Week 3 Notes - Tuesday Update (9/09/14)

[McLoofus 35,182]

He may and he may not. Too soon to make definitive statements

THANK YOU

[80Tiger 899]

He may and he may not. Too soon to make definitive statements

THANK YOU

I should have checked actuals before generalizing. NM at AU is a 59.1% accuracy. 59.4 last year and 56 this year. I will re phrase that he MAY be a 55 to 60 percent accuracy guy and that is OK. ( I used may in the original sentence also). The fact is his actual performance is telling us this.

Look I think the guy is great. But I don't think he will be a 62 to 65 percent completion guy

[leglessdan 1,934]

He may and he may not. Too soon to make definitive statements

THANK YOU

I should have checked actuals before generalizing. NM at AU is a 59.1% accuracy. 59.4 last year and 56 this year. I will re phrase that he MAY be a 55 to 60 percent accuracy guy and that is OK. ( I used may in the original sentence also). The fact is his actual performance is telling us this.

Look I think the guy is great. But I don't think he will be a 62 to 65 percent completion guy

Not trying to flame on you in any way, but here are some facts. WR have dropped alot of balls in reference to NM. Even some passes that aren't in the perfect position should be caught. As much as I'm looking forward to NM correcting some of his accuracy issues, I'm also waiting on WR to lay out for passes and catch the tough passes. That's part of being a great WR as well. Nick isn't JJ...and JJ isn't Nick. And like it was stated before. ..the whole team played a little tight this past weekend.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

I for one don't recall Auburn losing a ballgame because of Marshall's inability to complete a pass. I do recall a game winner vs MSU. And several nice throws leading up to the gamewinner. I do recall a fine td throw to Coates in the SEC Championship game. The first game tying td pass in the Iron Bowl, to Uzomah, was a thing of beauty. And the last one was...

[mcgufcm 4,107]

When someone accurately states that multiple WRs either ran incorrect routes, ran lazy routes (and failed to get eyes on accurate passes), or failed to identify hot reads, those aren't excuses for QB inaccuracy. That's stating that the QB was accurate, but his guys hosed him on the back end. Nick made the right read, delivered the ball on time and accurately, and it wasn't caught... through zero fault of his. Now maybe this thread has morphed from "is Nick a 55-60% passer" to "is our passing game capped at 55-60%". If so, those explanations don't matter, but if the thread is really about Nick's ceiling in terms of completion percentage, those aren't excuses for bad/inaccurate passes. Those are statements that he was more accurate than the numbers indicate.

[80Tiger 899]

I for one don't recall Auburn losing a ballgame because of Marshall's inability to complete a pass. I do recall a game winner vs MSU. And several nice throws leading up to the

gamewinner. I do recall a fine td throw to Coates in the SEC Championship game. The first game tying td pass in the Iron Bowl, to Uzomah, was a thing of beauty. And the last one was...

While I agree with you almost completely, there was a missed open receiver in the BCS game that potentially could have made a difference. Happened early in the game but who knows if it "cost" the game. But NM did make some excellant throws in some games that were high pressure and required nerves of steel.

[McLoofus 35,182]

He may and he may not. Too soon to make definitive statements

THANK YOU

I should have checked actuals before generalizing. NM at AU is a 59.1% accuracy. 59.4 last year and 56 this year. I will re phrase that he MAY be a 55 to 60 percent accuracy guy and that is OK. ( I used may in the original sentence also). The fact is his actual performance is telling us this.

Look I think the guy is great. But I don't think he will be a 62 to 65 percent completion guy

Gotcha, and sorry, didn't mean to direct any "yelling" at you.

I think he can get into that 62-65 range. He was 67% against Arkansas. You might be right, though. We shall see.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

He did make some throws in high pressure situations, I agree. Although his overall accuracy will not improve, you can be fooled by completion % by having a qb throw a bunch of high % throws. Blake Sims is given high % throws do to his inability to throw well downfield (for example). But NMs game is running not passing.

[McLoofus 35,182]

He did make some throws in high pressure situations, I agree. Although his overall accuracy will not improve, you can be fooled by completion % by having a qb throw a bunch of high % throws. Blake Sims is given high % throws do to his inability to throw well downfield (for example). But NMs game is running not passing.

Or maybe his game is running and passing. Things need not be so black and white.

[leglessdan 1,934]

When you go back and look at game film....you see some of the most difficult throws of any QB to make made by Nick. You also see some errant throws. You also see a lot...and I mean a lot of drops by WRs last season because the pass wasn't within a few inches of their hands. I don't know...maybe I defend Nick because he is such a gamer and led our team from nothing to something, but I will say he has made some incredible throws as well for someone who can't pass according to a lot of you. And considering he's only played about 5 qtrs. of football this season, I wont even try to start analyzing his play thus far. Nick has come up big for us when we needed him to in all facets of the game, not just running the football. I still wonder why we all don't harp on the fact our recievers needs to be more aggressive and be ball hawks and snatch everything from the air like we demand Nick to be laser accurate on every throw he makes?

[McLoofus 35,182]

Since this has become the de facto Nick Marshall's Passing thread...

...I was curious, so I looked up Cam's stats for the 2nd and 3rd games in 2010. Presented without comment:

Week 2 vs Miss St

Passing 11 comp/19 att (58% comp), 136 total yards, 7.2 avg, 2 tds, 1 int, 53.0 QBR

Rushing 18 carries, 70 yds, 0 TDs, 0 fumbles

Week 3 vs Clemson

Passing 7 comp/14 att (50% comp), 203 total yards, 14.5 avg, 2 tds, 2 ints, 65.6 QBR

Rushing 17 carries, 68 yds, 0 TDs, 0 fumbles

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

I like NM but his passing accuracy will not improve much unless he has a hand transplant, his hands are small and he struggles with getting his hands on the laces. He is as good a passer as he's gunna get. We can improve his completion % by having him throw more short passes.

We get it. You don't have confidence in Marshall. You don't need to mention it in every thread.

It's what he does, that's Sevenlee for ya

This belittling opinions not held by the "in" set is getting worse. Sevenlee's point is not off the charts odd. "Don't post it in every thread" is the latest whining tool by those not agreeing with the opinion. guess what, if he (and others) think Nick's reached his limit, you will be reading that opinion AGAIN when the topic of Nick's improvement is raised. And it's raised a lot. Like my opinion re Ellis's ability as a coordinator. You don't like the opinion, comment or move on, nobody's forcing this board on you.

[douggwilliams 61]

CGM teaches to not use the threads. He wants ball in hand, ball out of hand as quick as possible. Small hands may work against you in this scenario though. NM sure throws a strong ball for someone with small hands.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

Talking about the WRs, catch radius is really the biggest difference between Duke Williams and, for example, Ricardo Louis. Louis is a guy that, to this point in his career, needs the ball served to him just so (the UGA play notwithstanding... that was just a gift from above). Duke, on the other hand, catches dang near anything within three feet of his core. He just goes after the ball and snatches it. His catch radius is really, really impressive.

Coates is faster (without a doubt) and probably just as strong, but that's the area he needs to improve. The ball Nick put on him in the Arkansas game was a fairly routine grab for a guy of his caliber, but he did have to bend for it. Duke makes that catch. Sammie dropped it. Duke hauls in some of those jump balls Louis saw against SJSU. I'm hopeful that his assertiveness and practice habits rub off on our WRs. Melvin Ray seems to go get the ball as well, but Louis and Coates have so much natural athleticism. If they can learn to catch a "bad" or even "not perfect" ball with regularity, the sky is the limit for those two. If those two "get it", you won't hear a peep about Marshall's accuracy.

[war eagle6 0]

I like NM but his passing accuracy will not improve much unless he has a hand transplant, his hands are small and he struggles with getting his hands on the laces. He is as good a passer as he's gunna get. We can improve his completion % by having him throw more short passes.

We get it. You don't have confidence in Marshall. You don't need to mention it in every thread.

It's what he does, that's Sevenlee for ya

This belittling opinions not held by the "in" set is getting worse. Sevenlee's point is not off the charts odd. "Don't post it in every thread" is the latest whining tool by those not agreeing with the opinion. guess what, if he (and others) think Nick's reached his limit, you will be reading that opinion AGAIN when the topic of Nick's improvement is raised. And it's raised a lot. Like my opinion re Ellis's ability as a coordinator. You don't like the opinion, comment or move on, nobody's forcing this board on you.

U need to address everybody on this board then, because opinions will be made whether YOU like it or not. To each his own.

[AUbritt 611]

I like NM but his passing accuracy will not improve much unless he has a hand transplant, his hands are small and he struggles with getting his hands on the laces. He is as good a passer as he's gunna get. We can improve his completion % by having him throw more short passes.

We get it. You don't have confidence in Marshall. You don't need to mention it in every thread.

It's what he does, that's Sevenlee for ya

This belittling opinions not held by the "in" set is getting worse. Sevenlee's point is not off the charts odd. "Don't post it in every thread" is the latest whining tool by those not agreeing with the opinion. guess what, if he (and others) think Nick's reached his limit, you will be reading that opinion AGAIN when the topic of Nick's improvement is raised. And it's raised a lot. Like my opinion re Ellis's ability as a coordinator. You don't like the opinion, comment or move on, nobody's forcing this board on you.

Who's 'in'? Define 'worse' and 'a lot'.

[Wareagletd 0]

This should be interesting. *gets popcorn*

[bdc81 90]

Everybody is welcome to their opinion, then they get butt hurt when someone offers an opinion about their opinion. My daughter calls it the Mitch factor.

Little doc

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

Talking about the WRs, catch radius is really the biggest difference between Duke Williams and, for example, Ricardo Louis. Louis is a guy that, to this point in his career, needs the ball served to him just so (the UGA play notwithstanding... that was just a gift from above). Duke, on the other hand, catches dang near anything within three feet of his core. He just goes after the ball and snatches it. His catch radius is really, really impressive.

Coates is faster (without a doubt) and probably just as strong, but that's the area he needs to improve. The ball Nick put on him in the Arkansas game was a fairly routine grab for a guy of his caliber, but he did have to bend for it. Duke makes that catch. Sammie dropped it. Duke hauls in some of those jump balls Louis saw against SJSU. I'm hopeful that his assertiveness and practice habits rub off on our WRs. Melvin Ray seems to go get the ball as well, but Louis and Coates have so much natural athleticism. If they can learn to catch a "bad" or even "not perfect" ball with regularity, the sky is the limit for those two. If those two "get it", you won't hear a peep about Marshall's accuracy.

^^^This has been one of the things i'd like to see more from our WRs. There was some improvement last year but they have to help Nick out sometimes. If the ball is close...it needs to be caught. CJ, Duke, Ray and Davis do a pretty good job at going after the ball. RL is well....RL. Just a complete mystery with him. A ton of talent and could produce a lot more than he has.

[TAYLORKEETON 794]

To anybdy that's criticizing Nick...the kid hasn't even played an entire 2 games yet. You really gunna down him this early?

[80Tiger 899]

To anybdy that's criticizing Nick...the kid hasn't even played an entire 2 games yet. You really gunna down him this early?

I haven't read a lot of "criticizing", mostly the conversation has been about his potential as a passer and what his upside is. I can only speak for myself, but my opinion includes the 14 games he played in last year and the 2 this year. So I look at it as 16 game experience at this level. I believe NM is the QB for our offense. He is quick as a cat and causes major issues for defenses. I just don't think he will be a 65% passing accuracy guy and as I said earlier, that is O.K.

[WarEagle84 0]

To anybdy that's criticizing Nick...the kid hasn't even played an entire 2 games yet. You really gunna down him this early?

I haven't read a lot of "criticizing", mostly the conversation has been about his potential as a passer and what his upside is. I can only speak for myself, but my opinion includes the 14 games he played in last year and the 2 this year. So I look at it as 16 game experience at this level. I believe NM is the QB for our offense. He is quick as a cat and causes major issues for defenses. I just don't think he will be a 65% passing accuracy guy and as I said earlier, that is O.K.

I think you're too quick to dismiss the off-season improvements he's made and is continuing to make. Those who know more than I say his mechanics have improved, and the point previous posters have made is that we still have a very small sample size this year to judge. I know some of us were hoping (expecting?) the improvement would be dramatic and immediate, but if he shows as much game-to-game improvement this year as he did last year, we will be in good shape. I for one am not writing off the possibility he will raise his ceiling.

[WarTim 3,456]

NICK IS THE STARTING QB FOR THE AUBURN TIGERS!!!!.....That is enough for me to give my 100% support. PERIOD...;.

[WarEagle84 0]

NICK IS THE STARTING QB FOR THE AUBURN TIGERS!!!!.....That is enough for me to give my 100% support. PERIOD...;.

I'm confused. "PERIOD" emphatically implies the end of the discussion, but then you add an ellipsis (I'll assume the semicolon is a typo), which implies there's more to come. Which did you intend?

I'm pretty sure everyone here is 100% supportive of Nick as our starting QB. But that doesn't have to end the discussion. If you don't like the discussion, there are plenty of other threads for you to comment on, or you can start another.

[FHeal 4]

To anybdy that's criticizing Nick...the kid hasn't even played an entire 2 games yet. You really gunna down him this early?

I haven't read a lot of "criticizing", mostly the conversation has been about his potential as a passer and what his upside is. I can only speak for myself, but my opinion includes the 14 games he played in last year and the 2 this year. So I look at it as 16 game experience at this level. I believe NM is the QB for our offense. He is quick as a cat and causes major issues for defenses. I just don't think he will be a 65% passing accuracy guy and as I said earlier, that is O.K.

I think you're too quick to dismiss the off-season improvements he's made and is continuing to make. Those who know more than I say his mechanics have improved, and the point previous posters have made is that we still have a

very mall sample size this year

to judge. I know some of us were hoping (expecting?) the improvement would be dramatic and immediate, but if he shows as much game-to-game improvement this year as he did last year, we will be in good shape. I for one am not writing off the possibility he will raise his ceiling.

^^^^

Perhaps the best bit of upside for this year.... has been the accolades from his competition. For a complete year now Jeremy Johnson has had first row access to see Nick in action and he's been quite liberal with the favorable responses and high praise. This is from the guy in waiting, who could just as easily set back a said nothing at all, as most backups tend to do. Yes, it's in the good for the team for him to be all-in with the program. However if NM was not making good and the rest of the team all new it.... I doubt he'd come out so strong.