re: 2013 Alabama Football Recruiting Thread - DH Decommited from UGA

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At 6'1 and 185 I think this guy is much too small to play QB for us. If we end up losing out on all our Pro Style targets I'd much rather see us flip McCrary. Its pretty obvious we need a QB in this class. Think what would happen if Sims were to transfer and then A.J. moves on to the NFL. We would be stuck with Morris and Ely. Morris looks like he has a lot of potential, some have compared him to G-Mac and he looks like a guy who will do well for us. Ely however looks like a career backup to me, wasn't very impressed by him.

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He'll get bigger weight wise as he goes through his Senior year and his freshman year in college. Prototypical height is overrated in college, you can be a perfectly functional QB at 6-1 or smaller. Nuss's QB at Washington, Keith Price, is the same size(6-1, 195). And he plays in one of the more notable Pro Style offenses out there.

I guess that makes sense. I just don't see how a small, lefty, dual threat, triple option QB would be able to transition into our Pro-style offense. I could actually see a guy like Jeremy Johnson or Jameis Winston being able to make that transition into our offense some day.

Nussmeier helped turn a former triple option QB into a first round draft pick. And that staff didn't have a full 4-5 years with him.

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And I've yet to comprehend why a dual threat QB couldn't play in Bama's pro style. What prevents him from being a game manager or what even separates him from a pro style prospect other than his ability to run? What can't a dual threat do in Bama's offense that a pro style can?

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No idea. From what I saw, that kid can make all the throws. That's what's important at this stage.

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I would guess that it has a lot to do with the perception that a dual threat QB is nothing more than the most athletic kid on the team being put in a position to touch the ball on every play, regardless of his quaterbacking skills. There are a dozen Reggie Balls or Marcus Vicks for every RGIII.

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I could see where they were coming from in that regard. Although I would say most dual threat prospects that are highly regarded don't fit that generalization. Tyrone Swoopes is raw a passer and is a superior runner at this point in time, but he has a decent level of QB skill that can be expanded upon in college. You can't be scared off by a specific type of player because of others that have failed. You don't turn down Reggie Bush or Chris Johnson just because Corey Grant didn't make an impact in Bama's offense.

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Just based on first impressions though, this guy doesn't fit that mold. He's running an offense that is complicated in its own right, and that also requires the QB to make a lot of quick decisions under pressure. You have to be smart and pretty fearless to successfully QB the triple option. He isn't just taking the snap and trying to make a play. He has a good arm, he's athletic, and he presumably has a decent head on his shoulders. He isn't going to go in anywhere and start at a true freshman, but he definitely has some tools a good QB coach could work with.

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I agree in all accounts. And while again being in a Triple Option offense isn't the best offense to grow as a QB, you can still get valuable experience in one. You're already under center(which is a positive in a pro style), you have to have good play fake/ball handling skills in that offense, and you also have to make quick decisions(whether it be pass, hand off, or run).

I rate QB qualities at the college level in this order

1. Intelligence (smart/quick decisions, audibles, managing the offense, etc)
2. Accuracy
3. Leadership
4. Arm Strength
5. Size
6. Mobility

To an extent, you have to blame his coaching for something like that. If you train him to pick his battles, he'll do it. If you do and he doesn't listen, you bench him. If he folds mentally under pressure, there's nothing you could have really do to predict that. There is no exact scouting ability or drill that you can completely figure that out.

Again, you can't let 1 bad player turn you off from a certain type of player, or else you'll lose out on a lot of talent that way. Sure, there are a lot more successful traditional QBs than there are dual threats, but by the same token, there are a lot more traditional failures than dual threat failures. QBs that never make it out of high school still count in that equation.

GMAC had his flaws too, he'd take sacks under pressure more than he would throw it away so he preserve his QB rating. Taking a sack is just as bad as taking off and running, both also share the risk of a potential fumble.

You can't sabotage your team by overlooking talent in any form. It's pretty clear since A-Day last year that Saban is intrigued with a running plays from the QB position. He wouldn't have offered Swoopes and Zaire if he wasn't interested in their ability to run and pass. Hell, he was pitching a zone read package to Winston as a freshman...

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You can't sabotage your team by overlooking talent in any form. It's pretty clear since A-Day last year that Saban is intrigued with a running plays from the QB position. He wouldn't have offered Swoopes and Zaire if he wasn't interested in their ability to run and pass. Hell, he was pitching a zone read package to Winston as a freshman...

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I'm not saying he shouldn't or that I don't agree it should be explored, I'm just saying dual threat QBs worry me more (as far as offering at a HS level).

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Nothing really insightful, just thought that was pretty cool that an offer is that revered. I kinda want Zaire in this class, but I'll have to see if Saint says it's ok first

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Ask and you shall receive.

Since his profile has already been posted I won't post it again. Here are his highlights:

LINK

Now, the first thing that jumped out to me was he looks exactly like Michael Vick, but not as fast. He has a cannon for an arm. It came out a little awkward at times, but the kid runs a triple-option offense so it may just be that he hasn't been given proper coaching in the technique area. But I was impressed with his potential.

Seeing as how he plays in that option offense, taking snaps under center should be something he is very used to doing, unlike the other QBs we seem to be after.

His mechanics looked pretty good, but he obviously needs coaching in this area. Lefties always seem to have issues with their mechanics. It's weird, right handed QBs look more natural throwing a football while lefties look more natural swinging a baseball bat. It's science I guess.

He has good footwork too, until he loads up for a deep pass and then his legs go crazy. Again, coaching can help here.

So, I guess you can say I was pleasantly suprised in what Zaire could do and intrigued by what he could become. My only pause is that we have Blake Sims on the roster who possesses a similar skill set and we moved him to RB. Now, Zaire does appear to have the stronger arm of the two so maybe that is what the coaches are looking at the most.

I like him. If we miss out on Browne, Olsen, and Bateman we would do well to land Zaire.

ETA: I went to BOL after I posted this and read the Zaire story. In the comments below a poster had the same question regarding Blake Sims that I did in my post. Charles Power answered that Zaire is more comparable to Russell Wilson than Blake Sims and I must agree that that is a perfect assessment. How I missed that on my first time watching his film is embarrassing.