Why We Support A.J.

[cowtowndick]

Agreed- Saban will make the correct decision in deciding who starts. I have confidence in Saban unlike the last coach

absolutely - his indecisiveness was like a cancer. but onwards and upwards. as you say, nothing but confidence in coach Saban.

 

[rafael]

ok this is y i like feeley it aint doubt or nething like that its cause from what i saw last year he has the most heart in him than any other qb weve had in a while. Since marino, hes been the first qb ive seen that WANTED to win. I mean he still played through injurys and he ran it himself instead of taking sacks sometimes. Sure he made mistakes, but so did every one else. We will just see in august.

Did you ever watch Fiedler play? He had many question marks, but heart wasn't one of them.

 

[TRUDOLFAN54]

well i really belive this kid aj can only get better with better coaching i expect big things for him this year.

 

[rafael]

Another good point. Fiedler's weakness was his arm strength. Feeley's weakness is his inability to read a defense or make smart decisions and throw the ball away; instead, he basically throws it up for grabs. Fiedler could read a defense, but didn't have the arm to make all of the throws. I've said before: you could combine the two's skills and you'd still only have a DECENT QB. But each one of them alone are not ever going to be good, solid starting QBs.

Unfortunately, inability to read a D will hurt a QB (and a team's) performance more than poor arm strength will. IMO the best we can hope to get from AJ is that he performs as well as Fiedler did. So the best case scenario isn't good enough.

 

[SCall13]

Unfortunately, inability to read a D will hurt a QB (and a team's) performance more than poor arm strength will. IMO the best we can hope to get from AJ is that he performs as well as Fiedler did. So the best case scenario isn't good enough.

exactly

 

[adamprez2003]

Feeley was better than Fiedler last year. Do you think Fiedler could have beaten the Patriots? The only way Feeley plays at the same level as Fiedler is if he regresses

 

[MDFINFAN]

Unfortunately, inability to read a D will hurt a QB (and a team's) performance more than poor arm strength will. IMO the best we can hope to get from AJ is that he performs as well as Fiedler did. So the best case scenario isn't good enough.

Rafael, you keep harping on this this inability to read D's, but by the end of the season when he wasn't throwing INT's, especially against the Pats, wouldn't that say he was improving??

 

[rafael]

Rafael, you keep harping on this this inability to read D's, but by the end of the season when he wasn't throwing INT's, especially against the Pats, wouldn't that say he was improving??

No, that's my point. In that game NE had opportunities to get ints, they just flubbed them. While I was glad to see that happen, all it means is that AJ got lucky that game. That's not something that you can rely on or something that can be called improvement.

 

[MDFINFAN]

No, that's my point. In that game NE had opportunities to get ints, they just flubbed them. While I was glad to see that happen, all it means is that AJ got lucky that game. That's not something that you can rely on or something that can be called improvement.

Well you can say that about every qb in the nfl, to include P. Manning..D's drop int's all the time...but the fact that he didn't give the game away and had the pose to throw a game wining td, to me showed improvement..does he have a ways to go..yes..but playing takes aways a lot of ills. His has to play to get better, you can't do it on the bench..

 

[rafael]

Feeley was better than Fiedler last year. Do you think Fiedler could have beaten the Patriots? The only way Feeley plays at the same level as Fiedler is if he regresses

Yes, Fiedler could have beaten the Pats. There was a great deal of luck involved in that game, but if JF got the same breaks, sure. In fact, Fiedler would have won more games last year than Feeley did. The only advantage AJ has over Fiedler is a stronger arm. That does not equal better QB.

 

[adamprez2003]

One possible pick that wasnt is a sideline pass that was at the shoelaces of the DB which would have made it a helluva interception. is that one you are counting as should have been intercepted because I dont remember him throwing t6hat many interceptable passes in that game? I didnt consider that pass as should have been intercepted. More like could have been intercepted which is a big difference

 

[rafael]

Well you can say that about every qb in the nfl, to include P. Manning..D's drop int's all the time...but the fact that he didn't give the game away and had the pose to throw a game wining td, to me showed improvement..does he have a ways to go..yes..but playing takes aways a lot of ills. His has to play to get better, you can't do it on the bench..

Of course Ds drop ints all the time. That's what's reflected in the stat line. But when you're looking for improvement you look beyond the stats. Did he make better decisions? The answer is not really. And that last pass was more of what we already knew he could do. Throw a pass to his primary read when there is a mismatch. He can throw, but there's a great deal more to QBing than that. You asked me if he showed improvement. I'm saying he didn't. If he had then I'd be rooting for him to win the job over Gus. It's better for Miami if he had it in him to become a great QB. The problem is you don't need years and years or a 1000 passes to be able to see that. It's obvious now.

 

[adamprez2003]

With most qbs I agree. When it comes to Fiedler though, his arm was so weak that Feeley's arm strength does make him a better QB. Can you picture Fiedler in a LINEHAN offense? Fiedler could never get the ball deep enough to make it work. Fiedler as QB ensured that we always played a defense with 8 men in the box. you never worried about getting beat deep with Fiedler. The running game benefits with Feeley or frerotte as a starter because both can keep a defense honest

 

[adamprez2003]

I also dont see how you can say he didnt improve. He wouldnt be on the team right now if he hadnt improved some. You could say that he didnt improve enough to warrant starting but to say he didnt improve at all is straining your point. 95% of the people who watch the game would say he improved some from the first game to the last. The debate is how much not whether

 

[GRYPHONK]

Of course Ds drop ints all the time. That's what's reflected in the stat line. But when you're looking for improvement you look beyond the stats. Did he make better decisions? The answer is not really. And that last pass was more of what we already knew he could do. Throw a pass to his primary read when there is a mismatch. He can throw, but there's a great deal more to QBing than that. You asked me if he showed improvement. I'm saying he didn't. If he had then I'd be rooting for him to win the job over Gus. It's better for Miami if he had it in him to become a great QB. The problem is you don't need years and years or a 1000 passes to be able to see that. It's obvious now.

That's funny cause what I saw in the last few games was a more poised QB. A qb who didn't panic and throw the ball just to throw it. I saw a QB who decided to take the sack rather then force the pass.

Say it all u want Rafael Feeley improved. What do you want from the kid? I am not saying he is the best but to sit herew and obviously look past the aspects of his game that did get better is very naive.

Poise
Pocket Presence
Not rushing passes

Right there are 3 big keys to a QB'S success and although he is far from perfecting them he clearly showed progression that even a blind man could see.

You don't fix these things by sitting on the sideline. I don't care how much you people say he isn't a rookie because he really was. There is no experience like playing. No matter how long you let a rookie sit and learn they will still struggle. Carson Palmer wasn't amazing but he sure did have a full year to prepare.

So in that sense, it doesn't matter how long he has been in the league or watched footage he will never have that game experience, which most definitely made him a rookie.