Drue Jackson
- Thread starter dgibbons
- Start date
So I take it he has not appeared at all, correct?
Could be several things, unless you know something. Minor injury, they don't want/need him on special teams, RS decision has been made, etc.
Or maybe sly 'ol CML is spacing out his true freshmen 4 games at a time. Was good to see Fisher play, but why not Jackson? Maybe we will see....
On a related note, you look at Borghi (no RS there), Fischer, Jackson, Cooper, you wonder if CML sees a star offensive lineup in the making and will burn more shirts than expected.
I think that's it to an extent especially at positions where we are already pretty deep. I think they will throw Cooper into a game at some point this year just to get him in a game. Maybe Oregon State or Arizona.
Unless Cooper is Leach's first choice at backup, I'd be surprised to see him this year. I don't see a lot of garbage time games in our future from here on out this year and if the opportunity presents itself to get some meaningful snaps for a QB, I'm guessing he'll throw those at his designated backup as those snaps may end up being important to this years' team success if Minshew starts getting dinged up. As much as I'd like to see Cooper under center for some snaps, I don't think he's key to the Cougs W-L record for another year or so.
I think it’s more important to keep developing tinsley as menshews backup then give Cooper some playing time for this year. Tinsley looked good last night when he came in and he and looked like he could carry the team should Minshew get injured. Tinsley in all likelihood will be our starter next year so for injury potential this year and transition into nexts team, the more playing he gets now, the better off we will be.
It's not fair to say this, since we only say Tinsley for 4 mintues....but I think Gardner is far superior at leading this team for a great run. I don't see that in Tinsley. Sure, he can win us some games, but I think at the end of the season, we'll look back and say, "the one hit wonder". Gardner Minshew. By far....best QB we've ever had under Leach.
I see that perspective and Cooper's not the backup. Cooper will redshirt this year unless something totally unforeseen takes place. However, the new rule of playing 4 games without losing a year of eligibility presents opportunity that's never been available before this year. Why wouldn't Leach or any coach want to take advantage of it?
Maybe the timing never presents itself the rest of the way and it's secondary to winning games. However, if Cooper shows it's worth the risk when the opportunity arises we might see him for a snap or more.
Minshew's been the guy probably since he set foot in Pullman. I wouldn't count out Gordon for next year although accuracy might kill his chances. Accuracy is more important but that ball Tinsley tried to fit to Lewis seemed to take a long time to makes it's way to get there before being knocked down. It was accurate but against Pac 12 defenses that's maybe a pick-6.
Also, putting Cooper in is basically a kick in the nuts to the two guys in front of him.
I found myself holding my breath on that throw and one other -- his throws give DBs more time to react to the ball. That's one reason I'd like to see him get as many game snaps as possible if he's our designated backup and/or leading candidate to start next year -- he doesn't seem to have the built in advantage that lazer beam throws provide and will be more reliant on timing and placement.
I want to see the whole season play out before I'm willing to say that Minshew is really better than Falk or Halliday. I really like what I've seen so far, but our schedule hasn't been particularly rigorous to this point. Minshew has shown a tendency to not value the ball and has thrown picks on passes that shouldn't have been thrown. While he's calm in the pocket, he has a bad habit of just standing completely still without moving his feet at all. One of the key fundamentals that coaches teach QB's is to keep their feet active but close to the ground. It helps generate power on throws and helps them get the ball away quickly. He also has a tendency to float the ball a little bit which has led to a couple scary looking throws. A couple of those floating passes were intentional, but better athletes may make him pay for that. We had long stretches against Wyoming and SJSU where the offense was ineffective and some of that falls on MInshew (although WR's and OL have certainly played their part).
I still really like what I've seen from him and I agree with those that say that he might end up being Mike Leach's best recruit at WSU, but the next couple weeks are going to tell us a lot. Utah and USC are in the top half of the conference in pass defense so we'll have a better feel for Minshew in the next couple weeks. I'm hoping that we are still saying he's the best QB to play for Leach at WSU.
That's definitely fair. "Here-or-there" I saw a poster saying Cooper hasn't impressed as much as the staff had hoped in the spring and fall. Maybe it's still to fast for him at this point and as you would expect from a true frosh he looks like he needs to get stronger.
If Tinsley is the odds on favorite at this point getting him more reps is important. I'm no expert but I just didn't see the arm talent albeit in mop up time.
