Honestly, I have never allowed myself the opportunity to think this before. I've always looked ahead to think who we'll have running the show after this year. Either that or who was going to beat out Charley for the fall. He has knowledge of the offense. He has a strong running game. He has a good frame. He's dreamy. Unfortunately he doesn't have any real experience. If he gets the nod, Hickey can stay at RT. If Quinta steps into a starting role and one of the frosh WRs can be solid, why not Charley? I think Hunt would be a bit more exciting, but perhaps Loeb brings that Nassib workman like quality with him. Who knows? I can't wait for Spring Ball.
There are worse problems than that I suppose.
I think Charley caught a bad break when DM and NH left because his biggest advantage over the other QBs was more familiarity with the system Syracuse was using on offense.
A big question about the new offense is whether McDonald is going to use the existing playbook and nomenclature, basically keep everything the same, and make the coaching staff have to make adjustments to a new offense instead of the players. Or is he going to install his offense, which will have a lot of similarities with th DM/NH offense, but also a lot of differences, and a completely different nomenclature. By nomenclature, I am referring to the names for the formations, plays, audibles, etc.
If he makes the players make the adjustments to his system, Loeb's advantage is diminished pretty significantly. I think this is going to happen. I don't blame McDonald if he does this. It is his neck on the line, and I am sure he would be much more comfortable using the terminology and approach he has used in the past.
Based on the QBs the new staff is going after so far, they might put more of a premium on ability of a QB to run with the football. I haven't seen a QB who runs like Nassib does or throws with an arm as strong as Ryan's. That might mean that the changes are going to help Broyld and Hunt more than Loeb and Kinder (and eventually Wilson), but Loeb and Kinder are also noticably more mobile than Ryan was/is.
I thought Ashton's play during his frosh season, limited as it was, was remarkable in a couple of ways. He showed me great athletic ability; the kid has a way of doing remarkable things almost every time he touches the ball. And he showed me a disturbing trend of making mental mistakes, blowing assignments, missing blocks, going in the wrong direction, not protecting the ball, etc.
You can't have your QB do those kinds of things. If Ashton is to play there, he is going to need to make vast strides in the mental part of the game to be successful.
Here are my impressions of Kinder and Loeb based on the limited times I have seen both play in drills and scrimmages.
Kinder made a strong run last year to take the backup position away from Charley. He has a way of making plays, is fearless in the pocket, and I think he is probably the most accurate passer on the roster now that Ryan is gone. He can make all the plays. Is agile, can make people miss but lacks the speed to be a real threat running the football (he is something between Ryan and Charley here).
His problem is that he has been plagued by making a horrendous decision time and time again. He will run a drive perfectly 70 yards down the field, and in the red zone, throw the ball under pressure directly into double coverage and get intercepted. That sort of thing. He is close to being a very solid QB.
From what I have seen from Charley so far in his career, he can make all the throws, and throws the best deep ball of any QB we have had over the past few years. He has prototype size, prototype thowing form and runs really well, though he is really reluctant to use his athletic ability and make something positive on a broken play.
The issues with Charley are, as far as I can tell:
1) while he can zip a pass into a tight spot with the best of them, he really likes to throw high lob passes, and sometimes throws a lob when a hard throw is required.
2) his accuracy can be a problem at times
3) he has a slow trigger. Does not get rid of the ball quickly, sometimes takes too long to make a decision. A good QB needs a clock in their head to tell him how much time they have to allow the play to develop before they sense the rush and go to plan B.
I really haven't seen Hunt play at all yet so I will not comment on him yet. Hoping spring practices are open this year.
Philcox-like.
