Nothing wild, but:
- It's easier with Bowen being the QB coach
- Drones is a good presence in the QB room
- Improvements at skill positions
- Ali Jennings is good
- Pry is exactly the same on the camera and off the camera
- Pry likes competition
- Wells wants Morgan Freeman to play him in a movie
- Wells is getting married in May
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Comments
I'm totally buying. Morgan Freeman can do anything!
Excited to see Wells vs Drones on Saturday and how that competition is shaping up. The TSL pod yesterday mentioned that Pry indicated there would be mixing and matching on teams, so we probably won't get much
sense of who the true 1 team is right now. But I imagine we throw the ball a lot early on to get these new wideouts some work against the DBs and probably a run-heavy second half to wind down the clock and get out of the stadium. Hoping Wells has improved his game and Drones is also bringing his best to the field and adding great competition.
I'll check back when the interview with QB1 is up
I think it is 😬
If you read the comments Evan Watkins has posted on 247, I think it's very likely that Drones is the starter. He started the spring with a tweaked ankle and no knowledge of the playbook, but has made big strides and big plays every week, while wells has been playing consistently the same.
The battle will go into the fall (we knew that) but if Wells wins the job, I imagine it's because Drones can't figure out the playbook. Based on French's review of drones when he first signed, I'd be surprised if that was the case.
I won't lose sleep if Wells is the day 1 starter. I will be surprised if he's still the starter by the end of September, though.
I think it could go one of two ways.
1. He's exactly the same as last year and is supplanted by Drones by the end of the first month.
2. He's vastly improved from last year and rightfully earns his spot at the top of the depth chart.
I won't be concerned unless we get to option...
3. He's exactly the same as last year but is not supplanted by Drones - meaning the coaches don't trust Drones, Drones isn't good enough to beat a bad Wells, or the coaches just don't know WTF they are doing.
Yea, this is where I'm at as well. I want the best QB starting, and I don't care who it is. But there needs to be an improvement at the position. Can't whiff on QBs in back to back years in the transfer portal era.
My opinions on your scenarios:
1. Irked, but not going to lose sleep over it. "Why wouldn't we just start Drones from the outset?" would probably me only only gripe.
2. Great
3. This is only the one that would make me legitimately worried about the program/offensive staff situation.
totally on board with you here
FTR, I'm not expecting Wells to be the day 1 starter. I'm just saying I wouldn't be shocked and I'm not going to pull out my pitchfork if he's the guy on day 1. I hope Drones beats him out. If that takes all of fall camp and a couple of games then so be it.
Of the scenarios I outlined above, I find #2 to be the least likely.
I'll only start getting really worried if Wells has failed to demonstrate significant progress from last year AND Drones can't take the starting job by October. Because, frankly, he was pretty bad last year and I don't think this offensive coaching staff can survive another season with that level of performance at QB. I believe there is a small chance that Wells can show marked improvement but given his age, level of experience, and the pieces around him (particularly the pieces in front of him) the odds that he will be much better are, IMO, not good) But if he earns the starting spot and proves it on the field of play, more power to him. I just don't have much faith that is how it will play out.
imo i'd rather the staff roll with Wells and then move to Drones and have us all wondering why they didn't start with him from the get go rather than they start with Drones and he struggles and the fanbase turns on him, the staff, the team, etc.
Bad part is, even with the new coaching regime, I feel like Hokie fans are conditioned to expect option 3, after what we went through with the last staff
and the staff before that...and the staff before that
VT offensive coaching staff has been cursed ever since Steinspring took the OC job
To be fair to the Beamer regime, if the younger, less experienced QB was thought to be better than the starter, he went with that QB unless there was a redshirt available. That was true for MV7, Marcus, and TT. MV7 won the starting the job over Dave Meyer, the more experienced back up that played in garbage time in 1998. Marcus did split time and eventually replace the more experienced Randall his RS freshman year. And TT did replace the more experienced Sean Glennon in game 2 of his freshman year. All three were redshirted, or began their first year redshirting.
To me, it was unclear how CornFu selected their starting QB. It seemed like they played their favorites (despite talent level) unless their favorite was hampered with injuries.
It is unknown how Bowen will choose his QB, but I don't imagine that he would play Wells over Drones unless Wells was unquestionably the better player. TBo put way too much effort into recruiting Drones for him to to be the projected backup. He is Bowen's first major recruit. So, unless the play in practice dictates that Wells is the starter, I just don't see Bowen going that way.
this all makes sense...but also...we're jaded AF