Let's not forget what's so important about leaders.. they bring out the best in the people around them.
I have not kept up with the Alabama depth chart this year. Tell me: Do you have a Russell Shepard hailing from Houston, TX playing that is on your depth chart?
No, I have not and did not mean to imply that. However, I have seen plenty of comments that he will start next year, or that our QB problems will be over next year once he steps on campus. I regard those as fairly lofty expectations. Very realistic. I honestly don't have a clue what might happen. JJ has plenty of tools and could develop quickly. I would love to be in clair's position and be able to see spring practice next year.
Again, to clear the record, I do not question Russell's character in any way. He was a model student while at LSU and we have not heard anything to the contrary in the NFL. I would not even question his leadership. I think he lead our team admirably. I certainly never questioned his abilities as I think he may have been the most gifted player ever to play the QB position at LSU. I simply don't think he ever picked up the game as far as being cerebral and reading defenses. I think he relied on his god-given abilities to get him through situations and that worked fine for the most part at LSU. He had one outstanding game against a mediocre Notre Dame defense that propelled him from a late first rounder/mid 2nd rounder to the very first pick in the draft. I was happy for him to reap the rewards.
My impression of Russell from afar agrees with this post. His RS frosh year behind Randall, he was not ready. His soph season, he was better, best arm I ever saw, not the best decisions. Jr. season, he was in full bloom. He could have benefitted from another year in college, but the iron was hot after Sugar Bowl, and I would have done the same and left. His progress has been slow in the pros, but hard to judge with the weak raider o-line, average receivers. I always figured it would take him 4 years to get good, like both Mannings, or any other NFL QB you can name, they all take 3 or 4 years, mostly. How good can JR be? I don't know, it depends whether he eventually grasps the pro game and gets a team around him. I think he can be at least as good as a Steve McNair from the Titans, a good long term durable QB. If he grasps the game and gets a team, his upside could be much higher. My crystal ball ain't that good. My hope is he surprises us to the upside of the scale. Geaux JR!
I think that you see a lot of guys with an arm that live will get a little "lazy" mentally and fall back on their ability to make an impossible throw rather than improve their anticipation.
People like Montana and Brady have to be a step ahead of the game, outsmarting the defenses. Even moreso for someone like Brees who is only 6 foot tall and doesn't have the strongest of arms. He appears to be 2 and 3 steps ahead of the game. I hope Russell prospers more then just financially in the NFL.
It's always funny to me when commentators make comments about Brees' arm strength. He doesn't have a Brett Favre cannon, and the coaches won't use him for punishment like Jamarcus Russel, but he's got plenty of arm to spare. We've all seen him crank out end of the game hail mary's where he gets enough air under the ball to get it 65-70 yards. And that's after throwing 40-50 passes. That's like a pitcher still throwing 95 in the 9th inning. I think the questions on his arm strength were more to do with him holding back in San Diego. In N.O., he's letting it rip and it's clear he has at least some Texas in his arm. But anyway...this ain't about Brees. Sorry to be a thread jacker.
