WildcatReport - Recruiting misses at heart of NU's quarterback problems
NU coaches can blame themselves for the mess at QB after landing just one top target since Clayton Thorson in 2014.
northwestern.rivals.com
Recruiting misses at heart of NU quarterback problems
- Thread starter lou v
- Start date
northwestern.rivals.com
Nice summary @lou v . Two important notes:
WildcatReport - Recruiting misses at heart of NU's quarterback problems
NU coaches can blame themselves for the mess at QB after landing just one top target since Clayton Thorson in 2014.
Marty may still be dealing with the labrum injury, which is a big deal for any QB. He came back pretty quickly to try and help the team - I thought he might be done for the season when it happened. So that might be explaining why he’s rushing some decisions or some of his throws are off.
The OL is still struggling. Their pass pro has improved but they still give up bad sacks, and run blocking has also been an issue. I don’t think many QBs would look decent behind them this season.
Those are both valid points — though I think Marty’s picks have been more about decision making than his throwing mechanics.
"Northwestern then hit the jackpot with Ramsey, the greatest transfer in NU history, who committed in May."
I would still place Zak Kustok higher.
I would still place Zak Kustok higher.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Both were great, and Zak was a Cat for more than one year. Maybe Ramsey is the greatest of the Fitz era.
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Always great to read about Deuce Wallace again. Now I need to gouge my eyes with a spork to get the pain out of my head.
Questions. I really don't watch much other than NU and some other B1G games. The recruits we lost, are they doing much? I know McCarthy is playing some for Mich and their fans are clamoring for more. I think Josh Johnson is pretty good. I don't remember seeing anything about Deuce or the kid that went to Oregon. Next question - I seem to recall CCC being "bridesmaid" on a number of big recruits, although his classes are littered with highly rated people. Is it possible we are aiming unrealistically too high? I don't care that we were "second" in the Justin Fields contest, for instance. Third question: everyone seems to have a diagnosis but not a plan. "Fix it" is his job, of course, but how? It can't be just that we are not as attractive a program as others, I see G5 QB's putting up video game numbers, although that might be an admissions issue. anyway - fix it - how?
I’m not the first to ask this, but I do feel it’s worth asking; is the problem as much about the personnel as it is systemic?
Granted-since Thomson we have been starting exclusively quarterbacks who have been passed over at other schools-but some seemingly talented ones at that.
In s&p+ rankings our offense is 116. 2019 it was 123. Even last year, despite dramatically improved qb and line play-we were only 93.
Our issues now span multiple coordinators and 6 quarterbacks. Certainly it is possible that they are all simply bad-but I think it’s equally probable that what they are being asked to do is worse.
I think we do have to look at Fitz. I have no fantasies of replacing Fitz-but I do think we have to consider the idea that he wants to play a style of football that is a) not suited to his personnel b) not conducive to the current rules c) antiquated in terms of style d) easy to defend.
Granted-since Thomson we have been starting exclusively quarterbacks who have been passed over at other schools-but some seemingly talented ones at that.
In s&p+ rankings our offense is 116. 2019 it was 123. Even last year, despite dramatically improved qb and line play-we were only 93.
Our issues now span multiple coordinators and 6 quarterbacks. Certainly it is possible that they are all simply bad-but I think it’s equally probable that what they are being asked to do is worse.
I think we do have to look at Fitz. I have no fantasies of replacing Fitz-but I do think we have to consider the idea that he wants to play a style of football that is a) not suited to his personnel b) not conducive to the current rules c) antiquated in terms of style d) easy to defend.
WildcatReport - Recruiting misses at heart of NU's quarterback problems
NU coaches can blame themselves for the mess at QB after landing just one top target since Clayton Thorson in 2014.
Similar to the post I just made about the offensive line and “recruiting cycles” on The Rock, I think NU has to think seriously about taking a true grad transfer with one year remaining or a guy with two years remaining to even out the depth chart and bring some much-needed experience to the QB room.
Hilinski will be the most experienced guy in the room as a redshirt junior, but every one of the guys behind him are more developmental than impact guys. Of course you have to get the “right” guy and we might be able to snag a high-quality 2022 once the coaching carousel starts spinning, but we have to solve the QB situation one way or another.
Yes, you are correct. It is due to the system. Thorson was still recruited when NU was thought of as being ‘high-powered’. It is very reasonable for a highly-touted quarterback to want to throw 40 times a game. That’s not happening at NU.
oddly enough, we've averaged over 30 passes a game in our P5 games this year, including some over 40 and one at 39. Your point is valid, it's just that this year they've been forced to pass. Poorly
Andrew Luck. Peyton Manning.
Luck didn't even consider us, he really wanted to study architecture which he did at Stanford.
Manning writes about being recruited by Gary Barnett in his autobiography.
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NU was a finalist for Luck. He visited NU for a camp and really liked it. He was a high academic kid and it really came down to NU or Stanford. He never mentioned architecture when I interviewed him. I think the bigger issue with him was that NU ran a spread and he wanted to play in a pro-style offense to prepare him for an NFL career.
