New QB Zach Calzada

[Didba 5,256]

15 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

I don't think Bo was great but I would have taken senior Bo, in year 2 under Harsin, over anybody currently in the room.

So would I.  I was pretty upset when he broke his ankle because I had a feeling he would transfer, Also because I feel like this team has at least two more wins under Bo including the Iron bowl.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Didba

[slyinsocal 831]

6 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

But you trash every move you disagree with, don't you? You don't bother to consider that maybe that move was better than not making a move, or better than any alternative moves available to be made, or even that maybe the coaches have a little better insight into how things are going than you do.

So, as an Auburn fan, explain to me the benefits of publicly trashing anything done by a new coaching staff trying to get their legs under them? Is it just so you feel better, or do you think it improves the image of the program to talk badly about Harsin's decisions?

Uh oh.

[AuCivilEng1 11,012]

3 minutes ago, Old fan 47 said:

While I may agree with AU Civil to an extent, point out to me which of those QBs he named had more than mediocre success in the pros, which on the case of Caleb Williams, is the definitive endgame. Maybe you can say Winston, but 30 tds and 30 ints didn’t convince Tampa to keep him any longer, so how well does Fisher really prepare QBs for the NFL? At best I would give him a D! 

So we are only saying that college coaches who have coached pro bowlers are worthy of praise now? Come on. How many NFL quarterbacks in the last 25 years are anything more than mediocre ?

Jimbo developed those guys to a point where they got drafted 1st round by real experts. At that point it’s up to the player and the scheme to make the player a star. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by AuCivilEng1

[cbo 7,854]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Oh, someone mentioned how many more positions we need shored up. If I'm not mistaken, we still have 12 open spots after Calzada. We have puh-LENty of room for Calzada and another QB if we can get one. 

This is an overlooked and salient point. We have the spots. Let's fill them up. 

Remember people complaining last month that we didn't have a 3rd string QB ready to go?

[Beaker 2,457]

I am going to choose to be happy and believe this is a great addition to the QB room.   Imagine if we had just stood pat and did nothing?    This is a great move in the right direction and who said we 'done' with the portal?

Until proven differently,  this is a great move.

 

I think it is short sighted to have much of an opinion when we haven't even heard the OC or the coach speak to what is going on. 

Do we all want to add the next Cam Newton?  Yeah, probably so, but that guy ain't out there and CW probably isn't heading to the plains.  CW is likely the the prize in the portal.   Every other QB in the portal has flaws and probably plenty of them or they wouldn't be in the portal. 

 

[Rednilla 5,391]

2 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

1. Point out the exact language I used that you'd consider "trashing" this move.

2. What I, or you, or anyone on this board says positively or negatively has exactly 0 impact on Auburn football. It is not any of our responsibilities to craft our speech in a certain way on here. This place is better when people speak openly and honestly what they feel.

The true function of this board is to discuss football get a pulse on what the Auburn fan base is feeling. If you're looking for positive tints on all our moves, I think the official athletic department usually has press releases available.

1) You're right, I shouldn't have been so pointed at you in particular, because I've just been scanning the thread and was noting the general feelings of the board, not any of your posts aside from the one sarcastically talking about how everything has to be happy happy joy joy on here.

2) You're wrong. It's not your responsibility to craft your speech, no, but if you don't think the turmoil that goes on with Auburn message boards trashing decisions made by coaches and/or players hasn't had an impact, you're kidding yourself. 

[Didba 5,256]

@Tigerpro2a  I don't know why it wont let me quote your wonderful write-up of why Calzada's stats are deceptive but your post is the exact reason I was saying just pure stats are not a good evaluation of a player and that the coach's eyes on film is a better evaluation tool than anything we can do as fans merely looking at stats.

 

I'd like to see someone who knows QB mechanics break down Calzada's film and give their opinion.  I wish I could do it but QB is not my field of knowledge.

[AUght2win 6,840]

5 minutes ago, Didba said:

Man, you would've hate to know how critical I was of Malzahn the last three years of his tenure, because it directly refutes your first statement.  Further, your last statement is another beautiful example of a straw-man argument where you actually allege I said something that I never said. Again.  I agree with your middle statement though.

Lastly, I believe myself to be one of the more reasonable and least emotional posters on here because I try my hardest to not view these things as a fan but from the perspective of a coach or player.

I think you need all three perspectives. Discounting the thoughts of the fan or average joe can get you into an expert-bias where you automatically defer to a professional no matter what, just because they're a professional.

Kirby Smart is paid several million dollars to coach football. He's considered near the very top of his profession. And he was convinced that running a fake punt against Alabama on 4th and 11 in the SECCG, with UA in their normal defense, was the right call. 

There are sometimes where football coaches absolutely have expertise that others don't. The minutiae of technique, how to motivate young men, development strategies, etc. But there are also times where even the experts can make absolutely terrible, illogical, plain stupid decisions that anyone can identify.

Wise coaches will own it. Others (like Malzahn or Smart) will insulate themselves from any criticism or introspection, convincing themselves they are the experts and their opinion is always the best. 

That's how you end up with that fake punt or the CoxCat.

The idea of always deferring to a coach's opinion because he is a coach, is crazy to me. It means you think every decision ever made by a professional is correct.

[AUght2win 6,840]

2 minutes ago, Rednilla said:

1) You're right, I shouldn't have been so pointed at you in particular, because I've just been scanning the thread and was noting the general feelings of the board, not any of your posts aside from the one sarcastically talking about how everything has to be happy happy joy joy on here.

2) You're wrong. It's not your responsibility to craft your speech, no, but if you don't think the turmoil that goes on with Auburn message boards trashing decisions made by coaches and/or players hasn't had an impact, you're kidding yourself. 

For #2, believe me, I'm not the only one that feels this way on these issues. But at the end of the day, none of it matters. Winning solves everything. If CBH wins then nothing else matters.

[Rednilla 5,391]

7 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I’m going to get downvoted into oblivion, but lemme just say this. This post is ridiculous. Of course he’s getting trashed by fans! That’s part of the job. He just took a promising team who beat Ole Miss and was in control of their own destiny half way through the season and went on a 5 game, ugggggly losing streak, where there was hardly any offense generated at all. And yes a ton of that is due to Bo going down, but the guy who came in for Bo was picked out by HARSIN. And TJ looked about as bad in those 5 games as any quarterback we’ve seen here since Tubs left. And now, Harsin has gone out and brought in a QB who is statistically worse in almost every measurable category to the guy we fans just ran off for being not good enough. 
 

So yes, people are upset and have lost some of the trust and positivity they had this time last year. It’s on Harsin to fix it. And he absolutely deserves the low confidence at this point. Hell he’d probably tell you that.

In his first season, with a completely new scheme on both sides of the ball. The fact that he is already getting trashed by fans is patently absurd. Is he not due at least a modicum of support to get his system in place? Do you think it does any good to rant and rave about how horrible things are?

Do you think recruits, who DO read these boards, don't take note of such things? 

No, message board rage good, moderator keeping things moderated bad. Sure. Keep telling yourself that.

[cbo 7,854]

41 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

He led an offense that didn't score a TD against us. Maybe it was an off day but he wasn't very good.

You're right, he wasn't very good. Of course, our QB was worse that day in his third season. Who knows. 

[Didba 5,256]

@AUght2win  Won't let me quote you for some reason but to address your point, again you are alleging things that aren't actually true. I don't always defer to a coach's judgement.  I do it when I don't have any expertise in the area like QB throwing mechanics  and I think the Coach has legitimate skills in that area but I also definitely trashed Malzahn's abilities as a playcaller and his scheme.  Trust me, I don't think every decision made by professionals is correct.

[Beaker 2,457]

I agreed with the post that Bo had a couple or three more wins in the tank before he broke his ankle. 

 

Our defense produced plenty well enough to win more games than we did and next year it will be nasty.  

These are Calzone's numbers against our defense vs. Bo against theirs.   Now I recall TAMU had lost their OT and center for the better part of their season's start.  That did not help anyone...

I was curious, so I looked this up: keep in mind, Zach's team scored 20 on us and we scored 3 on them....he kept the chains moving well enough to score.

 

 

Summation:

the potential for an upgrade is high, especially when you consider he has 8 months to get ready with our new QB coach and Harsin is going to be more hands on....

 

I like this pick up immensely.

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Beaker

[Rednilla 5,391]

3 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

For #2, believe me, I'm not the only one that feels this way on these issues. But at the end of the day, none of it matters. Winning solves everything. If CBH wins then nothing else matters.

I didn't say you were the only one. In fact, I believe that in the very post you quoted, I even said that I was aiming my statements less at you in particular and more at the board in general. 

But okay. Rage against the machine.

[slyinsocal 831]

2 hours ago, bigbird said:

Goodness...we just had a player CHOOSE to come and be one of us.  That should be celebrated and he certainly shouldn't be booed before he even gets a chance.  Some of you need to take a step back and be more supportive or take a step forward and go ahead and jump, your behavior is embarrassing.

Welcome home ZC, good luck and War Eagle!

Uh oh. You're shaming people.................who are shaming newly committed players........That's not right I tell ya!

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Throw in Ashford potentially too

Feel like we take another young QB with potential. Him or luck into a UGa transfer.

Long game vs proven starter (mainly bc there aren't any)

[W.E.D 11,070]

56 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Nix under 3 different QB coaches didn't improve until this year with Harsin and Bobo

Bo went from glorified HS coaches to Bobo/Harsin.

Calzada is coming from Jimbo who has a massive resume. 

I'm not being negative, just for fun. I'm not going to hype a guy who was bottomed 3rd in the SEC bc we been starved for decent QB play for many many years

[bigbird 60,557]

5 minutes ago, slyinsocal said:

Uh oh. You're shaming people.................who are shaming newly committed players........That's not right I tell ya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[W.E.D 11,070]

55 minutes ago, Didba said:

Sure seems like quite a few people in the AU fanbase are rooting against ZC

Cmon

[Didba 5,256]

1 minute ago, W.E.D said:

Cmon

Not you, and I wasn't really speaking so much about this board.  The meltdown over on r/wde is pretty bad right now with people trashing him.

[nurbis 572]

12 minutes ago, Beaker said:

I was curious, so I looked this up: keep in mind, Zach's team scored 20 on us and we scored 3 on them....he kept the chains moving well enough to score.

Technically Calzada's offense scored 13 for them and our offense scored 7 for them.

Calzada was also hurt in that game against us. I think people forget he had a hurt leg and shoulder. Not sure how those injuries affected the rest of his season. 

Watching the LSU game highlights, his accuracy doesn't look bad at all but it looked like they gave him fairly easy passes to make. He appears to be panicky so that is a pretty big concern.

 

 

[bigbird 60,557]

Just now, W.E.D said:

Bo went from glorified HS coaches to Bobo/Harsin.

Calzada is coming from Jimbo who has a massive resume. 

I'm not being negative, just for fun. I'm not going to hype a guy who was bottomed 3rd in the SEC bc we been starved for decent QB play for many many years

That's fair. However, being critical and being negative aren't synonymous.

We don't know what a new offensive scheme, new coaching, or new teammates will bring forth.  I wasn't overly impressed with his overall play last season, but there are a good number of plays that did flash from his film.  He has potential and I'm not willing to write him off as a bust or even a poor man's Bo.  

[fishepa 1,904]

This is a strange thread. I for one welcome him, and hope he does well in whatever capacity he plays. 

[Mims44 1,872]

It's not a good look, based purely off production. But besides when they played AU.... I don't watch a&m games. What's their O-line look like? He got sacked more than Bo, but that could be line/scheme/Bo's ability to escape pressure?

9 minutes ago, bigbird said:

That's fair. However, being critical and being negative aren't synonymous.

We don't know what a new offensive scheme, new coaching, or new teammates will bring forth.  I wasn't overly impressed with his overall play last season, but there are a good number of plays that did flash from his film.  He has potential and I'm not willing to write him off as a bust or even a poor man's Bo.  

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

2 hours ago, cbo said:

Thank you. I didn't see TAMU much this season. 

Anyone else have an analysis of Calzada other than "he sucks, we suck" or "he beat Bama"? Strengths and weaknesses? Did he progress over the season?

This was his scouting report out of high school.....

Pro-style QB prospect with good height and frame length. Owns plenty of space to add bulk in college. Shows good touch on throws downfield. Can drop the ball on top of the receiver down the seam. Should become great on timing patterns because of touch and "catchable" ball. Not a true dual-threat, but a capable runner with mobility to keep defenses honest. Extends plays with legs and makes accurate throws on the run. Needs to get quicker in his release. Throws with somewhat of a whiplash, windup motion. Can add strength to frame to increase velocity and overall throw power. At times throws off back foot. Production has been pedestrian during junior and senior seasons. Possesses a promising physical ceiling and encouraging playmaking feel for the game to give him Power 5 starter potential.

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Farmer Brown