Thorne in '24

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,823]

15 hours ago, LPTiger said:

Watching Kentucky vs. Bama.   Leary has completed just 57% of his passes this year.  He is 2 for 5 today and has been sacked once.   Isn't Leary the one we fans wanted the most?

 

I haven't watched too much of UK but I think they had their "this is good Kentucky" season last year. They pretty much oscillate between 6 and 10 wins with that 6 being rarer with Stoops iirc. I know they lost a ton of real RB and defensive talent these last few drafts, so I'm not sure if Leary just came at the wrong time or what

 

I'd have this same logic for McCall and the new-look Coastal too. He was bad there, but it's a completely different situation than what he had around him when we wanted him. It happens yknow 

[LPTiger 5,204]

11 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Right now his "good stretch" vs 3 really bad teams is still sub 200 yards passing.  8ypa is mid

 

WED, We don't throw the ball as often as other SEC teams.   PT is just over 200 attempts.   3 SEC teams have over 300 attempts and nearly everyone else is in the high 200s.  If not for the 6 drops against Vandy he would have been in the 250-275 yard range.    PT is also second in the league in rushing yards by a QB (behind Daniels who is over 900 yards) and has 100 yards more than Milroe.   I'm not saying he is elite, but if we are building for 2-4 years down the road is the NIL $ better spent on 2 1 or 2 year QB's vs several players at other positions, whose NIL value is lower, who can contribute for 3 years?  

[W.E.D 11,070]

3 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

WED, We don't throw the ball as often as other SEC teams.   PT is just over 200 attempts.   3 SEC teams have over 300 attempts and nearly everyone else is in the high 200s.  If not for the 6 drops against Vandy he would have been in the 250-275 yard range.    PT is also second in the league in rushing yards by a QB (behind Daniels who is over 900 yards) and has 100 yards more than Milroe.   I'm not saying he is elite, but if we are building for 2-4 years down the road is the NIL $ better spent on 2 1 or 2 year QB's vs several players at other positions, whose NIL value is lower, who can contribute for 3 years?  

There are plenty of reasons we don't/haven't thrown it a lot.  It has to do with our personnel, including Thorne, and familiarity of the offense.  I think he can be better next year and it appears he's controlling the offense better lately....but the reality is he's done it vs 3 bad teams that aren't going to bowl games.  We'll see what happens during the Iron Bowl & Bowl game

The rest of my post pretty much supported Thorne being the starter next year.

[jknighton 310]

8 hours ago, AU-24 said:

I can’t remember, (and I’m too lazy to look it up) but he either as a $70 million or $80 million buyout. He’s not going anywhere.

 

[LPTiger 5,204]

I try not to play too much attention to what our rival to the west does.   I watch their games in hopes that they get blown out or, at least, lose.   Yesterday, I found this interesting and so commonsensical.   The OC says he sat down with Milroe  after the Texas game and said "what are you comfortable running and what aren't you comfortable running."  He said if he wasn't 100% comfortable with something "we cut it out."   He said the offense they are running now is completely different than what they had been running in fall camp.   I wonder if we have done that with PT?   I did read today that he has been meeting with coaches and asking more "why" questions.  

I obviously haven't studied Bama...  But, it looked like yesterday they ran a lot of flood concepts i.e. all receivers, or 4 out of 5, all running routes on one side of the field.   They had folks running uncovered all day.   And, UK couldn't get any pressure.  It appears Bama's OL does a good job of holding inside the pads and the refs were not throwing flags.   Milroe had all day to throw.  

[cbo 8,024]

17 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Thorne has a pretty low ceiling if we're all being honest.  I think he's serviceable.  His floor is relatively high as well.  I think we can expect him to perform a little better with better talent.  Right now his "good stretch" vs 3 really bad teams is still sub 200 yards passing.  8ypa is mid

What can bowl practices, spring, summer, fall camp all being the #1 guy with better talent get us?  Probably like 2700yds on the season?  That's pretty middle of the road average....BUT if he can do it efficiently with a good running game behind RBs and himself....that can win us some games.  IDK if we'll be Bama/UGA, but probably good enough to be competitive with the other 9 teams on our schedule.

None of the "top" transfers have been good this year.  Dart is much better in yr 2 than 1.  Burrows was elite in yr 2 after struggling for the first 8 games of his 1st season.  Bo Nix got better, Cam Ward/Penix all better in year two after being solid in yr 1.

It's a helluva decision for Freeze.

It’s a very difficult decision and I think it comes down to the Iron Bowl. Thorne doesn’t have be amazing but he has to look better than the first half of the season, when he wasn’t put in a good position. 

If nothing else, it’s nice to know we at least have an average QB. If we could get ann elite WR out of the portal, it would make a huge difference. 

[Dwayne Pride 379]

24 minutes ago, cbo said:

It’s a very difficult decision and I think it comes down to the Iron Bowl. Thorne doesn’t have be amazing but he has to look better than the first half of the season, when he wasn’t put in a good position. 

If nothing else, it’s nice to know we at least have an average QB. If we could get ann elite WR out of the portal, it would make a huge difference. 

With the news out of Texas today, forget the portal.  Flip Cam, keep Perry and we are okay.  
 

Come on in, boys, the water is fine. 

[Dwayne Pride 379]

27 minutes ago, cbo said:

It’s a very difficult decision and I think it comes down to the Iron Bowl. Thorne doesn’t have be amazing but he has to look better than the first half of the season, when he wasn’t put in a good position. 

If nothing else, it’s nice to know we at least have an average QB. If we could get ann elite WR out of the portal, it would make a huge difference. 

Is he average or very, VERY, average?

 

Before you react, that callback is not intended to be thrown at you. 

[AU-24 3,121]

7 hours ago, jknighton said:

 

I was definitely wrong. Now let’s go get his recruits!

[jknighton 310]

2 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

I was definitely wrong. Now let’s go get his recruits!

 

[PUB78 1,366]

On 11/6/2023 at 8:20 PM, Dwayne Pride said:

If Jimbo is going to continue to get paid, he should have to suffer through the 5-7 seasons and the criticism that comes with it.  
 

He is my least favorite coach ever that hasn’t been an Alabama head coach. 

After Dabo!

[nthemix 106]

7 hours ago, cbo said:

It’s a very difficult decision and I think it comes down to the Iron Bowl. Thorne doesn’t have be amazing but he has to look better than the first half of the season, when he wasn’t put in a good position. 

If nothing else, it’s nice to know we at least have an average QB. If we could get ann elite WR out of the portal, it would make a huge difference. 

I posted a while back that AU fans will love Thorne against teams like Samford, Vandy & a beat down Arkansas but would hate him against real competition … will stand by that … he’ll probably look like Mahomes v. NMSU … he’ll be Waldo v. bama

[Hank2020 3,228]

19 hours ago, cbo said:

It’s a very difficult decision and I think it comes down to the Iron Bowl. Thorne doesn’t have be amazing but he has to look better than the first half of the season, when he wasn’t put in a good position. 

If nothing else, it’s nice to know we at least have an average QB. If we could get ann elite WR out of the portal, it would make a huge difference. 

Data seems to suggest that Thorne has improved with the offensive changes. Could also be thst his confidence is higher against poorer teams. Bama game should provide clarity and give guidance data for QB decisions in portal. My guess right now is Freeze goes to the portal to get a good QB and lets the Spring fall where it does. 

[CameronCrazy 1,111]

Thorne has definitely improved since we stopped rotating QB’s and he now knows that he’s the guy. I’m all for him coming back in ‘24, but we need to bring in another transfer QB to upgrade that position. The transfer portal has the POTENTIAL to be loaded with some highly-rated backup QB’s and even starters that could beat out Thorne for the job in ‘24 IF they were to hit the portal. Here’s the ones that come to mind. Did I miss anyone? 

Brock Vandagriff (UGA - my personal #1)    

Riley Leonard (Duke)

Connor Weigman (Texas A&M)

Garrett Nussmeier (LSU)      

Maalik Murphy (Texas)    

 Michael Pratt (Tulane)

Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)  

Ty Simpson (UAT)

Edited November 14, 2023 by CameronCrazy

[Dwayne Pride 379]

32 minutes ago, CameronCrazy said:

Thorne has definitely improved since we stopped rotating QB’s and he now knows that he’s the guy. I’m all for him coming back in ‘24, but we need to bring in another transfer QB to upgrade that position. The transfer portal has the POTENTIAL to be loaded with some highly-rated backup QB’s and even starters that could beat out Thorne for the job in ‘24 IF they were to hit the portal. Here’s the ones that come to mind. Did I miss anyone? 

Brock Vandagriff (UGA - my personal #1)    

Riley Leonard (Duke)

Connor Weigman (Texas A&M)

Garrett Nussmeier (LSU)      

Maalik Murphy (Texas)    

 Michael Pratt (Tulane)

Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)  

Ty Simpson (UAT)

I was with you until that name.  No thank you.  

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, CameronCrazy said:

Brock Vandagriff (UGA - my personal #1)  

Why? He's don't nothing and really hasn't looked good in spring games or gotten the best practice reviews

[Gowebb11 9,468]

Interesting discussion. Go forward with the guy who closed the season strong and appears to finally command the offense and has earned the respect of his teammates. Or bring in a new guy who has to learn a new system and new teammates. 

[LPTiger 5,204]

38 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Interesting discussion. Go forward with the guy who closed the season strong and appears to finally command the offense and has earned the respect of his teammates. Or bring in a new guy who has to learn a new system and new teammates and who has done absolutely nothing at the Division 1 level but is "highly rated." 

Added to your thought.   I'd much rather use those $$$ on some highly rated kids at other positions who have 4 years of eligibility.

[GreenTiger 1,007]

3 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

Thorne has definitely improved since we stopped rotating QB’s and he now knows that he’s the guy. I’m all for him coming back in ‘24, but we need to bring in another transfer QB to upgrade that position. The transfer portal has the POTENTIAL to be loaded with some highly-rated backup QB’s and even starters that could beat out Thorne for the job in ‘24 IF they were to hit the portal. Here’s the ones that come to mind. Did I miss anyone? 

Brock Vandagriff (UGA - my personal #1)    

Riley Leonard (Duke)

Connor Weigman (Texas A&M)

Garrett Nussmeier (LSU)      

Maalik Murphy (Texas)    

 Michael Pratt (Tulane)

Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)  

Ty Simpson (UAT)

Can the SEC portal players play the same year they transfer? What is the rule on that? 

[CameronCrazy 1,111]

2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

Why? He's don't nothing and really hasn't looked good in spring games or gotten the best practice reviews

Great point . But I could make the same argument about Justin Fields. He did nothing and would’ve wasted away on the bench behind Jake Fromm until he transferred to Ohio St. Vandagriff was an elite QB prospect coming out of high school that has been in a Championship system with great coaching. I would take him in a heartbeat based on potential alone. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

48 minutes ago, CameronCrazy said:

Great point . But I could make the same argument about Justin Fields. He did nothing and would’ve wasted away on the bench behind Jake Fromm until he transferred to Ohio St. Vandagriff was an elite QB prospect coming out of high school that has been in a Championship system with great coaching. I would take him in a heartbeat based on potential alone. 

Fields played in 12 games as a TrFr.  Completed nearly 70% of his passes for just under 9yp.  Also ran the ball pretty well.  Playing in 12 games in year 1 vs 0 in 4 seasons.  Also played in a tiny HS vs Fields.

He can come back up Thorne if he wants, but it would need to be someone like Riley or Pratt who have done something if we think they'd unseat PT

[DAG 34,043]

4 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

Thorne has definitely improved since we stopped rotating QB’s and he now knows that he’s the guy. I’m all for him coming back in ‘24, but we need to bring in another transfer QB to upgrade that position. The transfer portal has the POTENTIAL to be loaded with some highly-rated backup QB’s and even starters that could beat out Thorne for the job in ‘24 IF they were to hit the portal. Here’s the ones that come to mind. Did I miss anyone? 

Brock Vandagriff (UGA - my personal #1)    

Riley Leonard (Duke)

Connor Weigman (Texas A&M)

Garrett Nussmeier (LSU)      

Maalik Murphy (Texas)    

 Michael Pratt (Tulane)

Christopher Vizzina (Clemson)  

Ty Simpson (UAT)

Vandagriff is over dudes who actually have proven stats ? Really?