Is Nix developing under the new staff?

[Zeek 16,614]

2020 Stats Through 8 Games -> 2021 Stats through 8 Games

Completions 152 -> 150 

Passing Attempts 248 -> 241

Yards Per Attempt 6.9 -> 7.3

Completion Percentage 61.3% -> 62.2%

Passing Yards 1,713 -> 1,764

Passing Touchdowns 7 -> 9

Interceptions 6 -> 2

Sacks Taken 16 -> 8

Rushing Attempts 82 -> 48

Rushing Yards 310 -> 189

Rushing Touchdowns 7 -> 4

 

There are so many variables here (opponents, drops being higher this year, a different system, etc) but let's take these numbers at face value and see what we can take away from it.

His completion percentage is up... slightly. This isn't by an incredible margin like we might have hoped but, again, there are other factors. It's hard to argue that he hasn't developed, even if only slightly, in this area of his game. Still sails some balls when he gets too excited and loses his footwork but as a whole he's been much better at staying in the pocket and making accurate throws. Lately he seems to be taking some zip off to make the short-intermediate passes much easier on receivers to catch.

More yards per attempt can mean a few things. The improved completion percentage helps but so too does better ball placement and more confidence in throwing past the line of scrimmage. Generating big plays is still a need and deep ball accuracy will likely always be somewhat inconsistent. Still, I feel we've seen growth here as well.

The touchdown to interception ratio is probably the most glaring improvement (though last year it was exacerbated by an awful South Carolina game). Still 9-2 is much better than 7-6 and that is absolutely the difference between winning and losing games.

It's funny that stepping up in the pocket more has lead to less sacks. Bo has cut his sacks from 16 last year down to only 8 this year (Georgia's obnoxious defense accounted for 4 of those this season). This is a huge improvement by the offensive line and some vindication by coach Will Friend making this a much more serviceable offensive line than years past.

The disparity in rushing attempts is glaring as well but he's averaged more yards per rush and isn't too far off his touchdown total either despite having drastically less attempts.

I'm going to say taking less sacks, drastically improving his TD-INT ratio, slightly improving completion percentage, and being overall more efficient shows development. Not to mention (and it's happened through the season) his demeanor and leadership have looked much better over the course of the season.

Is he an elite quarterback? No. But I think it's much harder at this point to argue that he's at the very least not a good starting SEC quarterback. I would argue he's top 4 in the SEC right now.

[bigbird 60,368]

15 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

It seems, in fact, like having a "genius" held Bo and other QBs back quite a bit.

Oh you picked up on that, huh. 

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

20 hours ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

Never thought I would see Bo lead the SEC in this category. There’s no denying Harsin and Bobo have been incredible in developing Nix. 

So glad that more are paying attn to the StatCat guy. He's been killing it all season. Really good follow on Twitter for those into the advanced analytics. Statsowar is another.

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

It seems, in fact, like having a "genius" held Bo and other QBs back quite a bit.

The whole friggin offense. Like you said in Coach Ray's thread, we're all breathing some fresh air now.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, ValleyTiger said:

So glad that more are paying attn to the StatCat guy. He's been killing it all season. Really good follow on Twitter for those into the advanced analytics. Statsowar is another.

Hard agree on the former and will have to check out the latter. 

Helps that we're starting to see stats we like, lol. 

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Is he an elite quarterback? No. But I think it's much harder at this point to argue that he's at the very least not a good starting SEC quarterback. I would argue he's top 4 in the SEC right now.

That's fair and that's all we can ask for at this point, really. 

Do y'all think he could be elite next year? I'm starting to think maybe?

[Barnacle 9,064]

22 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Do y'all think he could be elite next year? I'm starting to think maybe?

I guess it depends on how you define elite? He’s playing damn good football right now, I know that much.

[McLoofus 35,182]

23 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I guess it depends on how you define elite? He’s playing damn good football right now, I know that much.

Good question and great opportunity for me to dial it down a bit, lol. I'm thinking relative to the rest of the league in 2022. Hard to imagine elite in a historical sense, other than all the stats he'll have piled up after four years as a starter.

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, Barnacle said:

I guess it depends on how you define elite? He’s playing damn good football right now, I know that much.

He's not Cam Newton. He's not Joe Burrow. Etc.

 

Nit sure he'll ever be there, but I do think he still can get better and go to another level. I hope these last 2 weeks are a glimpse 

Edited November 5, 2021 by W.E.D

[fredst 9,064]

3 hours ago, Barnacle said:

I guess it depends on how you define elite? He’s playing damn good football right now, I know that much.

With your avatar I would expect: “I do not think that word means what you think it means”

[cbo 7,801]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Good question and great opportunity for me to dial it down a bit, lol. I'm thinking relative to the rest of the league in 2022. Hard to imagine elite in a historical sense, other than all the stats he'll have piled up after four years as a starter.

I'd say consistency is the key now. If he plays the rest of this year and next like he has the last 2 weeks, I will be perfectly happy. 

[AU-24 3,063]

Looking at his numbers the last few weeks, it is amazing how his stats improved, when his wide receivers stopped dropping passes.

Edited November 6, 2021 by AU-24

[homersapien 11,353]

5 hours ago, AU-24 said:

Looking at his numbers the last few weeks, it is amazing how his stats improved, when is wide receivers stopped dropping passes.

Yep.  There's no 'B O' in 'TEAM'.