasons, we would have had easy picks if the DB would turn his head, not to mention less PI calls.

The Bateman situation was mis-handled-whether it was made by Kiffin or Saban. Looks bad when you pull Cooper after interception. Hard to understand with 5 straight #1 recruiting classes how we have not a single QB who can throw the deep ball accurate. Unreal.

Alasippi said:

We started Cooper because he's more athletic yet do not let him keep the ball on the option one time.
If he play fakes to Henry and keeps one time he's still running.
Cooper is getting way too much blame for this loss. He actually played very well overall but he was hand cuffed for the most part. If you're not going to "let him play", then don't play him at all.

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I've seen multiple people say this in multiple threads. How do you guys know we didn't LET him keep it? Maybe that is just the read(incorrectly) that he made.

Alasippi said:

We started Cooper because he's more athletic yet do not let him keep the ball on the option one time.
If he play fakes to Henry and keeps one time he's still running.
Cooper is getting way too much blame for this loss. He actually played very well overall but he was hand cuffed for the most part. If you're not going to "let him play", then don't play him at all.

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It's the QBs choice to keep the ball on a read option

Coker looked plenty athletic when scrambling last night. I think we can win with him.

my advice would be pick a QB and go with it. that way you can put together a gameplan that takes into account his strengths. we are lost on offense right now.

This game was tremendously frustrating for evaluating the QB position.

1. Bateman: It appears the game plan was to use his athleticism to exploit the read option. Saban even hinted at it during the postgame interview. It was open the entire first quarter and I kept wondering why Bateman would continuously hand it off instead of take it himself after seeing the DE collapse and no sign of an OLB on the backside. I am wondering now if Bateman wasnt benched bc of that as opposed to the interception. The story I'm telling myself is that he didn't (for whatever reason) perform the gameplan that was specifically designed for him. Which to the coaching staff may be unforgivable. However, his accuracy on passes was pretty good (11/14), I dont recall any stupid penalties and he seemed to be managing the position very well. He got pulled pretty early so it's hard to have an overall opinion.

2. Coker: Came into a game behind and with a team completely out of sorts. So he felt the pressure to try to force plays. 1st- he has the heart of a lion and I loved the way he competed and worked for yardage even when the defense was hanging all over him. Accuracy was erratic (21/45), plays took a long time to snap the ball (not sure if that is solely his fault but it certainly seemed more chaotic with him in), and there were multiple times where the play clock ran out or we needed a TO to save a penalty. He threw into triple coverage, stared down receivers, threw what should have been 2 additional interceptions, was generally slow to release the ball. He is a 5th yr senior and still makes rookie mistakes. Is this his upside limit? Or was this him trying to force plays bc of us playing behind? As a 5th yr senior, this may be who he is: erratic, but competes hard.

So who do you go with? Both have positives, but I dont think you can rely on either one to lead the team. If you put Barnett in before he is ready, are you just hurting him in the long term? This may be why the coaching staff doesn't have a good answer. Maybe there isnt a good answer. It has to be amazingly frustrating to the staff.

bamacpa said:

I just don't see this defense as special so far. The DBs still do not find the ball in the air, and we don't force turnovers or perform very well on 3rd down.

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I absolutely agree with this.