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[QUOTE="reedny, post: 1176728, member: 1423"]
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.
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