AJ Long...

[Crusty]

I cant be the only one that see's that we only run half of the zone read. A.J. had at least a dozen keeps in that game and I have been saying this periodically all year. When you run zone, he is supposed to read the end on the same side as the rb. If that end comes down hard to trail rb, then he should pull the ball and replace where the end came from. After a few nice runs, the d wont be able to come down backside and de will have to sit or long will run all day. We just don't do that with him and we didn't with Hunt. Why are we not doing this. If we are worried about A.J. height then we shouldn't have recruited him or his lack of size. We knew what offense we were running and if he might get hurt then he shouldn't be here. Am I wrong for thinking this. I like the kid and all but we are handcuffing him terrible. P.S. why don't we add the fake handoff and then throw the bubble screen. It sure worked for Clemson and it also works for Florida St. when they ran it last year. Start playing to win and not to lose.

We did run that with Hunt until he got banged up. I am sure that A J can run it but I don't think they want him to with all the injuries in front of him.

 

[baggerbob]

I was saying exactly that during the game and so were the guys around me. Gulley did just fine going straight at them but every time we moved laterally it didn't work.

It is quite possible that Wilson emerges as the best option only because he takes care of the ball. Yeah, he threw a stupid interception in the Louisville game but that was his only transgression. He really does have a much better arm than anyone else.

Everyone will probably have fun with this , but I keep thinking that Hunt might have won on Saturday. He wouldn't have done any worse passing than AJ and his style of running would have caused Clemson some problems. That was his type of rock fight.

Wilson playing against a defense like Clemson would have been destroyed. He couldn't get out of the way against a vanilla defense of Florida St, he wouldn't last half a season in the ACC.

 

[Crusty]

Wilson playing against a defense like Clemson would have been destroyed. He couldn't get out of the way against a vanilla defense of Florida St, he wouldn't last half a season in the ACC.

That is based on how many snaps?

 

[Crusty]

Agreed. The only game I don't feel good about is BC. But it all really rests on AJ's shoulders. I think he'll fight with the right attitude. We'll see if it's enough.

BC is the one I am worried about as well.

 

[cuseguy]

BC is the one I am worried about as well.

Duke is my biggest concern.

They're 6-1 and beat Georgia Tech.

 

[SmilinBob]

I would bet a few bucks A J won't turtle.

I don't either but I've seen it happen to players that I never expected it to so it's part of the equation until he proves other wise.

 

[CousCuse]

I cant be the only one that see's that we only run half of the zone read. A.J. had at least a dozen keeps in that game and I have been saying this periodically all year. When you run zone, he is supposed to read the end on the same side as the rb. If that end comes down hard to trail rb, then he should pull the ball and replace where the end came from. After a few nice runs, the d wont be able to come down backside and de will have to sit or long will run all day. We just don't do that with him and we didn't with Hunt. Why are we not doing this. If we are worried about A.J. height then we shouldn't have recruited him or his lack of size. We knew what offense we were running and if he might get hurt then he shouldn't be here. Am I wrong for thinking this. I like the kid and all but we are handcuffing him terrible. P.S. why don't we add the fake handoff and then throw the bubble screen. It sure worked for Clemson and it also works for Florida St. when they ran it last year. Start playing to win and not to lose.

This makes me think of Joba Chamberlin and what the Yankees did to him with the stupid " Joba Rules". In trying to conserve his arm , they destroyed his brain . And , I do think your accurate in the assessment that they are protecting him. My question is , how can a guy be effective at a dynamic position like QB , when you have before the fact , disempowered him ?

 

[TheCusian]

Duke is my biggest concern. They're 6-1 and beat Georgia Tech.

They have a crappy D and a good O. We match up better with them.

BC has a good D and a scrambling QB...

 

[Crusty]

Duke is my biggest concern.

They're 6-1 and beat Georgia Tech.

Duke hasn't played anyone. Four of their wins were Elon, Troy, Tulane and Kansas.

 

[TheCusian]

Back to AJ.

I'll keep the gate open on his bandwagon for all the folks dumping on him after getting dominated by the #3 D. Against NC State and Duke - we'll be able to run the ball and we'll go back to very good pass protecting against mediocre D lines. AJ will be accurate and Ish, West - and Broyld will be open off of play action all day.

The Clemson D and the 80,000+ caused him to falter - and the next two opponents are not in the same stratosphere on D.

 

[reedny]

If it's way too early to forecast his future - this sentence: "but what is troubling is that he's absolutely careless with the ball" should read: "but what is troubling is that he's shown that he can be careless with the ball."

Too many absolutes in threads about freshman (not you - others) are just dumb. AJ is not the player he will be even after the next 4 games. He's a fighter and will get better. It may not be enough to hold on to the starting job in future seasons - but I think he'll scrape and claw his way into significant improvement over the next year.

I'm not burying the kid either. But ... even if there is improvement in accuracy and reading defenses (pray this happens soon), there are some other deficits that are unlikely to improve substantially in the foreseeable future. The biggest of those is his size. At (barely) 6 feet, he has had trouble seeing over linemen and his passes are getting spanked regularly. His arm strength is below average. And he doesn't seem to have breakaway speed or elusiveness. So far, against good defenses (welcome to the ACC), his "speed" has been negated and he has gotten chased down (and sometimes stripped) by opposing linemen and linebackers fairly easily. Penetration through the OL certainly didn't help his cause in the last game. But even so, big games like that are opportunities for special players to flash talent. And against Clemson, admittedly a very tough defense for a freshman, on many plays he just panicked and collapsed.

In time, Long's poise will probably improve as he learns the game. But his size, strength and speed are not going to get dramatically better this season or next. So my issue for the future is ... either go with a big guy who's not as mobile (Hunt) or go with a jackrabbit. Long is neither.

 

[Millhouse]

I'm not burying the kid either. But ... even if there is improvement in accuracy and reading defenses (pray this happens soon), there are some other deficits that are unlikely to improve substantially in the foreseeable future. The biggest of those is his size. At (barely) 6 feet, he has had trouble seeing over linemen and his passes are getting spanked regularly. His arm strength also seems to be an issue. And for a little guy, he doesn't seem to have breakaway speed or elusiveness. In fact, so far, against good defenses (welcome to the ACC), his "speed" has been negated and he has gotten chased down (and sometimes stripped) by opposing linemen and linebackers fairly easily.

Size, strength and speed are not going to change this season or even next. So my issue for the future is ... either go with a big guy who's not as mobile (Hunt) or go with a jackrabbit. Long is neither.

wider lineman splits would help our little guy find a bigger hole to fire through without any obstructions

it's the chip school of football

seems like lester prefers rollouts. with wide splits you can't roll out, you're just inviting a big end to easily engulf you. which is also something chip likes.

 

[RF2044]

wider lineman splits would help our little guy find a bigger hole to fire through without any obstructions

it's the chip school of football

seems like lester prefers rollouts. with wide splits you can't roll out, you're just inviting a big end to easily engulf you. which is also something chip likes.

Texas Tech used to use the widest OL splits I've ever seen. So wide that you wouldn't think [on paper] that they'd even be able to block. And yet...

 

[Millhouse]

Texas Tech used to use the widest OL splits I've ever seen. So wide that you wouldn't think [on paper] that they'd even be able to block. And yet...

your blockers might get beat more but the extra distance they have to go allows the qb to get rid of the ball before they kill him

 

[reedny]

wider lineman splits would help our little guy find a bigger hole to fire through without any obstructions

it's the chip school of football

seems like lester prefers rollouts. with wide splits you can't roll out, you're just inviting a big end to easily engulf you. which is also something chip likes.

Yah the rollouts were a disaster. Either side he got smothered immediately. I guess wider splits might have helped on planned QB runs. But to my mind, this was a game where short, quick passes to TE's or outs to receivers were needed to negate Clemson's speed rushers. On rollouts they got penetration. But in pocket pass protection, our line gave Long time on a number of occasions -- there was just no one open. There's no sense blaming the freshman for all of this ... the problems are all over the offense .. receivers that can't get open, linemen that can't hold blocks (especially on the R side), RB's that can't get yardage, poor offensive game-planning. It's not one thing, it's everything.

 

[TheCusian]

I'm not burying the kid either. But ... even if there is improvement in accuracy and reading defenses (pray this happens soon), there are some other deficits that are unlikely to improve substantially in the foreseeable future. The biggest of those is his size. At (barely) 6 feet, he has had trouble seeing over linemen and his passes are getting spanked regularly. His arm strength is below average. And he doesn't seem to have breakaway speed or elusiveness. So far, against good defenses (welcome to the ACC), his "speed" has been negated and he has gotten chased down (and sometimes stripped) by opposing linemen and linebackers fairly easily. Penetration through the OL certainly didn't help his cause in the last game. But even so, big games like that are opportunities for special players to flash talent. And against Clemson, admittedly a very tough defense for a freshman, he much panicked and collapsed. In time, Long's poise will probably improve as he learns the game. But his size, strength and speed are not going to get dramatically better this season or next. So my issue for the future is ... either go with a big guy who's not as mobile (Hunt) or go with a jackrabbit. Long is neither.

I'm not sure this is a counter point to what I wrote?

The question isn't that hard: Who do you start this week?

AJ. You roll with this kid until you have a chance to reevaluate. He either gets better, "flashes" (Ug), and becomes a player who overcomes his limitations - or he's replaced with a better option.

As long as he is our starting QB, you support who ya got.

 

[Millhouse]

Yah the rollouts were a disaster. Either side he got smothered immediately. I guess wider splits might have helped on planned QB runs. But to my mind, this was a game where short, quick passes to TE's or outs to receivers were needed to negate Clemson's speed rushers. On rollouts they got penetration. But in pocket pass protection, our line gave Long time on a number of occasions -- there was just no one to throw to. There's no sense blaming a freshman for all of this ... the problems are all over the offense .. receivers that can't get open, linemen that can't hold blocks (especially on the R side), RB's that can't get yardage, poor offensive game-planning. It's not one thing, it's everything.

i've already forgotten about the clemson game, i'm thinking going forward. he's always going to be short.

 

[TheCusian]

Yah the rollouts were a disaster. Either side he got smothered immediately. I guess wider splits might have helped on planned QB runs. But to my mind, this was a game where short, quick passes to TE's or outs to receivers were needed to negate Clemson's speed rushers. On rollouts they got penetration. But in pocket pass protection, our line gave Long time on a number of occasions -- there was just no one to throw to. There's no sense blaming a freshman for all of this ... the problems are all over the offense .. receivers that can't get open, linemen that can't hold blocks (especially on the R side), RB's that can't get yardage, poor offensive game-planning. It's not one thing, it's everything.

Against Clemson, your points are valid. Against defenses outside of the top 20? We are good enough to win with improved red zone efficiency.

Not as bad a picture as your painting.