Note on Nick Marshall (A-Day)

[StatTiger 3,188]

Nick Marshall's Performance

13-22-0-236-4 (209.2 rating)

Very good overall rating. Had a few deliveries that involved going through his progressions to make the completion. One good scramble to buy additional time to make a key completion on 3rd down (great vision down field, while on the move in the pocket).

By downs:

1st: 236.0 rating

2nd: 158.1 rating

3rd: 195.9 rating (converted 4 of 5 third-downs passing)

Started the game 3 of 8 but finished 10 of 14.

15 of his 22 pass attempts (68%) were beyond 10-yards of the line of scrimmage yet he still completed nearly 60% of his passes. Keep in mind that 61% of his pass attempts during 2013 were within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage.

Marshall completed only 39.8% of his intermediate to deep passes during 2013. He was 53.3% during A-Day.

Lots of outs, screens and sideline routes. Only 2 of his pass attempts were targeted over the middle, excluding the deep post to Quan Bray for a TD.

11 pass attempts to the left side of the field.

2 over the middle (intermediate)

9 to the right side (Includes deep post to Bray for TD)

The 2 pass attempts over the middle were both completed. The first was a crossing route to D-Williams and the second was a seam-route to Uzomah. No slants for Marshall, though Jeremy Johnson had a nice one to Melvin Ray.

I realize the #1 offense faced backups on defense but thought the offense still managed very well despite not having the "true" threat of Marshall running the football. I believe we saw enough of Williams and Coates to see the great potential in the pass-offense. I felt bad for Jeremy Johnson as he appeared frustrated at times. I do believe had Barber not gone down with an injury, he would have kept the starting defense more honest, opening up the #2 offense for Johnson.

[AU64 10,122]

13-22-0-236-4 (209.2 rating)

Very good overall rating. Had a few deliveries that involved going through his progressions to make the completion. One good scramble to buy additional time to make a key completion on 3rd down (great vision down field, while on the move in the pocket).

By downs:

1st: 236.0 rating

2nd: 158.1 rating

3rd: 195.9 rating (converted 4 of 5 third-downs passing)

Started the game 3 of 8 but finished 10 of 14.

15 of his 22 pass attempts (68%) were beyond 10-yards of the line of scrimmage yet he still completed nearly 60% of his passes. Keep in mind that 61% of his pass attempts during 2013 were within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage.

Marshall completed only 39.8% of his intermediate to deep passes during 2013. He was 53.3% during A-Day.

Lots of outs, screens and sideline routes. Only 2 of his pass attempts were targeted over the middle, excluding the deep post to Quan Bray for a TD.

11 pass attempts to the left side of the field.

2 over the middle (intermediate)

9 to the right side (Includes deep post to Bray for TD)

The 2 pass attempts over the middle were both completed. The first was a crossing route to D-Williams and the second was a seam-route to Uzomah. No slants for Marshall, though Jeremy Johnson had a nice one to Melvin Ray.

I realize the #1 offense faced backups on defense but thought the offense still managed very well despite not having the "true" threat of Marshall running the football. I believe we saw enough of Williams and Coates to see the great potential in the pass-offense. I felt bad for Jeremy Johnson as he appeared frustrated at times. I do believe had Barber not gone down with an injury, he would have kept the starting defense more honest, opening up the #2 offense for Johnson.

Thanks for the stats and analysis. As for JJ....gotta agree 100%...he did not have a credible running back threat and was not allowed to run himself so the D did not have too much to worry about. JMO but he will be fine when it counts.

[au75 75]

Nick Marshall is a better quarterback throwing the ball this year. Add his running game to his improved passing game and hold on for the ride.

[JFDTiger80 790]

Nick Marshall is a better quarterback throwing the ball this year. Add his running game to his improved passing game and hold on for the ride.

Nice, I totally agree.

[Stripe 5]

As always thanks Stat for the great analysis.

Something else that I noticed about Nick yesterday was his pocket presences. One play in particular that I remember the pocket collapsed and Nick moved through the pocket forward instead of backwards still keeping his eyes down field going through his reads until the pocket collapsed. He then was in position and did take off straight up the gut for gain.

I was very impressed by this. As previous years our qb's have had a habit of just falling back and ending up with a sack or a minimal gain trying to run around the line from the back.

[AURex 1,993]

Yes, NM looked much more steady in the pocket yesterday. Better footwork. No doubt it was just the wind affected his accuracy.

I was really impressed with the receiving corps. Williams is definitely a stud and a one-and-done. That young man has a future. That flying one-handed catch by Coates -- we didn't see him go after a ball like that all last year. I think the presence of DW has pushed Coates and Bray to up their game. And lots of cred to CDC for his work with the receivers. There were some tough catches made yesterday. They came to play.

NM will have all summer to work with those guys. Come Fall, Auburn's offense really will be something that strikes fear in the hearts of Defensive Coordinators around the league.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,660]

I haven't seen Sammie Coates catch a one handed catch period

These receivers are ball hawks

[McLoofus 35,182]

I realize the #1 offense faced backups on defense but thought the offense still managed very well despite not having the "true" threat of Marshall running the football.

I agree. Also, when NM has time and a wide open receiver, it doesn't matter who the opponent is. Yesterday he completed throws that he missed last season under those circumstances. Encouraging.

[C'viewTiger 242]

These receivers are ball hawks

The receivers looked good yesterday but them being ball hawks will have to be proven this fall.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

Not bad, but I'd rather those numbers of came against the first team D.

[bikeriderga 134]

If Marshall stays healthy this season, he is definitely going to be a Heisman candidate. May not be the only Tiger in that category before year's end either.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Understanding the no-scramble QB limitations on A-day, I still didn't quite see the hype behind the "new" passing skills of Nick Marshall. Looks like he just has more WRs that are potentially top shelf this year. Very surprised to not see more plays setting up RBs as (apparently) higher priority read progression receivers.

Wont be shocked if our O looks glaringly like last years by the K State game, exception being more RBs sharing the load than last year.

[AUpreacherman22 3,884]

Not bad, but I'd rather those numbers of came against the first team D.

I hope he has similar numbers against the pigs Aug 30.

[AU64 10,122]

Not bad, but I'd rather those numbers of came against the first team D.

Not me...I know what our offense can do and it's frightening..and frankly they did not need to prove anything on Saturday....but I would be sorely disappointed if had been able to run all over our first D like that because IMO it would say far more about our defense that about our offense.

As it was, our first team D (minus some horses) totally shut down our 2nd team O, which after all, is not that bad with JJ at QB and some pretty good OLs in front of him.

It was an exhibition and no serious conclusions to be drawn. How long ago was it that Cam completed a handful of passes in the spring game and people were wondering if he was good enough to start?