Iowa's Receivers - Wow!

[shoot_the_three]

Did you even watch CJ last year? He was an average QB. You can't tell he's improved dramatically or do you just want to stir the pot?

Nobody in there right mind should be suggesting that CJ hasn't improved over last year. But if he had played last year, like many thought he should have, he would be even further along. There is no replacement for reps in a game. And while CJ may have been an average QB last year, people noticed his awareness in the pocket, strong arm, quick release, and ability to scramble to make plays.

 

[silasstarr]

Nobody in there right mind should be suggesting that CJ hasn't improved over last year. But if he had played last year, like many thought he should have, he would be even further along. There is no replacement for reps in a game. And while CJ may have been an average QB last year, people noticed his awareness in the pocket, strong arm, quick release, and ability to scramble to make plays.

Every player will be better with playing experience. That doesn't mean CJ gave them the best chance to win last year. I'm thrilled CJ is the QB, but I can see that he wasn't quite ready last year. He rushed things in 2014, which is not the case so far this year. I'm just tired of the continual shots at KF. He's changed his philosophy. Let's enjoy it instead of looking back and blasting him with hypotheticals.

 

[Recruiting Violation]

I'm very much in agreement with the other posters pointing out here that:

A) Both CJ and JR were 'starter quality' QBs last year, AND both are this year.
B) CJ's numbers were not all that great last year (marginally lower than but comparable to JR's) and he HAS made significant improvement to his game this year (that can be easily seen looking at his QB ratings in starts last yr vs this yr).
C) JR 'won' the starting job at Michigan, with a former NFL head coach and big-name college QB as the head of that program - if JR wasn't clearly the best option for them to win now, it's guaranteed that Harbaugh would bench him and start playing his younger guys, planning for next year. JH thinks he can win THIS year with JR as his QB - end of argument (if he benches Rudock for his younger guys, we can have the discussion about JRs capability as a starter, but he's 3-1 right now for a near-Top-25 team).

That said, CJ busted his ass TRYING to win the starting job from JR - he didn't just sit back and get comfortable as the #2- he WANTED the #1 job and was willing to work hard to show the coaches he deserved it. And he eventually DID that. His work ethic and willingness to be a team player while busting his butt to improve his own game is something that gets infectious among teams - the higher level of play you are seeing from receivers is due to that mentality and work ethic. And that is probably something else Ferentz and the coaches saw in him. CJ expects our wides and TEs to catch the ball if he delivers it close to them - he expects them to make adjustments on the ball to get to it - he expects them to fight the DBs to 'win' the ball when he threads too narrow a window. And they've also bought into the work ethic and that fight to win every ball. That's probably why they are dropping fewer passes - they've put in the work, too, to catch 100% of what comes within arm's reach of them.

I think CJ is demonstrating he may be a better team leader and uniter than JR was, but Jake is not a slouch as a QB - making it as a starter for 2 major college FB programs is nothing to sneer at. I love seeing Michigan lose, but I don't root against Rudock, because he busted his ass for the Hawks, too, when he was here. I do think CJ has a higher ceiling that Rudock, but we'll see as this year plays out.

Thank you for posting this. I think it is great that some people agree with me.

Honestly, though, you make some good points and I think you've got a pretty accurate view of things. What a lot of people don't seem to understand (maybe because of all the vitriol that was spewn last year) is that both of them are good quarterbacks. CJ looks like he's going to end up much better than Jake, but we'll have to wait to see how things play out. CJ brings some extra stuff to the table ("intangibles") that the team lacked last year. If someone else had possessed them, we might not have had so much reason to blast Jake and the team as a whole. I think the leadership angle is the one that's most important with CJ over Jake.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Maybe the staff should get some credit for recruiting two good QB's, many forget that JR went from 4 wins to 8 wins in his first year starting and had an above average year statistically last year (much better than CJB's stats last year in which everybody claims was obvious he was better) and now just took over a starting position at one the historically best programs in the nation after being there for not more than a few months and has the team at or near the top 25......CJB is playing fantastic THIS YEAR and it was clear last year he had some very good intageables but it was not as clear LAST YEAR who should be starting like some of you are claiming.....so once again maybe the coaches should get credit that hey we recruited 2 D1 P5 starting QB's

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

None are so certain as those blessed with hindsight. Good observation, Mile High. We had two Big Ten starting QBs on the roster.

 

[soybean]

I just find it amazing how much criticism people can create for Rudock and how much praise they can create for Beathard.

Again, I will preface this with saying that I absolutely believe CJ is the better QB, and I was in favor of starting him last season.

With that said, one of the responses received when pointing out that Rudock's stats last year were actually slightly better than CJ's was that the WR's dropped a lot of CJ's passes which hurt his stats. That is a true statement, and dropped passes need to be factored when evaluating a QB. However, Rudock had the same WR's dropping the same passes last year, and in fact Powell dropped what should have been a touchdown and somehow managed to tip it towards a defender which resulting in an interception for Rudock - however, many do not want to acknowledge such excuses for Rudock and only acknowledge these excuses for CJ.

I thought the inconsistency in evaluating dropped passes would stop at only excusing CJ's stats for dropped passes, but now I have learned in this thread that it was actually Rudock's fault last year that so many WR's dropped passes. In fact, Rudock was so bad that he actually caused WR's to drop passes when he wasn't even throwing them the ball. And now this year our WR's have improved, not because of the hard work they have put in during the offseason, but because Rudock is finally gone from the team.

I simply don't understand why so many Iowa fans hate Rudock. Even when I say that CJ is better and should have been starting last year, I receive a lot of backlash when I say Rudock was actually a good QB. I don't understand why that is such a controversial statement. He had a productive two years as the starter at Iowa. The team results were mediocre, and yeah some of that was Jake's fault, but overall he was a solid QB.

Its true that CJ is better than Jake...but that doesn't mean Jake is not a good QB...and anyone who doesn't understand that fact doesn't understand football.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Nobody in there right mind should be suggesting that CJ hasn't improved over last year. But if he had played last year, like many thought he should have, he would be even further along. There is no replacement for reps in a game. And while CJ may have been an average QB last year, people noticed his awareness in the pocket, strong arm, quick release, and ability to scramble to make plays.

None of this is fact, if he played last year he may not be as good this year....being forced to compete for his position has put him at the position he is at now...the way he is playing I am not sure how much further along you are expecting him to be....most on here realize that by being forced to improve through competition is why CJB is the QB we are seeing now.....I notice all the things you listed this year....but how in Earth can you say you noticed those last year???? It was obvious he had a strong arm and quick release but his only start was Purdue game and I urge you to watch that game and you will see a different CJB in that game than the one we are seeing this year......even the quick WR screen throws in that game were at WR's feet and those passes this year on the money

 

[shoot_the_three]

Milehigh, maybe if CJB would have gotten the reps last year with the first team and game experience the "light" would have came on late last year. As a coach, you have to realize how important it is for a QB to get reps with the first team. You continue to get wound around the axle about "facts", this is a message board and people are going to express their opinions. And speaking of facts, it is not a fact that being forced to compete for his position has put him at the position he is at now (not a bad opinion though). Yes you can point to the Purdue game but what about the Pittsburgh game. We obviously will continue to disagree about on almost everything, but your inability to see the other side of an argument baffles me.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Milehigh, maybe if CJB would have gotten the reps last year with the first team and game experience the "light" would have came on late last year. As a coach, you have to realize how important it is for a QB to get reps with the first team. You continue to get wound around the axle about "facts", this is a message board and people are going to express their opinions. And speaking of facts, it is not a fact that being forced to compete for his position has put him at the position he is at now (not a bad opinion though). Yes you can point to the Purdue game but what about the Pittsburgh game. We obviously will continue to disagree about on almost everything, but your inability to see the other side of an argument baffles me.

That could very much be true that he could have had the light turn on last year, I will give you that. However, I do not know how much better he could be playing this year and that may not be the case if he was not forced to compete for his job.....all I am saying is he did have some opportunities last year and did not exactly run with it nor did he play like he is this year. I mean by all means you could be right, but then again he could look like dog crap this year or even worse could have been seriously injured. The biggest point is that it did not happen like that, he is playing awesome this year, we are playing awesome this year and I am not the type to look back and say if this would have or could have happened....I think we can both agree the path that was taken has led us to this point and at this very point we are both happy with 4-0 and the play of CJB, defense, special teams, etc.....different players need challenged in different ways to reach their potential, right/wrong/or indifferent, it appears CJB has reached that point and the trials and tribulations up this point has led him to this point

 

[FranklinHawk]

Milehigh, maybe if CJB would have gotten the reps last year with the first team and game experience the "light" would have came on late last year. As a coach, you have to realize how important it is for a QB to get reps with the first team. You continue to get wound around the axle about "facts", this is a message board and people are going to express their opinions. And speaking of facts, it is not a fact that being forced to compete for his position has put him at the position he is at now (not a bad opinion though). Yes you can point to the Purdue game but what about the Pittsburgh game. We obviously will continue to disagree about on almost everything, but your inability to see the other side of an argument baffles me.

You are right, that is entirely possible. However the one thing I think we've all known about KF for as long as he has been at Iowa, it's about the next game and "giving us the best chance to win" and he's not going to make decisions based on next year.

 

[herkster8]

I opened a Wr's thread and a Qb fight broke out

 

[shoot_the_three]

Ok now I am going to be that guy, did anyone see CJB's interview on the BTN?

 

[1971hawkeye]

Cj even admitted in his interview on BTN why he is doing better this year than last. He's been able to work with the first team. Timing and route running is a key to those completions.

 

[shoot_the_three]

When mentioned that getting reps with the first team as a reason for his improvement I was laughing and the wife asked me what was so funny. How do you explain to the wife that I think it is funny because of a stupid message board discussion?