Starting QB
- Thread starter sooner_mike
- Start date
I'm with ya, I have no idea either. I would venture to guess that even the coaches aren't 100% sure either. With how shaky the QB play was last year, a new OC and QB coach, plus another year for the youngsters in the program, I would have to assume the race is wide open. At first glance you would think Trevor would have the inside track with being a previous starter, but I think it's prolly a completely clean slate with Riley coming in and taking the reigns of the offense.
No one know, except maybe a couple of coaches. However, here is how I would lay out the percentages: Mayfield @ 65%; Knight at 25% Hansen at 6% and Thomas at 4%.
My guess is that Mayfield wins the job just based on accuracy. I don't care which one wins. I just want the one that gives us the best chance to win gets the job. At this point I trust Riley with the decision. And, I hope that Bob leaves the decision to Riley.
My guess is that Mayfield wins the job just based on accuracy. I don't care which one wins. I just want the one that gives us the best chance to win gets the job. At this point I trust Riley with the decision. And, I hope that Bob leaves the decision to Riley.
I agree. I do not think anybody knows, even those three coaches. The scuttlebutt I have heard is that Hansen was eliminated before the spring game. But I thought he played the best of the four. I do not doubt that we will lose at least one of them to transfer.
Medic007
Sooner starter
Ok, I'll confess to knowing the secret. And I'll share what I know. The starting QB is not currently on campus. He does have eligibility for at least four years. What he lacks in arm strength, accuracy, size, speed, football knowledge, and overall athleticism, he makes up for in the brilliant personality department. He'll wear jersey #007.
The coaches have no idea he is planning to start at QB this fall. It should be a pleasant surprise...
The coaches have no idea he is planning to start at QB this fall. It should be a pleasant surprise...
Medic007
Sooner starter
I forgot to add that I know him really well. If any of you would "like" to show your support for him, just "like" my posts and I'll pass it on. He'll be flattered I'm sure.
What exactly could have led to Hanson being eliminated even before summer workouts? I'm having trouble believing the coaches would completely eliminate a kid from consideration this early, regardless of how far behind he may have appeared during spring drills. Lots of time between spring and the start of the season for him to close the gap.
If the quarterbacks are "not good enough" why weren't we looking at JC quarterbacks earlier in the season. I realize that would be 5 and might have caused an Exodus of current quarterbacks. I do not want to go through another season like last year. Solve one issue create another issue.
On the other hand if the supporting cast is not good enough I suppose it doesn't matter who the qb is.
From the movie Annie
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!
Seems like we have been through a lot of tomorrows.
On the other hand if the supporting cast is not good enough I suppose it doesn't matter who the qb is.
From the movie Annie
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!
Seems like we have been through a lot of tomorrows.
Soonersincefitty
Sooner starter
Soonersincefitty
Sooner starter
You're absolutely right hOUston.
I don't have the luxury of time anymore. These football folks have got to fish or cut bait.
NOW!
I don't have the luxury of time anymore. These football folks have got to fish or cut bait.
NOW!
I believe that not even the coaches have an idea at this time.
With Austin Kendall committed to the 2016 class, I see at least one QB transferring after this season. Knight and Mayfield won't be going anywhere.
BR, I'm not saying I agree with that, it's just what I have heard from multiple sources. I suppose part of it is the oft claimed benefit to limiting the number of competitors so that those most likely get more reps. Like I said, I thought Hansen looked better than anybody. He was the only one not to make a stupid pick throw.
And in the other post, I think that Mayfield is better than any possible juco transfer. For all of these guys, it's time to step up and set yourself apart. Nobody came close to doing that in the spring game. I went in expected Mayfield to look better than everybody else. Instead, he made two horrible throws that offset anything positive he might have accomplished, IMO.
I'm hearing it's some kid from Tibet named Sidd something or other....... I'm pretty sure Sidd is short for Siddhartha.
That really blows if that turns out to be true. I prefer to pull for the homegrown Oklahoma kids in the program. But that does make sense in too many QBs is spreading the limited # of reps too thin in a QB competition. That would be a tough pill to swallow for any of the QBs on campus right now, and with it being as crowded as it currently is, I wouldn't blame someone for wanting to xfer to get an opportunity elsewhere.
Quite frankly, based on what I saw last year and the so-so performances during the Spring Game, I don't have a lot of confidence in the QB position heading into the 2016 season. Someone's going to have to make big strides over the summer and I'm not sure if any of these guys can play at a consistently high level.
Like everyone else, I have no idea, but I wouldn't call Mayfiled as accurate. Maybe more so than the rest, but he's not that accurate. His freshman play had a high rate of INT /TD ratio, and then the spring game did not impress me at all. I sure hope we don't struggle again at QB play this season.
Who you thinking maybe Cody Thomas to transfer? I hope they all stay we will need them.
Medic007
Sooner starter
OU might not have Joe, John, Peyton, or Tom in the huddle, but Riley has put some decent QBs on the field. Hopefully his offense will maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of whoever gets the nod.
I'm with you on this one would love to see Hanson roll with it. The kid looked really good last spring coming in as a true freshman. If he puts in the work I think he will be rewarded. It would really be hard for the coaches to not give this kid a hard look in the fall.
I don't think any of us has a clue about who is looking good in practice, in scrimmages and who might step up this summer. That leadership stuff we talked about before will be big this summer. I also think that if we stay reasonably healthy, that we'll have a receiver group that will give each of these quarterbacks the opportunity to be successful. That wasn't the case last year after the idiot photographer in the SW end zone injured Shep and his season went downhill from there.
OUr other guys weren't up to the task.
It may very well be that this offense will make the receivers look better. Be better. I just know that the basics of route running AND CATCHING THE DAMN BALL were sorely lacking in 2014 once Shep became mostly a spectator.
I also think that if we don't get a big step up at center and guard, and get the tackles replaced successfully, that whomever the quarterback is might not matter. The wheels came off offensively and it was a lot more about player performance than scheme or any other administrative matter. These guys have to play better. The quarterbacks, the receivers, the line. I think we'll be pretty good at running back. I think Joe Mixon will be a star. Shep is as good as anybody we've had in a decade. And Samaje will be better.
Everybody else has to be significantly better.
I've heard good things about the tackle possibilities. But at center and guard, the returnees have to be better. The tight end ought to be interesting.
All of that impacts how good the quarterback can be. And likely who.
I don't think quarterback will matter so much next year if Shepard, Perine, and Mixon stay healthy. Just distribute the ball to those three guys on a pretty even basis and the offense could be somewhat hard to stop. Any other semi-consistent help (from a TE, or another WR, or good line play) would be gravy.
I haven't heard a whisper about any QB being eliminated. That goes against everything I know about Bob Stoops. I just don't think the coaches would just eliminate one of the four for additional reps for the other three. Common sense tells me that Mayfield and Knight will get the bulk of the reps after the first 10 or days of Fall practice.
Well QB always matters and matters considerably. My guess is that what you are trying to suggest is that we don't have to have an All-American type at QB for us to be successful. I do agree with that. A QB who is smart and has some skills at reading defenses and is accurate is necessary to be able to distribute the ball to the playmakers. We learned that last year with Knight. He simply wasn't good at reading defenses or consistently making accurate throws.
Josh Heupel is a good example of a QB with some smarts, great leadeship with adequate skills. We just need someone close to what Heupel gave us in 1999 and 2000. I never saw Josh as a Heisman or All-American type from a mechanical standpoint. However, he was damn good at all the other tangibles. It is always the intangibles that makes a great QB and Josh was that with the intangibles.
A guy that hardly anyone ever mentions when talking about former OU quarterbacks is Dave Robertson. Robertson followed Jack and did a great job of running the offense with efficiency. I've heard Barry talk about how special Dave was and how much he did for OU that single year he was QB. If any of the current QBs can run Riley's offense as capably as Robertson ran Barry's offense in 1972, I think fans would be very pleasantly surprised AND grateful with the young playmakers that are on this squad. They need a strong leader like Robertson. IMO.
Robertson would have been pretty good running this offense. He was recruited to be a passing I formation quarterback in the mold of Bobby Warmack, but we switched to the bone during his soph year. He was about a 4.8 guy trying to run a wishbone, but he was by far the best guy on the team his senior year after Mildren graduated. We put in a special wrinkle on the option for the trip to Ames and he kept the ball and ran about 50 inside the Cyclone 5 YL. The bench got kind of excited.
Plaino, I never met Robertson, but my old junior high coach (Jim Issac) actually coached him in high school out in California before moving back to Oklahoma. Jim told me that Dave was a really good passing QB, but wasn't surprised that he performed well in Barry's offense. He said Robertson was a very smart kid and rarely got too excited. Of course, he had a bunch of great players surrounding him in '72. I remember he and Tinker hooked up for about half of his passing yards and Tink was only a freshman??? Anyway, I agree with you that Robertson could have done well in Riley's offense and I hope that one of the current guys can too.
Fitty, I know how you feel. Sometime ago I stated it was 10 years since our last (football) NC. Will there be one more in any of the next 10 years?
Of all the teams I root for OU football is at the top of the list though I would sure like to see a NC in basketball.
Years ago I said that OU will never make it back to the basketball finals. Well I was wrong. They did, they lost and it still hurts. Beat KU 3 times. Just could not do it when it counted.
I am too embarrassed to list all the teams I root for. A pretty sorry list.
Go OU gymnastics. I should buy a national championship shirt.
Well at this point we know what we get with two of the QBs so they leaves a betting man with Mayfield or Hanson. Until the kid from NC gets on campus. WS
I think Cody will be a different quarterback this year. Don't know if he'll excel or not, but I don't think you can ascribe last year's performance to his next three. I expect a new and improved edition of CT.
Dave was in my class. That was a loaded class one year after the Mildren class, that put OU back on the road to greatness. There were two quarterbacks in that class, Robertson and Dan Ruster. Ruster was from Littleton Colorado and came to OU because he said he wanted to "beat out Jack Mildren." They split time on the Boomers taking snaps. But Ruster tore up his throwing shoulder and moved to the secondary early in his varsity career.
The other quarterback in Mildren's class, who might have been a great quarterback at OU had he been willing to redshirt, was Mike Jones who transferred to what was then called Central State in Edmond (UCO now) and was a small college star. Jones ended up in college coaching and did a stint as an assistant coach at OU.
The next class was primarily quarterbacked by James Stokely who was a single wing hs quarterback at Haltom City. He started for the Boomers but after a varsity redshirt year, transferred.
The class after that was Steve Davis class that had seven quarterbacks in it. I can remember maybe five of them. Gary Vorpahl. E.N. Simon. Larry McBroom, Glenn Gunter, James Mabry. There was another who split time with Steve on the Boomers, but none of them was ready to play after their freshman year.
It was thought that two hot shot quarterbacks in the freshman class of 1972, which was the first year in more than two decades when freshman could play varsity football, might be able to run our wishbone. But the favorite was Scott Hill, who'd been considered co top quarterback in Texas his senior year along with Marty Akins who went to Texas. And of course the other was Kerry Jackson, who ended up being the back up and then in trouble for an administrator changing his transcript. Hill competed in a pre season scrimmage and separated his throwing shoulder. It was later decided that he wouldn't enroll until second semester, leaving Jackson an impressive athlete whom Barry LOVED. (That was Coach Switzer's last year as OC. Chuck was the HC)
That Ruster-Robertson class included these great Sooners: Greg Pruitt, Joe Wylie, Al Chandler, Raymond Hamilton, Tom Brahaney, Dean Unruh, Eddie Foster, Stump 1, Stump 2 and Stump 3 (Vic Kearney, Jon MIlstead and Danny Mullen. The numbers may be misaligned), Derland Moore (though he came on a track ship to start.), Larry Roach, Mike McLaughlin, John McLaughlin, Leon Crosswhite, Gary Baccus, Mike Struck and Tommy Saunders. All but one or two of those guys started more than one varsity game at OU.
There were like ten possibilities, though at least a couple moved to defense and a couple more transferred to smaller schools. Most people thought Robertson was too slow to be a wishbone quarterback. But he had the confidence of the senior class, which dominated the offensive starters. He was clearly the best leader and the best at reading the defense, and doing the mechanics with a whole lot fewer mistakes. And he gave us a drop back throwing threat that allowed us to come from down 14-0 in Lincoln, and to get passing yards against a quality Penn State defense in the Sugar Bowl.
We also beat Dan Fouts' Ducks 68-3. Robertson was way better than Jackson, despite the latter's superior athleticism. But Kerry had no college football experience and it showed. Dave moved the team better and didn't turn it over nearly as much. Jackson had a stronger arm, but it was less seasoned and a lot less accurate.
Dave got us from Jack to Steve. We were 11-1. And Dave did something Jack never did. He won a conference title. He was bright, humble, competent and a winner. Including freshman games, he played in or started 16 games in his career, not including varsity mop up before 1972 and he only lost once, on the ice in Boulder. He got it done.
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I'm not positive. I think Jerry was in the last freshman class not eligible to play on the varsity, which would have been Steve Davis' class. If so, he'd have been two years behind me. He could have been one year behind me and I just forgot. That was the year I was the Boomer manager. It was my soph year. But he'd have been a freshman in either 1971 or 1970. I know he wasn't in my class. And I know he started after I graduated, which according to Soonerstats was his junior year of 1973. So he was a soph in '72. He was a very strong young man.
1974 would be about right.
A story about Jerry: He called on my grocery store in Stillwater, Ok as a young manufactors rep for Procter and Gamble. He new I was a huge fan of OU and talked me into ordering 100 cases of a new product called Cascade Auto Dishwasher. Hell, back in those days, nobody had dishwashers in their houses. It took me forever to sell the product.
I remember him as pretty large, but not much bigger than I. He did have the largest shoulders I have ever seen.
I hope he stayed with P@G because I know a couple of people his age that retired millionaires from the stock options..............
