About John Parker Wilson..........

[GrayTide]

The positive thing for me about JPW is that he seems to have more natural talent and ability than any other QB to come through Bama maybe since Stabler. He's got a cannon of an arm and can be highly accurate.
I've been watching him all year and have gotten to the point where I can tell if it's going to be a successful pass from the position of his feet when he releases the ball. If he steps into the pass and throws off his front foot, it's got good touch, accuracy and will most likely be caught (or SHOULD be caught). When he throws off his back foot, all bets are off. He will generally throw high and behind the receiver on any kind of quick pass or will float the ball on a touch pass. Both will cause the receivers to have to make major adjustments to even have a chance to catch the ball.

Look at the highlights from tonight's game and check out Caddell's TD catch. If JPW steps into that and puts the ball ahead of Caddell it's an easy TD. Instead, he throws off his back foot and Caddell has to committ an unflagged offensive pass interference to make the catch. But that was the one lone completion tonight from his back foot. There was one drop (a crossing route in the 3rd Q to Caddell) that was a well-thrown ball but the rest of the incompletions and the one interception were where JPW didn't step into the throw.

I really feel that if Applewhite can coach this out of JPW somehow we're going to see the JPW of 2006 - the one that could easily have led the SEC in passing and could have led Alabama to a 11-2 (FSU, LSU, MSU and ULM) record and a potential BCS birth. Yeah, that's a bit of a stretch but the first three losses I mentioned were directly attributable to JPW's back foot IMO.

No offense but you do remember Scott Hunter, Richard Todd, Jeff Rutledge, Walter Lewis to name a few who were all better athletes and had stronger arms than JPW. JPW is a marginal QB at best.

 

[bamanut_aj]

Give Wilson a little more credit. He is playing behind a very thin O-line, and is playing in the toughest conference in the nation.

Colorado is in the Big XII. Playing in the SEC has nothing to do with JPW's Jeckyll-Hyde confidence issue that continued last night. He was light's out early then the whole thing fell apart.

 

[luthertide]

OU's ability to apply preasure with the blitz and our lack of preasure with the blitz was why one qb looked better then the other in the second half.

We have to do a better job as a team picking up blitz's and hitting hot routes.

Nice to end the year with a win.....!

 

[bamacpa70]

Statistically, no, of course that's a great night. But break it down just ONE level. He's 15 of his first 18 for 185 and 3 TDs - truly showing his talent.

Then he goes 4 for 14 for 71 and an INT.

And that's how he's been for most of the season - hot and cold. Something clicks mentally with him and he takes himself out of the game. And it usually starts when he starts throwing off his back foot.

I don't know if CSS is going to re-broadcast the game but if they do, watch and you'll see what I am talking about.

I will say it again - the kid has more talent in his pinky than Jay Barker did in his entire body. But there's a mental toughness issue and a tendency to throw off his back foot that need to be corrected if we're going to be able to rely on him in 2008.

I understand what you're saying. But my point was, and it was not presented clearly, is that JPW is getting far too much blame. But that's probably the nature of the beast. He gets too much credit for going 15 for 18 to start the game, the entire offense was playing great, he was getting good blocking, receivers were getting open and making great grabs, but for some reason JPW gets all the credit for that and then when things go bad, as in bad blocking, poor route running, and he made some mental errors as well, he gets all the blame for that. It takes 11 guys doing their job for a play to be successful.

I don't care how you break it down, if he went 19 for 19 then went 0 for 13 (how many of those incompletions were just thrown away, by the way? 3-4?), for posters on here to unequivocally state that his performance was "not decent" is not fair and, in my opinion, ridiculous.

Sorry, just tired of what I perceive to be unfair criticism, and as stated above, I realize that's the nature of the beast.

 

[Tidewater]

Two points on JPW
1. Attitude. ""We had some ups and downs tonight but we kept our composure." Well, not exactly. JPW was hotter'n a firecracker, then turned ice cold. That is not exactly keeping one's composure. When asked about his mediocre performance at Vandy, JPW said, "Well? We won the game." Loser's attitude, in my view. He makes excuses for himself, which is not the way to improve. Self-improvement takes mental toughness, and self-discipline, neither of which are readily apparent in JPW.
2. Streakiness. "Wilson completed 13 of his first 15 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns and Alabama raced to a four-touchdown lead. ... [then] Wilson was 6-of-17 after his hot start and finished the game 19-of-32 for 256 yards." When he's hot, he's hotter'n a firecracker. Then he makes an mistake (and with JPW, too frequently, it is a monumental catastrophic one), and his confidence evaporates entirely. The opponents see it, load the box, Bama can no longer run, and they are screwed.
Attitude and streakiness. JPW has to fix both in the off season, or next year will see a new Bama starting QB or a bad year for the Tide.

 

[alatider]

once you rattle/pressure him, he has problems. If this doesn't get resolved, and JPW is the starter next year, expect every team to rush/blitz and Bama will have close to the same record this year if not worse.

This is the exact same thing that almost every Bama fan that I have spoken with has said.

 

[68wRTR]

My point is, IMO too many dwell on the negative, and not enough on the positive. should be!

amen to that bro

 

[Mussofan22]

If JPW had the defense Jay Barker had in his career, threads like this wouldn't exist.:smile:

 

[teamplayer]

19 for 32 (59+%) for 256 yards with 3 TD's and 1 pick plus another 32 yards on the ground (excluding the sack). So JPW accounted for 288 yds of offense, yeah, that's a subpar/"not even decent" performance??

Your point is valid because his numbers were pretty good. When defenses play straight up, he looks like an all-conference QB. However, whenever teams blitz, he gets happy feet and throws the ball up for grabs. He is a totally different QB with ANY pressure at all. The offensive line was giving him pretty good time on most of the blitzes, but he still freaked out and started his panic dance.

He seems like a good kid, but SEC defenses are going to apply pressure. If he can learn to handle it better, he could have a good year for us next year. If he can't, I hope we have someone else ready to play.

I also agree with some others and think we need to develop a better running game that we can rely upon. This would also help JPW. We still have work to do, but next year should show some improvement on the field.

 

[WishIwasInBama]

I am not on the JPW fan club but he did do ok yesterday. I just can't wait until Bama has a QB that I will dred when he graduates instead of wishing for it.

 

[teamplayer]

If JPW had the defense Jay Barker had in his career, threads like this wouldn't exist.:smile:

That offense also helped the defense by controlling the clock and not turning the ball over in their own territory. It works both ways. If you have a great defense, the QB usually doesn't have to win games, but he can't lose them. JPW makes the mistakes that cause losses. I hope he makes the improvements necessary and leads us to a good year next year. However, he seems to continually make the same bad mistakes. I think that is why so many people become so frustrated when talking about JPW.

 

[Sierra65]

But qb isn't the only position that needs work. The OL is sub par as well. Almost every running play the back is having to dodge a defender that has penetrated the backfield

It appeared to me that things went bad after Britt was injured and Cardwell took over at center so Caldwell could slide to guard. Cardwell struggled with the CU noseguard and it seemed JPW got off track during this time.

 

[alextupelo]

my biggest problem with JPW is that he knows what he's doing but still continues to make simple mistakes. He shows moments of greatness. And then he just makes bone head decisions. Thats what frustrates me. I would rather have a QB who knows his limitations and can work around them. But you can't have a ? at the QB position and be successful in the SEC, it just doesn't happen.

 

[Delta Don]

. . . When we get a QB on par with the 10 best QBs in college football you will see a marked improvement in our offensive output. We should be able to recruit a qb that can arguably become one of the top 10 in the nation, and I'm expecting no less. . . .

We already have one. His name is Greg McElroy. You'll see . . .

 

[Leeroy]

I like the kid a lot. But that said, I don't believe he will ever be a QB that can think on the run. He needs time to be good and todays quick defenses won't give him that time. I hope he proves me wrong and develops some mental toughness. Time is running out on him for that though.






Roll Tide

 

[Pop12]

For the record, Bama didn't lose the "fourth down out of bounds" play by Stabler...game ended as a 7-7 tie.

Amazing how many on the board know more about who should be quarterback than CNS does...and he gets 4 mil a year. Didn't anyone read what he said about JPW?...makeshift offensive line, no complete running attack, injuries, suspensions, etc.

With all due respect to all of the coaches on the board, I'll just go with what CNS says live with the outcome.

 

[rizolltizide]

He has no confidence. As soon as he had one bad throw (int), he was practically done for almost 2 qtrs. It was obvious that Saban and company had worked on his confidence, but it still showed that once you rattle/pressure him, he has problems. If this doesn't get resolved, and JPW is the starter next year, expect every team to rush/blitz and Bama will have close to the same record this year if not worse.

Unfortunately, I agree with you on this one.

 

[GulfCoastTider]

It appeared to me that things went bad after Britt was injured and Cardwell took over at center so Caldwell could slide to guard. Cardwell struggled with the CU noseguard and it seemed JPW got off track during this time.

Bingo.

I can't believe I had to read three pages of posts before someone mentioned how Britt's leaving affected the play of the offensive line. JPW's confidence deficit is a function of the OL's inability to protect the QB. When Wilson consistently has time to throw the ball, he is an outstanding player. When he is consistently being chased out of the pocket, his play suffers greatly.

Don't blame Wilson for poor OL play.

The game of football is won and lost in the trenches. In 2008, if Bama can field a healthy, talented group of offensive linemen that plays as a unit all year long, we will be playing in a BCS Bowl. The talent at the skill positions is there. The consistency at the big uglies has not been.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I've mentioned it in other threads. The problem began with Cardwell. It reveals something when he's our sixth best OL. He's a good kid - it's just an ability question. I remember when he was signed, JessN predicted disaster if he ever saw the field...

 

[bayoutider]

I'm not going to allow this thread to become yet another JPW bashing thread. I'll lock it and start handing out suspensions. I'm in that kind of a mood today, good day for a hanging.