During the game, I was very critical of Josh Jackson in relation to the interception he threw at the end of the second quarter. Throughout the season and his career, Jackson has had a habit of leading his receivers instead of throwing to the back shoulder when the defense is in a Cover 4 and the corner is playing deeper than the receiver. Against that coverage, there is no help for the corner at the back shoulder and under throws are impossible to defend. Jackson instead has thrown the ball up the field, to the only place where the corner can make a play on the ball.
On the interception, Jackson lead the wide receiver despite ODU being in quarters coverage with the corner behind Patterson the whole way. I was VERY critical of the throw... Jackson threw it to the only spot where the ODU corner could make a play. ODU was in quarters, and there was 20 yards of open space and Hazelton between where the ball went and the next nearest ODU defender.
And Jackson not underthrowing the fade vs quarters coverage finally bites VT in the behind. Throw to the sideline and short vs that coverage— TKPFrench (@french60wasp) September 22, 2018
I just cussed for the first time watching football this season. Quarters coverage, underthrown the ball.— TKPFrench (@french60wasp) September 22, 2018
When I watched again today, I realized that I missed something in context that makes my criticism unfair. The pass route wasn't a fade. It was a stop and go designed to get behind the cornerback. Jackson's throw, if the corner had bit on the design, was to lead Hazelton over the top. Jackson put the ball where he should have if he read man coverage. The ODU corner, to his credit, didn't bite on Hazelton's fake.
Now, that said, the stop and go isn't a great call against quarters coverage, and there needs to be some kind of check down if Jackson reads man before the snap and then realizes ODU was in quarters and the double move wasn't there. There wasn't a check down available. I can argue that Jackson should not have thrown the ball at all, or should have just chucked it out of bounds. But, criticizing his accuracy on that throw was unfair. Jackson didn't have a good game with his passing, and there was plenty of be critical of. However, my credibility relies on me admitting when I get it wrong. On that play, I got it wrong.
Comments
I'm more concerned at that particular time in the game when we are up a touchdown and we can tire out their defense, we chose to throw the ball instead of running it.
I think these types of nuances are the one's most fans (this one included) miss while criticizing the play of the QB. I'm sure thats been the case with Jackson quite a bit.
That being said... JJ has some clear limitations at the QB position. Especially when you consider that the Fu-Corn offense needs a mobile QB with an arm that can stretch the field.
And with that being said... I hope the kid is OK and that he bounces back even stronger and with more determination to become an even better QB than he was pre-injury (whatever that injury is).
There were lots of other issues with Jackson during the game, from poor checks, bad pocket presence, bad decisions (even though he completed it, on the first TD drive of the second half, he made a woefully inaccurate throw that Grimsley managed to haul in while McClease was in the same line of sight and wide open at the sticks) and not so great body language. He deserved a lot of criticism, and even on this throw, a game manager would have seen the coverage and chucked it out of bounds. But, my criticism given what I called into question and how I did it was unfair given the context that I missed.
I know some got excited about Willis yesterday. I wasn't overwhelmed. I do know that if Willis is the QB the rest of the way, they are going to have to be a ton better at the wide receiver spot. Kumah, Patterson, and Savoy have to be significantly more productive than we have seen so far.
That play with the wide open check down to Dalton will forever solidify why JJ is a mediocre qb that caps a low ceiling on our offense. Not to mention he's not very athletic and his dad bod doesn't help.
Seriously could we lay off the comments about his conditioning.
We could lay off the incessant "no true Hokie" judgmentalism as well. All these down votes after a game like that reflect just as poorly.
I didn't bring up anything about being a Hokie.
That was a terrible read. I ripped it. I don't think "his dad bod" had a thing to do with his performance yesterday, good or bad. Hell, Jared Lorenzen was a really fun player to watch and he had dunlap gut for days.
Look up some pictures of the best QBs in the NFL without shirts on. The dad bod QB is more common than you'd think.
Don't really want to google that but to each his own!
Except those guys can read a defense and make throws....JJ can't.
I appreciate your willingness to admit when you are wrong, that is a lot more than most can say. I agree Jackson had a horrible game before the injury, and has always struggled with his pocket presence and occasionally with his read progression. I hope he makes a speedy recovery but in the meantime do you see a role where Fuente utilizes both Willis and Hookers skill set? With Hooker being able to run the ball well and Willis as a decent passer, I think the two of them combined combined could be better than one. Or maybe Quincy is better than both, but at doubt it at this stage of the season.
I am not sure. I do know that some folks seem to be excited about Willis. I am tepid. I saw some missed reads and poor decisions, some of which were byproducts of the situation. But, our wide receivers are going to have to be way more dynamic, and our base running game will have to be better (he is quicker than many will think, but like Jackson you don't want him running the ball 10-12 times a game) in order for him to have sustained success.
I also don't know if Hooker is the answer. I need to see him throw the football in a real game to know for sure. I was as excited as anyone about his potential coming out of HS and after seeing him in the spring of 2017. However, as the parlance goes, "he was 3rd string for a reason." I think his run threat would open up some things in the run game. He has to be good in the passing game to keep those extra safeties out of the box. ODU played a soft shell and then changed up where the 7th man in the box was coming from. That meant that they did not respect Jackson's ability to identify the coverage and make quick reads because they were basically conceding short quick throws and screens.
French, always respected and admired the football insights you provided. On top of that, you showed a lot of guts & integrity to make this public apology when you found your initial reaction to be wrong. Great model, sir! Respect you even more for this.
(Not trying to butter you up; just applauding an honest and humble attitude that is so missing in many high places today)
Thank you.
On the interception, I believe it was Patterson, not Hazelton. And he kept running straight ahead instead of undercutting the DB. That was a case where the WR could've helped out his QB.