Might as well have been a Farah Fawcett poster for the distinguished gentleman on this board.
It was a thing of beauty as far as I'm concerned.
It was a thing of beauty as far as I'm concerned.
I Still Like the Speed Option on the Goaline
- Thread starter spongeandshoot
- Start date
Not what I'd call from the 4, but it worked against PSU.
It was at the far end from me, and it looked like Borghi barely made it. Seeing the highlights, as soon as the DE bit on JDL, it was a TD. If we'd run it from the right hash, Borghi probably walks in, even if we're running it on the 40. From the left hash, he just had enough room to get the corner.
I'd rather have JDL hold the ball just a beat longer and get the LBs to commit further. Also would have Liam Ryan stay on his feet and put his shoulder on someone instead of diving and basically whiffing on his block completely.
Not a play I expect we'll see work against SC, or anyone else with a disciplined D.
JDL needs a lot of reps, but that’s what this season will be good for. I think he has the potential to mature into a solid dual threat QB. The way he plays raises significant injury concerns. Regardless of whether he’s *the guy* or not, we’re going to need to develop depth at the QB position next season.
To me it was a Picasso and something I've been wanting to see for a long time. To me, nothing beats situational option when the D is not expecting it.
Andrew Luck converted a lot of key downs with that play.
Hopefully I can catch the replay and see what you saw on film...but live it looked to me like a winning play that we could have used during the past few years
One thing he was pretty consistently good at last year was his option reads. He’s got plenty to work on in the pocket but he knows when to hand it off and when to keep it and boogie. That part of his game is fun to watch.
JDL is an excellent QB for the wildcat formation and not much else at this point.
I was reflecting on the game this weekend and reminded myself that every QB has some bad throws. Minshew, for all he did for us, still had 4-5 bad throws per game. JDL has 4-5 good throws per game. That's the same thing right?
Apparently we weren’t watching the same game Saturday. He missed a few reads but was pretty accurate throughout. The play on the goal line should not happen but one of his receivers did not run the right route. He’s got a lot to clean up but he reminds me of a young Gesser having to sink or swim. People are pretty quickly forgetting some of the plays and throws he made last year too- OSU, first half against Oregon and Utah. Not uncommon for a young scrambling QB to be a bit inconsistent until things slow down for him.
I haven't given up on him but I only remember a handful of really good throws. Lots of "oh shoot!......Yes!" type of throws. In his defense, later in the game when Portland State's pass rush weakened and he had time to throw, he definitely looked a lot better.
At least to this point he's been consistently meh.
As any Seahawk fan will tell you, as lights out as Russ was yesterday he'll be equally as bad sometime within the next couple of weeks, not able to hit a cows ass with a banjo.
A cows ass with a banjo....
Sounds like your old man and my old man knew each other!
I don't understand the point of this comment. I'm not nearly ready to anoint the kid as our next great QB, but look at the timeline of events that preceded JDL's arrival in Pullman.
He had no fall camp in 2020, caught COVID, wasn't a full participant in spring ball in 2021, and has played in 6 games thus far. In those games, we beat Oregon State on the road, were leading ranked Oregon at halftime (but the defense gave up nearly 600 yards in a loss), we were leading at Utah 28-7 at halftime (but the defense blew the game in the 2nd half), we started the wrong QB in week 1 this season, but he led a comeback vs. Utah State that by all accounts we should have won, and then he beat PSU last weekend.
Considering how many questions we have with the head coach, the defense, and on the offensive line, I think people piling on a true freshman QB (that's his experience level) who is clearly the best we have on the roster, is absolutely ridiculous.
I've watched a lot of WSU football in my lifetime, as have you I'm sure, and a group of skill players like JDL, Borghi, McIntyre, and Harris might not be able to compete for an upper tier finish in the league, but we should pose some problems IF the head coach knows WTF he's doing and if the defense is halfway good.
If we can't hang with Utah, BYU, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, and Arizona, I put that on the coaching staff more than I do on JDL. As it stands currently, I blame Rolo exclusively for the loss against Utah State.
Ha. I don’t know Brennan Armstrong but the other two are Heisman hopefuls. These grades don’t take into account hype, but seem to be a pretty good historic indicator of who’s executing at their job. I thought JDL played well. Sure as hell don’t agree with those who are saying he sucked. He clearly didn’t suck. It was PSU however…
I think it's fair to pin the QB position issues that we have on the coaching staff as much as anything else. And I agree that the very core of our problems is the lack of consistent play by our offensive line. They did a lot better late when we started building a lead, but they've been a hot mess for a while. Although JDL definitely has issues with staring down receivers and occasionally just chucking and praying, I could buy the argument that the OL is a big part of the problem. He rarely has had time to go through progressions and maybe that's the deal.
Still, I haven't felt this negative about a QB since Rogers was still on our roster in 2006-08. Rogers was a one trick pony that could throw a 95 mph fastball but was a mediocre QB overall but people loved him because he had one good series against Auburn and he could throw the ball a mile. I still remember reading the article where Montana fans cheered when he got benched as a senior there.
So far, JDL's main appeal is his ability to make plays with his legs. A lot of people fell in love with him because of that. Maybe he'll end up being a more complete QB, but the kid....and the coaching staff.......need a lot of improvement before he's going to be there. I'm not writing him off, but I'm getting tired of hearing about his "potential". Any excuses that are being made about him missing spring practice should be weighed against the fact that he missed practice because he was an idiot and got caught drinking and driving. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I hope that he blossoms in the next month and ends up being our next great QB, but so far he feels like a wish.com version of Russell Wilson.
I’m far from sold on Rolo but I think maybe we got a little spoiled with Falk, Minshew, and then Gordo. It’s not uncommon for young QBs to take a little time to develop.
It doesn't account for when completions are made on passes that shouldn't have been thrown in the first place.
That long, scrambling completion to Jackson is a good example. Never should have thrown it, but it worked. That means he'll probably keep trying it, and especially when we face better defenses that throw is a lot more likely to be a negative than a positive.
The individual that I'm the most disappointed in is Leach. For all the talk about what a great QB mentor he was, he left us with jack squat when it came to QB depth. We shouldn't be in the position to be starting JDL in the first place.
Haha...well you're in good company (I think)
Crazy how that was 13 or so years ago
More than that, even. Swogger overlapped with Gesser (Swogger's RS year and Gesser's SR year), and JG said Swogger was going to break records. That was 2002. He pinch-hit for Kegel for a few games in 2003, including the 3rd straight AC disaster.
Swogger left after the 2005 season, when it was clear Brink was going to remain #1.
Here's the thing about JDL in my opinion:
There is no doubt that he has talent. But as fans we are left to hope that the jailbreak play will work enough that we can win with it because he hasn't been coached to stand in the pocket and deliver; instead, he makes a play with his feet. When that is your go-to, bread and butter it doesn't bode well for long term success.
As I mentioned before, Vince Young made a college career out of it, but we're not Texas and he's not VY, so I'd prefer to see JDL standing tall in the pocket and learning to progress through the reads instead of what he's currently doing. Not only that, but having a qb that constantly bails begets you OL who don't know wtf to do after 2 seconds and might not be as motivated to hold blocks because they know JDL isn't going to be back there anyway. Its poison to an offensive scheme to have the qb constantly blow up the play because he can't find an open receiver; notice I didn't saw the WRs were covered or the OL whiffed.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure there is anyone on campus that has the knowledge or acumen to coach him up. Time will tell.
Sometimes that’s how it goes though. Once upon a time Falk was a walk on Freshman starting, and that worked out fairly well. Give it some time I’m not sure about Rolo but I think JDL will end up being pretty solid. On a scale of Chad Davis to Bledsoe, he’s going to be a lot closer to Gesser.
At least Leach wasn’t as bad as Pete/UW at developing QBs! Yikes!
Call me crazy, but Leach never had a disaster of a QB situation in 8 years as our HC and I think he would have been able to develop someone to do a decent job as QB1 if he was still here. Either via the portal or with someone on the roster.
I think coach Leach realized a few seasons ago that mining the transfer portal for QB talent was a better strategy than recruiting and developing high school talent, which of course is highly variable.
Leach and his system has a lot of cachet with transfer QBs. "How'd you like to lead the Nation in passing" is a line he can use and back up, and that means he's going to always be in the mix for a top-5 transfer QB.
Given that he's older now, and was never particularly fond of recruiting, I can't blame him for going that route.
Leach and his system has a lot of cachet with transfer QBs. "How'd you like to lead the Nation in passing" is a line he can use and back up, and that means he's going to always be in the mix for a top-5 transfer QB.
Given that he's older now, and was never particularly fond of recruiting, I can't blame him for going that route.
Agreed, and recall also that Costello was set to come to WSU if Leach stuck around. Costello isn't that great, of course, but at Stanford, he was all-league HM. That QB room last year under Leach was set to be Costello, Cruz, Cooper, Bledsoe, and de Laura. I'm not a Cooper fan, but if you think he can at least be a backup QB, it's hard to characterize that group as "jack squat." Even if Costello didn't transfer to WSU, I think Leach could have gotten another transfer or taken one or more of that remaining mix--likely Cruz--and gotten solid performance in the usual range of Leach QB output with greater upside in coming years.
As for JdL, his primary thing he has going for him right now is his legs. He should have more to offer with time, even if it hasn't been that impressive yet. As was noted by someone above, you have to consider his age--unfortunately, especially so with his apparent immaturity--and his lack of experience and physical maturity. He's not getting any taller, but he should get stronger, a little bigger, and more mature and experienced. Remember, too, that unless Leach really was mailing it in (which I don't buy) or was changing his philosophy, he saw enough of a passer in JdL to offer him. A Leach offer isn't the final word on accuracy or other aspects of being a good QB, but it's fair to say I feel better about his chances of developing as a passer than I would if Leach hadn't offered him.
I guess that is the question. Why at this point do you trust his judgement when it comes to getting high school qbs? Bruggman, Bender,Neville, Coooer, Cruz, and now JDL? He has done way better with senior transfers or jc transfers that were willing to sit.
On the flip side he threw so much all of the qbs got tons of reps . But he had a bad run of high school qbs
Ed, I really don’t get why you’d lump JDL in with these guys who couldn’t get on the field after 2-3 years in the program. JDL was on the field making plays as a true freshman. The other guys couldn’t move the ball in practice against bottom of the conference defensive talent.
I’m not ready to crown JDL with WSUs greatest QBs, but consider how young he is. With a new coach. In an environment where they aren’t even sure they are going to be playing from week to week. Guys on the offense having to sit out practices and trainings for weeks at a time unexpectedly. I’d like to see him get better at some things too, but I’m curious what you guys expected of him as the starter this early in his career?
Easy pitch and catch balls. Decisive with the ball. Not bogged down in reads. Decisive when tucking and running. Accuracy.
The kid shows some flashes. He needs a greater command on playing the position. Which may or may not come with reps.
He needs coaching. Missing spring ball… name for me other Power 5 teams that had their starting qb sitting out spring ball??? His immaturity has cost WSU.
Something I was thinking about the other day… Why arent teams taking 2 HS qbs per class? Not all are going to stay, obviously. But you cant miss on qbs. You have to get kids into the program and coached up. You could coach at a school for 10 years and only play 3 diff kids of the 10 you brought in. 70% failure but if the 3 can play you win. What if you have to sign 15 kids or 20 kids to get those 3 and move the rest on???
My biggest concern with JDL is the way he throws the ball, The big windup and aiming reminds me a lot of the early Brink days. He hasn't been victim of the pick sixes the way that Brink was, but he's struggled against good defenses where the DB's are good enough to react to his passing because he telegraphs so much. Is it correctable? Maybe. We'll know a lot more about his future in the next three weeks. USC arguably has the most talent. Utah and Cal are two of the better defenses in the league. I looked up the Utah game last year and we had a total of 34 yards in the second half until our final drive of the game generated 74 yards, likely against Utah scrubs. At this point, I really don't expect us to win any of those games but can we be competitive in them? We'll see. I can't say that I believe that we have better options than JDL at QB, but I don't want to leave him in just in case. If we are getting our asses handed to us, I'd just as soon see Cooper, Guarantano and the young dude getting snaps to see how they fare.
I find it interesting that we've only seen Cooper in the game on a few rare snaps but it's "obvious" that he sucks because our practice watchers have deemed it so. Guarantano is already a has-been based on one half of play. But JDL? We can't judge him until he's an upperclassman. Just seems like the shifty feet have blinded everyone on their objectivity. I can't say that Cooper or Guarantano wowed me.......but I don't feel like we completely throw them away just yet.
The two HS QB's per class argument again.......
QB is the only position on the team where you generally stick with one guy and one guy only. You get two HS QB's if you know you have a depth problem. You get the best QB you can get in the other years. You don't waste a scholarship on a QB "just in case".
I could buy the idea that we should consider two HS QB's this year, but then again, as mentioned above, maybe a quality transfer portal guy is just as good.
Eh, the windup stuff should be the least of anyone’s concerns. Not everyone needs to look like Tom Brady throwing a football. Look at Philip Rivers and how he throws. I’d be more concerned with his footwork, that’s ultimately where accuracy and strength start. Despite his funky arm motion he can rip it. And he’s showed touch on deep passes (OSU last year). He does have young receivers on the outside as well, takes time to develop synergy.
I don’t know enough about JG or Cooper to speculate who should play and who shouldn’t, but I saw some progression with JDL this last week and I think things will continue to slow down for him. I’m excited to see what he can do against solid competition this week.
Good point about the OL blocking. Not sure how "tall" JDL can stand in the pocket, but point taken.
One play stood out to me last week because it was the first time I'd noticed it this year (And maybe even including last season): JDL stood in the pocket, had time because of god pass protection and hit an open receiver (I think it was Jackson) over the middle for about 20 yds as he ran the proper route right into the soft spot of their zone. That's the "potential" we are all hoping for! That's all I have to say about that.
Dude, listen. If you're questioning JDL throwing motion, trust me on this, you don't want to see Cooper's release. There's a reason why after what, 4 seasons, that you've only seen rare footage of him.
I think people throwing stuff like that out there get wrapped up in the analysis by football experts. Some who know and some who don’t know what they are talking about. It’s like the 4-3 v 3-4 argument. Ultimately it’s nonsense because you put your best 11 on the field and line up according to how you can beat attack your opponents offense.
There’s no right or wrong way to throw a football as there’s no right or wrong batting stance or pitching delivery in baseball. If you can get it there with accuracy and the right pace and spin with consistency, who gives a shit what you look like doing it.
Why? Cause he is a turnover machine. He is not accurate . A simply 8 yard throw to a wide open seem route for a td he doesn’t see. His mechanics are awful. He has zero touch. Yes he will make sum plays but will throw it into double coverage in the end zone . Bender Bruggman we’re supposed to be it. JDL plays cause there isn’t a Luke falk
Most don’t have accuracy if their fundamentals are all screwed up. Jamal Wilkes was deadly…. Try teaching that to everyone and see how their percentage goes down .
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