ESPN deep dive on the rise of true freshman QBs

Submitted by Communist Football on

Interesting examination of the phenomenon, led by Alabama and Georgia, that explores a question that many of us have been asking: why is it that freshmen QBs seem to be succeeded at an abnormally high rate?

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/23396659/the-rise-true-…

Among other things, the article (by Sam Khan Jr. and Mitch Sherman) highlights early enrollment, earlier development due to gurus, the growth of 7x7 football, and the ability to study film on the internet as reasons why QBs are developing earlier and earlier.

ijohnb

May 4th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^

I thought all freshman QBs needed a redshirt year and at least half of the next year to learn 1/4 of the playbook and play against Rutgers?

/s

WGoNerd

May 4th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^

EDIT: My apologies I missed the "/s" (formatting has moved it far away from the rest of the post) so I've switch my downvote to an upvote.

In reply to by ijohnb

KC Wolve

May 4th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^

Yep, everyone around here knows that you have to be at least a RS sophomore to be good. All good O linemen are the exception and need to be seniors.

PopeLando

May 4th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^

Lol this could also be titled "only incredibly stacked teams start freshman QBs, in order to jump start their development for future years "

Catchafire

May 4th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^

Seriously, articles try and put a spin on any thing that they see an inkling of pattern in. Freshman QBs can indeed succeed at the highest level, but teams like Alabama are so far skewed it needs separate analysis.

 

INDEED their freshman QBs, in particular Georgia's, is extremely good. They have arm strength and precision accuracy.  But Alabama/Georgia has/had so much talent on their offense to shoulder the burden from the QB.  The running backs from Georgia Chubb and Mitchell behind an elephant line puts low pressure on Fromm...

 

In our case, we didnt have a functional line, running backs who got no help, 3rd string QBs running for their lives, and O Line coaching that was confusing...

 

Just sayin...

1VaBlue1

May 4th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^

Yep...  Georgia was so stacked with upper classmen it wasn't even funny.  Something like 34 of the ~50, or so, players that saw regular action were seniors.  And, other than handoff, Fromm wasn't asked to do anything more than hit a 10 yarder over the middle on play action every now and then.  That sufficed for most of the season - as he grew in experience and confidence.  Even in the CG, he wasn't asked to do anything special.  He did hit a few nice throws, though, that showed he had stasrted all year long.

He was merely asked to not lose games.  He wasn't asked, let alone expected, to win one for them.  And that makes a HUGE difference...

rc15

May 4th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^

Just analyzing QBR is the type of lazy reporting I would expect from ESPN lol

Don't even consider the % that start? Just the QBR or true freshmen QB that play?

I'd be interested to see what effect transfers has had on this. For instance Shane Morris. If he hadn't transferred to play at CMU last year, CMU might've started a true freshman QB that wasn't ready to start, which would likely bring the average QBR down. But because transfering has become such a common thing in CFB now, if a team is thinking they are going to have to start a true freshman QB, they are likely searching for other options.

With team's more commonly going after a transfer QB to fill a gap in the roster, a true freshman is going to be less likely to play, unless they are good enough to pass the rest of the QBs on the depth chart (meaning they'll probably have a higher QBR).

True Blue Grit

May 4th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^

how skilled he is, what kind of offense the team runs, and his level of physical development coming in.  Some players are ready to play their first year and others need time to develop.  I think the pressure to win and money involved has a bearing on it too with coaches feeling like they need to do whatever it takes to win.  

LSAClassOf2000

May 4th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^

Using QBR by itself doesn't tell anyone anything. I would be far more interested in breakdowns by games started, conference, opponent passing defense (which would require an analysis of a team's schedule) and a few other things. I think you have to take into account what the QB competition is actually like on a team too. 

cbutter

May 4th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^

Could it simply be that True Freshman QB's are actually getting a chance to play now and thus having "better success"? How many true freshman QB's even had an opportunity 30 years ago? That is a genuine question for those who may know more on the subject than me.

OwenGoBlue

May 4th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^

QBR/old school passer rating/completion %, INT%, TD%, sack rate, etc. have all consistently improved over the last 10, 20 and 30 years in both the NCAA and NFL so logically that would go up for any grouping of QBs.

Despite this NFL coaches pine for the glory days of "pro style" college QBs who would come in, know how to play the game the right way, and put up a gentleman's 1:1 TD/INT ratio.