Hurts was always the same at Alabama. His interceptions dropped as a sophomore. Otherwise he looked the same and numbers were essentially the same. When Tua replaced him not only did everything suddenly look superior but the numbers verified with a jump of 3 YPA.
That's partially why I've had a difficult time taking Hurts seriously all season. Yeah, he's up in the stratosphere 11.5+ YPA that all recent Sooner quarterbacks are putting up under Riley. At this point you've got to condemn the Big 12 for allowing it to happen almost as much as praising Lincoln Riley for schemes and personnel that produce it.
This is a soft lazy era in college football. Thank goodness we still have a handful of teams that prioritize both sides of the ball.
Lamar Jackson has never been the same from one season to the next. He is unlike any quarterback I have ever seen in that regard. The year after he won the Heisman he was obviously making a concerted effort to be more effective from the pocket. He was standing flatfooted. His release was all wrong. Consequently he was often throwing line drives high and late into traffic. Yes, results were often worse but what stood out more than anything was the glaring change, that this guy was really working on his craft. He was a difficult evaluation for that reason. I mentioned it at the time. I'm surprised he has reached this level but not surprised at all that Jackson has taken it upon himself to dedicate every offseason to improvement.
Is Jalen Hurts going to do that, or is his rise simply based on switching to Lincoln Riley? As others have noted, Hurts does not own the surreal athletic gifts of Jackson.
I don't care about rushing for yardage. Quarterbacks can't sustain that. The key is to instinctively elude and then create a 7-on-7 type of play while sliding along the line of scrimmage. This season it's so awesome to see a Dolphins quarterback who quickly senses trouble and takes off in the correct direction. But with Fitzpatrick it's heads down and pure run. Maddening. He would be so much more effective if he slowed down and prioritized the pass, other than those critical plays when the first down is right there if you take off on your own. It's so imperative to have sharp players at all the offensive skill positions who understand that type of thing. For example, the Jets nearly gave away that game last week when their running back Montgomery made an incomparably stupid choice on 2nd and 1 from the Dolphins 14 while leading 16-12. The first down was easily right there yet Montgomery screwed around sideways and gave away the first down. Third and fourth down failed. I realize this is an aside but it really stood out to me from that example how vital it is to load up on smart players who understand situational football. I thought that second down play was by far the most meaningful one that nobody was talking about.
I'll have to watch the playoffs closely to see if Hurts is the type to understand that 7-on-7 type of opportunity. He did make some improvisational plays in the furious late comeback win last season for Alabama above Georgia.
Frankly I haven't paid full attention to Hurts this season because it makes zero sense that someone who was so clearly inferior to Tua at Alabama could somehow be in the running for Miami Dolphins savior quarterback.
That's partially why I've had a difficult time taking Hurts seriously all season. Yeah, he's up in the stratosphere 11.5+ YPA that all recent Sooner quarterbacks are putting up under Riley. At this point you've got to condemn the Big 12 for allowing it to happen almost as much as praising Lincoln Riley for schemes and personnel that produce it.
This is a soft lazy era in college football. Thank goodness we still have a handful of teams that prioritize both sides of the ball.
Lamar Jackson has never been the same from one season to the next. He is unlike any quarterback I have ever seen in that regard. The year after he won the Heisman he was obviously making a concerted effort to be more effective from the pocket. He was standing flatfooted. His release was all wrong. Consequently he was often throwing line drives high and late into traffic. Yes, results were often worse but what stood out more than anything was the glaring change, that this guy was really working on his craft. He was a difficult evaluation for that reason. I mentioned it at the time. I'm surprised he has reached this level but not surprised at all that Jackson has taken it upon himself to dedicate every offseason to improvement.
Is Jalen Hurts going to do that, or is his rise simply based on switching to Lincoln Riley? As others have noted, Hurts does not own the surreal athletic gifts of Jackson.
I don't care about rushing for yardage. Quarterbacks can't sustain that. The key is to instinctively elude and then create a 7-on-7 type of play while sliding along the line of scrimmage. This season it's so awesome to see a Dolphins quarterback who quickly senses trouble and takes off in the correct direction. But with Fitzpatrick it's heads down and pure run. Maddening. He would be so much more effective if he slowed down and prioritized the pass, other than those critical plays when the first down is right there if you take off on your own. It's so imperative to have sharp players at all the offensive skill positions who understand that type of thing. For example, the Jets nearly gave away that game last week when their running back Montgomery made an incomparably stupid choice on 2nd and 1 from the Dolphins 14 while leading 16-12. The first down was easily right there yet Montgomery screwed around sideways and gave away the first down. Third and fourth down failed. I realize this is an aside but it really stood out to me from that example how vital it is to load up on smart players who understand situational football. I thought that second down play was by far the most meaningful one that nobody was talking about.
I'll have to watch the playoffs closely to see if Hurts is the type to understand that 7-on-7 type of opportunity. He did make some improvisational plays in the furious late comeback win last season for Alabama above Georgia.
Frankly I haven't paid full attention to Hurts this season because it makes zero sense that someone who was so clearly inferior to Tua at Alabama could somehow be in the running for Miami Dolphins savior quarterback.
