re: Alabama fans, tell us how good (or bad) Jacob Coker will be.

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Definitely the guy off the water boy

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I put together my thoughts on Jacob Coker and what he brings to Alabama, where he stands in the quarterback race and what to watch for as the QB competition begins. Some background: Before taking this job at TideSports.com in mid-August, I covered Florida State for two seasons. My first year on the beat was Coker's first on campus at FSU. I'm very familiar with him and his game, I had a chance to watch him practice in fall and spring, interview him several times, interview coaches about him, etc. So here's my take on Coker and Alabama: The QB race The second Coker decided to transfer to Alabama, he became the man to beat in the 2014 QB competition. You can talk familiarity and playbook (I'll go into more detail on that later) but in my opinion, Coker would have never agreed to leave FSU if there wasn't some relative certainty that he would be the man this fall barring unforeseen circumstances. ?Yes, Jameis Winston is at QB at FSU. But he is draft eligible after the 2014 season. That means that if Coker stuck it out, he was the clear No. 2 behind Winston next year and slides in as starter if there is an injury. On top of football duties, remember, Winston is going to pitch for the FSU baseball team this spring (as FSU fans clinch their collective teeth for four months). If Winston stays healthy, he's a shoo-in top five pick in the 2015 draft, probably No. 1 overall, and if Coker stayed around he would get to be the starting quarterback as a senior in 2015. He would have worked in the offense for four years, known his surroundings, and it would be much safer to just stick it out for one guaranteed year as a starter. So when you're wondering where Coker stands in Alabama's QB competition as of today, I ask myself why he'd be giving up a full year as a starter at FSU to be at some sort of great risk to become No. 2 or No. 3 QB at Alabama. What Coker brings I have to admit I laugh a little bit when I've seen people say Alabama will be "counting on an ACC backup quarterback" as if Coker falls in the same category as the second-stringer at Boston College or Wake Forest. He's a very good player who just happened to show up before a once-in-a-generation player, so clumping him in with a blanket "he's a backup" statement is short-sighted. I mentioned this on Twitter a couple of times already, but I have no doubt in my mind that Coker is not only the most physically gifted quarterback on Alabama's roster, but that he's the most physically gifted QB Saban has had at Alabama. That doesn't mean he'll be the best, of course, because he's still an unproven commodity to go with that very high ceiling. Let's start with he does well: He is as athletic of a big body (6-foot-5, 230 lbs.) quarterback as you'll find. He can make plays with his feet. Not just evade the rush, but give Alabama a guy who can gain yardage on the ground. FSU had plenty of designed runs for its quarterbacks and even in limited work, Coker was not an exception to that. He's not Nick Marshall on the ground, but he's much more than a guy who buys time in the pocket. That's not an option Alabama has had with its starters under Saban. His other major attribute is his arm strength. It's obvious in practice and in game action that Coker had the biggest arm on FSU's team. You've probably seen the quotes from Fisher, FSU QB coach Randy Sanders and Winston himself about his arm talent. It will take one or two throws for you to notice difference in arm strength between Coker and former Bama starters like McCarron, McElroy and JPW. IN a best case scenario, that strength will only increase Alabama's advantage with about 78 percent of the catches from a season ago returning in 2014 to go with three talented tailbacks. The ultimate question with Coker will be between the ears. How his talent translates to the field will swing heavily on his ability to make smart decisions, be careful with the football and execute under pressure. There have been question marks about his decision making speed in limited work, but I don't put much stock into that stuff on any quarterback with such a small sample size until we've seen those "bullets are flying" reps (more on that later, too). Like every other quarterback in Alabama's competition in 2014, has never taken a significant college snap. He has only seen mop-up duty behind EJ Manuel and Winston the past two seasons. Talent is what brings Coker to Tuscaloosa. But no thinly veiled promise of depth chart positioning will change the fact that he'll still need to prove he's the best quarterback as Saban and Co. obviously believe as of now.

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You gumps are gonna have to explain to us what we are supposed to be scared of.

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