2016 Season QB Thread

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
12,757
94
67
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Because of the opponent, I have to believe Coker was legitimately sick prior to the game. That was possibly the worst combination of circumstances to throw out a first time starter -

Ole Miss defense being pretty stout and fast
Night game at BDS
Night game at BDS with fans amped up looking for revenge
Ole Miss amped up looking to be first team to beat Alabama in consecutive games since 2011
There was also some talk that Coker missed curfew (or something similar) the week of the Ole Miss game and his punishment was not starting the game..
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,103
44,784
287
54
East Point, Ga, USA
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Because of the opponent, I have to believe Coker was legitimately sick prior to the game. That was possibly the worst combination of circumstances to throw out a first time starter -

Ole Miss defense being pretty stout and fast
Night game at BDS
Night game at BDS with fans amped up looking for revenge
Ole Miss amped up looking to be first team to beat Alabama in consecutive games since 2011
added to that is the pressure immediately put on the offense from two early kickoff fumbles leading to gimme points.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

When they get 4 of the 5 OL slots sorted out ( actually, probably 3 because one slot belongs to Cam and it looks like center`s locked up ), I think the O will begin to settle in and take off. IF Bateman were to be the starter, IMHO he wouldn`t need a cannon for an arm with the weapons around him.
"Cannon for an arm" has always been overrated. You know who didn't have a great arm? Blake Sims and in my opinion he had the best deep ball of any QB under Saban.
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

I like Cooper Bateman, but his performance against Ole Miss was horrible, and as Force replied, it was his own hesitation to take the reigns and go. The opportunities for positive plays, with his legs, were there.
He just hesitated too much.
He can go, but if the question is, "Will he?", then we need somebody else to be our QB.
sip
 

LA4Bama

All-SEC
Jan 5, 2015
1,624
0
0
Los Angeles, CA
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

"Cannon for an arm" has always been overrated. You know who didn't have a great arm? Blake Sims and in my opinion he had the best deep ball of any QB under Saban.
It's a bit like a baseball pitcher -- power without control is worse than control without power, but to be elite you usually need both. Power is "overrated" in prospects because you can more often teach command whereas power is mostly innate, so we place greater hope in a guy who already has a cannon that he will learn touch and control than the other way around.

As for Blake Sims, he did throw a nice deep pass (albeit aided by the greatest deep threat of Saban's tenure and maybe also the best QB coaching), but a cannon is not necessarily as important as accuracy for the deep pass where the receiver is running top speed past the safety who is already beaten. It matters maybe more on the quick and medium routes where the corner and safety are closing on a relatively stationary receiver and the ball has to get there first.
 

TideFan in AU

Hall of Fame
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

I like Cooper Bateman, but his performance against Ole Miss was horrible, and as Force replied, it was his own hesitation to take the reigns and go. The opportunities for positive plays, with his legs, were there.
He just hesitated too much.
He can the go, but if the question is, "Will he?", then we need somebody else to be our QB.
sip
Bateman wasn't great (by any means) against OM but 11/14 for 87 yards and the one INT also wasn't horrible either. For his first start against a live defense, it wasn't as bad as we want to remember, it is because we lost. He was tossed in a fire and before the game was even started good, he was having to play from behind because of our turnovers.

I'm not saying Bateman has what it takes to be the man, but I'm not sure we can judge him on that one game. Does anybody remember how AJ looked against AU when he got tossed into that 2010 game?
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Bateman wasn't great (by any means) against OM but 11/14 for 87 yards and the one INT also wasn't horrible either. For his first start against a live defense, it wasn't as bad as we want to remember, it is because we lost. He was tossed in a fire and before the game was even started good, he was having to play from behind because of our turnovers.

I'm not saying Bateman has what it takes to be the man, but I'm not sure we can judge him on that one game. Does anybody remember how AJ looked against AU when he got tossed into that 2010 game?
And his INT appeared to be more on Stewart running the wrong route, too.
 

Zaiva

1st Team
Feb 27, 2013
357
0
35
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Bateman wasn't great (by any means) against OM but 11/14 for 87 yards and the one INT also wasn't horrible either. For his first start against a live defense, it wasn't as bad as we want to remember, it is because we lost. He was tossed in a fire and before the game was even started good, he was having to play from behind because of our turnovers.

I'm not saying Bateman has what it takes to be the man, but I'm not sure we can judge him on that one game. Does anybody remember how AJ looked against AU when he got tossed into that 2010 game?
His first start was also against the best defense we played all year
 

Bama Lee

All-American
Oct 13, 1999
4,132
1,714
287
56
Dallas, TX
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

"Cannon for an arm" has always been overrated. You know who didn't have a great arm? Blake Sims and in my opinion he had the best deep ball of any QB under Saban.
AJ McCarron threw the best deep ball with both power and accuracy!
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,295
31,347
187
South Alabama
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Bateman wasn't great (by any means) against OM but 11/14 for 87 yards and the one INT also wasn't horrible either. For his first start against a live defense, it wasn't as bad as we want to remember, it is because we lost. He was tossed in a fire and before the game was even started good, he was having to play from behind because of our turnovers.

I'm not saying Bateman has what it takes to be the man, but I'm not sure we can judge him on that one game. Does anybody remember how AJ looked against AU when he got tossed into that 2010 game?
people aren't using that INT against him, they are using three option plays in which on all three the DE breaks on Henry from the snap, and if cooper keeps it on any of those he walks into the end zone.

Again I honestly could care less who wins the job as long as we win.
 

Isaiah 63:1

All-American
Dec 8, 2005
2,506
2,146
187
Probably at 35k or in an airport somewhere
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Bateman wasn't great (by any means) against OM but 11/14 for 87 yards and the one INT also wasn't horrible either. For his first start against a live defense, it wasn't as bad as we want to remember, it is because we lost. He was tossed in a fire and before the game was even started good, he was having to play from behind because of our turnovers.
Stop making sense...
 

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
3,131
3,909
187
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

"Cannon for an arm" has always been overrated. You know who didn't have a great arm? Blake Sims and in my opinion he had the best deep ball of any QB under Saban.
Blake also had a super fast release. I remember watching early in 2014 when he was still rotating some with Coker and being amazed at how much faster the ball got out AND to cooper on the WR screens, even though Jake supposedly had the stronger arm
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

AJ McCarron threw the best deep ball with both power and accuracy!
No he didn't. Look at how many times Cooper had to stop for AJ's deep ball. Don't recall him doing that with Blake's throws.
 

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
12,757
94
67
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

All of the QBs have adequate arm strength to run the offense. CLK's offense is predicated on getting the #1 WR matched up 1 on 1 out in space. The result of this is normally a wide open receiver. When a receiver is wide open arm strength is pretty irrelevant. It's more important for the QB to throw the ball on time and accurately. Coker has an insanely strong arm but he didn't show it off much last year because he didn't have to throw in tight windows very often. It was normally to a wide open Ridley or Stewart down the field. Any QB on the team can make those throws. I'll take a QB who can read the defense and throw on time but has an average arm vs a QB who is slow minded and holds the ball to long but can make up for it with a strong arm. The bottom line for a QB is that mental ability trumps physical ability..
 
Last edited:

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Blake Sims was one of those guys who you wish that you could magic an extra year of eligibility for him. He had natural leadership traits and athletic ability. The eligibility counter just didn't work out relative to the also exceptional incumbent he backed up for 3 years.
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,103
44,784
287
54
East Point, Ga, USA
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Blake Sims was one of those guys who you wish that you could magic an extra year of eligibility for him. He had natural leadership traits and athletic ability. The eligibility counter just didn't work out relative to the also exceptional incumbent he backed up for 3 years.
agreed. i also wish we could have coker in the system one more year. they both were ballers
 

Tideflyer

Hall of Fame
Dec 14, 2011
7,804
3,866
187
Savannah, GA
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

All of the QBs have adequate arm strength to run the offense. CLK's offense is predicated on getting the #1 WR matched up 1 on 1 out in space. The result of this is normally a wide open receiver. When a receiver is wide open arm strength is pretty irrelevant. It's more important for the QB to throw the ball on time and accurately. Coker has an insanely strong arm but he didn't show it off much last year because he didn't have to throw in tight windows very often. It was normally to a wide open Ridley or Stewart down the field. Any QB on the team can make those throws. I'll take a QB who can read the defense and throw on time but has an average arm vs a QB who is slow minded and holds the ball to long but can make up for it with a strong arm. The bottom line for a QB is that mental ability trumps physical ability..
Me too. Good decision making, getting into the right plays at the right time, etc., etc., with an above average surrounding cast ( personally think ours is way above average ) will win a lot of ball games I think.
 

AlexanderFan

Hall of Fame
Jul 23, 2004
11,064
7,467
187
Birmingham
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

We need accuracy and efficiency this year. There are game breakers at every skill position. Paging Greg McElroy, paging Greg McElroy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

CrimsonForce

Hall of Fame
Dec 20, 2012
12,757
94
67
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

We need accuracy and efficiency this year. There are game breakers at every skill position. Paging Greg McElroy, paging Greg McElroy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yep. And Bateman is a much, much better athlete than GMc. If Bateman turns out to be a more athletic version of McElroy I think we'll all be very happy with the offense this year..
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
10,615
4,540
187
43
kraizy.art
Re: Spring Practice Thread (Interviews, Press Conferences, Practice Reports)

Here's the thing with Cooper Bateman, there's no question he has the physical tools required to run Alabama's offense. Alabama doesn't base their offense on cannon arms and Kiffin has shown the ability to adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of the quarterback. So, physically Bateman can run the offense. That's not the issue.

The issue is that he's not the most physically talented quarterback of the bunch. Not only that, but he's unique in that he did get a shot (tough circumstance, yes) and that didn't really go so great. The Coker and Sims detractors didn't have that type of an outing to point to, they only had struggles in scrimmages and the like, and yes Coker, Sims, Barnett, Bateman and Cornwell have all really struggled at times under those circumstances. So, people have a little more concrete evidence to doubt Bateman on. Things worked out just fine, but we all know Bateman should have been more aggressive running the ball against Ole Miss and we all question why he didn't.

Consider this fact, Jacob Coker ran for 58 yards and 1 touchdown against Ole Miss! So you look at Bateman's performance, and his 48.3 QBR and you do have a legitimate reason to question him. Coker out-threw and outran him, that shouldn't have happened. So this is one case in which the doubts are warranted. I think we know Bateman can do it, but we also know something went wrong in that game and some of that has to rest on Bateman's shoulders. There's not a whole lot of times you can blame a loss on an Alabama quarterback but this appears to be one time in which that might be valid.

Having said that I will reiterate I think Bateman can do the job if he has to, but there's some valid doubt that creeps in. On the other hand, Cornwell appears to be a completely legitimate option himself. He has the tools, he was highly ranked out of high school, he's a solid option. But, it does go back to Barnett and the intrigue he brings. All these other quarterback battles came down to two guys really once the coaches got serious about picking a starter. Barnett has a legitimate chance of making that a 3 QB race (of Cornwell hasn't messed up last year it might have been a 3 QB race then), and it's not just about Barnett having a shot. One way of putting it is Barnett is a better runner than Cornwell and has a better arm than Bateman. That's one way of putting it, but another way is to say out of the Alabama starters, his arm is second only to Coker and his running ability is second only to Sims. He's a really, really talented guy and kind of like OJ Howard, regardless of what he is or isn't doing you always have to look over there and just imagine what could be.

There's a lot that remains to be seen, I don't think anything will be determined anytime soon, but I do think this is one situation in which a lot of the speculation really is warranted. Arguably, Alabama has the weakest heir to the starting job, but the strongest #3, which really opens things up.
 

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.