Podcast GSS: Jay Walker (10-18-22)

[CajunVic]

Call it what you want. No matter what you call it the WRs still had to adjust to catching balls from 2 QBs who have different arm strengths, different release angles at 5’10 and 6’3” and different spin ratio. It is a lot different than constantly catching the same ball. Don’t believe me just Jefferson, Stephens, LeBlanc, Bernard, Rogers, Fleming, and the TE group I guarantee they will all agree.

Nobody is disputing that, however that will never be the end all be all factor and across college football every year there will be teams and coaching staff's that put more than one QB under center because all of the other factors override that one factor in the process of determining who may be the best QB for that particular team in that particular year. If that were the overriding factor, there would never ever, ever, ever, ever be a situation where more than one QB gets behind center for any team.

[RaginDave]

My take on this is that CMD feels like he has 2 capable QB's and does not want to make either unhappy, because the reality in this day and age of football you need 2 capable QB's as shown by the injury by CF this season. CMD made the call to name Chandler the starter and I believe in his mind Chandler was the right choice, I think he would do it again if he had to do it all over again based on what he saw during the offseason. That being said, CMD made it perfectly clear that these two guys were so close that it was hard to pick one over the other. They have different skill sets and different leadership qualities. You never know what is going to occur until you have each of them on the field and I think that is why he played both this year to see who would take the reigns. We are 6 games in and it is not like either had firmly taken over. Look at both of the numbers for both guys, they both have good and bad. Even this game that many people think was the coming out party for BW and shows he should have been the starter all along. While his numbers were good, they were not great. He was efficient and managed the game very well. But 17 - 29 is only a 58.6% completion percentage, that is not great and he was bailed out on a couple of plays by really good plays by the receivers. JSJ making a huge catch on a 50/50 ball and Neal Johnson made two plays where the ball was thrown behind him and he made the play and missed MJ3 on a pass he should have made against a single high safety when MJ3 had completely beaten the CB. I am not taking anything away from Ben, I think he played very good and as I said in our podcast that will be posted soon, "I think he played very good, not great, but very good and has room for improvement."

[Big Poppa]

Nobody is disputing that, however that will never be the end all be all factor and across college football every year there will be teams and coaching staff's that put more than one QB under center because all of the other factors override that one factor in the process of determining who may be the best QB for that particular team in that particular year. If that were the overriding factor, there would never ever, ever, ever, ever be a situation where more than one QB gets behind center for any team.

9 times out of 10 when a coach plays multiple QBs it is because they have different skill sets and it’s a change of pace. A good example would be our last opponent. Very few if any play multiple QBs to have them both do the same thing as Des is doing.

One thing I have learned in reading your post. You appear to have an answer to everything but know very little about the game of football.

[RaginDave]

I will tell you what we missed in the game vs Marshall is Chris Smith catching the ball. On the season we have a total of 18 receptions by RB's on the season for a total of 126 yards of that 15 are by Chris Smith for 111 yards or 3 catches per game for 22.2 yards per game. Here is what the other RB's have given us when he is not in the game:

Terrance Williams 1 catch for 11 yards
Jacob Kibodi 1 catch for 8 yards
Dre'lyn Washington 1 catch for 0 yards

Chris might not be giving us the running game we have hoped for compared to other RB's in the past, but he is a real threat out of the backfield and a great check down guy, because of his ability to make things happen in open space. Having Chris in the lineup opens up things for the QB's that you can clearly see is lost when he is not in the game.

[CajunNation]

Dave, in my best Fletcher voice, "you're partially correct".

He named CF starter due to his ability to make more plays downfield. It turns out that was not the issue this season. Now, we have seen other issues pop up, precisely due to the 2QB system(tweet about pass catching, momentum stopping). So, the facts of the case have changed.

When the facts change, decisions made on them should change as well.

You said we need 2 QBs in today's game. Yes, we do, but we also need to win games. NOW.

Yeah, he might make 1 of them upset with a benching. That is life. Should we not give all of the other players on the team the best chance at victory?

Poppa is correct. The most effective 2QB systems are when they offer 2 different skill sets.

[RaginDave]

Dave, in my best Fletcher voice, "you're partially correct".

He named CF starter due to his ability to make more plays downfield. It turns out that was not the issue this season. Now, we have seen other issues pop up, precisely due to the 2QB system(tweet about pass catching, momentum stopping). So, the facts of the case have changed.

When the facts change, decisions made on them should change as well.

You said we need 2 QBs in today's game. Yes, we do, but we also need to win games. NOW.

Yeah, he might make 1 of them upset with a benching. That is life. Should we not give all of the other players on the team the best chance at victory?

CN, I think you are taking what I said out of context, I was in no way saying that CMD's decision was the best one, I was just saying that was his line of reasoning and why he was doing what he did, in my opinion. That being said, I would have hoped we would have run with one guy and whomever that one was would have been the guy and if he wasn't then we could have tried the other one. But I will agree with what someone else on this board said, had BW not gotten the playing time he has this season already, he would not have played as well as he did on Wednesday. So while we can criticize CMD for the 2 QB system, it payed off vs Marshall. Had BW not played a snap all season and then came in off the bench for his first playing time, I think he would not been nearly as sharp as he was.

That is why you, me, BWK and everyone else on this board is not the HC of a FBS football team. These are hard decisions to make and we don't have to make them, thank goodness. But it is easy to criticize after the fact, because as they say Hindsight is always 20/20.

[CajunNation]

...That is why you, me, BWK and everyone else on this board is not the HC of a FCS football team. These are hard decisions to make and we don't have to make them, thank goodness. But it is easy to criticize after the fact, because as they say Hindsight is always 20/20.

I'm not a coach, but I am a fan.

Fan is gonna fan.

[CajunVic]

9 times out of 10 when a coach plays multiple QBs it is because they have different skill sets and it’s a change of pace. A good example would be our last opponent. Very few if any play multiple QBs to have them both do the same thing as Des is doing.

One thing I have learned in reading your post. You appear to have an answer to everything but know very little about the game of football.

So, because I, unlike most, seem to understand why CMD has done what he has done, I know very little about football. I believe it is quite the opposite. All of you who don’t understand why CMD has done what he has done exhibit a lack of knowledge for the game of football. All of you should stand up and be recognized.

[RaginDave]

I'm not a coach, but I am a fan.

Fan is gonna fan.

ME TOO!!!!!!!! And I am glad I am just a fan. As the Bobby Knight of Little League Basketball for years for my kids and the Bobby Valentine of Little League Softball for my daughter, no one wants me coaching at a high level, not because I might not be qualified, it is more because I would spend most of the games escorted out of the stadium than coaching from the bench. I am way to high strung as a fan to ever think I could do this at CMD's level. I am going to trust the process that CMD has in place.

[CajunVic]

I am going to trust the process that CMD has in place.

This guy gets it. Others ought to try it . . .