If Hurts doesn't improve as a downfield passer, I could easily see him losing his job. Let's be honest, while he has been calm and steady, he has regressed lately. Teams now have a plan to defend him. Fortunately he plays QB for Alabama and it has not mattered.
It's true that Hurts seemed to regress a little in the passing department. His accuracy has been his achilles heel all year. But, it should be noted that all of our first year qbs seem to hit the same wall about the same time during their first year to start.Yep. There is no way to know if Hurts will improve as a passer. I certainly don't assume that he will.
We saw that with Blake Sims and Jake Coker over the past two seasons. No reason to expect the opposite this year with Jalen.About Hurts, if you watch his high school film that someone linked on the board some time back, you will see him making all of the throws at every level. He would launch a 60 yard bomb that would hit the WR in stride. I just don't think he's developed that part of his game with the Alabama receivers yet, and after the season started, how much time do you have to actually focus on that part of the game? You're working on game plans for your upcoming opponents.
I believe you are going to see a better passing game from Hurts in the playoff, because there will be a little time to focus on fundamentals before they start implementing the Washington game plan. Then, I think you will see tremendous development by next season, as he will have all Spring and Summer to work on it, as the presumptive starter (yes, I get that he will have to earn the job back like everyone else, but it makes a huge difference being a returning starter vs an incoming freshman).
Exactly. Jalen is an amazing athlete with amazing arm talent. For someone to assume he won't make any progress is a pessimist and a contrarian. I am obviously biased and understand Jalen has had struggles at times but I believe I recall AJ getting a heck of a lot better between his soph year and junior year and junior year to his senior year (same with JPW and McElroy).We saw that with Blake Sims and Jake Coker over the past two seasons. No reason to expect the opposite this year with Jalen.
Going back a little further: Remember a guy named Jay Barker??? There were times during our NC run in 1992 that we could barely complete a forward pass (Sidenote: just shows how good that defense was that year).Exactly. Jalen is an amazing athlete with amazing arm talent. For someone to assume he won't make any progress is a pessimist and a contrarian. I am obviously biased and understand Jalen has had struggles at times but I believe I recall AJ getting a heck of a lot better between his soph year and junior year and junior year to his senior year (same with JPW and McElroy).
I am an eternal optimist, but I don't assume anything. The context here is important, though. The question is not, "Will Jalen continue to improve?". The Question is, "Can we assume that he will improve enough that these incoming QBs have no chance of winning the starting QB job?". IMO, only a fool would assume the later.Exactly. Jalen is an amazing athlete with amazing arm talent. For someone to assume he won't make any progress is a pessimist and a contrarian. I am obviously biased and understand Jalen has had struggles at times but I believe I recall AJ getting a heck of a lot better between his soph year and junior year and junior year to his senior year (same with JPW and McElroy).
It is not assuming, it is forecasting and I think it would be safe to forecast improvement due to the arm talent, mindset and experience. The Question is "Can we forecast that he will improve enough that these incoming QB's have no chance at winning the starting QB job". I think it is an obvious yes and Jalen is just scratching the surface of his potential (did you see DeShaun Watson's RS freshman year).I am an eternal optimist, but I don't assume anything. The context here is important, though. The question is not, "Will Jalen continue to improve?". The Question is, "Can we assume that he will improve enough that these incoming QBs have no chance of winning the starting QB job?". IMO, only a fool would assume the later.
Fair enough. For me, it is as obvious as Barnett being the guaranteed starter for Alabama this year or Coker in 2014.I think it is an obvious yes