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Can we all agree to something about the QB situation?

Posted on 2/2/17 at 10:17 pm
Posted by Triple Daves
ITP
Member since Sep 2016
5740 posts
Posted on 2/2/17 at 10:17 pm
Jalen needs to improve next year. If he doesn't, Tua or Jones should get a serious look. We won't really know whether he does or not until fall reports start rolling in.

There isn't much else to really talk about between now and then and no reason to continually talk about how bad Jalen was or is. It will take care of itself if it plays out that way, no reason to spend all spring and summer dogging the kid and digging his grave.

That's all I got.
Posted by Cobrasize
Birmingham
Member since Jun 2013
49680 posts
Posted on 2/2/17 at 10:21 pm to
Everyone needs to prepare themselves for the Macsiah.
Posted by MikeyInTheHam
Birmingham, AL
Member since Jan 2007
766 posts
Posted on 2/2/17 at 11:57 pm to
Jalen will start the season as the starter. Won't last long. Tua is the real deal.
Posted by Bamafan15
Member since Jan 2016
6820 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 12:12 am to
Jalen didn't have anyone to push him to get better after Barnett left. He'll have some serious talent behind him this year.
Posted by 251_Dreaux
Port-City, BAMA
Member since Jul 2013
713 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 12:16 am to
Jalen is/will put in the work to improve. The team has his back, unlike our fanbase, and he will continue to get ish done.
Posted by uofarolltide
Member since Sep 2016
1830 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 1:41 am to
I've been very critical of Jalen's passing game, but looking back, he had an amazing season. Aside from Jake Coker, he might've been the best QB in year 1 under saban so far.
He made so many plays throughout the year, and showed clutch ability against ole miss, lsu, and clemson. Tough as nails, and unshakable. He also made some nice throws downfield, believe it or not.

However, he obviously must become a better passing QB, and I'm sure he's well aware of this. I'm optimistic, and I believe he WILL get much better in the passing game. HE WAS A TRUE FRESHMAN. How could he not get better?

I think it's wrong to count out Tua, as nobody gave Jalen a chance last year either, but I'll be more surprised if Tua wins, than I was when Jalen won the job.
I think people are massively underselling Jalen Hurts because we lost against Clemson. The kid has 'winner' and 'Heisman' written all over him IF he improves his passing.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 1:42 am
Posted by Triple Daves
ITP
Member since Sep 2016
5740 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 7:19 am to
quote:

Jalen will start the season as the starter. Won't last long. Tua is the real deal.


quote:

Jalen didn't have anyone to push him to get better after Barnett left. He'll have some serious talent behind him this year.



Maybe so - but no point in spending the entire offseason talking about how trash a true freshman QB who won the SEC Championship and worked his arse off is.

If he doesn't improve and gets beat out, so be it. I'm not usually into caring what people think and their feelings, but can you imagine coming in as a true freshman, having the season Jalen did (and the season the team did) and spending the entire offseason reading how shitty you are and how some other freshman who has never taken a college snap is clearly better than you? Just seems kind of stupid.

This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 7:20 am
Posted by Huddie Leadbetter
Member since May 2016
3822 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 8:23 am to
quote:

The team has his back, unlike our fanbase


I'm not exactly sure the team has complete confidence. Foster is leaving, and so is Stewart, though a productive year next season would benefit his place in the draft. There's no guarantee, though, that next year will be better for the receivers.

I'm also not sure about the camaraderie among the qbs. I never saw much of that on the sidelines. 3 qbs transferring, and the primary backup most of the year is walking on at another place to play wr.

In fact, I didn't see Hurts interacting with anybody much on the sidelines. Maybe all that stoic attitude isn't so great after all on a football team. Nothing wrong, maybe, with a little enthusiasm.

He has a lot of improving to do and not just throwing the ball. Hopefully he will.

edit: And for the record, I'm not just thinking this since the Clemson game. I've been saying this, and catching flak for it, half the season. I said then that if he couldn't more consistently hit the intermediate and long passes, it would get us beat. It didn't take a PhD in football to see it coming. Unfortunately, it isn't just the passing.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 8:39 am
Posted by UAgrad93
Sylacauga
Member since Oct 2015
1479 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 8:35 am to
You should expect Jalen to improve this year. He will have had another Spring to be coached up at the position. The game will "slow down" for him. In HS, a QB could hold the ball a little longer and throw it once the receiver is open. In college, you have to throw him open. Reading the entire field as opposed to splitting it in half or even a third in an attempt to limit mistakes.
These things should get better. He does have some talented young guys behind him and that should help him as well. "You either get better or worse with each passing day. You never stay the same."
Posted by Huddie Leadbetter
Member since May 2016
3822 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 8:36 am to
quote:

You should expect Jalen to improve this year.


And I do. I also said most of the year that he should improve and I expected that he would.
Posted by UAgrad93
Sylacauga
Member since Oct 2015
1479 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 8:58 am to
Huddie, I was directing my comment to the OP. I hope you didn't think I was directing it toward you.
Posted by Riseupfromtherubble
You'll Never Walk Alone
Member since Jun 2011
38363 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:15 am to
Jalen had two issues that are very easily corrected with more comfort in what he's doing, this is not an ability issue

He doesn't trust his eyes yet and played timid in the passing game because of it. I don't think Jalen threw a receiver open all season. He needed to see that the guy was open before he turned it loose. It's hard to be efficient that way in the SEC regardless of the weapons at your disposal. The fact that we were able to move the ball anyway is a testament to those weapons and Kiffin.

What really doomed him with our message board fan base, and I'm not sure his is really debatable, he doesn't connect on the deep ball. Sims was great at it, Coker was really good at it by seasons end, and Jalen just couldn't hit one to save his life. I think at its core, this issue ties into issue number 1 more than an issue with talent or mechanics. He was overly cautious with the football because why wouldn't he be? He is an elite runner, why risk a throw you aren't confident in when you can scramble for a positive play. It's going to come with Jalen, I'm pretty confident in that. Most of his interceptions looked like short circuits where he either didn't see a guy or just had a panic/brain fart moment. The one at LSU, you could tell he made up his mind up where it was going and then tried to force it in there. That happens when you aren't comfortable. He's a hard working kid, the stuff he does on his own time will slow the game down and those "risky" throws will look easy to him. You hear soccer pundits talk about a players confidence all the time, as if it's right up there in terms of importance with his actual ability. You see closers/hitters in baseball get hot and gain confidence and they can really catch on fire. It's a huge part of professional athletics, it definitely impacts an 18 year old kid starting at quarterback for Alabama.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 9:16 am
Posted by labamafan
Prairieville
Member since Jan 2007
24263 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:31 am to
I think everyone is pulling for him but I agree if his ability to make reads and throw accurate passes doesn't improve the other two need to get a fair shake. Assuming Tua or Mac understand the offense and can open up the passing game better. They should all be equal if we go back to a more NS run game with play action passing. Whoever the QB is I hope we are done with east west. You have the animals in the line let them eat. I want to see back breaking 6-7 minute drives that are 60-40 run to pass. We were a functional offense away from winning another back to back national title in a 6yr period. It's unheard of.
Posted by Triple Daves
ITP
Member since Sep 2016
5740 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:34 am to
quote:

I think everyone is pulling for him but I agree if his ability to make reads and throw accurate passes doesn't improve the other two need to get a fair shake.


Agree - but I think we all need to just cool off and wait until that situation occurs. Kids generally make huge strides that first offseason, so the idea that he isn't going to get better seems silly. But, if he doesn't, or if he doesn't enough to be the QB we need, he should be passed on the depth chart. And I assume he will.

But nothing between now and August will change in terms of all that, so there's no point in rehashing it over and over.
Posted by Riseupfromtherubble
You'll Never Walk Alone
Member since Jun 2011
38363 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:38 am to
We've gotten to the point where we expect downfield production from the quarterback. AJ, Sims, Coker...we just expect the guy under center to be able to do that. We all know Jalen was a freshman, but I think in the midst of the game it's easy to forget that...at that point he's just "our quarterback" and not a freshman. We expect our quarterback to make throws down the field. It's not really fair to judge him on the same scale as guys that had played college football for 2-4 years before starting at Alabama. What we saw from those guys was basically a finished product, that's apples and oranges with Jalen

The notion that he might not improve at all is pretty silly. I've been guilty of it as well at times. We all need to kind of take a step back and realize that hey, this was a true freshman football player. They almost always get better.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 9:47 am
Posted by Triple Daves
ITP
Member since Sep 2016
5740 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:41 am to
quote:

The notion that he might not improve at all is pretty silly. I've been guilty of it as well at times. We all need to kind of take a step back and realize that hey, this was a true freshman football player. They almost always get better.


And if he doesn't, and we keep him there, then it's time to complain.

But he was a true freshman. I wish we hadn't been forced to play one, but he performed better than most true freshman, even elite ones. To expect much more than we got from him would be silly. Is it his ceiling? If so, he won't last much longer. If not, let's just see how things progress.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 9:46 am
Posted by BigBird09
Member since May 2012
5883 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:55 am to
quote:

Jalen needs to improve next year. If he doesn't, Tua or Jones should get a serious look.


Respectfully disagree. Jalen posted unheard of numbers for a true freshman, and even if he doesn't improve, he'll be the starter unless Tua just blows the staff away. I can agree that the best player will start, but I find it hilarious that people think Jalen (the SEC OPOY) wasn't good last year and that a true freshman that has proven nothing at the collegiate level will be much better. The Alabama fan base has an unhealthy obsession with the backup QB.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 9:58 am
Posted by Bamadoc
Mississippi
Member since Jan 2014
3985 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 9:58 am to
For once our QB situation is going to be solid. Doesn't matter who plays. Hurts, tua, mac is a better than hurts, cooper, Cornwell

Just shocked excluding jalen, how bad our coaches were at talent eval at the position.

Just imagine how bad it would've been if Coker didn't transfer.


Posted by Huddie Leadbetter
Member since May 2016
3822 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 10:08 am to
quote:

UAgrad93


Oh, it's no big deal anway, really. We can all agree to disagree. Most of us, that is, can do that.
Posted by Funky Tide 8
Tittleman's Crest
Member since Feb 2009
52628 posts
Posted on 2/3/17 at 10:34 am to
quote:


Respectfully disagree. Jalen posted unheard of numbers for a true freshman, and even if he doesn't improve, he'll be the starter unless Tua just blows the staff away. I can agree that the best player will start, but I find it hilarious that people think Jalen (the SEC OPOY) wasn't good last year and that a true freshman that has proven nothing at the collegiate level will be much better. The Alabama fan base has an unhealthy obsession with the backup QB.



Agree with this 100 percent.


eta:
quote:

We can all agree to disagree. Most of us, that is, can do that.



I guarantee that you are on the posters that downvoted me for simply stating that I agreed with someone. Which is hilarious coming after the above statement.
This post was edited on 2/3/17 at 11:28 am
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