Recent Comments
I agree, Leal can be serviceable. Look at Noel's junior year:
11 games, 57% completions, 1826 yards, 16 TDs and 11 interceptions.
If Leal can do that over 13 games:
13 games, 57%, 2158 yds, 19 TD's, 13 interceptions
That would be a QB not getting in our way. If we can run the ball and some of the youth at LB and depth at DT comes through, we could be fine.
My concern is that Leal is El Paso bad against Ohio State, we lose to ECU in the 3rd game and we shuffle QB's all season, blowing redshirts and creating more chaos in Loeffler's system.
So we need Leal to be Grant Noel and we'll be okay.
A transfer helps us bridge the gap before guys like Ford and Durkin are ready.
Leal may be solid, but there is probably a reason the coaches are looking at transfers.
If Loeffler uses him right, I think he can be effective.
This. I think we have seen that Loeffler is very adept at using what he's got. Last year, the weapon was LT while skill positions were uncertain and the line was getting overhauled. Now, we have a better-trained O-line with a different, but similar-minded, coach and some exciting recruits at skill positions, in addition to a WR corps that grew immensely last year with Moorehead. I think, regardless of who wins the QB battle, Loeffler will put them in a position to succeed based on the schemes he creates.
I have been hoping Cam can be an over-the-top threat right away, because that's what this receiving corps needs.
Knowles had that role at the start of last year, but was terrible in creating separation and competing for jump balls. As big as Knowles is, he's better suited for the slot, which creates a log-jamb at the slot receiver position.
One of the top receivers in this class (Cam or Isaiah Ford) need to step up and fill that over-the-top receiver role that we desperately need.
Note, I didn't say they were rational. I loved Logan Thomas and was always a supporter of his.
He never got the credit he deserved from many people.
I still don't think we are in that bad a situation. I think we have many good options going forward.
I do think Leal will start this year however. If Loeffler uses him right, I think he can be effective.
People aren't going to like Joe Flacco for one reason and one reason alone: he's dull.
I think Cam's ability to get separation from defenders and his ability to catch with his hands will earn him a starting spot this fall. Let's see how he does in practice.
Brandin Cooks was on my college fantasy football team and dude was an absolute monster. For much of the year he was far and away the best WR and averaged 30 points per game. The disparity between his stats and VT records is shocking, but he had one hell of a year for a WR.
However, at the end of the day...I don't think Loeffler thinks any of his options are currently NFL guys. He is probably right. I think he wants a NFL caliber QB, and that is why he is pursuing transfers..
I still think that we can field a productive offense with the 5 guys we'll have on campus this summer.
Based on what I saw in the bowl and in the open scrimmages/spring game, I'd take Clark and Noel over Leal.
Great write up as usual. Really like how Cam keeps his arms moving as he is running routes which gives the deception of someone running full speed & keeps the cb's backpedalin as they are worried they are going to get beat over the top, hence opening up many easy slants/skinny posts in the redzone. He has the tools to be a good one.
I think our QBs will suprise. I think Leal can complete 60% of his passes and not turn the ball over. I think Ford, with some work, can do the same. I think Travon and Durkin will be great veer options if that's the direction Loeffler wants to go with the offense.
This will sound crazy to some, but based on what I saw in scrimmages this fall...I think Motley is the best throwing / running combination. He's been on campus for 2 years and hasn't switched positions yet. Bucky was here for 6 months before he was switched to the scout team TE. There is a reason for that ya'll.
I don't think it is that shocking, and I think way too much is made of the "no 100 yard receiver" moniker. Frank Beamer wants to run the football, and generally he has had great defenses but they have rarely been deep. The running game has kept the defense fresh. He also has not had the staff which has the theoretical creativity and attention to detail that is needed to facilitate an elite passing game.
That doesn't mean that the Hokies have not had a dangerous passing game. Andre Davis, Bryan Still, and Antonio Freeman were all dangerous receivers that defenses had to game plan for. Their numbers would have been much better, but VT was run focused, and Beamer didn't have the WR depth to draw double teams away from those guys.
Moving forward, depth improved. VT was still run oriented, and catches were being spread out more between the talented Royal-Morgan-Harper and Coale-Boykin-Davis-Coles groupings. The 1000 yard barrier is much more of a byproduct of system and circumstance than a lack of good players.
Loeffler's passing game is much more oriented to higher volume, which requires more sophistication and attention to detail. Expect average number of catches to go up, and average yards per catch to go down. To break the 1000 yard barrier, he will need to have elite athletes that are smart and instinctive enough to get a high volume of touches in that system, and get YAC afterwards. I am not sure if Loeffler is as interested in a vertical threat. We didn't see much of it in 2013, but the lack of guys with that skill set probably impacted his play design. They NEED that deep threat, but the receiver that breaks 1000 yards will be a guy who flourishes in the short to medium range passing game.
JC Shurburtt said we had one of the best QB recruiting classes in the nation, with 3 good prospects coming in.
Yes, we lost Logan, but the talent level from top to bottom is much, much deeper than it has been in years.
Leal, Motley, Ford, McMillian, Durkin...I like what we have and the future is bright.
Rational people didn't scream for Leal of Thomas.
Statistically, the best QB in the history of the school. His absence will be felt bigtime.
CDS...none of them have started a game yet. Give them a chance before you call them the worst VT quarterbacks in the last 15 years besides Noel and Clark. Yes, Mark Leal is not Tyrod Taylor, but we now have a capable offensive coordinator who will not ask him to be.
I have to say I mildly disagree with you on this. I don't think Leal is the only option. Motley and Ford are in the mix. A transfer would be a nice temporary solution also. It would be enticing to a transfer to have the ability to come in and play right away also.
I don't think we are in a serious pickle either...everyone complained about Logan for the past 2 years and screamed, "Put in Leal"....now we don't want Leal and think the sky is falling.
Next man up...I think we might surprise some people next year.
You are forgetting Bucky Hodges.
"Buh, But... He's a Tight End!"
Exactly!
Looking at Brewer's game log, it looks like he's just played in mop up situations.
Texas Tech's QB's are always interesting, whatever it is that they look for and utilize doesn't always translate.
I think we disagree about the quality of the options. Of the current four options, I would rank each of them below everyone who has started for VT in the bowl era but Noel and Clark. I don't see a lot of debate to that, clearly we don't have anyone who is of the quality of Mike, Marcus, Tyrod, LT, Randall or Druck. You could argue DeShazo and Glennon I guess.
I like Ford and Durkin and both could become something, but I wouldn't expect too much of them next year.
I loved this episode. Not much action but we know a lot more about the whole situation now and it was a good bridge between the past and the present. The next two episodes are going to be intense.
There are many times I end up turning it off. Although I don't mind Dukes by himself from 6-7. He usually brings up some interesting stuff in that hour. When Lavar goes on one of his rants, I almost always turn it off.
I think that he said on February 14th that he was going to visit an ACC school other than Clemson this weekend which I would assume would be Tech at this point so I'm guessing that he is not going to end up there, but you never know.
I think black history month [is] for all Americans to learn something about the struggle blacks endured and/or gain perspective on how black history helped shape the American present.
This.
And the civil rights act banning segregation was signed in 1964, only 50 years ago. 50 years, that's 25 years before I was born and around the time my parents were born (personally, that gave me great perspective yesterday as I was researching this stuff).
I work in local government. I will turn 50 in two weeks. Every time I have the opportunity to serve an
African-American who appears to be my age or older who grew up in the south, I think about the treatment that person received from government in their early life.
The thing I love about the linked oral history article was the understatement. Time and again he said, "I never experienced any real problems." As if to say, if you have not resisted to the point of shedding blood, you have nothing to complain about. Makes you think.
PS. It's good to know that, even in Arizona, black and white can sit next to each other at the lunch counter ... as long as they're not gay.
I was only 4 at the time