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Teams have tape on him and know to take away the 3 yard dump off now. He doesn’t have confidence making mid to deep throws so he’ll just throw it away or scramble for 2 if everything underneath is covered. His accuracy numbers last season were skewed because of the short passes. Plus, he had Boykin to bail him out. Boykin’s catch radius was bigger than any ND receiver in recent memory.
Book is who he is. He doesn’t have the arm strength or accuracy to be an elite QB. He has above average athleticism but he dances too much and bails out too quickly. Give Phil a shot. Maybe he’s the answer, maybe he isn’t. Either way, this team would need a miracle to beat one of the tier one elite schools (Bama, Clemson, OSU) with the current QB play.
If ND wants to be elite it needs to find an elite QB. If it’s content constantly being in the second tier ranked between 5-15, then sure, settle for above average QB play, 10-2 records and the occasional undefeated season and playoff loss.
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Throws. His accuracy on them is poor. His arm strength is better than what Rees had but it also isn’t the same class as Kizer’s. It’s obvious that he lacks confidence in his ability to throw a deep ball as well. His deep balls are usually off target and under thrown which allows the defender to catch up.
Book has average arm strength, average accuracy, and above average athleticism. His limitations show against opponents that have elite talent - whether they are disciplined or not. Last night was a good example. It’s all about expectations. If we’re content being ranked 5-15 then Book is fine. He’s a solid college football QB. If we want to contend for NCs then Kelly needs to find QBs with more natural talent. He’s had two. Wimbush, who never developed as a passer and Kizer whose talent was wasted by poor defenses. Maybe his third is on the bench - maybe not.
at another school. A school with lesser talent and playing against lesser competition. He was a running back that could somewhat through the ball, not a QB that could run the ball.
Kizer was one of the bigger bust in the NFL, not to mention his meltdown at ND. At ND you can blame Kelly, but the NFL? Who are you going to blame? Just because you're 6-5, 250 lbs, and can through it 65 yards doesn't mean anything. He held the ball way too long and just couldn't cut it as a QB. He was a turnover machine akin to a homerun hitter that either hit an HR or struck-out. He just struck-out more than hitting homer.
The packers even said if it came down to it there was absolutely no chance he'd come in if Rogers went down. Then they cut him. Big kid, big arm, not a QB.
Book is bad at the deep ball and really we don't have a clue how that relates to arm because he's generally not even close when throwing deep. As accurate as he was last year on the underneath he was the opposite on anything over 20 yards. This year you can tell Kelly has been in his ear about "who" he should be throwing to every play. So it seems he's looking for the guy Kelly wants him to hit instead of just dropping back and slinging it like last year. Kelly has a real way at mindf'*&king QBs. It's crazy how good he is a ruining kids mentally.
due to coaching. Could be something else. Kizer was the best all around QB that Kelly has had. His decision-making was suspect but again, that’s something that could be also be blamed on coaching but some players have great coaches but still don’t know the difference between a good and poor pass. Book doesn’t have the raw talent that those two had. He arguably has better decision-making skills than Kizer but he throws it away, runs for no gain etc so often that he probably leave quite a few plays on the field as well. Better than a few extra picks? Maybe. It depends on how many plays are being left out there.
You could be right - Kelly might be in his head. Even in his first few games last year he didn’t inspire confidence that he could throw down field on a regular basis though. He had Boykin as a security blanket last year. That’s the biggest difference. And as I said before - Boykin made errant passes look good because his catch radius was ridiculous.
the chains move? Is the O on schedule most of the time? Does the unit function well as a team? Are more plays made than missed? Do drives persist? Does the offense more often than not get you in FG range? Generally speaking, does the offense have positive momentum, work together and move forward across a broad range of defenses?
That's really my gauge. Then I look at individual talent.
By doing the above you will look past Jimmy Clausen to take a Tommy Rees. Much the same as you will look past a Wimbush or Kizer to take an Ian Book or Zaire (Zaire became a cancer after breaking ankle and not getting job back. He short circuited himself).
By ignoring the paper and looking at the product you don't get mesmerized by stars and accolades. You strictly go based off of production. In the end, more often than not it works. Rees had many, many more wins and roughly the same stats as Clausen. ND was better for it. I'm not sure what the stats are but Book has been much more productive than Wimbush or Kizer and ND is better than it was with either at the helm. Zaire, maybe that was the one that was wrong. But who knows. He never got a real second shot and when he did get somewhat of a chance he was playing from a point of anger which is never good. And it turned out bad.
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He has plenty of both. On the rare occasions they've thrown long this year, he's been accurate, unlike last year.
The playcalling, which at times seems very random and features a lot of sideways passes, puzzles me.
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He was 17 of 32 for 165 {sorry, corrected from 265] plus 46 key yards running. No big mistakes. No fumbles or interceptions. Irish won 30 to 27. Go whine somewhere else.
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Made some clutch plays.
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I’m happy for the win though.