Lester discusses Sully, his 3 turnovers, taking unnecessary hits & going thru progressions BEFORE taking off running
- Thread starter Franisdaman
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Each time I hear Lester answer questions, I like what I hear. It's my impression that he knows what he's doing and what he wants to do, and that he actually knows how to coach up a quarterback. His discussion about the three phases a QB must go through on a pass play was interesting, and how Sullivan went from phase 1 to phase 3 and skipped phase 2 - skills that can be taught and improved upon. I got the sense that he's not giving up on Sullivan, which I hope is true. Also interesting that they're still running plays for the first time this late in the year, i.e., it takes awhile to install the complete offense that he wants to run. Disappointing game last Friday night, alright, downright crappy game, but I feel that they've got a good OC, that will continue to make the offense better. Now, just let him do his job.
Why would a coach give up on any player? Just because he had a bad game?
It was a turn of a phrase; I didn't mean it to be taken quite literally, rather, I believe he's going to stick with Sullivan and not go with McNamara or Stratton - the current flavor of the week for many. He talked about watching film with Sullivan, going over this mistakes, Sullivan's positive response to the film session and learning from it, all of which I think was designed (at least to me) to signal that he intends to stick with Sullivan.
It's an interesting comparision.
In a small sample size, Sully doesn't seem to be a great throwing QB. The run game opens up with him, though.
Cade is a better passer, especially downfield (when we try it), but the mobility is an issue.
Here's where I guess I differ from many posters: Kirk wants to win. Lester wants win. All the coaches want to win. They will truly pick the guy they feel gives us the best chance to win.
In a small sample size, Sully doesn't seem to be a great throwing QB. The run game opens up with him, though.
Cade is a better passer, especially downfield (when we try it), but the mobility is an issue.
Here's where I guess I differ from many posters: Kirk wants to win. Lester wants win. All the coaches want to win. They will truly pick the guy they feel gives us the best chance to win.
I dont know that I have seen anything to date that would suggest that Cade is a better passer, especially downfield. Statistically Sully is better with a 158 passer rating vs 115 for Cade. Why do you believe that to be the case?
One thing I noticed about Cade during the second half of the MSU game is him going through the progressions. It was clear from the replays focusing on him that he was doing exactly that. If he would just execute more consistently...
I think most teams add at least a few new plays as the season goes along. They may have always been in the playbook, just never practiced until they want to use them (or think they now are capable of using them).
He lacks the physical tools for that and also has a tendency to deliver the ball late when he does locate an open receiver. That's probably because he's not confident in his ability to get it there.
While I believe that to be the case as well what I saw on Friday night was probably the reason he stuck w/McNamara so long. Sullivan looked good up until the first terrible turnover and then he mentally collapsed. It was similar to his play against Washington at home from the 2 yard line or so where he fumbled the snap and then panicked and basically threw the ball to nowhere. Once he was under pressure he was running or just tossing the ball anywhere and everywhere. I"m certainly not advocating for McNamara but he's got to do better under pressure.
Well yeah. He's not an elite QB by any stretch, but that's not who he's competing against for the job. I still believe that had Cade been in that UCLA game, he doesn't physically make it through the first half and the results would have been much worse. During some of those pressures Sully actually made something out of nothing. That's something that Cade simply isn't capable of today.
When your backup is a LB on the practice squad, I would expect our new OC to instruct Sullivan to NOT run the ball unless he is willing to slide and not be continually pounded by the opposition defense. It was crazy that he kept putting himself in harms way. And the fact that Lester wants to open up the competition back to McNamara and Sullivan tells me he is getting orders directly from Ferentz to give Cade another go at it if it's at all possible. More solid QB decisions.
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