Crusty
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I have been trying to make an educated guess at the type of offense (and therefore which QB) Time Lester will install next year. After looking at many tea leaves. I think he will run a no-huddle spread offense that is pass first, run second. I say this because of his college playing career and the fact that he comes from the Bill Cubit coaching tree. His play calling thus far has done nothing to dissuade me from this conclusion.
I have been trying in vain to find out the style of offense Lester coached at Elmhurst. Nobody seems to know for sure. We do know that Lester's most successful year at Elmhurst was when he had Gagliardi Trophy winner RB Scottie Williams. This probably gave him a healthy respect for a good RB.
Lester's was a pocket passer at WMU. He threw for 11,299 passing yards with 87 touchdowns and finished his career ranked fourth all time in NCAA Division 1 for passing yards and sixth in touchdowns. He was said to have a very big arm.
At WMU Lester played for Bill Cubit., one of the better passing coaches in the country. Cubit is a pass first style coordinator and some even go so far as to say that he believe in establishing the pass to open up the run game rather than the other way around.
As most of you know, Cubit was fired after a long run at WMU and was quickly hired as the OC at Illinois. Here's what Cubit said when he took over at Illinois as OC.
I don't think it is a forgone conclusion that Lester will go with AJ Long. Lester had a strong accurate arm in college and he probably values that and intelligence more than other QB attributes.
Terrel Hunt - Obviously, Hunt is a big guy to bring down and he has a nose for when to run. Hunt knows the offense, but the offense is about to change somewhat and it may not feature his best attributes. Hunt will have to prove that he can pass more accurately in game situations to keep his job. Long ball accuracy is probably a must with Lester.
Austin Wilson - Many have ruled Wilson out because of his lack of mobility. However, Lester chose Wilson over Long as backup because he has a better grasp of the offense and a much stronger accurate arm. If Lester installs an offense that does not require a mobile QB, which is entirely possible, Wilson may reemerge as a favorite.
AJ Long - Long has a chance to show his stuff today and in the next few games. If he shines he could go a long way (no pun intended) to locking up the starting job next year. If he stumbles badly, in particular in not taking care of the ball, he might even be pulled in favor of Wilson. AJ is small at 6 feet and only 180 pounds soaking wet. Is that the body type for a zone read QB?
Mitch Kimble - I doubt that he will want to sit forever and I would not be surprised to see him transfer.
Alin Edouard - Another small dual threat QB. I would suppose that the strength and accuracy of his arm will determine his fate at SU. He reportedly can heave it 70 yards. Stay tuned.
My hope is that Lester may be able to attract good QB prospects in the future and he probably knows how to develop and use them.
I have been trying in vain to find out the style of offense Lester coached at Elmhurst. Nobody seems to know for sure. We do know that Lester's most successful year at Elmhurst was when he had Gagliardi Trophy winner RB Scottie Williams. This probably gave him a healthy respect for a good RB.
Lester's was a pocket passer at WMU. He threw for 11,299 passing yards with 87 touchdowns and finished his career ranked fourth all time in NCAA Division 1 for passing yards and sixth in touchdowns. He was said to have a very big arm.
At WMU Lester played for Bill Cubit., one of the better passing coaches in the country. Cubit is a pass first style coordinator and some even go so far as to say that he believe in establishing the pass to open up the run game rather than the other way around.
As most of you know, Cubit was fired after a long run at WMU and was quickly hired as the OC at Illinois. Here's what Cubit said when he took over at Illinois as OC.
"I think the high-tempo is the way to go, especially when maybe you don't have as much talent as some other people," Cubit said. "Some guys just see it as the Oregon-type stuff, but I don't know if that's us.
"High-tempo can also mean having a guy under center and running the zone play inside and getting that really fast. We're a multi-formation, multi-personnel offense. So we might say to some guys, 'These are your 20 plays during the game and get great at that.' It takes guys buying in, because some guys might play 50-to-60 plays, while other guys only play 20. But those 20 you're playing, you'd better be great at them."
- In his first year, The Illini improved from 119th nationally in both yards and points to 52nd in yards and 61st in points.
- Illini QB Nathan Scheelhaase led the Big Ten in passing (3,272 yards), and Illinois finished 22nd nationally in pass offense with 64 plays of 20 yards or longer.
- This year, the Illini leads the Big 10 in passing offense.
- Illinois does run zone read,but is not very good at it.
- It would appear that there is nothing in Lester's DNA that favors a ground and pound running game over a pass first passing game. I would expect that the offense will look somewhat similar to this year's in the sense that it will be no-huddle spread out of the gun or pistol. So, OttoinGrotto can probably relax.
I don't think it is a forgone conclusion that Lester will go with AJ Long. Lester had a strong accurate arm in college and he probably values that and intelligence more than other QB attributes.
Terrel Hunt - Obviously, Hunt is a big guy to bring down and he has a nose for when to run. Hunt knows the offense, but the offense is about to change somewhat and it may not feature his best attributes. Hunt will have to prove that he can pass more accurately in game situations to keep his job. Long ball accuracy is probably a must with Lester.
Austin Wilson - Many have ruled Wilson out because of his lack of mobility. However, Lester chose Wilson over Long as backup because he has a better grasp of the offense and a much stronger accurate arm. If Lester installs an offense that does not require a mobile QB, which is entirely possible, Wilson may reemerge as a favorite.
AJ Long - Long has a chance to show his stuff today and in the next few games. If he shines he could go a long way (no pun intended) to locking up the starting job next year. If he stumbles badly, in particular in not taking care of the ball, he might even be pulled in favor of Wilson. AJ is small at 6 feet and only 180 pounds soaking wet. Is that the body type for a zone read QB?
Mitch Kimble - I doubt that he will want to sit forever and I would not be surprised to see him transfer.
Alin Edouard - Another small dual threat QB. I would suppose that the strength and accuracy of his arm will determine his fate at SU. He reportedly can heave it 70 yards. Stay tuned.
My hope is that Lester may be able to attract good QB prospects in the future and he probably knows how to develop and use them.
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