Jalen Milroe is now the starter going forward.

[4Q Basket Case]

OL got better this past weekend. The four sacks in the first half were misleading, as at least two of them were Milroe's fault for holding the ball too long. For similar reasons, the 22 yards rushing (net of four sacks that weren't all on the OL), is also misleading no matter how often the talking heads quote it. I'm not saying they were great in the first half, but they weren't the train wreck so many are saying. In the second half, they were looking like they knew what they were doing.

Milroe has to stop the bad INTs. He knows that. Rees knows that. Shoot, everybody in the whole stadium knows that. He really does throw a good deep ball. But as has been stated by many on this board and a lot of other places, he struggles with the shorter stuff, which has its own set of downstream implications both strategic and tactical.

I promise you, Rees' brain flatulence on 1st and goal from the 1 will not be repeated. With Milroe's strength, if we have 1st and goal at the 1, and it's against the Dallas Cowboys, he's under center, and we're sneaking it.

It reminded me of a similar situation in 2012 (when we did in fact have the best OL we've ever had). We were trailing aTm by 5 late, in BDS. McCarron hit a long pass to get 1st and goal not at the one, but inside the five. Less than 2 minutes to go.

Nussmeier calls two fades. Neither were close to complete. Now it's third and goal from the 4+/-. We run and get 2 1/2. 4th and goal from the 1 1/2. We pass again, and it's intercepted. Game over.

You have the best OL in Bama history. You have Eddie Lacy and Jalston Fowler as power running backs, and TJ Yeldon as a good balance of speed, power and moves. You score and you leave almost no time on the clock. And you throw two low-percentage passes on first and second down?!?!? You have a slim chance of success and eat up almost no time. I was in the stands coming unglued.

Just as there's no way Ole Miss would have stopped multiple sneaks from the 1 on Saturday, there's no way aTm could have stopped four runs by those RBs, behind that OL, in 2012. If that happens, Johnny Football isn't anywhere near the big deal he became, and Kevin Sumlin doesn't make generational money at multiple schools off that one game.

 

[81usaf92]

Idk how many games we'll win moving forward. But I actually think we have a shot at winning the West with Milroe.

Mostly because the SEC in general seems very average this year.

I think in two weeks we play for the Western championship. I really don’t buy lsu at all.

 

[day-day]

I was tickled to see the throw-away by Milroe in the first play of the second half. It looked like it went completely against his instincts but someone had hammered on him during halftime. The drive continued so a little positive feedback had to sink in. He is in full blown on-the-job-training mode and maybe he will learn better from game experience.

Kind of the same goes for Coach Rees. I don't think there is a need to bring up taking the snap under center and doing a sneak when first down on the one any longer.

 

[AWRTR]

I think in two weeks we play for the Western championship. I really don’t buy lsu at all.

LSU hasn’t impressed me at all. Doesn’t mean Bama will beat them though. Let’s be honest Bama hasn’t impressed me overall either. I like bama’s chances against lsu if they don’t turn the ball over.

 

[uaintn]

If Milroe can learn to step up in the pocket, even just occasionally, lots of things will go better, including him seeing some running lanes in the A gaps and defenses having to dedicate a spy to come up and prevent that. JM getting past the LOS with much green grass in front of him is a bad dream for a defense. I like the scheme where we roll him out occasionally, but if we go to that too much we are hurting ourselves.

 

[TexasBama]

If Milroe can learn to step up in the pocket, even just occasionally, lots of things will go better, including him seeing some running lanes in the A gaps and defenses having to dedicate a spy to come up and prevent that. JM getting past the LOS with much green grass in front of him is a bad dream for a defense. I like the scheme where we roll him out occasionally, but if we go to that too much we are hurting ourselves.

I wonder if he’s being coached not to step up. Once he steps up, his run ability is diminished.

 

[CB4]

I wonder if he’s being coached not to step up. Once he steps up, his run ability is diminished.

You mean someone is, for the first time in 3 years, actually “coaching” Milroe? Fascinating……

 

[BamaInBham]

If Milroe can learn to step up in the pocket, even just occasionally, lots of things will go better, including him seeing some running lanes in the A gaps and defenses having to dedicate a spy to come up and prevent that. JM getting past the LOS with much green grass in front of him is a bad dream for a defense. I like the scheme where we roll him out occasionally, but if we go to that too much we are hurting ourselves.

He has started stepping up in the pocket some this year. He doesn't do it every time, but he does do it, at least occasionally. Also, he usually waits longer than Hurts did before he bails from the pocket, though the OL troubles seem to have shortened his wait time. He has improved in multiple areas this year. Had a long way to go with poise in the pocket, but IMO, he has made significant improvement in that regard.

And as someone else noted earlier in the thread, he threw the ball away, rather than running OOB 2-5 yards behind the LOS. He did this on the very first play of the 2nd half. So, he is definitely learning and improving. Unlike Bryce, he's had a long way to go on the nuances of the position and none of it seems to come naturally for him, but he has definitely improved. He's started hitting check downs too, though he is often a bit late, probably gun-shy, since they are towards the sideline. The encouraging thing is that he is definitely improving, even from half to half.

He throws more accurately than he is given credit for by many in the Bama fan base. He was 17-21, with one throwaway and one bad route by the WR when the ball was thrown accurately. So, there is the bad int and one overthrow on a deep ball, that he missed - this out of 21 passes. (The WRs & TEs are still doing a great job, but they didn't have to perform many acrobatics vs OM.) Half the passes were down field, 10 diff receivers, 5 WRs, 3 TEs, 2 RBs. He hit 5 passes 20-54 yds and 3 more that were 10+. His ypa is an elite 10.2. His passer rating is 16th nationally, 20th vs P5, 8th vs ranked teams. He is 3rd, 3rd, 2nd respectively in the SEC with an arguably tougher schedule than anyone in the league. Even MTSU played undefeated Missouri to within 4, 23-19. He has 3 ints (47 of the top 100 have 3 or more ints). OTOH, his 3 ints were all costly, as well as, terrible reads.

All of this with the weakest RB room since 2008, a bad OL, terrible except 2nd half vs OM, and horrible snapping. No Derek, no Lacy, no Najee, et al., no Devonta, no Amari, no Waddle, et al. OTOH, the WRs and TEs could not have caught the ball better. And the D has played very well.

But in summary, with SEC QBs admittedly down this year, and I'm not kidding, he would have to be in the running for all-SEC QB at this point. Sure, only a third of the regular season is over, but you would think listening to a few Bama fans that Jalen has been awful. It simply is not true.

Yes, he has much room for improvement, but he's better than many Bama fans know or some want to give him credit for. Give this man some kudos .

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

He has started stepping up in the pocket some this year. He doesn't do it every time, but he does do it, at least occasionally. Also, he usually waits longer than Hurts did before he bails from the pocket, though the OL troubles seem to have shortened his wait time. He has improved in multiple areas this year. Had a long way to go with poise in the pocket, but IMO, he has made significant improvement in that regard.

And as someone else noted earlier in the thread, he threw the ball away, rather than running OOB 2-5 yards behind the LOS. He did this on the very first play of the 2nd half. So, he is definitely learning and improving. Unlike Bryce, he's had a long way to go on the nuances of the position and none of it seems to come naturally for him, but he has definitely improved. He's started hitting check downs too, though he is often a bit late, probably gun-shy, since they are towards the sideline. The encouraging thing is that he is definitely improving, even from half to half.

He throws more accurately than he is given credit for by many in the Bama fan base. He was 17-21, with one throwaway and one bad route by the WR when the ball was thrown accurately. So, there is the bad int and one overthrow on a deep ball, that he missed - this out of 21 passes. (The WRs & TEs are still doing a great job, but they didn't have to perform many acrobatics vs OM.) Half the passes were down field, 10 diff receivers, 5 WRs, 3 TEs, 2 RBs. He hit 5 passes 20-54 yds and 3 more that were 10+. His ypa is an elite 10.2. His passer rating is 16th nationally, 20th vs P5, 8th vs ranked teams. He is 3rd, 3rd, 2nd respectively in the SEC with an arguably tougher schedule than anyone in the league. Even MTSU played undefeated Missouri to within 4, 23-19. He has 3 ints (47 of the top 100 have 3 or more ints). OTOH, his 3 ints were all costly, as well as, terrible reads.

All of this with the weakest RB room since 2008, a bad OL, terrible except 2nd half vs OM, and horrible snapping. No Derek, no Lacy, no Najee, et al., no Devonta, no Amari, no Waddle, et al. OTOH, the WRs and TEs could not have caught the ball better. And the D has played very well.

But in summary, with SEC QBs admittedly down this year, and I'm not kidding, he would have to be in the running for all-SEC QB at this point. Sure, only a third of the regular season is over, but you would think listening to a few Bama fans that Jalen has been awful. It simply is not true.

Yes, he has much room for improvement, but he's better than many Bama fans know or some want to give him credit for. Give this man some kudos .

Yea he has a lot to work on and he may contribute heavily to another loss this season. But the claims he's simply "not a QB" are absurd.

 

[Tenntiderman]

LSU hasn’t impressed me at all. Doesn’t mean Bama will beat them though. Let’s be honest Bama hasn’t impressed me overall either. I like bama’s chances against lsu if they don’t turn the ball over.

Those 2 DL that LSU has are hard to block it looks like to me. Bama will be better by then I think, but their D as a whole will be too I think. It will be a dogfight. They also have that TE who hurt us. Steele makes adjustments, but that kid is a ballplayer. Here is to hoping our TEs become the weapons that we all think they should be. Gonna need them in games like that one. For real.

 

[Tenntiderman]

He has started stepping up in the pocket some this year. He doesn't do it every time, but he does do it, at least occasionally. Also, he usually waits longer than Hurts did before he bails from the pocket, though the OL troubles seem to have shortened his wait time. He has improved in multiple areas this year. Had a long way to go with poise in the pocket, but IMO, he has made significant improvement in that regard.

And as someone else noted earlier in the thread, he threw the ball away, rather than running OOB 2-5 yards behind the LOS. He did this on the very first play of the 2nd half. So, he is definitely learning and improving. Unlike Bryce, he's had a long way to go on the nuances of the position and none of it seems to come naturally for him, but he has definitely improved. He's started hitting check downs too, though he is often a bit late, probably gun-shy, since they are towards the sideline. The encouraging thing is that he is definitely improving, even from half to half.

He throws more accurately than he is given credit for by many in the Bama fan base. He was 17-21, with one throwaway and one bad route by the WR when the ball was thrown accurately. So, there is the bad int and one overthrow on a deep ball, that he missed - this out of 21 passes. (The WRs & TEs are still doing a great job, but they didn't have to perform many acrobatics vs OM.) Half the passes were down field, 10 diff receivers, 5 WRs, 3 TEs, 2 RBs. He hit 5 passes 20-54 yds and 3 more that were 10+. His ypa is an elite 10.2. His passer rating is 16th nationally, 20th vs P5, 8th vs ranked teams. He is 3rd, 3rd, 2nd respectively in the SEC with an arguably tougher schedule than anyone in the league. Even MTSU played undefeated Missouri to within 4, 23-19. He has 3 ints (47 of the top 100 have 3 or more ints). OTOH, his 3 ints were all costly, as well as, terrible reads.

All of this with the weakest RB room since 2008, a bad OL, terrible except 2nd half vs OM, and horrible snapping. No Derek, no Lacy, no Najee, et al., no Devonta, no Amari, no Waddle, et al. OTOH, the WRs and TEs could not have caught the ball better. And the D has played very well.

But in summary, with SEC QBs admittedly down this year, and I'm not kidding, he would have to be in the running for all-SEC QB at this point. Sure, only a third of the regular season is over, but you would think listening to a few Bama fans that Jalen has been awful. It simply is not true.

Yes, he has much room for improvement, but he's better than many Bama fans know or some want to give him credit for. Give this man some kudos .

QB touches the ball 100% of the time. He is exposed to the world on every play. Me personally...and I am no coach, but my complaints have been focused on the LoS. Tua couldn't have functioned in the 1st 3 games behind these guys. I think it should be encouraging that they took advantage of whatever adjustments that CTR made during halftime last Saturday. When they start encouraging and challenging each other they will have more fun.

 

[spidermayin]

I did notice in the last game he went through his progressions a few times and even swung his head around to throw to a wide open running back out in the flat when everything else was covered. That's a good thing. The bad things were the interception, bailing out of the pocket taking a couple of sacks, and not throwing the ball away a couple of times losing yardage.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Baby steps

 

[CB4]

IMO I think Milroe is hung up in the quandary of “trusting what you see” versus “don’t make a mistake”.

His two interceptions versus Texas were throws I think were “predetermined” before he even went through any progressions. At least against Ole Miss is appeared to me he was working through progressions. The interception in the end zone was a “baited bad read”. His throw was underneath to Burton at about the three yard line. At least it appears he is getting better.

In terms of “trusting what he sees”, you still see some hesitation. He still waits until the receiver is clearly open instead of trusting the read and “throwing the receiver open” to a spot. I’m going to lay that at the feet those responsible for developing him. Jalen should be much, much further along at this point.

The guy is going to make mistakes. It is part of his growing process. The question is can we limited those mistakes, or at least minimize the really “terrible” ones like red zone turnovers, pick 6’s, sacks he didn’t need to take, etc?

Our defense is going to need to carry us as we get further into the SEC schedule.

 

[BamaMoon]

IMO I think Milroe is hung up in the quandary of “trusting what you see” versus “don’t make a mistake”.

His two interceptions versus Texas were throws I think were “predetermined” before he even went through any progressions. At least against Ole Miss is appeared to me he was working through progressions. The interception in the end zone was a “baited bad read”. His throw was underneath to Burton at about the three yard line. At least it appears he is getting better.

In terms of “trusting what he sees”, you still see some hesitation. He still waits until the receiver is clearly open instead of trusting the read and “throwing the receiver open” to a spot. I’m going to lay that at the feet those responsible for developing him. Jalen should be much, much further along at this point.

The guy is going to make mistakes. It is part of his growing process. The question is can we limited those mistakes, or at least minimize the really “terrible” ones like red zone turnovers, pick 6’s, sacks he didn’t need to take, etc?

Our defense is going to need to carry us as we get further into the SEC schedule.

I agree about the INTs against Texas.

The one against OM was not about him going thru progressions as much as, as you say, "trusting what he saw."

He was supposed to read that corner and throw accordingly, which was to the flat, but he forced it to the endzone.

If he didn't "see" the corner had dropped that's disturbing, but it's possible he saw it but tried to make the "home run" throw instead of the simple one.

It could just mean a matter of patience, which is just another area of growth for a young QB to excel in. "Taking what the defense gives" is probably the hardest thing to accept.

But the good thing about the "INT failure" against OM is id didn't cost us the game and it gives JM the opportunity to learn from his mistake. I bet there's a 90% chance the next time he throws to the flats when he sees that DB drop into the EZ.

 

[IMALOYAL1]

Jalen has a long way to go on reading the defense. Coaching him up and his dedication to watch film, listen to coach Rees and some of the killer mistakes may go away. I'm hoping he works his butt off and gets quality coaching throughout this season.
Jalen obviouslly has the ability to almost carry a team down the field with quick correct reads. His physical ability is off the chart. He demands a spy on him all the time that should be taken advantage of, if possible.

I'll just add it's frustrating knowing what is possible, either good or bad.