Thoughts on QB situation after Game 5?

[gman4tide]

Bamamoon, i was talking more about "how we got to this point", more than just about simpson. I think the foul was simpson...but i think our qb woes fall more on no development and terrible play calling. As was alluded to previously, its obvious that BY got us out of a lot of bad plays. His football IQ must be off the charts. I think i've seen a few hs OC's that could call better games than either BoB or tr.
I do agree with you about the simpson deal being real weird.

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

You're really gonna throw simpson under the bus for the usf game? TB got 98% of the reps with the ones that whole week. Why? Because it was predetermined that he was gonna get the start and needed all the 1 reps. Simpson got that 2% (only because jm was obviously told he wouldn't be in the game for any reason/you could see that when the cam panned to him in the 2nd half and he was away from most and kinda did the shoulder shrug/arm stretch like "welp, nothing i can do about it)...the weeks leading up to that, he was getting reps with the 2/3's, none with the ones. Yes, he was sacked 5 times..but i'm not putting those 5 sacks on his shoulders. Dude came into a game where it appeared NONE of his team mates cared to be there. A left tackle that was utterly lost and a rb that seemed to want him broke in half. When given reasonable time in the pocked, he made some decent throws and actually LED the team in the only td drives. This has been gone over ad nauseum, but to say "he was not good" isn't really "fair" to him.
Lets go back to garbage/cleanup times last year...anyone care to pull up the film of his last pass attempt vs jm's last pass attempt? To me, it shows who was excited to be out there and trying to improve vs someone who was out there because the coach told them to go out there.

I have noticed that USF have won their last 2 games pretty handily since we played them.

 

[BamaMoon]

Stop the run
Run the ball
Win the kicking game
Be positive in turnover margin

that’s what always wins.

If that was what "modern football" consisted of today then, "yeah, 100%."

And I'm not saying you aren't aware, but "passing" is the modern equivalent of "running the ball."

I'm 53 and I'm old enough to remember seeing Bama win NC by running the ball with the triple option, but the modern explosion of football being a QB centric-pass-first type of game isn't something that is going away IMO.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

No need to whine and complain. It is what it is. Our staff has made their choice of the best QB and if they sit JM now it will just make THEM look incompetent. I am hanging on and yelling Roll Tide.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

If that was what "modern football" consisted of today then, "yeah, 100%."

And I'm not saying you aren't aware, but "passing" is the modern equivalent of "running the ball."

I'm 53 and I'm old enough to remember seeing Bama win NC by running the ball with the triple option, but the modern explosion of football being a QB centric-pass-first type of game isn't something that is going away IMO.

Agree and I don’t think most of us expect to throw it 40-50 times a week but there has to be some balance and a threat of an efficient and effective passing attack that can move the chains when needed.

You also can’t just live and die by the Deep Ball. Gotta have a Medium and short Passing attack that works as well too.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I actually think Milroe seems to be getting better. Yes, he needs to not take some of the sacks he takes and yes he hold the ball for a while sometimes. But he seems to have hit at least a few more intermediate shots the last 2 weeks.

But I'm not sure we could have hoped for much better through this point. I think he'll keep getting better and the offense in general will get at least a little better.

Idk if we can beat A&M on the road or not and I'm still not sure we can beat LSU if they can put up points on us. But I also think we have a better shot at the west than I did a few weeks ago.

 

[BamaMoon]

I actually think Milroe seems to be getting better. Yes, he needs to not take some of the sacks he takes and yes he hold the ball for a while sometimes. But he seems to have hit at least a few more intermediate shots the last 2 weeks.

But I'm not sure we could have hoped for much better through this point. I think he'll keep getting better and the offense in general will get at least a little better.

Idk if we can beat A&M on the road or not and I'm still not sure we can beat LSU if they can put up points on us. But I also think we have a better shot at the west than I did a few weeks ago.

I think that is a "fair" assessment of the situation.

There are always areas of improvement for every team and it was true even when we had guys at QB that are currently starting in the NFL.

The difference is we've never been so dependent on our QB to get better as much as it seems is the case this year. And this doesn't mean there aren't other positions that need to improve as well!

But it's clear it all comes back to the QB situation. JM's ceiling is debatable, but his improvement week by week will determine how far this team will go.

 

[81usaf92]

There are really 3 camps on Milroe…

The two biggest are:

1) “Every play that he does well it’s a sign of tremendous improvement” crowd

2) “Every play he does bad is a sign we are heading off the cliff”

the last group is the “wait and see” group who understands that while there is improvement… it may not be enough but there is hope.

Long story short… he has made improvements and he is the guy now. But… there is still a lot of improvement needed if we are to get to our postseason goals. I think we will have a better version of him by November but the question is whether or not that includes costly mistakes that lead to losses to get there. I’m cautiously optimistic.

 

[BamaNation]

I'm ridin' with them that brung us

JM is a (and The ) leader. He showed that when he's not having to scramble for his life he can operate under control and protect the ball. So, OL and everybody else have to do their jobs well for him to be successful, I think. WRs are not yet super-elite and JMs accuracy is not 100% all the time, but they're all growing together. So, hopefully, big growth spurt this week and we can boot stomp the gaggies.

 

[UAH]

There are really 3 camps on Milroe…

The two biggest are:

1) “Every play that he does well it’s a sign of tremendous improvement” crowd

2) “Every play he does bad is a sign we are heading off the cliff”

the last group is the “wait and see” group who understands that while there is improvement… it may not be enough but there is hope.

Long story short… he has made improvements and he is the guy now. But… there is still a lot of improvement needed if we are to get to our postseason goals. I think we will have a better version of him by November but the question is whether or not that includes costly mistakes that lead to losses to get there. I’m cautiously optimistic.

As negative as I am about JM's mecanics believing that it is an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole I will be interested in where he will be when he gets to Jordan - Hare at seasons end. He had better get his feet under him by that time or it will be similar to the last result with Jalen Hurts there. Difficult to see how it all will come together for him this weekend.

 

[Padreruf]

he difference is we've never been so dependent on our QB to get better as much as it seems is the case this year. And this doesn't mean there aren't other positions that need to improve as well!

I guess you were not around in Jalen Hurts' first year...his QB play just about drove us fans crazy. About the time you would feel he needed to be replaced, he would have a spectacular game/half. If I never again see him roll right and throw out of bounds I will die a happy man.

 

[colbysullivan]

Just gonna leave this here…

 

[BamaMoon]

I guess you were not around in Jalen Hurts' first year...his QB play just about drove us fans crazy. About the time you would feel he needed to be replaced, he would have a spectacular game/half. If I never again see him roll right and throw out of bounds I will die a happy man.

Well, I was around but I was thinking more about the last 3 qbs but I should have made myself clearer.

But, even going back to Jalen, it seemed the team around him was more sound.

This year, the whole offense is in a funk but I think it'll take JM improving the most to make the biggest difference. Case in point, against MSU the OL looked better but we still saw JM be indecisive and slow to react. That's on him and the entire offense will continue to struggle until that improves.

 

[bvandegraff]

A few points that may have already been discussed:

Milroe is the least experienced starting QB in the SEC, and it would appear got little in the way of development when Bryce was starting.

He's not the QB we want him to be yet, but he has ridiculous physical tools. He's improving week-by-week - no turnovers Saturday night, and he's getting better at deciding quicker when to take off up the field instead of rolling to the right. He can beat spies with his speed and not go down on first contact.

The pass protection looks to be improving as well, which should help going forward (though we'll see how much this Saturday).

The play-calling still isn't always maximizing his skill set. They must do that this Saturday in a hostile environment against a stout front 7 or the gains of the last 2 weeks will vanish.

He's improving each game but still driving us nuts sometimes. If we get more of the former and less of the latter each week, it'll be interesting. It's really about his mental game.

 

[Superdad]

Just gonna leave this here…

He's right on!

 

[KrAzY3]

You're really gonna throw simpson under the bus for the usf game? TB got 98% of the reps with the ones that whole week

I'm going to throw him under the bus for playing poorly the same way people are throwing other people under the bus for playing poorly.

He did not do well, at all. In about as ideal a situation as he is going to get this year. Double his yardage, he has 150 yards, against a poor team (and ten sacks if we're doubling things) and negative rushing yards. Someone else puts up numbers like that and all we hear about is how terrible they are.

Well... and this isn't necessarily a big knock on him, but this is what he looked like in the Alabama offense. Milroe, against a better team does 194 yards passing and 48 yards rushing and I keep hearing is how terrible he was. Well if that's terrible then Simpson was really terrible and that's all there is to it.

My point was the group is better this year overall with better TEs to also help(although their blocking has been very hit or miss) But we do both agree all groups can play better.

My main point is just that this really isn't the supporting cast we've seen in the past.

Imagine this is Sark calling the plays, Smith catching the passes, and Harris running the ball. I bet we'd all be a lot happier with the situation, heh.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Just gonna leave this here…

Like usual my man is Spittin’ straight FACTS just like 2017 but just like then people don’t want to listen and refuse to see it.

It took until Miss St in 2017 for the majority to finally acknowledge it.

How many games will it take this time?

He’s right about another thing… Our offense is basically ‘Rugby Ball’ as he called it.

You can’t win a NC with this kind of 1 dimensional attack. Just not going to happen.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Just gonna leave this here…

That is a very long rant and I didn't listen to the whole thing but I don't see how anyone can look at this situation and say its the same as Hurts vs Tua when it seems clear we don't have a Tua.

 

[colbysullivan]

That is a very long rant and I didn't listen to the whole thing but I don't see how anyone can look at this situation and say its the same as Hurts vs Tua when it seems clear we don't have a Tua.

It’s not about having a Tua per se. It’s about having someone who is clearly a better option and who isn’t going to lose the game.

 

[colbysullivan]

Like usual my man is Spittin’ straight FACTS just like 2017 but just like then people don’t want to listen and refuse to see it.

It took until Miss St in 2017 for the majority to finally acknowledge it.

How many games will it take this time?

He’s right about another thing… Our offense is basically ‘Rugby Ball’ as he called it.

You can’t win a NC with this kind of 1 dimensional attack. Just not going to happen.

I’m glad he acknowledged the elephant in the room that other people simply refuse to talk about.