Wide open QB battle

#126
#126
K-town Vol Fan said:
He's thrown for some yards sure but don't act like he's some world beater. He threw 24 picks at appy state and transferred to UCLA. There's a reason the big time schools didn't come calling. He might have more experience than Merk but I highly doubt he has more talent. Merk was rated pretty high and had multiple SEC offers, UGA included.
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I'm not saying Aguilar is better than Merk. I think Merk will be great.
But If the guy with lots of experience starts over the guy with almost none, that is not evidence that something is wrong.
 
#127
#127
Danl said:
I don't understand your reply. Let me rephrase my question.

At what point in time did you and almost everyone else realize that Hooker was the better quarterback?
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At the time, when Joe got hurt, many on VN thought Harrison Bailey should have been the next man up, not Hendon Hooker.

VN doesn't have a good track record of picking QBs.

Let's recall that MANY of us said Nico was going to be the "anti Joe" and Nico was on his way to a potential Heisman year in 2024. We were absolutely sure he would be head and shoulders above any UT QB since Peyton.

We're not that good at evaluating QBs, y'all.
 
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#128
#128
cgrish said:
We did for Nico
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I guess you’re right, but I think that had more to do with Nico not being mentally capable of running our offense. That’s not exactly the ideal reason you want to change your offensive scheme. That’s another issue with NIL, you’re not going to bench your $2.5MM QB even when you realize he’s not the guy.
 
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#132
#132
BruisedOrange said:
Actually, the addition of Aguilar--even if he wins the starting job--merely keeps Merk and GMac on schedule in their planned development curve.

They certainly expected Nico to start this season. And the plan Heupel sells is that we will recruit the best possible QB candidate each year, and that ideally, if you come to Tennessee as a QB, you will have 2-3 years to develop while competing with players ahead of and behind you to sharpen your skills while deep-learning the offense. Then, if you earn it, you can have two seasons to really shine in the offense, and establish your resume for the next level.

Inevitably, injuries and rogue dads will interrupt that sequence, but it's the best and fairest compromise between offering players opportunity to compete at their best, while protecting the program against very bad luck. IMHO
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This...exactly.this
 
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#133
#133
Remy said:
For Heupel when he recruited Milton. For the team and fans watching how Hooker performed as a starter. Hooker’s performances forced Heupel to get on board the Hooker train even though he showed up late to the station.
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To be fair to CJH, it took a large portion of the fanbase on here even longer to get on board than it did Heupel at the time. They were still crying over Harrison Bailey not "getting a fair shot."
 
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#139
#139
VOLumeS said:
Merklinger knows the offense and already has team chemistry, Aguilars hurdle will be how fast can he learn it, and is the team behind him? I'm not advocating for Merk but I wouldn't be surprised.
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George threw the ball better during spring day IMO. I also felt like he was more in rhythm with the offense. But in reviewing it he also a) had a tendency to do a freshman thing which is pull it down too soon and run and b) missed identification of open receivers a few times. And he was going against backups, so tough to read overall. That said, I will not be surprised if he's ahead of Merk regardless of everything else after fall. GM reminds me a bit of Bray.

In all likelihood experience wins out with Ag and Merk (with a year in the system already), but GM could move quick up the depth chart as he gets more experience in the offense.
 
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#140
#140
UT97Vol said:
George threw the ball better during spring day IMO. I also felt like he was more in rhythm with the offense. But in reviewing it he also a) had a tendency to do a freshman thing which is pull it down too soon and run and b) missed identification of open receivers a few times. And he was going against backups, so tough to read overall. That said, I will not be surprised if he's ahead of Merk regardless of everything else after fall. GM reminds me a bit of Bray.

In all likelihood experience wins out with Ag and Merk (with a year in the system already), but GM could move quick up the depth chart as he gets more experience in the offense.
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When your receivers are not open, the quicker you pull it down and run it, the more likely you will gain yardage instead of losing yardage.
 
#142
#142
RiseToTheTop said:
appy state did him no favors last yr. He was pretty good in 2023.


atleast hes not scared to let it fly or run out of bounds on the last play of the game.
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I suppose we differ in football philosophy.

I will take someone who doesn't throw interceptions by letting it fly all the time as opposed to someone who does and makes an occasional big play.
 
#144
#144
UT97Vol said:
George threw the ball better during spring day IMO. I also felt like he was more in rhythm with the offense. But in reviewing it he also a) had a tendency to do a freshman thing which is pull it down too soon and run and b) missed identification of open receivers a few times. And he was going against backups, so tough to read overall. That said, I will not be surprised if he's ahead of Merk regardless of everything else after fall. GM reminds me a bit of Bray.

In all likelihood experience wins out with Ag and Merk (with a year in the system already), but GM could move quick up the depth chart as he gets more experience in the offense.
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Jake will have 2 spring practices, 2 fall practices, and 1 full season of experience in CJHs system.

Joey will have 1 fall practice in the system.

I will be excited for and root for whichever one of the 3 ends up the siganl caller. However, with Joey being at a disadvantage from nearly every point of discussion, i just do not see how he ends up as the starter against Syracuse. Maybe he takes over later in the season, but he will still be competing against two qbs who were considered more talented than himself.
 
#145
#145
GetYouSomeofThat said:
Jake will have 2 spring practices, 2 fall practices, and 1 full season of experience in CJHs system.

Joey will have 1 fall practice in the system.

I will be excited for and root for whichever one of the 3 ends up the siganl caller. However, with Joey being at a disadvantage from nearly every point of discussion, i just do not see how he ends up as the starter against Syracuse. Maybe he takes over later in the season, but he will still be competing against two qbs who were considered more talented than himself.
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That's a great point. Really depends on how quickly he picks up the system. But in spite of that he does have one big advantage. Neither of the other really have any meaningful snaps at the collegiate level. Ag has 25 games under his belt. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
 
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#146
#146
NighthawkVol said:
You’re right. Heupel started the guy who got outplayed in practice. He’s just not the QB evaluator you are.

If you want to pretend that Hooker earned the job by outplaying Milton in practice in the face of every report we got back then by everyone who was there, you do you. You’re here to argue and criticize. You’ve made that abundantly clear. The world is full of people like you.
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And people like you, know it alls who belittle everyone with a different opinion than you. This isn't our first rodeo.
 
#148
#148
miket4god said:
I'm not saying Aguilar is better than Merk. I think Merk will be great.
But If the guy with lots of experience starts over the guy with almost none, that is not evidence that something is wrong.
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Merk needs situational reps with the 1's. The more reps he gains in simulated games, hell grow exponentially.
 
#149
#149
GetYouSomeofThat said:
I suppose we differ in football philosophy.

I will take someone who doesn't throw interceptions by letting it fly all the time as opposed to someone who does and makes an occasional big play.
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Article I read about him said he had a terrible Oline his last yr at Appy and was always having to scramble throwing to avoid sacks. So if this is true his int rate may be a bit overrated. Also read he was scheduled to be the starter this season at UCLA before the Nico thing.

I defer to Hype to pick the best starter but lets not underrate Joey before he has a chance to prove himself.
 
#150
#150
GetYouSomeofThat said:
I suppose we differ in football philosophy.

I will take someone who doesn't throw interceptions by letting it fly all the time as opposed to someone who does and makes an occasional big play.
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we do bc its clear you didnt watch the offense he was in during the 2023 season and how it was diff in 2024. Terrible OL play, among the worst in the country, scheme was a little diff and zero real playmakers bc they all got poached prior.

its ok
 
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