I do not believe that Gus is an expert QB talent evaluator. You can tell he didn't really know what he had with Cam till midway through the season (quite frankly none of us knew just how high his talent level was either)

That said, even great coaches strike out on QB evaluations. So it is not the end of the world because Gus does have a track record of putting guys in situations to succeed above their talent level.

It is unquestioned that Nick Marshall is a superior athlete and you can see in his film he can hurl a football. Question becomes if Gus can make his offense conducive to a gunslinger to avoid turnovers (even if we are down).

I believe Gus can and has done that in the past. Even the Barrett Trotter/Clint Moseley debacle wasn't necessarily that bad considering the talent levels of the team, QBs and OLine (effing awful).

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Posted by RockyMtnTigerWDE

War Damn Eagle Dad!

Member since Oct 2010

105531 posts

Posted on 6/20/13 at 8:04 pm to GenesChin

I never said Malzahn is a great evaluator. In fact if everyone would go back to the original post I responded to they will see we have gone off track a bit. The poster said Nick has become a legend due to 247 and rivals. I asked how did they do that? No one thinks Nick is a legend, but based on film, stats, scouting, and opinions he looks to be very good and a great fit for CGM's O.

Gus was big on Cam Newton and was the force behind getting him to Auburn. He had an idea Cam would be very good, but Cam showed even more. Gene didn't necessarily want him iirc. Gus made Todd look good. Frazier was highly recruited and ran Gus's offense very well in HS, why wouldn't he bring him here. A few theories out there on why Frazier has failed. Look at what the kid at Arky State did last year. Gus can coach a QB and you can hardly blame 2011 on Malzahn with all of Gene's meddling.

Your last statement is worded as if Nick is a loose cannon and Gus is going to have to put the screws to him to conform. I disagree with that completely. It has been pointed out many times here that the offense he played in Juco required him to be gunslinger due to a poor team defense, and the play calling. Which opened him up to more turnovers. Obviously it is a risk to sign any player to a certain degree. Nick will have to prove what he can do in CGM's offense.

btw, it is obvious you didn't see what I did there in the post you responded to.