Time to make a few QB Observations. I dont blame Jamarcus for the loss. It is a team game and you win and lose as a team. But i want to look at some positives and negatives of what i see with him as our QB. Positives: Seems to be grasping the system and has improved on reading the defense's Has a strong arm and for the most part is an accurate passer. Can move ok in the pocket to buy time. Is big and can take a hit Wants to win and plays hard. Negatives: Makes a lot of bad decisions . Doesnt stay focused in handling the ball and getting the center snap. Is very very slow and cant run out of sight in a week. Looked rattled and never settled down in the game or looked comfortable in running the offense. Jimbo Fisher and Les Miles lack confidence in him as shown by the 4th quarter 2:00 to go situation . Jamarcus Russell is a solid QB and in time may become a good QB but as of right now there are many things he needs to improve on in order to lead LSU to consistent game wins. This is the SEC and you dont win with a QB that has potential. You win with a QB that performs on the field and thinks smart and has game savvy. I would rather have a QB that thinks smart and doesnt have to have all the talent but manages the game like a leader and the coaches have confidence in him to handle pressure situations. Of coarse if you can have a QB with talent and game smarts then you have it all. I feel our offense has underperformed in the first two games this season. There are too many weapons on this team to not be scoring more points on offense. If our offense takes care of business in the first half we are up at least 35 points. This team needs to be a passing team. Yes we have talented running backs but the people are there at receiver and for this LSU team to win we need to put up more points.
I would like to see what Russell and the offense could do with a game plan that utilizes all of our wealth of talent and makes the defense defend the entire field. I would also like to see less predictable play calling so the defense doesn't have an unbelievable advantage over the offense before the ball is even snapped.
Calco, I agree with your observations. We really went conservative after he threw that INT for a TD. I kept thinking, throw the ball down the field like he did last year. This offense didn't look like the same one from the ASU game. The ASU performance of this offense was amazing, maybe that is the difference between the SEC and the Pac 10!
What you need to remember about Jamarcus is the coaching he recieved in High School was bad. I saw J-Rock numerous times during his junior and senior seasons in Mobile since one of my co-workers was a Williamson grad and we went to their games often. He has a wealth of talent but never learned a good system in HS. He was always at his best just drawing up plays in the dirt and wing'in it like we have come to see during his tenure at LSU. He needs good coaching to nurture that talent because in HS for every miracle play he made would be quickly followed up with a loss of concentration or mistakes. He doesnt have the training yet to take advantage of his skills but the bright side is the enormous potential he still has. Patience is going to be the key word with Jamarcus.
Jamarcuss needs to be pulled. All he does is pick a receiver and he is going to throw it to him no matter what. He stares them down the whole time.
Ok I agree Calico, and I'm not saying we pull him, because RP may not be any better at this point BUT you said ... . so how long do we wait, lose, waste other talent before we say ok lets get someone else in there?
Unfortunately we don't have alot of time, the other positions are loaded with talent and in the SEC you have to take advantage of that or it will go away...use it or lose it so to speak.
Not, necessarily disagreeing or agreeing with the above. Obviously JR has some pros and cons--great phyiscal talent, but has a lot to learn about game management/play management, operating consistently under pressure. Remember of course that he's not played all that long. What I do find kind of ironic about this "QB" thread is that all of the same things (and worse) probably were said about Rick Clausen... the very Tiger reject who comes back to kick our ass. Noone on this thread probably was lobbying for him to get the starting nod here over the "potential" of JR, MF and others coming in a few years ago... I don't say this to be a smart ass, I'm just saying ... we're all being alarmists. JR shouldn't be considered a savior or a goat now. It's just one game, we're 1-1, and LSU's been 1-1 plenty of times in our history. It's an up and down game, and what will probably be a very exciting and frustrating season. Last week, JR saved us on a 39 yard prayer and this week he doesn't do so hot. Does this make us a team that is inconsistent, potentially vulnerable, and not a top 5 team? Definitely. Does this mean the season's lost? No. As for how the season plays out, I'm waiting and seeing. What I can say is that it actually feels a lot like last season--when the greatest LSU coach ever was here. Saban was lucky to win his opener and then we struggled over the season with consistency. We finished with 3 losses. Hopefully we can do better this year, but did people really expect us to be undefeated?
