Alabama QB competition article
- Thread starter Redwood Forrest
- Start date
Depends on their faith in the OL down in the deep red zone and the level of the opposing D.
You're putting Hurts in, and the D knows he has trouble with quick decisions and 5-20 yard accuracy. So you telegraph run / wildcat, which puts tremendous reliance on the OL against a D that is already selling out against the run.
This is the problem we've had against good teams for a while now.
Against inferior talent and coaching ( 90%+ of all CFB teams), it doesn't matter. Absent a 2012-level OL, it's a problem against a good team, albeit a surmountable one. Against an elite defense (i.e., in a championship or playoff game), you're staring a FGA in the face.
That strategy might work, but will be a function of the OL.
FTR, I'm optimistic on the 2018 OL.
Not sure how to work this but can you imagine Jalen and Tua both in the shotgun occasionally? What does the D do, stack the box or play for a pass? Jalen could be a blocking back if it was a pass play. May be to weird but I like to think about it.
I think folks sometimes forget that it was Barker who scored the last TD on a one yard QB sneak up the middle, and Palmer didn't play a whole lot of QB in that game. palmers 2 point run into the end zone was something else though!
The best palmer example for a 2-QB system was the next game against Ole Miss. Barker got hurt and after that Burgdorf and Palmer split up the QB reps. When not playing QB, Palmer was still out there at WR making plays there also.
To make that really work, Jalen would need to at least be getting some reps at another position so he'd have presented a threat there, either as a receiver or a runner. That way the D has to respect what he might be able to do there, then every once and a while he slides over to QB, almost like Ingram did in the wildcat package. It'd work better for Tua as a passer, but for jalen as a runner we'd be taking one offensive player (Tua) out of the scheme.
And it only really works if Jalen throws the ball when he is under center. Right now, if elite defenses see Jalen slide into the QB spot, they stack the box. It has worked in the past and will likely always work. Jalen simply trusts his legs more than his arm.
The thing that could work to your advantage with this system is that teams over correct to the run tendency and you slice them up with play actions with Hurts.
I just am having trouble envisioning how bringing Jalen in at QB (and taking Tua out) will make us better.
Even in short yardage situations, Jalen gaining yardage against a stacked box (guarantee that's what the defense will do) will be even more difficult. But if we try to pass, our most accurate qb is not the one making the throw.
And I'm in the camp that Tua is actually as good and maybe better runner than Jalen except when trying to run over someone.
Even in short yardage situations, Jalen gaining yardage against a stacked box (guarantee that's what the defense will do) will be even more difficult. But if we try to pass, our most accurate qb is not the one making the throw.
And I'm in the camp that Tua is actually as good and maybe better runner than Jalen except when trying to run over someone.
I'm of the opinion that the 2018 offensive line may be one of the best to take the field for Alabama. If you include the depth, this unit is going to be stout as stout can be. They will be legitimately three deep at every spot (although there might be a transfer with a back up). As of now, there are 18 players on scholarship. Four starters return and then you have Alex Leatherwood and Jedrick Wills competing for spots. I'm jacked about how good this group could and probably will be. Of course, the health of Lester Cotton after his knee injury will be interesting to watch. But, thankfully, the guard positions have a lot of quality depth. Richie Petitbon and Deonte Brown could come in without much drop off.
I certainly agree with that last point. If they can find the “right” 5 it could be 2012 like and that’s saying a LOT!
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I think I'd hold off on saying it will be on par with 2012 but I think there is a real possibility it is the best OL we have had since 2012. At the very least its going to be very hard to stop our running game. Especially with Tua taking those deep shots more often than Jalen did.
You can't really use Hurts as a situational QB if the OL isn't dominant, I agree. We need that to fully establish the tell that Hurts in means dead-red run then use his mediocre albeit more developed than '06 Tebow passing ability to burn teams in big games. Florida was not using Tim Tebow as a passer much in games that mattered. He threw 33 passes in 2006 and 21 of them came in two depth chart stretching tune up games (UCF early in the season, Western Carolina late). He never attempted more than three passes in any other game that year but he had big yards per completion OR a high TD to attempt ratio in some of their biggest games that season.
If the OL is a mauling unit, then deploying Hurts for 6-10 rushing attempts per game like '06 Tebow makes a ton of sense. Furthermore, it will establish a trend that can be used to burn teams near the red zone with pop passes or gadgets that work blocker types like up-backs and TE/H-Bs into wide open splash plays. If you have two guys who can play, I think you should use them as long as it is clear that the better passer is getting 80% or more of the snaps.
If the OL is a mauling unit, then deploying Hurts for 6-10 rushing attempts per game like '06 Tebow makes a ton of sense. Furthermore, it will establish a trend that can be used to burn teams near the red zone with pop passes or gadgets that work blocker types like up-backs and TE/H-Bs into wide open splash plays. If you have two guys who can play, I think you should use them as long as it is clear that the better passer is getting 80% or more of the snaps.
I'm all for using Hurts like we used Tua last year. In relief of the blowout games. Hurts said more than once last year "this is my team". Well, I hope Saban makes 2018 Tua's team.
I think he's too good of a playmaker with his legs to not play some meaningful snaps, especially on short yardage and close-to-the-goal situations.
One thing I will admit works against my 2006 Tebow comparison: 2006 Florida Gators did not have a good tailback on the roster so Tebow was basically their short yardage tailback out of heavy personnel shotgun looks. Do I suspect that we will need Hurts in short yardage this year? I certainly hope not with three tailbacks with good size and real playing experience returning for 2018. Still, I just can't imagine Hurts not having a role that involves receiving snaps from the center. WR depth chart is stacked, so a move to WR just doesn't make sense to me. He's still a top 5 playmaker on the offensive roster. Garbage time is a waste of his talent and experience.
Taking nothing away from Jalen, but is he really that much better than Tua with his legs? Doesn't Tua being in there in short yardage still force the defense to defend more plays and more options and more parts of the field? If jalen is in there, won't the D be able to narrow in on what he can execute and defend that more easily?
We have 4 RBs that would start everywhere, 5-6 WRs that would start anywhere, and 3-4 TEs that could be playmakers. Not all of them can be the lead guy and unfortunately, only one QB can play at a time, so even if Jalen is a top 5 playmaker, he's likely to be behind a guy who will be the #1 playmaker...
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