Don McPherson almost won a Heisman throwing balls that wide receivers made a play on.
Our wide receivers didn't have many balls they could make a play on this past year.
I concur with some trepidation that part of the lack of success of our QB's were lack of receivers who knew how to get the ball and find the open spots down the field. The Long-to-West connections were a preview of what our QB-WR connections could be. I witnessed more often than not, receivers not putting themselves in position to get to the ball. Whether this is lack of talent, effort, poor placement of the ball, etc, I don't know. I do know that watching Broyld last year that he seemed to give up on balls often instead of fighting to get it. Same could be said for some receivers this year.
And before you think I am placing all blame on the receivers, I will also point out the inaccuracy of our QB throws with the exception of Long, who seems to be our most accurate thrower. I never saw. with any consistency in a game, that Wilson was the best pure passer. He didn't look like an instinctive passer in games, while Long seemed, for the most part, to allow his instincts (talent) to guide his throws. Hunt was not very accurate this year, when he played, this year either - he completely missed his lateral throws to receivers/backs that were wide open too often to compete at the D1 level.
The throwing game can be made by a superbly accurate QB, or an uber talented receiver who can get the balls thrown his way, but in most cases its a combinations of 1) reasonably accurate (catchable) throws by the QB, 2) instinctive receiver who can get the balls thrown his way, 3) sufficient protection that the QB doesn't have to think too much about getting reamed by a defensive player, and 4) good play calling to make the throws successful.
In my opinion, regardless of any "upgrade" we get at any position, these 4 (possibly more) things need to mesh for the offensive to have a good passing game. Its not just one player, its the whole enchilada that needs to mesh properly to execute a good passing offense, and that most definitely includes a good running attack to keep the D in check, and good play calling.
I have to believe, because I'm just a wacky fan of SU Sports, that there will be an evolution on the offensive end and that the offense, under Lester, will begin to progress instead of regressing like this year. In any case, I did really enjoy watching Long play this year, he may be small but he's got some moxie ... oh, and that tattoo on his bicep proclaiming his allegiance - gotta love that.
