Who’s leading QB1 race in Spring practice?

[RollTide_HTTR]

I feel like people are wayyyy too harsh on Milroe. He's definitely a QB and has a shot at being a pretty good one on the college level.

I don't feel especially confident in him as our starter right now but I definitely see a world where he improves enough where we can win a lot of games with him. And he made some pretty solid throws on A Day and had drops and basically no LT.

 

[AWRTR]

I feel like people are wayyyy too harsh on Milroe. He's definitely a QB and has a shot at being a pretty good one on the college level.

I don't feel especially confident in him as our starter right now but I definitely see a world where he improves enough where we can win a lot of games with him. And he made some pretty solid throws on A Day and had drops and basically no LT.

I hope for the same thing, but his live action last year didn't set the world on fire, and I saw some of the same things in the A-Day game. I want him to improve because a good passer with his legs would be a nightmare to defend.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Didn't get to see the game but I hope the ESPN ratings tanked for Colorado. Sounds like neither QB was all that impressive so the defense will have to really step up this coming season. The thing is with a new OC and new QB if we struggle in the first few games on offense we won't know whether Rees is failing to game plan to these guys strengths or whether these guys just can't execute.

The QBs did ok. There were drops by WRs, and Steele dialed up some blitzes.

 

[gtgilbert]

JM is a QB. He, IMHO, would transfer if switched to Tight End.

There are lots of positions Milroe could probably play, but TE isn't likely one of them. Our average TE is 6'5" and 250LBS. Milroe is 6'2" and 220LBS. He seems to have the physical traits to be a WR, RB, S, maybe even LB with a bit more mass, but TE would be a HUGE stretch as he's just not really built for it at all.

That said, he's a QB and I think he'd be like Hurts in not wanting to swap positions. I was finally able to watch A-day, and like others, I didn't see the overall doom and gloom that some were talking about. That said, JM still has the furthest to go in development right now, not just in his accuracy and decision making like we saw from last year, but also his ability to read the field/defense correctly and make the right throws. There was more open for him than he took advantage of.

 

[twofbyc]

Idk. He really didn't look great vs South Carolina. He almost blew the game by throwing a pick 6 in the redzone while up 38 to 31.

Was that his first game back after the injury?

 

[BamaMoon]

The comparisons of JM to Jalen Hurts are many and very obvious and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin.

Just comparing their development at the beginning of their college careers: They both were tremendous athletes who grew up playing HS QB. They both were much better with their feet than their arms. They both had decent passing skills, but suffered from inaccuracy, willingness to stand in the pocket, tendency to run before reading, struggled to get past first read/hot route, etc. There is also the obvious comparison of how it took both of them time to show improvement.

The one thing JM does that Hurts didn't do is struggle with turnovers (probably one reason why JH saw the field so soon despite being a true freshman). I also think Jalen Hurts had a better throwing motion than JM at this point in time.

Having noted all of that and considering Jalen Hurts' meteoric rise to his current state, there are two or three things we don't know if Jalen Milroe can replicate: First, can he clean up the inaccuracy and poor fundamentals he's still showing? Second, does he have the ability to process the amount of information it'll take to get to the next level (learning progressions, check downs, audibles, etc). Third, does he have the drive/motivation?

Until we learn he can't do these things, who is to say he can't follow Jalen Hurts' path to success (at least to become a good, if not better than average college QB)?

I guess I'm suggesting I don't think he should pursue a position change.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Was that his first game back after the injury?

yea it was

 

[gtgilbert]

The comparisons of JM to Jalen Hurts are many and very obvious and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin.

Just comparing their development at the beginning of their college careers: They both were tremendous athletes who grew up playing HS QB. They both were much better with their feet than their arms. They both had decent passing skills, but suffered from inaccuracy, willingness to stand in the pocket, tendency to run before reading, struggled to get past first read/hot route, etc. There is also the obvious comparison of how it took both of them time to show improvement.

The one thing JM does that Hurts didn't do is struggle with turnovers (probably one reason why JH saw the field so soon despite being a true freshman). I also think Jalen Hurts had a better throwing motion than JM at this point in time.

Having noted all of that and considering Jalen Hurts' meteoric rise to his current state, there are two or three things we don't know if Jalen Milroe can replicate: First, can he clean up the inaccuracy and poor fundamentals he's still showing? Second, does he have the ability to process the amount of information it'll take to get to the next level (learning progressions, check downs, audibles, etc). Third, does he have the drive/motivation?

Until we learn he can't do these things, who is to say he can't follow Jalen Hurts' path to success (at least to become a good, if not better than average college QB)?

I guess I'm suggesting I don't think he should pursue a position change.

I actually think that Hurts had better accuracy and fundamentals as a True Freshman starting his first game than what we are seeing now from Milroe, who has been in the program for 2+ years now. Hurts real challenge was as you said, just taking off from the pocket so quickly, and in many ways I think that being pushed into the starting job as a true freshman likely inhibited his development in being able to do that because he simply didn't have time and they had to adjust some of the offense to what he was able to digest in a short amount of time before the season started.

I know some would say that it will take game reps for Milroe to get there, but just looking at Hurts, it wasn't game reps that got him there. It was only after he LOST game reps at Bama that he really started getting better - not to say that was the cause of him getting better because it was really what he was doing in practice that improved his game, just that game reps certainly were not critical to him progressing.

Can Milroe do it? Maybe? Possibly? That's the hardest part of the QB evaluation is that doing all that stuff that it takes to make a QB a QB isn't easy for us to see physically. I'd love to know if we give our QBs any type of test like this S2 test we are hearing about leading up to the draft that tests their processing and decision making. Bryce ACED it this year, and it seems many of the QBs who have had the earliest success have all scored pretty well on it also.

 

[Tidelines]

I don’t know why you wouldn’t test QBs with some kind of S2 type test. Processing information quickly is such an important part of today’s game.

 

[Padreruf]

I just rewatched the Spring game -- can you tell I am bored? QB's didn't look as bad as I thought. TS's thumb definitely hampered his throwing. He is one tough kid. JM looked a little confined by the simplified offense at times...but he made some outstanding throws. I think Rees is going to be just fine.

Pritchett was a problem at LT...no nice way to put it. Run blocking was ok...but pass protection had him lost. Proctor was better but going against 2's, not 1's.

August should be interesting...I think we will be fine and back up in at the top by the end of the season...we are not only talented but really deep and best of all, we have a defensive coordinator who knows what he is doing.

All this from a fan who has never received a paycheck for coaching...and who was certain that Jalen Hurts would never be a starting QB in the NFL. As Dirty Harry said: "A man has to know his limitations..."

 

[TiderJack]

My opinion is Ty Simpson will be our QB in the fall and he can lead us to a championship with the approach we are going to take on offense. He can make all the throws and has good wheels, just needs to improve decision making some. Milroe accuracy and decision making totally off-set his running and speed and just don't see him winning the job. As Padre said above, Pritchett was not good Saturday and I think we will see Proctor at tackle this fall.

 

[bamadwain]

My opinion is Ty Simpson will be our QB in the fall and he can lead us to a championship with the approach we are going to take on offense. He can make all the throws and has good wheels, just needs to improve decision making some. Milroe accuracy and decision making totally off-set his running and speed and just don't see him winning the job. As Padre said above, Pritchett was not good Saturday and I think we will see Proctor at tackle this fall.

I agree completely! Coach said that one didn't go through all of his progressions and one made bad decisions, Which one can you coach out? It has to be Ty

 

[AWRTR]

The comparisons of JM to Jalen Hurts are many and very obvious and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin.

Just comparing their development at the beginning of their college careers: They both were tremendous athletes who grew up playing HS QB. They both were much better with their feet than their arms. They both had decent passing skills, but suffered from inaccuracy, willingness to stand in the pocket, tendency to run before reading, struggled to get past first read/hot route, etc. There is also the obvious comparison of how it took both of them time to show improvement.

The one thing JM does that Hurts didn't do is struggle with turnovers (probably one reason why JH saw the field so soon despite being a true freshman). I also think Jalen Hurts had a better throwing motion than JM at this point in time.

Having noted all of that and considering Jalen Hurts' meteoric rise to his current state, there are two or three things we don't know if Jalen Milroe can replicate: First, can he clean up the inaccuracy and poor fundamentals he's still showing? Second, does he have the ability to process the amount of information it'll take to get to the next level (learning progressions, check downs, audibles, etc). Third, does he have the drive/motivation?

Until we learn he can't do these things, who is to say he can't follow Jalen Hurts' path to success (at least to become a good, if not better than average college QB)?

I guess I'm suggesting I don't think he should pursue a position change.

The willingness to work and get better was never an issue for JH. He was a driven and smart young man. Class all the way. It took some time for things to click for him in part of the passing game, but I never thought he was an erratic thrower like I do with Milroe. JH struggled at times to trust his reads and let it go. He figured that out and saved Bama in the SEC title game. That is one of my favorite games because it was JH that saved them. All the hard work paid off and he was the hero.

 

[gtgilbert]

I just rewatched the Spring game -- can you tell I am bored? QB's didn't look as bad as I thought. TS's thumb definitely hampered his throwing. He is one tough kid. JM looked a little confined by the simplified offense at times...but he made some outstanding throws. I think Rees is going to be just fine.

Pritchett was a problem at LT...no nice way to put it. Run blocking was ok...but pass protection had him lost. Proctor was better but going against 2's, not 1's.

August should be interesting...I think we will be fine and back up in at the top by the end of the season...we are not only talented but really deep and best of all, we have a defensive coordinator who knows what he is doing.

All this from a fan who has never received a paycheck for coaching...and who was certain that Jalen Hurts would never be a starting QB in the NFL. As Dirty Harry said: "A man has to know his limitations..."

Technically, Pritchett was going against the 2s and Proctor was against the 3s. Both likely starting OLBs (Turner and Braswell) were out for the entire spring session and the 2s are both pretty much pure pass rushers since they're both undersized to be 3 down guys right now (hence why run blocking was better than pass pro).

 

[gtgilbert]

My opinion is Ty Simpson will be our QB in the fall and he can lead us to a championship with the approach we are going to take on offense. He can make all the throws and has good wheels, just needs to improve decision making some. Milroe accuracy and decision making totally off-set his running and speed and just don't see him winning the job. As Padre said above, Pritchett was not good Saturday and I think we will see Proctor at tackle this fall.

Don't rule out the option of Booker getting a look out at an OT spot also. We've had several first round caliber OT's start out as an OG, then kick out to OT as they gain experience.

 

[twofbyc]

I actually think that Hurts had better accuracy and fundamentals as a True Freshman starting his first game than what we are seeing now from Milroe, who has been in the program for 2+ years now. Hurts real challenge was as you said, just taking off from the pocket so quickly, and in many ways I think that being pushed into the starting job as a true freshman likely inhibited his development in being able to do that because he simply didn't have time and they had to adjust some of the offense to what he was able to digest in a short amount of time before the season started.

I know some would say that it will take game reps for Milroe to get there, but just looking at Hurts, it wasn't game reps that got him there. It was only after he LOST game reps at Bama that he really started getting better - not to say that was the cause of him getting better because it was really what he was doing in practice that improved his game, just that game reps certainly were not critical to him progressing.

Can Milroe do it? Maybe? Possibly? That's the hardest part of the QB evaluation is that doing all that stuff that it takes to make a QB a QB isn't easy for us to see physically. I'd love to know if we give our QBs any type of test like this S2 test we are hearing about leading up to the draft that tests their processing and decision making. Bryce ACED it this year, and it seems many of the QBs who have had the earliest success have all scored pretty well on it also.

 

[colbysullivan]

JM is a QB.

I respectfully disagree. If he were really a QB, we wouldn’t feel the need to say “He’s a QB”. He is an amazing athlete but simply can’t make the throws that are needed in a modern QB. We aren’t running the Wishbone here…

 

[Tidelines]

Technically, Pritchett was going against the 2s and Proctor was against the 3s. Both likely starting OLBs (Turner and Braswell) were out for the entire spring session and the 2s are both pretty much pure pass rushers since they're both undersized to be 3 down guys right now (hence why run blocking was better than pass pro).

It’s odd because all we’ve heard was how promising Pritchett looked in practice.

 

[TiderJack]

Don't rule out the option of Booker getting a look out at an OT spot also. We've had several first round caliber OT's start out as an OG, then kick out to OT as they gain experience.

Booker may have been getting reps at tackle but did not hear he has and the latest example of what you are saying is Latham but Booker's size and build is more IOL. It is not out of the question if Pritchett or Proctor have issues in the fall however. I just think with Proctor being the #1 overall OT in the nation in HS he has the talent to win that spot.

 

[BamaNation]

ADMIN NOTE

FYI ALL of the post-April 2023 posts from this thread have been moved to the QB1 Race in FALL thread