JG coming off bench???

#1

madbamahater

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#1
Remember, in the past JG came off the bench in several games and was not the "starter"? He seemed to play better that way for some reason. I never understood that rational, but if it helps him oh well.

Could the Vols have had a different outcome if they would have yanked him after the first signs of his second half meltdown and allowed him to re-enter the game after being "benched"? Could this have slowed his spiraling meltdown and madness? Possibly.

If the staff has done this with him in the past, multiple times, why not this season? What has changed? Has Pruitt and the staff just forgotten this was a more effective approach for him?

Mind boggling.
 
#2
#2
JG plays better against average defenses. The games he came off the bench were against average defenses. He struggles against elite defenses that confuse him with different looks, esp in zone. He came off the bench against Bama last year and sucked hard.
The reason he always does bad against FL, GA, Bama is that we are out-matched in those games on the line and he has to do more than 'just manage', he has to make plays. He is really bad in those times as his read never progressed and still holds the ball too long.
Against GA, two of the three fumbles should have been a sack. We punt and move on. The INT could have been a throw away or sack. He did not sense pressure and did not secure the ball. These are the mistakes freshmen QBs make all the time. His growth hit ceiling somewhere around there.
Pruitt wants to stick to a JG, a guy who can win him against Ky, Vandy, Arkansas and may be Auburn. Go 6-4, save the job. Putting a new guy can cost him one of those games if things go bad. JG does good/average where he is just managing the games and then gets to take some deep shots to wide open receiver.
 
#3
#3
JG plays better against average defenses. The games he came off the bench were against average defenses. He struggles against elite defenses that confuse him with different looks, esp in zone. He came off the bench against Bama last year and sucked hard.
The reason he always does bad against FL, GA, Bama is that we are out-matched in those games on the line and he has to do more than 'just manage', he has to make plays. He is really bad in those times as his read never progressed and still holds the ball too long.
Against GA, two of the three fumbles should have been a sack. We punt and move on. The INT could have been a throw away or sack. He did not sense pressure and did not secure the ball. These are the mistakes freshmen QBs make all the time. His growth hit ceiling somewhere around there.
Pruitt wants to stick to a JG, a guy who can win him against Ky, Vandy, Arkansas and may be Auburn. Go 6-4, save the job. Putting a new guy can cost him one of those games if things go bad. JG does good/average where he is just managing the games and then gets to take some deep shots to wide open receiver.
Pretty much sums it all up. I definitely think it's about risk mitigation...until it's not (JG has one of his bad games against must win games if we're wanting to go at least 5-5/6-4...KY/ARK)
 
#5
#5
Pretty much sums it all up. I definitely think it's about risk mitigation...until it's not (JG has one of his bad games against must win games if we're wanting to go at least 5-5/6-4...KY/ARK)
This! If he struggles against a team we should beat, he will finally be done. Problem is we have a good defense, a huge O-line, and good running backs. It's not likely as long as we come to play that JG will struggle enough to be yanked in any of those games.
 
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#6
#6
JG plays better against average defenses. The games he came off the bench were against average defenses. He struggles against elite defenses that confuse him with different looks, esp in zone. He came off the bench against Bama last year and sucked hard.
The reason he always does bad against FL, GA, Bama is that we are out-matched in those games on the line and he has to do more than 'just manage', he has to make plays. He is really bad in those times as his read never progressed and still holds the ball too long.
Against GA, two of the three fumbles should have been a sack. We punt and move on. The INT could have been a throw away or sack. He did not sense pressure and did not secure the ball. These are the mistakes freshmen QBs make all the time. His growth hit ceiling somewhere around there.
Pruitt wants to stick to a JG, a guy who can win him against Ky, Vandy, Arkansas and may be Auburn. Go 6-4, save the job. Putting a new guy can cost him one of those games if things go bad. JG does good/average where he is just managing the games and then gets to take some deep shots to wide open receiver.

JG plays better against average defenses? You can say that about every QB playing football in America.
 
#7
#7
I'm as pro-backup QB as anyone, but JG has only had one bad game this season. The first two were solid. Don't think it's fair to criticize the coaches for not bringing him off the bench YET but I do think they should put a different QB in the game soon and if they perform well, let them start the next game.
 
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#8
#8
JG came out of HS as a dual threat QB. Pocket passer is not really his strength.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Love the guy's attitude and toughness, but he'll always be tremendously inconsistent.

It's 2020. Everything's screwed up. I'd say give the backups a shot.
 
#10
#10
I'm as pro-backup QB as anyone, but JG has only had one bad game this season. The first two were solid. Don't think it's fair to criticize the coaches for not bringing him off the bench YET but I do think they should put a different QB in the game soon and if they perform well, let them start the next game.
He played a decent first half against the top defense in the country, then in the third quarter Chaney didn't help him out, run on first down gain 1 yard then the defense smelled blood in the water time after time same old play on first down, it was like had to prove to Kirby we could run the ball and we couldn't, we played good enough defense for 3 quarters to win the game, i put alot of the blame on play calling in the third quarter that let the game get out of hand.
 
#13
#13
JG might just perform better when he isn’t under the pressure of being the starter. The human brain remains one of the most mysterious things in all creation. Some people just perform better when they get a chance they weren’t expecting.
And who ultimately knows, if JG ever plays on Sundays, it would probably be as a backup QB.

JG seemed pretty content last year getting those wins off the bench. Maybe he is just calmer and plays looser when he doesn’t spend all 168 hours in a week envisioning taking that starting snap.
 
#14
#14
Remember, in the past JG came off the bench in several games and was not the "starter"? He seemed to play better that way for some reason. I never understood that rational, but if it helps him oh well.

Could the Vols have had a different outcome if they would have yanked him after the first signs of his second half meltdown and allowed him to re-enter the game after being "benched"? Could this have slowed his spiraling meltdown and madness? Possibly.

If the staff has done this with him in the past, multiple times, why not this season? What has changed? Has Pruitt and the staff just forgotten this was a more effective approach for him?

Mind boggling.
Oh yeah, he was just horrific the first half against Mizzou, and UGA. sarcasm
 
#16
#16
I think if JG stinks it up against KY, Pruitt will pull him, he’s done it in the past, not sure why he didn’t pull him against Georgia after the 2nd or 3rd turnover, prob bc the line wasn’t blocking for crap
 
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#17
#17
JG plays better against average defenses. The games he came off the bench were against average defenses. He struggles against elite defenses that confuse him with different looks, esp in zone. He came off the bench against Bama last year and sucked hard.
The reason he always does bad against FL, GA, Bama is that we are out-matched in those games on the line and he has to do more than 'just manage', he has to make plays. He is really bad in those times as his read never progressed and still holds the ball too long.
Against GA, two of the three fumbles should have been a sack. We punt and move on. The INT could have been a throw away or sack. He did not sense pressure and did not secure the ball. These are the mistakes freshmen QBs make all the time. His growth hit ceiling somewhere around there.
Pruitt wants to stick to a JG, a guy who can win him against Ky, Vandy, Arkansas and may be Auburn. Go 6-4, save the job. Putting a new guy can cost him one of those games if things go bad. JG does good/average where he is just managing the games and then gets to take some deep shots to wide open receiver.

I definitely think JG just doesn't have great in-game instincts. As a pure pocket passer, he's excellent. He's highly accurate and can throw the deep ball with precision. That's part of the reason why he always looks like the best QB in practice and looks great at camps. Case in point, even during that Georgia game, he made 2 spectacular TD throws to Josh Palmer that a lot of SEC QBs could not make.

But when defenses throw things at him that he doesn't expect, he's very slow to react. It's not even that he "panics"; he just doesn't adapt, and makes slow decisions. JG's the rare QB who turns the ball over via inaction (taking too long to decide anything) rather than action (forcing a pass that he shouldn't).

He's almost the opposite of Josh Dobbs in that sense. Dobbs struggled with passing accuracy / precision at times, but often made up for it, by having such superb field vision and great instincts for the game.

I'm not really one of the people on this board who just likes to trash JG. Frankly, he's still been the best QB we've had on the roster that past few years. But I think his lack of instincts for the game have created a hard ceiling for him. You can be the best passer in the world, but if you can't adapt quickly to new information, you'll never be an elite QB. And that's ultimately what's so frustrating about him. He's fundamentally one of the best QBs in the SEC, but has some of the worst in-game instincts.

At this point, I really want to see more of Maurer or Bailey, because even if they don't pass as precisely during practice, I think both of them have very good football instincts. They'll get better with the fundamentals and playbook over time, hopefully. But I think this is "the ceiling" for JG. The parts of the game he still struggles with are the parts that can't really be taught.
 
#18
#18
I definitely think JG just doesn't have great in-game instincts. As a pure pocket passer, he's excellent. He's highly accurate and can throw the deep ball with precision. That's part of the reason why he always looks like the best QB in practice and looks great at camps. Case in point, even during that Georgia game, he made 2 spectacular TD throws to Josh Palmer that a lot of SEC QBs could not make.

But when defenses throw things at him that he doesn't expect, he's very slow to react. It's not even that he "panics"; he just doesn't adapt, and makes slow decisions. JG's the rare QB who turns the ball over via inaction (taking too long to decide anything) rather than action (forcing a pass that he shouldn't).

He's almost the opposite of Josh Dobbs in that sense. Dobbs struggled with passing accuracy / precision at times, but often made up for it, by having such superb field vision and great instincts for the game.

I'm not really one of the people on this board who just likes to trash JG. Frankly, he's still been the best QB we've had on the roster that past few years. But I think his lack of instincts for the game have created a hard ceiling for him. You can be the best passer in the world, but if you can't adapt quickly to new information, you'll never be an elite QB. And that's ultimately what's so frustrating about him. He's fundamentally one of the best QBs in the SEC, but has some of the worst in-game instincts.

At this point, I really want to see more of Maurer or Bailey, because even if they don't pass as precisely during practice, I think both of them have very good football instincts. They'll get better with the fundamentals and playbook over time, hopefully. But I think this is "the ceiling" for JG. The parts of the game he still struggles with are the parts that can't really be taught.

That is very well said. Wonderful analysis.
 
#20
#20
JG plays better against average defenses? You can say that about every QB playing football in America.
What he’s really saying is jg sucks against good defenses. Hell everyone that’s watched a game in the last 4 seasons knows jg is not a good qb, why defend him? He’s just not a good football player.
 
#21
#21
What he’s really saying is jg sucks against good defenses. Hell everyone that’s watched a game in the last 4 seasons knows jg is not a good qb, why defend him? He’s just not a good football player.
You would think that is true, but there are plenty of folks on here who will defend his piss poor QB play and blame everyone on the team and in the stands for his lousy play. It's mind boggling.
 
#22
#22
I'm as pro-backup QB as anyone, but JG has only had one bad game this season. The first two were solid. Don't think it's fair to criticize the coaches for not bringing him off the bench YET but I do think they should put a different QB in the game soon and if they perform well, let them start the next game.
21 losses over the past 3 seasons and 3 games so far this season. Saying he has only had 1 bad game so far this season is honestly dumbfounding.
 
#23
#23
I'm as pro-backup QB as anyone, but JG has only had one bad game this season. The first two were solid. Don't think it's fair to criticize the coaches for not bringing him off the bench YET but I do think they should put a different QB in the game soon and if they perform well, let them start the next game.
It can be argued that he’s had 2 bad games. SC was not good at all. It was like he was allergic to 3rd downs.
 
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