re: *** Official FOOTBALL IS KINDA BACK Practice Thread ***

I don't think there is any denying Coker's talent. Has a truly elite arm and is a solid athlete for the position.

His release is slow, but we'll see how he does now that he's more comfortable in the system and with the receivers.

This time last year everyone was wondering how long it would take Coker to become the starter over Blake, who looked like hot trash in spring.

People already counting Coker out because Cornwell took some snaps with the 1s? The fans crack me up on this site

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Black was definitely all the buzz during the 2012 Spring camp. Didn't hear/see Coop's name mentioned much until the Fall...Black had a big A-Day game that year and I'm not sure I ever saw Coop on the stat sheet. Hopefully Black gets his chance this year...

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See I remember it exactly opposite of that. I remember beat reporters and veteran players raving about Coop while not saying much about Black. Yes, Black had the long TD on A-day but remember he was working with the 2nd team O while Coop was working with the first team. Coop caught a deep pass from AJ that didn't show up in the stats because it was negated by an offensive PI penalty. I don't remember much Black hype prior to CNS mentioning possibly burning his RS prior to the SECCG

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Anyone who was really paying attention(most weren't) knew that Blake Sims had talent and could be successful.

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I think there was a lot more reason to be skeptical about BS than there was for optimism. And I was never in the "we wouldn't have brought Coker in if we weren't going to give him the starting job" camp, but I did predict he would eventually beat out BS. Here are the reasons I was skeptical of BS prior to the '14 season:

1. Played QB in the '11 A-day game but was moved to RB for the '11 season. The apparent reason for this was that he had fallen behind Phillip Ely who was a year behind BS and by no means a world-beater QB
2. Awful, awful, awful A-day in '13 followed by underwhelming A-day in '14.
3. Never heard much buzz or positive reports (except from CNS) about Blake by the "insiders" or people who reported on the team
4. At '14 SEC media days, GMAC who was a teammate of BS for 1 year and who undoubtedly still had a lot of connections to current players and staff predicted Coker would win the starting job. This is a guy who got to see Sims' talent on a daily basis

Reasons to be optimistic about Blake:
1. Looked good in mop-up for 2 years including throwing the ball against GSU
2. CNS always spoke very highly of him and stated that he had performed well in scrimmages despite his poor A-day showings

While it was evident that BS had talent, IMO there was no more reason to believe he had the "it" factor than there is for Coker right now.

Speaking of QBs, Luke Del Rio is transferring from Oregon State despite being the primary back-up last year and the starting job being up for grabs: LINK

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1. Played QB in the '11 A-day game but was moved to RB for the '11 season. The apparent reason for this was that he had fallen behind Phillip Ely who was a year behind BS and by no means a world-beater QB

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I never heard that as a legit reason. That was all speculation. I made more sense that they put him back there for depth reasons.

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2. Awful, awful, awful A-day in '13 followed by underwhelming A-day in '14.

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Meh, i can't remember the last time a QB played exceptionally well in the A-day game.

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3. Never heard much buzz or positive reports (except from CNS) about Blake by the "insiders" or people who reported on the team

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"Insiders" are overrated IMO.

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4. At '14 SEC media days, GMAC who was a teammate of BS for 1 year and who undoubtedly still had a lot of connections to current players and staff predicted Coker would win the starting job. This is a guy who got to see Sims' talent on a daily basis

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lol, Gmac? Seriously? A guy that played with Blake for one year(his freshman year no less.) He probably had just a slightly better idea than the rest of us as far as inside stuff goes.

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While it was evident that BS had talent, IMO there was no more reason to believe he had the "it" factor than there is for Coker right now.

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Maybe so, maybe not.

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Speaking of QBs, Luke Del Rio is transferring from Oregon State despite being the primary back-up last year and the starting job being up for grabs: LINK

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Strange. He had the opportunity to win the job here, and he leaves. And now the same thing at Oregon State?

I was always high on Cooper before 2012 season because my buddy that was an assistant for the team mentioned his name a few times as someone to watch out for.

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I never heard that as a legit reason. That was all speculation. I made more sense that they put him back there for depth reasons.

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RB depth was definitely a factor after Dee Hart's injury in the summer.

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Meh, i can't remember the last time a QB played exceptionally well in the A-day game

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I've never seen a QB look as lost and panicked as BS did in the '13 A-day. When he was pressured, he literally threw it up for grabs a couple times. After the 2nd time, CNS essentially benched him allowing Morris to take the rest of the snaps.

You say his talent should've been evident to anyone with his eyes open. Maybe that's true. Maybe some people were closed-minded, but to totally discount how he played on A-day is equally close-minded.

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"Insiders" are overrated IMO

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I agree with you, but it is another data point. Just like what your friend told you after seeing Cooper in practice. The lack of those types of glowing reports about Blake (bamasgot13's post not-withstanding) was another data point.

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lol, Gmac? Seriously? A guy that played with Blake for one year(his freshman year no less.) He probably had just a slightly better idea than the rest of us as far as inside stuff goes.

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Slightly better idea than the rest of us? I'll lol to that. I guess the rest of us are able to stop in and watch any practice or call a couple dozen current players and staff members to ask who has been standing out.

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College football is a team game, but the quarterback position holds more importance than any other on the field. Because of this, the pressure on these players is often far greater than on any of their teammates, and this usually includes the expectation that they'll be able to do what it takes to lead their team to success.

That's one of the many things that college quarterbacks have to prove each year, though the individual expectations differ for each player. They all have something to prove, some more than others.

Here's a look at the 10 quarterbacks who head into the 2015 season with the most to prove, detailing what they need to be able to show they can do and why this matters to them and their team this fall.

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Jacob Coker

What to prove: He's worth all the attention



This time a year ago, Jake Coker was one of the hottest names in college football, even though he'd seen very little action on the field during his career. That's because he was in the process of transferring from Florida State, where he was beat out for the starting job in 2013 by Jameis Winston, to Alabama in hopes of succeeding A.J. McCarron.

The 6'5", 232-pound Coker was the most high-profile transfer of last offseason, a player so highly regarded he had been anointed by many as the certain starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide in 2014. Then senior Blake Sims won the job out of training camp and went on to set school passing records and lead Alabama into the national semifinals.

Coker is back in another competition for the starting job, this time against a slew of unproven underclassmen and figures to be the favorite as the only quarterback on Alabama's roster who has thrown a pass in a game. His top competition might be true freshman Blake Barnett, but since Nick Saban has yet to allow a true freshman to see action during his tenure it's Coker's job to lose.

More importantly, it's his job to prove he's worth having been the subject of so much attention despite being a career backup. Now a senior, his time is now or never.

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