Nico's 'solid' performance?

#26
#26
What Nico needs to learn is that he can't always wait for receivers to be wide open--there's going to be situations where he has to let it rip and try and thread the needle. He can't consistently get happy feet and try to escape the pocket for this offense to operate effectively.
 
#27
#27
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
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If Keyton doesn't stop on that deep pass it's easily a TD and well over 200 yards. Plus 3 other drops. And let's remember Peytons 1st start vs Wash St.. 7-14 79 yards.. 10-9 win! Nuff said! We all know what he went on to do!
 
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#29
#29
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
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Played better than Manning did his first start
 
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#30
#30
My praise is based on the opinion that he looked comfortable, seemed to have good awareness, and threw the ball accurately. He looked like a freshman, but the physical tools live up to the hype. Time will tell if he learns to throw the ball away and if his ability to see the field improves. Our WRs weren't getting as open as I'd like but there were windows that Nico missed... which is expected with a frosh in his first start.
 
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#31
#31
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
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Keyton stopped running on what looked like a perfectly placed deep ball. That adds 40-50 yards and a TD. Sampson dropped 1 that would’ve been another 20 if not more. Haven’t went back to look, but in real time it seemed he had maybe 1-2 seconds to avoid most of the sacks. I know at least one (66 maybe?) the RT was beat off the line almost giving a free rush.
 
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#33
#33
volfan411 said:
I think Nico played great for his first start and being a freshman but I am not in the group who think this was a preview of his 2024 Heisman campaign. Hopefully he learns and grows from the game yesterday and he becomes one of the Vols greatest QB in the history of the program.

It does bother me that the posters who were beating up on Joe failed to acknowledge the poor play of our receivers all season but seemed to recognize it yesterday.
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I agree with you that the receiving corp was not great this year, but Joe never got over the habit of overthrowing his receivers constantly. He's going to have to work on that with a QB guru if he ever wants to play in the NFL
 
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#35
#35
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
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Yes, you're being nitpicky.
 
#36
#36
wtmvol said:
There is some truth to this. But I would counter with a few things:

1) He would have had about 50 more yards and another TD if Keyton didn't stop running on the one long pass
2) This was really game #1 for Nico. He's not a polished QB yet. We're just looking for glimpses of things he can do
3) Iowa's defense is good. It might not really be top 5 good, but it's good - probably the 4th best we ran into throughout the season.
4) We were down several players on offense that would have made Nico look better

I tend to focus on the things he showed he's capable of and not the overall passing yards. And, like you said, took what the defense gave him and didn't do anything stupid. That's all he needed to do.
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AND HE WENT THROUGH MULTIPLE READS. What a great change.
 
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#38
#38
Goodness, the kid wins his first start 35-0 against a Top-10 team, contributes 4 TDs and has 0 turnovers….

But, OP just didn’t “feel” like it passed the eye test.

Sheesh!
 
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#39
#39
Johnnyreb#VFL said:
It’s a lot more than the numbers for me. It’s the poise, situational awareness, reads through progressions, ability to improvise that stood out to me. All in his first college start against a top 5 defense. So yeah
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Nico's situational awareness is much better than Joe's. IMHO, the lack of it is Joe's biggest weakness.
 
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#40
#40
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
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Yes you are too critical. Nico should have played more during the regular season. What I saw was a young QB that was quick and decisive in his decision making which is a plus and a breath of fresh air. He protected the ball and didn’t make any costly mistakes and made good on time throws. To me he handled the game very well and the only slightly negative thing I can say is to learn to throw the ball away and not take an unnecessary sack. But that will be corrected by the coaches. Overall I was very pleased with his play yesterday
 
#41
#41
I’m so happy we have fans with the forethought to keep us grounded and to temper the excitement over a true freshman 5-star QB throwing for 62% and a TD, plus rushing for 44 yards and 3 more TD’s…all against (statistically) the number 4 Defense in the country. I almost let my enthusiasm get away from me. Wow…that was too close. I almost was thankful that the coaches kept him within the system, and didn’t ask too much of him…likely on purpose.
 
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#42
#42
His passes were accurate and he ran well. He got the offense to the line and got plays off quickly. Took some hits and popped right back up and went to work. He does need to learn when a play is not there and to just throw it away. Sometimes you need to put the stats aside and judge things with your eyes and Nico passed the eye test as far as I am concerned.
 
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#44
#44
Threw an absolute perfect long ball to Keyton who for whatever reason slowed up and made no play on the ball whatsoever. Watch that video of that play and focus on that pass location..dime. Prbly was at least a 60 yard throw which would have put Nico over 200 yds easily and he would have had 5 total touchdowns! 3 running and 2 throwing! Amazing first start. The film study of this game will be a huge learning moment for the entire team.
 
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#45
#45
jasonvol18 said:
Absolutely! And another drop that could have gone 10 yards or much longer by Keyton. Plus 2 other WR drops. He easily should have been 16-19 225+ yards and 2 Passing TD's. And against an Elite defense.
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Did you include the missed shuttle pass by Sampson?
 
#46
#46
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
Click to expand...
I think some would consider JJ McCarthy to be pretty elite..

McCarthy
22-30 (73%) 147 yards 0 TD 4 sacks

Iamaleava
12/19 (63%) 151 yard 1 TD 6 sacks

Did he go out and throw 500 on them? No. But nobody else did either

Penn states QB only had 166 yards passing.

McCarthy put up more passing yards on Alabama in the playoff game for reference…
 
#47
#47
tennesseekilt said:
First of all, great win and an overall good performance by everyone other than the OL and RBs in protection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to question the seemingly overblown praise of Nico. While I did feel like it was a good performance overall, it's hard to call 150 passing yards "showing out" in any way, shape, or form - despite what the media and online posters have contended. And while some of the runs, and obviously the TD ones, were nifty, I felt like he didn't do a great job evading rushers or passing with any accuracy while on the run.

On the plus side, and it's a huge plus, he took what the defense gave him and didn't make any costly mistakes. Still, I would have liked to see some connections on deep balls and at least one or two 'wow' plays that would have really showed us what's coming.

Am I being nitpicky? Again, love the win and I'm excited for the Nico era, but I just don't think this game was that much of an indicator of what we'll see. At least I hope not.
Click to expand...
He consistently showed his ability to move smoothly, quickly, and accurately through his progressions. . . noticeably making it to his 4th read on several occasions throughout the game. He wasted no time when he decided where he wanted to throw the ball and delivered very accurate passes.

He displayed his ability to scramble on plays that broke down. He showed very little stress and zero panic. His communication with the sideline and offense was never confused and there was no evidence that any miscommunication ever happened.

He commanded the offense like you rarely see from a freshman and showed an ability to protect himself on tackles. He also showed no problem running the offense at high tempo. He showed that he knows when to use touch and when to zip it and that he's capable of making those throws anywhere in the field.

150yds is not overly impressive by itself, but when you add these others points, it becomes very impressive from a true freshman.
 
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#48
#48
They kept the play calling very vanilla for him, and it worked. I’m optimistic that by the first game of the 2024 season he will look much more polished and comfortable and they will dig deeper into the playbook. He already resembles HH when running the ball (to me at least) and I hope he can throw it downfield like him too.
 
#50
#50
I mean he put up 35 points on Iowa’s defense, which is more points than any other team, Michigan included, scored on them.
 
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