UL's McGuire brushes up on quarterback skills

[Just1More]

_ What is your argument? _

He's saying that "if" TDs are easier to come by in the redzone... why not leave Masson in... if it is so "easy"... he brought you there in the first place. In reality, Chris and Brad were not in a QB competition last year for TDs. They were used in different roles... so all comparisons are moot points.

Not like you don't know Zephyr... but I wouldn't have been upset if Chris or Brad turned out as our #1. The coaches picked Chris due to his passing skills. That is not to say Brad doesn't possess a good arm... the coaches are right on top of things and they chose Chris. In the redzone, as space gets more compacted... I think Brad is the better QB choice in our offense... in the congestion of 15 yards and in. When you really want to punch the ball in... defenses would have to be more worried about the Brad option than the Chris option the closer we get to the goal line. IMO

Being that Gautier is hurt... we are lucky to have Brad's QB experience... that is an understatement. I was a little concerned that Brad wasn't already taking snaps in the event Chris or Blaine went down. I think this preseason prepping of QB Brad will pay dividends in the early going... and down the road.

[zephyr]

_ He's saying that "if" TDs are easier to come by in the redzone... why not leave Masson in... if it is so "easy"... he brought you there in the first place. In reality, Chris and Brad were not in a QB competition last year for TDs. They were used in different roles... so all comparisons are moot points.

Not like you don't know Zephyr... but I wouldn't have been upset if Chris or Brad turned out as our #1. The coaches picked Chris due to his passing skills. That is not to say Brad doesn't possess a good arm... the coaches are right on top of things and they chose Chris. In the redzone, as space gets more compacted... I think Brad is the better QB choice in our offense... in the congestion of 15 yards and in. When you really want to punch the ball in... defenses would have to be more worried about the Brad option than the Chris option the closer we get to the goal line. IMO

Being that Gautier is hurt... we are lucky to have Brad's QB experience... that is an understatement. I was a little concerned that Brad wasn't already taking snaps in the event Chris or Blaine went down. I think this preseason prepping of QB Brad will pay dividends in the early going... and down the road. _

Well, I understand that but I don't know what he's trying to say. We all know that Bustle would prefer to run the ball if all things are equal, especially in the red zone. However, Brad is much more comfortable putting the head down and moving forward. He threw 2 TD's last year, with one being the 90+ yarder that Green took to the house. He is obviously not as comfortable throwing the ball and you are right, the coaches are on top of it and know what is going on. What I find interesting is that Chris averaged just a tad less yards per carry than McGuire even though his net yards were affected by sacks. He would have averaged more than McGuire with all things equal. He also had one less TD than McGuire even though McGuire was in to do one thing.

[VObserver]

So Masson ran 80% of the plays or more and scored one more TD? Doesn't sound too efficient to me. Remember, despite all those passing yards, Masson's passing efficiency rating was VERY low. Tells me that he's piling up yards in non-critical situations and miss-firing when it counts the most. I'm still not sold on our ability to win with Masson under center.

[Turbine]

_ What is your argument? _

It's not easier in the "Red Zone" it's just different.

My comment earlier about being amazed how he led the team in TD's with such limited opportunities had to do with Brad only participating in 8 games.

[zephyr]

_ So Masson ran 80% of the plays or more and scored one more TD? Doesn't sound too efficient to me. Remember, despite all those passing yards, Masson's passing efficiency rating was VERY low. Tells me that he's piling up yards in non-critical situations and miss-firing when it counts the most. I'm still not sold on our ability to win with Masson under center. _

Efficiency numbers are also skewed when you compare to a player who threw very few passes during the course of the season. BTW, how did Masson score one more TD? He accounted for 16 TD's and ran for only one less than McGuire. If you back down his negative yards due to sacks to equal the total negative yards McGuire had, Masson averages 4 yards per carry with one less TD than McGuire. BTW, you would have to see Masson's stats specifically in the redzone to back up your argument about meaningless yards assuming you are talking about his lack of TD production there. The playcalling in the redzone, as Turbine has indicated, is "different" and Bustle likes to run a lot more than he likes to pass. I have not seen these numbers but I'd assume they exist somewhere.

Also, lets look into how many dropped balls and screens we ran last year that affected his efficiency. I think Masson is a very capable QB and I think that you will see a different offense this year with the emergence of playmakers at the RB position that we didn't have last year. I thought Chris ran this offense pretty well last year based on injuries and lack of options in the passing game.

[Just1More]

_ So Masson ran 80% of the plays or more and scored one more TD? Doesn't sound too efficient to me. Remember, despite all those passing yards, Masson's passing efficiency rating was VERY low. Tells me that he's piling up yards in non-critical situations and miss-firing when it counts the most. I'm still not sold on our ability to win with Masson under center. _

How can you compare the TD stats when Brad was given predominantly redzone assignments and Chris is mainly asked to get us to that point? Of course Brad ran less times for many more TDs. You also cannot look at Chris and Brad's runs and compare yardage. Chris had the advantage of open space runs. Brad punches in short yardage conversions while in the redzone. Stats are way too lacking in information to make general assessments. I hate sports stats without intelligence... and they are meaningless without it.

And in Chris's defense... CST rebroadcast the LSU UL game the other day. I watched Chris throw 6 or 7 perfect passes in the first 15 minutes that hit every receiver in near perfect spots. They dropped every one of them. Chris got statistically screwed.

Chris was not a liability at the position last year. RB was the biggest underperforming component of last year's offense and without it clicking this year, it will not matter who is under center. And absolutely no offense... but if you don't smell these players breath at the practices and scrimmages... IMO you are not close enough to know more than the coaches.

[Turbine]

_ How can you compare the TD stats when Brad was given predominantly redzone assignments and Chris is mainly asked to get us to that point? Of course Brad ran less times for many more TDs. You also cannot look at Chris and Brad's runs and compare yardage. Chris had the advantage of open space runs. Brad punches in short yardage conversions while in the redzone.

You are right, I still think Brad had high production with relatively few opportunities.

[zephyr]

_ You are right, I still think Brad had high production with relatively few opportunities. _

You are correct, Brad did produce for what he was asked to do. However, I am curious to see what his role will be this year after Gautier is back since we look to be much more productive from the RB slot than last year. We called on him to punch it in last year but this year, we may not lean on him as much.

[zephyr]

_ How can you compare the TD stats when Brad was given predominantly redzone assignments and Chris is mainly asked to get us to that point? Of course Brad ran less times for many more TDs. You also cannot look at Chris and Brad's runs and compare yardage. Chris had the advantage of open space runs. Brad punches in short yardage conversions while in the redzone. Stats are way too lacking in information to make general assessments. I hate sports stats without intelligence... and they are meaningless without it.

And in Chris's defense... CST rebroadcast the LSU UL game the other day. I watched Chris throw 6 or 7 perfect passes in the first 15 minutes that hit every receiver in near perfect spots. They dropped every one of them. Chris got statistically screwed.

Chris was not a liability at the position last year. RB was the biggest underperforming component of last year's offense and without it clicking this year, it will not matter who is under center. And absolutely no offense... but if you don't smell these players breath at the practices and scrimmages... IMO you are not close enough to know more than the coaches. _

Exactly.