I believe it is.
Regardless of the O-line's performance (more on that later), if he again struggles finding open receivers, if he fails to hit the easy throws, if he make incorrect decisions, I believe that Wimbush will lose his starting position.
We all know BK is stubborn to the nth degree, continuing to go with players when he shouldn't. I get that. But you would think that even he has a breaking point. We found it last year at halftime of the LSU bowl game.
As far as the O-line, if it does continue to suffer breakdowns, that's not on Wimbush. But every O-line at some point in the game will have a breakdown on certain plays, and it's up to the QB to make the correct decision, whether that be taking the sack or rolling out and throwing the ball away. But too often, Wimbush tries to make whipped cream out of horse crap. In one way, it's great that he thinks that way, but on another, most of the time it bites him.
Wimbush is the best running QB ND has had since Tony Rice. The gameplan should be developed around what he does well. If it is, he'll be fine. If they continue to try and make him a pocket passer, he will struggle. It's OK to call some passing plays, but he should be coached to run if his first 2 reads aren't there. Given the slowness of his progressions and the struggles of the OL, he should never be throwing to the 3rd or 4th option. He should simply tuck it and run.
The coaching staff needs to determine what the identity of the team will be. If they are determined to through the ball from the pocket for the majority of the offenisve snaps then they should go ahead and make the switch to Book.
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Defense- keep playing at a high level, get backup linebackers into the game, pressure the QB, and play tight coverage the entire game.
Special Teams- Don’t kickoff out of bounds, kickoff deep into the end zone, don’t allow Vandy long kickoff returns and returns for touchdowns.
Offense- Wimbush is not suddenly going to start seeing the field better, making better decisions or hitting his receivers with precision so at least let him go on planned runs and bench him if he keeps running around in the backfield and then throwing it up for grabs instead of getting rid of the ball. He needs to stop targeting only 3 receivers and when he does hit them, they need to actually catch the ball. They need to include quick passes and Wimbush needs to hit them. Weishar needs to get involved in the passing game. Mack needs to exhibit more effort. The OL needs to stop making mental errors and the game plan needs to include running plays where they can just line up and tee off on the defense. Some running back needs to step up and have a breakout game.
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His fundamentals are dreadful. He’s been on campus for four years, so that is squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. A crying shame ...
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wins (maybe even 10) but the only way this team makes the playoffs is with Wimbush. Wimbush might struggle at times and frustrate fans but he’s the biggest playmaker on the team. Book is probably the safe choice, although as the ND backup I think the fans overrate him; Wimbush is the competitors choice and I applaud Kelly for his gamesmanship.
He has been playing poorly since the Miami game last year. The oline is a problem this year but it wasn't last year and he still played poorly.
If you omit the interceptions, his numbers were better than against Michigan. Add to that the fact that he didn't run against Ball State and I don't think he was all that bad. I suspect the only thing he needs to do to "keep his job" is avoid mistakes that result in interceptions and complete 55%+. Oh, and win of course.
Please - aim higher than mediocrity
"If you omit the interceptions..." Other than that Mrs. Lincoln how was the play?
I don't really care what his completion % is, they want to throw downfield a lot, by nature his percentage won't be high. What bothers me is the decisions. The pick to Claypool can't be thrown. The interception at the end can't be thrown. They ran 18 zone reads, he handed off on all of them, and it was confirmed he wasn't instructed to do that. There weren't enough called runs for him, but his handing off every time is a choice. He picked the wrong receiver to throw to several times, held the ball when he should have run, scrambled around when he didn't need to. He's started too many games to be doing that stuff.
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And those were just the pass plays that were not changed.
Wimbush has not excelled since before the Miami game....it has been 6 games in which he has struggled.... Wimbush does not let the game come to him,he tries to dominate the play too quickly with his legs,he will only be effective if he rolls out and/or has a mobile pocket.... for 9 years now the offense is too slow developing and complicated...does not have that edge..
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He's thrown some horrid passes and wasnt even seriously harassed on some of them. What's going to happen is BK is going to lose the playmakers not getting the ball. You could hear that in some of ESBs interviews this past draft. Now, he's a really smart young man who spoke very respectfully about the situation but...you could see it and he wouldnt be wrong if he spoke with a little more angst about it. ND has recruited some serious playmaking talent and right now...they're not getting the ball.
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