Nix Improvements next Year

[twilli13 600]

Seems odd Nix doesnt mention improving his accuracy next year. 

https://auburn.rivals.com/news/bo-nix-amped-for-full-offseason-of-work-as-leader-of-offense

To me, that's easily the #1 thing he should be focusing on. Thoughts?

[Gowebb11 9,314]

3 minutes ago, twilli13 said:

Seems odd Nix doesnt mention improving his accuracy next year. 

https://auburn.rivals.com/news/bo-nix-amped-for-full-offseason-of-work-as-leader-of-offense

To me, that's easily the #1 thing he should be focusing on. Thoughts?

Unfortunately, I think Nix is going to be handicapped by the system he’s given to work with. I’m pretty convinced no QB can perform to their peak potential in our offense. 

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

21 minutes ago, twilli13 said:

Seems odd Nix doesnt mention improving his accuracy next year. 

https://auburn.rivals.com/news/bo-nix-amped-for-full-offseason-of-work-as-leader-of-offense

To me, that's easily the #1 thing he should be focusing on. Thoughts?

He needs to work on his mechanics 25 hours a day, which should improve accuracy.

[Randman5000 4,226]

He needs to quit throwing on the run... He needs to be more patient and work on setting his feet. Then  he needs to beg Gus and Chad to expand the passing game. 

[AUght2win 6,833]

Listen. It begins and ends with Gus. Gus neuters his quarterbacks. He scares them and scolds them into prioritizing NOT turning the ball over. They play scared. They play with a game manager mentality. 

The first thing Nix said when evaluating his year was "I took care of the ball." Well, you took care of it so good against teams like Minnesota and Georgia that our offense could barely move. 

Gus needs to stop mentally crippling his players and trust them. Go have fun. Go sling it and play ball. Play to win!

[AUght2win 6,833]

Case and point: Nix's knee-jerk reflex to ground the ball at the slightest pressure. 

[johnnyAU 3,630]

He needs a passing offense and a QB coach/mentor who is not named Malzahn.

[twilli13 600]

2 hours ago, dyehardfanAU said:

He needs to work on his mechanics 25 hours a day, which should improve accuracy.

Definitely 

[twilli13 600]

18 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

Listen. It begins and ends with Gus. Gus neuters his quarterbacks. He scares them and scolds them into prioritizing NOT turning the ball over. They play scared. They play with a game manager mentality. 

The first thing Nix said when evaluating his year was "I took care of the ball." Well, you took care of it so good against teams like Minnesota and Georgia that our offense could barely move. 

Gus needs to stop mentally crippling his players and trust them. Go have fun. Go sling it and play ball. Play to win!

I agree. That's y I said seems odd he didnt mention the accuracy thing. Should be drilled into his head by now he that needs to drastically improve that area of his game. The fact it doesnt seem to be at the forefront is scary. I feel like Gus handicaps them so much with the system their accuracy and ability to make the big throws at big moments just isnt there. 

[gr82be 14,423]

17 minutes ago, twilli13 said:

I agree. That's y I said seems odd he didnt mention the accuracy thing. Should be drilled into his head by now he that needs to drastically improve that area of his game. The fact it doesnt seem to be at the forefront is scary. I feel like Gus handicaps them so much with the system their accuracy and ability to make the big throws at big moments just isnt there. 

It is definitely odd for sure. I mean, what QB doesn't desire to be accurate and therefore work there tail off to be the best they can be. Even excusing the grounding plays to protect the ball there were so, so, so many missed opportunities that could have made a difference. It's also scary that even Chad hasn't already impressed that on him that that is a major initiative this spring. 

[AURex 1,994]

Nix takes no responsibility. He does not mention anything pertaining to self-improvement. He's all about "keeping the team together" and "There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique. the wideouts getting better, but personally only getting 'bigger and stronger and faster' ". So he knows he has no competition and he can just do his thing as the anointed savior of Auburn football.

I'm sorry, but this is not the attitude I want from a QB. He has been told all his life that he is Mr Wonderful. Somebody needs to ground him and force-feed him some fundamentals. Because this past year, despite all the future projections of wonderfulness, he was mediocre and he really needs to improve.

 

[murpjf88 506]

5 hours ago, Randman5000 said:

He needs to quit throwing on the run... He needs to be more patient and work on setting his feet. Then  he needs to beg Gus and Chad to expand the passing game. 

He needs a stout offensive line for that. Every team in America wants him throwing on the run. It's in the gameplan.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

It seems like accuracy hasn’t been something he’s been stellar at since we’ve recruited him. And truthfully as inaccurate as he is, he doesn’t need to be significantly better to be good enough. Things that are killing him are the easy ones and that’s footwork. His mental clock is also pretty bad but that’s a Gus trait as well as footwork. Just have to hope Chad Morris breaks the mold

 

I doubt he mentioned all of the things he wants to improve anyway, and you probably shouldn’t read too much into that. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

1 hour ago, murpjf88 said:

He needs a stout offensive line for that. Every team in America wants him throwing on the run. It's in the gameplan.

I don’t think you need a stout one, Deshaun Watson is a guy that Bo would serve well to emulate. Has to play thru similar situations, esp at Houston (his OL @ Clemson wasn’t quite as good as Trevor has had it, although it was good) 

[AUght2win 6,833]

3 hours ago, AURex said:

Nix takes no responsibility. He does not mention anything pertaining to self-improvement. He's all about "keeping the team together" and "There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique. the wideouts getting better, but personally only getting 'bigger and stronger and faster' ". So he knows he has no competition and he can just do his thing as the anointed savior of Auburn football.

I'm sorry, but this is not the attitude I want from a QB. He has been told all his life that he is Mr Wonderful. Somebody needs to ground him and force-feed him some fundamentals. Because this past year, despite all the future projections of wonderfulness, he was mediocre and he really needs to improve.

 

1. He was better than mediocre. 

2. I don't see selfishness or a lack of desire to improve at ALL from Bo.  I just think you are flat wrong. Blackledge said this summer he asked Bo what hobbies he had outside of football. Bo asked "does watching film count?". The kid is a football junkie and the players love him. I think he works his tail off. 

In fact, sometimes I fear Bo wants it too bad. Like Kershaw or Manning. They are such fans and historians of the game, they want so desperately to leave a legacy, and that results in too much self-inflicted pressure. 

Bo needs to work hard, get with Morris, and come August, go out there and play backyard football.

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

5 hours ago, AUght2win said:

1. He was better than mediocre. 

2. I don't see selfishness or a lack of desire to improve at ALL from Bo.  I just think you are flat wrong. Blackledge said this summer he asked Bo what hobbies he had outside of football. Bo asked "does watching film count?". The kid is a football junkie and the players love him. I think he works his tail off. 

In fact, sometimes I fear Bo wants it too bad. Like Kershaw or Manning. They are such fans and historians of the game, they want so desperately to leave a legacy, and that results in too much self-inflicted pressure. 

Bo needs to work hard, get with Morris, and come August, go out there and play backyard football.

This^

Anyone accusing Bo of selfishness or laziness has NO IDEA what they’re talking about.  Bo will work his tail off to get better as an individual as well as the team.   My only concern with Bo is the quality of what he’s being taught.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 hours ago, twilli13 said:

Seems odd Nix doesnt mention improving his accuracy next year. 

https://auburn.rivals.com/news/bo-nix-amped-for-full-offseason-of-work-as-leader-of-offense

To me, that's easily the #1 thing he should be focusing on. Thoughts?

He mentioned several things that could include/be referring to accuracy. 

 

10 hours ago, AURex said:

Nix takes no responsibility. He does not mention anything pertaining to self-improvement. He's all about "keeping the team together" and "There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique. the wideouts getting better, but personally only getting 'bigger and stronger and faster' ". So he knows he has no competition and he can just do his thing as the anointed savior of Auburn football.

I'm sorry, but this is not the attitude I want from a QB. He has been told all his life that he is Mr Wonderful. Somebody needs to ground him and force-feed him some fundamentals. Because this past year, despite all the future projections of wonderfulness, he was mediocre and he really needs to improve.

Christ, this is a garbage take. And I'm no Bo Nix fanboy.

[DAG 33,977]

10 hours ago, AURex said:

Nix takes no responsibility. He does not mention anything pertaining to self-improvement. He's all about "keeping the team together" and "There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique. the wideouts getting better, but personally only getting 'bigger and stronger and faster' ". So he knows he has no competition and he can just do his thing as the anointed savior of Auburn football.

I'm sorry, but this is not the attitude I want from a QB. He has been told all his life that he is Mr Wonderful. Somebody needs to ground him and force-feed him some fundamentals. Because this past year, despite all the future projections of wonderfulness, he was mediocre and he really needs to improve.

 

You have some pretty ridiculous takes but this want probably takes the cake.

[AU64 10,122]

2 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

This^

Anyone accusing Bo of selfishness or laziness has NO IDEA what they’re talking about.  Bo will work his tail off to get better as an individual as well as the team.   My only concern with Bo is the quality of what he’s being taught.  

Keep in mind that Nix has been coached by his father since the kid could hold a football...what he is as a passer now is primarily based on what his father taught him for ten years or more. 

I guarantee you he is being taught well but habits are tough to break ...just take a golf lesson and try to change how you have been swinging a club for years.   It's gonna be a tough job for him to make any significant change in set-up or throwing motion.    And telling him to do something differently after his dad has instructed him a certain way for ten years.....good luck with that.   Once the game starts, he probably reverts to his ingrained habits no matter what the coaches have taught him recently.   

JMO but those early / easy passes in the bowl game were to give him some confidence but outside of those, he was still inaccurate in the same areas as early in the season.    He needs to be more accurate for the team to thrive and maybe it's more about giving him easier targets and play calls than all of a sudden, expecting to see a big change in his passing motion. 

[SaltyTiger 7,790]

https://www.oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/dykstra-now-comes-the-true-test-for-bo-nix/article_217fb592-7f1a-5ed4-94d7-d78a5f

“It’s a very bright future. Bo Nix is going to be one of the greatest quarterbacks in our history. And, I mean, I put that on him because I know he can handle it. I know he’s going to be that guy.”

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

12 hours ago, AURex said:

Nix takes no responsibility. He does not mention anything pertaining to self-improvement. He's all about "keeping the team together" and "There’s also no more Joey Gatewood in the quarterback room with Nix. Instead of focusing on beating him out and winning the job, Nix will work on his relationship with his pass-catchers, as well as his own physique. the wideouts getting better, but personally only getting 'bigger and stronger and faster' ". So he knows he has no competition and he can just do his thing as the anointed savior of Auburn football.

I'm sorry, but this is not the attitude I want from a QB. He has been told all his life that he is Mr Wonderful. Somebody needs to ground him and force-feed him some fundamentals. Because this past year, despite all the future projections of wonderfulness, he was mediocre and he really needs to improve.

 

I am sorry but this is a BS take on what was said. Bo has taken responsibility all season. I am quite sure he knows he has to improve. I guarantee you he hasn't been told he is "Mr. Wonderful" all his life by his parents. They have stamped hard work in his brain. He has no silver spoon mentality. Very strange take here that I 110% disagree with.

[copper4eva 106]

Nix has to be more patient, and obviously more accurate. He scrambled out of clean pockets consistently. His OL was actually decent as pass blocking. And he didn't take advantage of that. I feel like accuracy is self explanatory, but I will say if he were to stay in the pocket more often and make comfortable throws, rather than making these throws even more difficult, then he'd probably throw on the money more often.

We flat out gave up on the deep ball like half way through the season. Because Nix wouldn't connect. The deep ball over the middle of the field is probably the throw that Malzahn's offense needs the most. It puts pressure on the safeties, and opens up the box. That's what we had in seasons like 13, 14, and 17, that we didn't have in the other seasons. When teams can stack the box on Gus without getting burned for it, we're kind of screwed.

16 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

Unfortunately, I think Nix is going to be handicapped by the system he’s given to work with. I’m pretty convinced no QB can perform to their peak potential in our offense. 

Right, obviously no QB has reached their peak potential under Malazhn (sarcasm btw). Not trying to praise Malzahn as a QB genius or anything (because I don't think he is one), but what he did with Marshall was amazing. Also, while the 2018 campaign sucked, he did a great job with Stidham in 2017.

Gus keeps trying to chase these raw athlete QB recruits. Malik Willis, JF3, Gatewood, the list goes on. Gatewood wasn't even recruited as QB for most teams. Most wanted him at either DE or TE. He keeps trying to chase after the next Marshall or Newton. If Gus recruited more QB's that actually showed they can read defenses before coming to Auburn, we'd be in much better shape. Guys like, White, Stidham, and obviously Nix.

For Nix it mostly depends on how the OL pans out. If they end up at least as good as the 2019 OL (which is not a very high bar of course) then Nix has no excuses imo to not have a great season. The OL is the main thing potentially keeping him from performing to his "peak potential", other than himself.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

18 minutes ago, copper4eva said:

Right, obviously no QB has reached their peak potential under Malazhn (sarcasm btw). Not trying to praise Malzahn as a QB genius or anything (because I don't think he is one), but what he did with Marshall was amazing. Also, while the 2018 campaign sucked, he did a great job with Stidham in 2017.

Nick was a true running QB, the likes of which we haven’t seen or had on our roster since. (Over 1000 yard rusher) Another puzzling thing about Gus. If your system relies on a running QB, recruit running QBs. Yes Stidham had a really good 2017. But his completion percentage was actually less than his true Freshman season at Baylor. Then he regressed and looked lost under Gus in 2018. Then he left Gus’s system,  and is good enough to be the backup for Tom Brady. There’s a cycle there. 

18 minutes ago, copper4eva said:

The OL is the main thing potentially keeping him from performing to his "peak potential", other than himself.

The OL is part of it. But you have to have a running game, and SEC level route trees by your receivers. Gus’s system doesn’t. There’s a reason Dan Mullen can take 2 star QBs and career bench warmers like Prescott and Trask and win big with them. He has a system that puts them in a position to use their talents. 

I try to stay positive, and was super excited after the Iron Bowl. But I said then, let’s see if our HC can sustain the momentum. And once again, he couldn’t. I expect the same next season because after 7 years he is what he is. 

 

[cole256 17,043]

It's interesting the thing that everybody argued would make him transcendent apparently didn't help too much or he broke away from them quickly. I can maybe sell the film junkie but that's really the opposite of what I hate as far as damning a player we don't know anything about....I do hate how many can point fingers and blame everybody but take such offense if you critique him. 

I just can't believe he wouldn't be further along with his fundamentals though

[copper4eva 106]

4 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Nick was a true running QB, the likes of which we haven’t seen or had on our roster since. (Over 1000 yard rusher) Another puzzling thing about Gus. If your system relies on a running QB, recruit running QBs.

The OL is part of it. But you have to have a running game, and SEC level route trees by your receivers. Gus’s system doesn’t. There’s a reason Dan Mullen can take 2 star QBs and career bench warmers like Prescott and Trask and win big with them. He has a system that puts them in a position to use their talents. 

I try to stay positive, and was super excited after the Iron Bowl. But I said then, let’s see if our HC can sustain the momentum. And once again, he couldn’t. I expect the same next season because after 7 years he is what he is. 

 

I never got this take. He does recruit running QB's. He actually recruits too many if anything. He's certainly recruited more "dual threat" guys than "pro style" guys.

Marshall was a raw talent when he came to Auburn. Barely even a QB. Gus has had an obsession with recruits like that since. JF3, Woody Barret, Jason Smith, Malik Willis, Gatewood, I'm probably forgetting one or two others. He's recruited all these guys trying to recreate what he had with Marshall, I think he's wasted his time.

On the other hand, the guys we've recruited that could actually accurately throw a football before arriving on campus, White, Stidham, and Nix have actually contributed to the team. If White didn't get hurt every big hit, he probably would've been remembered much more positively. I think he was a pretty solid QB.

I wish Gus had recruited more guys that can actually throw accurately and read defenses as a recruit. You could argue that the issue is him recruiting busts consistently. And I would agree. Also, most of these QB's transferred and did not do well at QB, or switched positions all together (JF3). They were simply busts.

 

I agree that a lack of running game is part of the issue. But most people fail to realize that part of the run game issue is that teams stack the box. They don't respect the deep game. Minnesota especially stacked the box. And played the run aggressively. Even if the OL was good (which they weren't), we probably would still struggle to run the ball.

Also, Gus actually does have a decent route tree, believe it or not. The 2014 offense showcased his passing tree quite nicely. Probably the last time we had a QB and receivers who could consistently push the ball deep.