I kid. I kid. I kid. I'm finally happy to have some good old country time discussion going on and not that kumbi-a crap you're usually playing. Me buttpained? Trust me, it's going to take a lot more than that! Tell me Joey Harrington is gay. Do it. Do it. Do it. I dare you. Then, you'll see hurt!
What stats did you exactly bring up? That he was 40 percent yesterday? Okay, what did that prove, that his passing was mediocre? Yeah you really showed me there. And never once did I say his arm was terrible. Please show me in this thread where I said his arm was terrible. I know he has good fundamentals/mechanics(except when he's on the run) and arm strength. Show me the results on the field is all I'm asking because so far he hasn't. The facts are, through the air, he has not been impressive. He has plenty of tools to show me wrong(and I would love nothing more than for him to do so) but I have just not seen it. I would hope they do praise him in front of the media, there'd be nothing worse than to tear down your number two quarterback's confidence in the news. As a Redskin fan, I hear that kind of garbage all the time. "Grossman and Beck look great in practice," the media and coaches say, but the results on the field say differently. Like I said before, the results he's shown and the passes he's made in game, have been terrible and I will not change my stance on that. I only referenced the spring game because of your false memory about how well Bennett played in the spring game, the other report about Mariota pushing Bennett for the number two spot I could care less about. You are again extremely good at pointing out the obvious. What point are you trying to make that isn't well known? Yes, he's a freshman, and inexperience plays a part in how good or bad he played. Should I also point out though that when Thomas came into his first game against a tough opponent, as a freshman, he threw three TD passes and they almost won the game. I was skeptical back then, but I was happy that Thomas proved me wrong. Just waiting for Bennett to do the same. Of course I'm going to want Bennett to exceed expectations when he might have to lead this team if Thomas is out. Are you saying that I should just be happy he really didn't screw things up out there? At least he didn't do that, that I am grateful for. Ummm, you go back and watch the game. Arizona State stacked the box the whole time and played man coverage on the edges. They dared him to throw. Even when he completed a pass they still kept 8 men in the box. Go back and watch it again, trust me I have. Bennett really didn't have to throw in that game as ASU just couldn't stop the run. He's fast, faster than Thomas I believe and it's good to have a fast QB in this offense. Bottom line, he did well running the read option, but that's something that is already needed to run this offense in the first place. You know who was great at running the zone read option? Masoli, but his lack of a passing game really hurt this team, and moving forward I hope we recruit quarterbacks that can both pass and run. We know Bennett can run as evidenced by the game in ASU but being a good passer is really what makes this offense so dynamic. I only worry because Thomas has proven that he can make us a great team, so I have logical and reasonable concerns in Bennett and his passing ability. Sorry that some people don't share the same sentiment, but hey what can you do. Alright enough of that diatribe let's go party.
And that's why I made the statement about Masoli. I don't want another running back playing QB. The beauty of Thomas is that he CAN throw. He hasn't done well this season because he lost his #1 and #2 options when Maehl and Davis graduated. That's going to hurt any passing game. Maehl was HUGE for us last season. So far Huff has been disappointing and Tuinei has been okay. Our best receiver so far has been DAT, which is great, but I expected more from our receivers. Can Bennett be a solid passer? I have no idea. Such a small sample size to go off of, and practice simply isn't the same as a real game.
With the strength of our running game, can you imagine how we'd be if we had a true deep threat? Someone who could really get behind defenses. We have the stable of running backs, but not receivers right now.
And that's the real problem. I would love to have a guy like Patrick Johnson on this team again, or Sammi Parker. It's possible that Blackmon or Sumler could be that guy, but they're still learning the system. They definitely have the speed to be a deep threat, but so does Huff. For whatever reason Huff hasn't worked out (I've seen a lot of drops). To be honest, I'm not sure Darron has the accuracy or arm strength to hit a true deep threat in stride. We haven't had that kind of QB since Joey.
Iv heard nothing but good things about him from reports and interviews but as we all know practice is quite different from an actual game in front of 50k+ screaming fans. Last week Bennett was impressive in his run game but with his very low pass count I don't want to color my opinion of his arm or reading ability tell I have a bigger sample size to draw my conclusion from. Id like to see Bennett next week, for that reason, to see how he does vs a weak team while allowing Thomas to get 100% healthy. There is no way id feel comfortable with our ability to beat Stanford(or any ranked team) if we have him starting or logging big minutes at this time.
That pretty much summarizes how I feel as well. I have a feeling that Chip intentionally went away from calling passing plays because he didn't want to put pressure on the young QB. It would be interesting to see how he would do as the starter running the full package.
Which is all the more reason to start him against Colorado and let him get an actual game under his belt. Granted, the competition level will be comparable to what he sees in practice, but you gotta take what you can get, right?
CU will be a much lower level of competition compared to going up against the Oregon first-team all week in practice.
I was trying to give the Buffs the benefit of the doubt, with the assumption that practice speed is generally less than game speed. That said, you're probably right.
Well, going off of what I've seen in the NBA (totally different sport, I know), there are guys who are absolutely amazing in practice but it never seems to translate to actual games. Not saying that's Bennett, but I'm extremely careful about getting my hopes up simply because someone is great in practice. Martell Webster was a god in practice, but the guy never could seem to make it happen during real games.
Hell, I'd be happy if he just shows that he can do more than run the ball. I'm not expecting bombs, just a solid ability to hit the short route and the check downs.
hopefully that includes cutbacks left and right. I remember Dixon sprinting 40 yards for a TD on a torn ACL.
Ugh. Thanks for bringing back that nightmare... We have reason to be more optimistic because of what Thomas did post injury and now - just two days after the injury. Speculation is it's more akin to Masoli's knee sprain ("tweek"). Masoli returned and played well w/ a brace. The positive is that he wasn't cutting and we didn't see that knee take an unnatural angle - so the educated speculation I'm reading (a few from professional medical folks) is that it isn't major. There's a good possibility steady-hand, swift of foot, Mr. Bennett starts with Thomas as #2 this Sat.
Duckterritory is saying Thomas is doubtful for this week's game. Just like LaMichael James' injury it just needs some time to heal. Thank god we're playing Colorado and here's to Bryan Bennett proving me wrong.
Have you found Hopkins to be accurate in the past based on his "sources"? I'm not familiar with him. I've heard positive things about both LMJ and Thomas from someone who has been involved in the program since the 70's -- and I'm thankful we've got the Buffs and Cougs coming up AND thankful for how deep and talented we are. Go Patos
Well he said his source within the Ducks told him that but he didn't say it was a given. He said most likely they wouldn't play but he said it's still a possibility that they could.
You could actually read about it here. http://oregon.247sports.com/Board/45/Darron-Thomas-doubtful-for-Colorado-game-4944128/1
