New QB Zach Calzada

[woodford 3,667]

8 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

So I am not following here.....

The post that you originally quoted was directly referring to ZC committing to AU then in your defense of said post, you bring up the potential inability to run the ball?

Of course we will not be very successful if we can't run the ball, but what does ZC really have to do with that? ( I know pass opens up the run) but it doesn't really matter how good our QB is or isn't if we have as piss poor of run-blocking as we had this year.

I still don't see how gaining a commitment of a guy with SEC starting experience is any kind of sign of bad direction for a program?

Auburn would have better chances to win with a better QB albeit with the same lousy OL. However, I don’t see a scenario where Auburn gets better because of this guy and a bad line. If he had Ole Miss or UGA’s line? Sure maybe. That’s not happening though. 
 

When did ZC ever wow you this year? Starting experience doesn’t mean much if you’re not that good (see TJ Finley)

I’m bearish on ZC. Hopefully I am convinced otherwise soon. 

[woodford 3,667]

9 hours ago, bigbird said:

It wouldn't

Do you think that CW would excel at Auburn? How would he have the same level of success with this personnel up front?

[bigbird 60,580]

11 minutes ago, woodford said:

Do you think that CW would excel at Auburn? How would he have the same level of success with this personnel up front?

Yes 

The OL we had last year won't be the line we have this year.

[DAG 34,016]

13 minutes ago, woodford said:

Do you think that CW would excel at Auburn? How would he have the same level of success with this personnel up front?

I don’t know about excel but he would be an instant upgrade for the simple fact he can freaking throw the rock and not miss on those simple throws. Also he can create by himself too.

[woodford 3,667]

25 minutes ago, DAG said:

I don’t know about excel but he would be an instant upgrade for the simple fact he can freaking throw the rock and not miss on those simple throws. Also he can create by himself too.

I agree it would be a major upgrade from what we have and he could make plays. But, he would have to do a whole lot of creating by himself. 
 

I just don’t see how it would help his stock unless we brought in a mess of future NFL guys up front. 
 

I’m extremely pessimistic about our OL and where it’s headed until I’m proven wrong in the portal or NSD. That could change. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,026]

Man, if by some chance we can pull CW, Mario Williams, Antwane Wells, O’Cyrus, Nard Dog, and Alan Ali, and Cam Bright we would be in total business as a program again. Adding Caleb Williams would probably help bring in a ton of those guys.
 

 

 

[Gowebb11 9,366]

8 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Point to saying all that is, I think it's more uncommon for a kid to go from a mediocre or bad player to a great player now. Initial development is happening in high school, rather than in freshman and sophomore year. Kids come in now ready to play day 1.

Points taken. But I gave several very recent examples. Corral drastically improved his TD to interception ratio. Burrow improved his completion percentage by double digits. Trask significantly improved his yards per attempt. Some go from bad to average. Some go from average to above. And some go from above average to great. But players are not static from beginning to finish. I long for the day when we start bringing in the few phenoms like Tua and Trevor Lawrence who contend for Heismans their first year or two. Unfortunately were not there yet. 

[woodford 3,667]

44 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Yes 

The OL we had last year won't be the line we have this year.

That’s true. We have no idea if it will be better though. That’s the mystery. Given recent history, it’s perfectly normal to be skeptical. I hope I’m wrong though. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,026]

17 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Man, if by some chance we can pull CW, Mario Williams, Antwane Wells, O’Cyrus, Nard Dog, and Alan Ali, and Cam Bright we would be in total business as a program again. Adding Caleb Williams would probably help bring in a ton of those guys.
 

 

 

See @ClaytonAU, I’m positive sometimes!

[fredst 9,064]

No idea the real chances but *if* CW was to end up at AU I think it could change the whole trajectory of a Harsin tenure (for the better). A *proven* elite QB (not just a recruit) completely alters the landscape going forward, even with some of the current roster holes that we have

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

I don’t know about excel but he would be an instant upgrade for the simple fact he can freaking throw the rock and not miss on those simple throws. Also he can create by himself too.

I look forward to having a QB who doesn't missing 95% of deep balls.  We haven't had that in 8 years or so.

How many game changing plays to wide open WRs have we missed in the last few years?  Even Stidham was bad.

[cole256 17,084]

Bottom line everybody had all this hope for Bo. If you could muster up hope to be good when he was returning you d can muster up hope for anybody else. Period.

[autigeremt 6,683]

College football is wild right now.

Caleb Williams offered $1 million by former NFL quarterback to play at school (on3.com) 

[autigeremt 6,683]

Just now, cole256 said:

Bottom line everybody had all this hope for Bo. If you could muster up hope to be good when he was returning you d can muster up hope for anybody else. Period.

RIGHT THERE! ^^^^^^^

[slyinsocal 831]

IMO, this kid from Sugar Hill, Ga northeast of ATL (anyone know that?) is a real good pickup. The eye test tells me he has the arm strength, but also the touch on his throws. He has the edge due to getting a full season of starts. Should make for a very competitive QB room.

In fairness to TJ, and considering the circumstances, he deserves a pat on the back. No spring ball. Being thrust into action. He didn't throw pick sixes left and right. He played hurt. Even with Bo out, we were that close. A drop here. A slightly mistimed throw there. A mere handful of plays and the record certainly looks better.

Both of these guys proved one thing for sure. Toughness.

Regardless of what happens between now and then, at least, finally, it appears the entire QB room will go through a full spring together under the guidance of a real, bonafide NFL QB coach. When has that ever happened?

Yay!

[bigbird 60,580]

21 minutes ago, woodford said:

That’s true. We have no idea if it will be better though. That’s the mystery. Given recent history, it’s perfectly normal to be skeptical. I hope I’m wrong though. 

Im skeptical as well. However that skepticism is based off of 8 years of disappointment. I'm optimistic that we will see a significant difference over last year's OL

[au302 2,669]

12 minutes ago, slyinsocal said:

IMO, this kid from Sugar Hill, Ga northeast of ATL (anyone know that?) is a real good pickup. The eye test tells me he has the arm strength, but also the touch on his throws. He has the edge due to getting a full season of starts. Should make for a very competitive QB room.

In fairness to TJ, and considering the circumstances, he deserves a pat on the back. No spring ball. Being thrust into action. He didn't throw pick sixes left and right. He played hurt. Even with Bo out, we were that close. A drop here. A slightly mistimed throw there. A mere handful of plays and the record certainly looks better.

Both of these guys proved one thing for sure. Toughness.

Regardless of what happens between now and then, at least, finally, it appears the entire QB room will go through a full spring together under the guidance of a real, bonafide NFL QB coach. When has that ever happened?

Yay!

Was watching some of his highlights last night. The SEC Network commentators at the game were running a radar gun on him pregame. Clocked him at 55, which is right up there with the top NFL guys. I think the leader currently is Josh Allen with 62

[woodford 3,667]

12 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Im skeptical as well. However that skepticism is based off of 8 years of disappointment. I'm optimistic that we will see a significant difference over last year's OL

I sure hope you're right. We really need to see some portal moves.

[aubie57 119]

He has the strongest arm I probably have seen. Kid has a cannon definitely NFL level talent. He needs major help on mechanics. He gets happy feet and doesn’t progress through his reads. We were happy to get rid of him honestly. Good kid just gives you a heart attack every play. If he can get happy feet better and stay in the pocket without panicking he will be good. 
 

That is the reply I got from an a&m friend via text when I asked him about Calzada. In another text he said the kid was tough. He’s watched Calzada play a lot more ball than I have. If nothing else his addition will add more competition that will hopefully allow all players involved to get better.

Edited January 7, 2022 by aubie57

[DAG 34,016]

51 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I look forward to having a QB who doesn't missing 95% of deep balls.  We haven't had that in 8 years or so.

How many game changing plays to wide open WRs have we missed in the last few years?  Even Stidham was bad.

Exactly that drives me crazy . Wide the freaking open guys being missed 

[bigbird 60,580]

22 minutes ago, woodford said:

I sure hope you're right. We really need to see some portal moves.

There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes.

[DAG 34,016]

4 minutes ago, bigbird said:

There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes.

This has been said like 10x over lol

[bigbird 60,580]

3 minutes ago, DAG said:

This has been said like 10x over lol

Very true. Either people aren't listening or not believing

[AU_Twisterman 83]

Just based on Calzada's film I just looked through from 2 or 3 games this year, he has chance to be a on par with Nix in regards to the passing game, maybe even better in some areas.  Bo showed some ability this year to stand in the pocket and deliver a throw under pressure, but Calzada did that on a much more consistent basis in the film I saw.  Bo bailed way too much, and operated out of the system/progressions way too often.  Both have similar arm strength, but Nix has quicker release and can throw it better from different angles.  Calzada may be better at the deep ball, but I honestly didn't see A&M take many shots on film.

Also, regarding Calzada's "happy feet" that some have mentioned, I think a lot of that is just from his in-the-pocket technique of consistently moving the feet to stay in throwing position, sort of like Peyton Manning always did.  Now of course he does bail some when he doesn't need to, but I think that part of it may be overstated.

One last thing - Calzada looked terrible at times carrying out fakes in the run game.  Very lazy movements.

[aubiefifty 16,903]