Another tall, fast WR....

[Guest S.  Bien]

Each receiver gets over 100 passes in practice a week so getting only a couple thrown to you in a game doesn't mean diddly.  They're still practicing all week.  They don't suddenly forget how to catch in a game because they only had 2 thrown to them that day.  That's ludicrous.  Those guys dropped many catchable balls because they are SOFT.  They're scared of getting hit and you can see it in the way they run routes.  PJ's completion pct would have been around 55% had they caught most of those catchable balls.  

Beastie is right....also smazza I am not off, I am right on.  If you've been to a few practices you would notice that the guys dropping the balls in the games are also the ones dropping them in practice.

Watch the receiver drills and count the drops for each player, particularly the easy ones, and you'd find the most inconsistent receivers carry that over into the game.  Catching a ball is about hand eye coordination, timing, and as Beastie said having some major cajones.   I could teach a kid to run a route better so much so that in a week I could have him faking out a college corner.  However, I can't teach him to catch the ball.  I can provide drills, and coordination routines to hopefully improve that skill, but I cannot catch the ball for him.

I've seen guys that were amazing athletes, super players, that couldn't catch a ball to save their life.  Oh, they'd do the drills, they'd use the ball machines.  They'd try those little hand-eye tricks, but in the end they were still wildly inconsistent and moved positions.  

I also agree that had just the actuall catchable balls been caught, PJ's stats would have been around 52-54% completion.  Not eye popping but enough for most teams to win BCS conferences with if they've got the right offense and playcalling.

[Guest S.  Bien]

I agree, PJ isn't a passer. He was a Wing T option QB in highschool that was recruited as a WR/DB in highschool. USF told him he could play QB if he came here and the rest is history. He hasn't developed into a passer and never will.

Big deal Joe.  PJ was also 8-11 for like 137 yards in an all-star game his senior year, and had completed over 55% of his passes in HS.  I've seen lots of kids come from option orientated offenses into college and become prolific passers.  DJ Shockley, Stefan Lefors....if a kid can pass, and has poise then it doesn't matter if he threw it 2 times, or 20 times a game.  The only difference is that the kids who throw the ball less are more difficult to notice or get noticed by colleges.

If PJ can't pass then what happened in the 2004 game against TCU?  What occured against Rutgers...PSU....it's not a wing-t issue, it's a consistency issue, and poise issue.  Those are coaching problems, and things a good QB coach could address if we had one.

[Joe]

Bien, I'm not doubting he couldn't be a passer, he never developed into one. Which could be coaching, which is where you have to go 1st, but other reasons, attitude, etc.

He has played well in games, but has played terribly in one games. I never doubt an option QB becomming a great passer. Danny Wuerrfel was an option QB as was Charlie Ward.

[thebouncer1898]

I have to dissagree with you, PJ has become more efficent and a better overall passer. Yeah, he still misses reads constantl and his horrible touch on his passes, but if you look at him now compaired to the past 2 seasons, it is like night and day....

[Guest S.  Bien]

I have to dissagree with you, PJ has become more efficent and a better overall passer. Yeah, he still misses reads constantl and his horrible touch on his passes, but if you look at him now compaired to the past 2 seasons, it is like night and day....

exactly bouncer...the point is he has developed.  Granted not at the rate and speed we had hoped, and he may have hit his ceiling but he's a much better overall QB and passer than he was two years ago.  People concentrate on a loss, and zero in on this pack mentality of PJ must go.  I am not saying a better QB wouldn't have helped us, but PJ's got tools and has proven he can make passes.   What he hasn't proven is he can consistently make the reads, and passes.  And to dispell many rumors, he does make many reads, he does audible and has done it often, he does have a very strong arm and at times is the most accurate one in the rotation.  However, those have never been done consistently in games.

That's the difference, and why a good QB coach would help the maturation level.  

[dabull80]

Bien,  love your commentary but you are really contradicting yourself on this one.  On one hand you blame the coaching but then you turn around and say PJ has improved and may have hit his ceiling.  For now I think I will go with the PJ did his best and didn't have consistency needed.  IMHO.

[Bil]

Bien,  love your commentary but you are really contradicting yourself on this one.  On one hand you blame the coaching but then you turn around and say PJ has improved and may have hit his ceiling.  For now I think I will go with the PJ did his best and didn't have consistency needed.  IMHO.

I agree. He's hit the ceiling. Who knew his ceiling was only 6 feet tall? I disagree with recruiting a running QB & trying to make him into a passer. Better to recruit a prolific passer & make him into a runner, if you need one. Or build the team around his talents.  Bil

[Bullish]

I am not a fan of PJ at all because he lacks touch, can not make decisions, can not read defs, throws 10 yard slants and 20 yard outs at the same velocity and has no depth perception. He out right sucks as a passing QB and if he was the best USF had they should have run the option and limited his passes just like Nebraska did.

PJ could have TO, Rice and Irvin in 3 receiver sets and he still would have a passer rating hoovering around 50%. Lets hope the next QB is closer to Blackwell then PJ because Blackwell has been the ony respectable QB USF has put on the field.

[Bil]

Amen, Bullish! Can you say Grothe? I do wish JL or RS would lose their fixation on "athletic" QBs. Let's just have a non-athlete like Matt Leinart, or Danny Wuerfel. All they do is throw TDs, 1st downs, 10 yd outs, timing throws, and complete 60-65% of the time. PJ really brings home the ol' coach's statement, If you throw the ball, 3 things can and two of them are bad. Except in PJ's case, it s about 2.5. Bil

[bulls96go]

great if you can get him the ball