Tommy Rees QB=not that big of an issue

[purguy12]

Its only a spring game. The best QB in that game was the Freshman. Golson didn't look great either so Hendrix not looking great really shouldn't mean much. Its a practice game.

 

[Irish7478]

Rees will/should be the starter, but I guarantee you he'll probably have a very short leash. All you Hendrix-huggers might not be so keen on the guy if you had seen his poor showing in the Blue/Gold game. Ya, it's just a spring training camp game, but many take that Blue/Gold game pretty seriously. It was pretty bad. Personally, I hope Tommy gets off to a good start and can keep us winning games. This kid has earned his spot/right(s) to be the starter with all he's been through and still keeps a super, positive attitude toward the team and everything true about ND athletics! I would ask that we cut him a little slack and give him some support ... he's earned that much.

When you say "all he's been through", is that a reference to his suspension, or his issues with the confrontation with the cop due to his underage drinking. Having Tommy playing QB does not scare me as much as it does many here, but he became a starter as the result of an injury, and lost it as a result of his suspension. I did my share of underage drinking, and don't think it's a big thing, but Let's not make him out to be a victim.

 

[craigk217]

When you say "all he's been through", is that a reference to his suspension, or his issues with the confrontation with the cop due to his underage drinking. Having Tommy playing QB does not scare me as much as it does many here, but he became a starter as the result of an injury, and lost it as a result of his suspension. I did my share of underage drinking, and don't think it's a big thing, but Let's not make him out to be a victim.

I was basically grouping everything together ... mainly the on-field issues and all of the ups & downs he's had during his playing days and having to learn Kelly's system. He's taken alot of it "in stride" and always put the team first.

 

[purguy12]

I agree he has been a great Team player and I think he knows he is just a back up QB who can come in and keep the team on the right track. When he plays for a extended time he doesnt play well.

 

[FightinIrish]

purguy, I am wondering why you would rather see Hendrix or Zaire. Hendrix doesn't have much experience and the coaches have obviously not seen anything from Hendrix to move him above Rees. Hendrix and Rees are the only QBs the Irish have that have taken any college snaps. What little I have seen Hendrix play, I have not been impressed. I am sure that Kelly wishes he had a better option than Rees, but Rees is the best option we have to start the season.

If Zaire is the best QB on the bench it doesn't make any sense at all to keep him benched because if Zaire does well "it's hard to go back to Golson". If Zaire is better than Golson then he's the guy I want on the field. Regarding Golson, I wish we had him back, but he was by no means one of the best freshman QBs last year. I would take Manziel, Mariota, Hundley, Hogan, or Walsh in a heartbeat before Golson because they were way better freshman QBs. Golson was just "pretty good for a freshman". No great loss.

purguy, we are both Irish fans and I respect your opinion. I mean no disrespect with this (my first) post but I wanted to state why I disagree. Even though I disagree with you about this Rees thing, I enjoy reading your posts.

 

[purguy12]

FightinIrish- Well with Hendrix you can still run the same offense as Golson. Hendrix can run and has a Big arm. He can make plays from his feet and he can escape pressure. That is why.

I agree I wish Golson was back. I was just stating that if you go with Zaire and he does well it will be tough to go back to Golson when he comes back because if u bench Zaire he might leave then.

Hey we don't always have to agree and that is what is great about these boards so far. Not much name calling or trolls. I just think Rees is better as a back or reserve role like last year. When he plays extended time he gets killed. Do I think Hendrix is great NO, I just think he can do more to help the Irish. Both will throw INTs.

 

[craigk217]

The bottom line in all of this and prolly the main reason BK decided to announce Rees as the starter is Rees is "the best option" the Irish have as a starter ... and the fact that I dont think BK wanted a QB controversy stirring amongst the team. Obviously Golson would have made the better choice, the that is NOT an option now. ND will just have to play what I call "damage control" the best they can with Rees and hope like hell he has learned better and will make minimal mistakes. Maybe it's the optimist in me, but I just gotta believe that some of the experience Tommy gained has to pay off somewhere down the line. Am I a big-time Rees supporter? ... hell no ... but he is our guy right now and I'm hoping he just keeps the ship steady throughout the season. I fully expect to see Hendrix/Zaire get some PT throughout. Such a shame Gunner Kiel decided to bail also ... who knows what he was capable of doing ... oh well.

 

[craigk217]

purguy, I am wondering why you would rather see Hendrix or Zaire. Hendrix doesn't have much experience and the coaches have obviously not seen anything from Hendrix to move him above Rees. Hendrix and Rees are the only QBs the Irish have that have taken any college snaps. What little I have seen Hendrix play, I have not been impressed. I am sure that Kelly wishes he had a better option than Rees, but Rees is the best option we have to start the season.

If Zaire is the best QB on the bench it doesn't make any sense at all to keep him benched because if Zaire does well "it's hard to go back to Golson". If Zaire is better than Golson then he's the guy I want on the field. Regarding Golson, I wish we had him back, but he was by no means one of the best freshman QBs last year. I would take Manziel, Mariota, Hundley, Hogan, or Walsh in a heartbeat before Golson because they were way better freshman QBs. Golson was just "pretty good for a freshman". No great loss.

purguy, we are both Irish fans and I respect your opinion. I mean no disrespect with this (my first) post but I wanted to state why I disagree. Even though I disagree with you about this Rees thing, I enjoy reading your posts.

Welcome aboard FightinIrish! The more Domers ... the merrier! You come over from ESPN?

 

[Irish7478]

I'm another of those guys that would like to see Hendrix make it as the starter. He has a much stronger arm, and has the mobility that Rees is lacking. Therefore i believe he has a significantly bigger upside and he also has two years of eligibility left. He has, unfortunately been unable to put it together on the field so far.

The bottom line is that If Zaire looks good, and can become the starter, that's great, but if Hendrix can step up, share time this year with Rees and preserve a year for Zaire, that would be even better. I still say the defense will be great this year, we just need the offense to hold its own.

 

[purguy12]

I will support who ever the QB is. That is what us Irish fans have to do. I just dont want to go into week one and Rees plays bad and we lose and then the season is like over in 1 week. I do agree Rees will have a short leash.

 

[craigk217]

I will support who ever the QB is. That is what us Irish fans have to do. I just dont want to go into week one and Rees plays bad and we lose and then the season is like over in 1 week. I do agree Rees will have a short leash.

Totally agree ... I dont think I could stomach another USF game ... gawwwd ... that was a hard one to swallow.

 

[FightinIrish]

Craig, thanks for the welcome. I visited the ESPN forum regularly for the last year or so. I never posted because the trolling was out of control and there was no civility amongst the fans. It seemed like everyone was at each other's throat. This looks like a good forum to talk football without all the noise.

 

[NDKane21]

Was thinking about this a bit today on the ride home from work...conclusion:

'13 Rees = '01 possibly '02 Ken Dorsey. I'll take that.

 

[purguy12]

NDKane; 1 difference Miami was stacked on offense. Yes ND has a good D but their O well is up in the air. We dont really know what we have on offense right now. No Floyd or Efiert this year. Not even a Theo or Wood. Alot of unknown on offense except the Oline.

 

[KnuteRoc]

I responded to this topic a couple months ago on the CBS board before the exodus...

I reasoned Hendrix due to his similarity with Golson. As Purguy eluded to, this would keep Kelly from having to adjust or defer to different parts of the playbook for one, secondly, it'd allow Rees to provide relief like he did for Golson. Now normally I'm not that big a fan of QB by committee but Kelly has made it work and probably in part due to the selfless attitudes of the QB depth chart.

Now as Purguy pointed out, with no "go-to" star on O I can see why Kelly has chosen Rees, he's likely considering his experience will come in handy and for the moment it suggests that they'll be a balanced offense to opposing D's. However, my concern is that with Rees and his lesser mobility, defenses may stack the box. This could put more (undue) pressure on the running game and also forces the receivers to get separation early since Rees isn't very mobile. If you sell out on the blitz and the receivers get little separation leading to a negative/zero-net result, it's only going to encourage more blitzing. Add to that Rees' relative lack of arm strength on some pass types and this could lead to other problems (turnovers).

Now on the flipside, Hendrix would provide the threat of the run which would help to keep D's honest, which in turn helps the running game and the passing game as blitzing is a bit more risky for mobile QBs especially if you're not disguising the blitzer. Of course the downside with Hendrix so far as I know is his effectiveness and efficiency with passing.

I sort of see them as such:

Hendrix: Pass to setup the run (and even run to setup the pass)
Rees: Run to setup the pass (and even pass to setup the run)

I think the question that needs answering is, which will be the stronger suit, running or passing? I'm leaning toward running until I see otherwise.

Now it very well may-be that Hendrix just doesn't have a good enough handle on or doesn't execute the O as well as Rees at this time as suggested by Kelly's choice for starter, but without a strong receiving corp and limited arm-strength and mobility, Rees worries me back there simply because you limit your options where as with Hendrix you maximize (theoretically).

 

[whywork2]

The problem lies in the fact that he doesn't have a strong arm and isn't fast. He isn't strong either. He's simply not much of an athlete. He is a fairly tough kid who has made some big plays for the Irish. I like his gumption and his heart but realize he is limited physically do certain things. He has to excel with his decision making and his accuracy because speed and arm strength weren't his god given attributes. I wish him the best. I hope he has a great season. I have quite a bit of faith in the defense and have a good feeling about the running game. The question is.. can Tommy be efficient?

 

[idseer]

i see 8 wins TOPS with 7 more likely if tommy is the regular q-back. i see lots of people here saying he's not that bad ....... yes he is! there are question marks at every critical position and it's folly to think all of them will turn out just fine. this is the kind of nd thinking that so many other fans have made fun of for years now. i think they are ranked too high considering what we lost for this season and we will be lucky to finish in the top 20.

sorry ... but that's the way i see it.

 

[Irish7478]

i see 8 wins TOPS with 7 more likely if tommy is the regular q-back. i see lots of people here saying he's not that bad ....... yes he is! there are question marks at every critical position and it's folly to think all of them will turn out just fine. this is the kind of nd thinking that so many other fans have made fun of for years now. i think they are ranked too high considering what we lost for this season and we will be lucky to finish in the top 20.

sorry ... but that's the way i see it.

Just curious, how many wins we're you predicting last year at this time?

 

[idseer]

Just curious, how many wins we're you predicting last year at this time?

i think it was also around 8. do you think this means we'll play for the championship again? :rollseyes:

 

[Irish7478]

i think it was also around 8. do you think this means we'll play for the championship again? :rollseyes:

I don't know. I predicted one loss last year, with the stipulation that it would not be to one of the teams that a lot of posters thought were sure losses (Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, USC or Stanford). I was worried about BYU and Pitt.

This year I'm also going for one loss. This year I am worried about ASU and either Air Force or Purdue (based on where they are on the schedule). So would we play for the NC with one loss, I doubt it, but we should make a BCS game. Like last year, I think we will have a great defense, and this year I don't have the concern about the corners that I did last year.