re: AuburnSportsBoard Poll: Starting QB in 2016...

I really would love for JJ to come out and live up to the hype he had last year. That being said, Sean White will be your starting QB imho, Franklin will run the wildcat at various points during games.

I am typically optimistic this time of year about the upcoming season. No go this year. I just don't see us progressing. I still don't think the QB we need to win is on the roster.

White

Can Auburn win without a mobile quarterback? (LINK)

quote:

---

It's become a popular topic over the last few seasons: Gus Malzahn can't win without a mobile QB. I discussed last summer how that's most definitely not true over the course of his history in college football. There's an argument to be made that he's at his best in the SEC with a mobile QB, but his first season at Arkansas says differently. As we approach Fall Camp and there might once again be an Auburn QB starting who isn't a "dual-threat," we have to discuss the issue again. So, is there perhaps another key cog that we're overlooking in what truly makes Gus' offense work?

Misdirection. That's part of the heart of what Gus Malzahn does. Fooling the defense into biting on something and then doing something else. What is the zone read if not a form of misdirection? That's where Auburn's success under Gus Malzahn came from with Nick Marshall as the quarterback. It wasn't so much the zone read, though, with Cam Newton, because he wasn't an outside runner. He was more of an up-the-middle power runner when he kept the ball on the inverted veer.

That's two different styles of running quarterback. Marshall was the elusive outside guy. Cam was the bruiser. Both were very effective at what they did and led Auburn to great things.

One thing that helped them do what they did, though, was the effectiveness of the rest of the ground game. Be it power, speed sweep or buck sweep, the running game by the running backs was the key cog in opening up the rest of the offense.

Cam Newton had Michael Dyer for power and Onterio McCalebb for the jet sweep. Nick Marshall had both Corey Grant and Ricardo Louis for the jet and Tre Mason for the buck sweep. Tre and Cameron Artis-Payne also ran power. Want to throw the defense off? Scare them with someone who can hit the edge or bust up the middle and take it to the house.

Marshall and Cam were always a threat to do that, too, which added another dimension to the offense. I'm not arguing that Gus' offense may not be most effective with a dual-threat QB (because I think a dual-threat takes his play-calling to another level of options), just that it isn't a requirement to be able to win.

---

The article says it all talking about the right scheme and the supporting cast. SW can do it and JF3 contributing in wildcat with even a little bit of throwing ability could be magic, IF the play calling is there.

Cam was and still is a freak of nature. No way to compare any offensive scheme with that kind of player to anything else. Watson is that type of player at Clemson too. Defense in 2010 and 2013 made a big difference and this year I hope the D is back for us.

B.
As someone said earlier, JJ seems like a good kid and has stuck with Auburn during some bad times. Hope the kid goes OFF!!

SEC coaches talk anonymously about Auburn (LINK)

quote:

---

“I was really shocked that you never saw anybody step up for their offense. Sean White, he probably had a chance to develop if he wasn’t hurt for most of the second half. He probably got thrown into the fire too early because Jeremy Johnson wasn’t a player at all. The juco kid [John Franklin III] they’re bringing in might be more of a Nick Marshall-type, but I think you saw last year how underrated he was. You can talk about system all you want, but you’ve got to have a trigger man.”

---

Put into context, I think the "underrated" player he is talking about is SW. Having a "trigger man" typically means having the ability to throw the ball.

quote:

---

Put into context, I think the "underrated" player he is talking about is SW.

---

I took it as Nick Marshall,the GOAT zone read qb, was underrated and appreciated and everyone thought JJ was a sure thing.

quote:

---

I took it as Nick Marshall,the GOAT zone read qb, was underrated and appreciated and everyone thought JJ was a sure thing.

---

That makes much more sense, thanks!