Time to step away from the Ledge

Ok, I have been reading the posts today (thought I would stay away from it this weekend to cool down) and I come in here and find that there is little rational thought going on here. I agree that there is a problem at QB but I don't agree with the sentiments that Riley is the reason our offense is so bad. What has Jake done so far that leads everyone to believe that he would have led us to touchdown drives in the second half? I watched the game and it looked to me like Jakes reads were slow, and his decision making was poor. On the interception throw, he followed his reciever with his eyes all the way down the field and threw into double coverage. Riley runs too much so here is my opinion. (Dick harmon says the same thing in one of his articles).



Pick a guy and get him ready to play!



I think that Nelson has plenty of talent to lead this team(I know that this is a minority opinion). BYU needs to pick one of them and make the other the back up. If it is Heaps...fine, if it is Nelson...fine. Either one is talented enough to get the Job done. Frankly, after watching Heaps in 2 games, IMO I think that Riley should be the guy. Heaps is slow on his reads and doesn't get the ball out on time, when he does throw, his bad timing and hard throws make it nearly impossible for the recievers to catch. Riley tucks and runs too fast. Either way, both guys are a product of trading practice reps all year. It is time to let one of them take ownership of the offense and prepare 1 guy for the Job all week. Max Hall got 99% of the Reps in his fall camp and looked really polished in his first game. Neither of these guys looks prepared to lead a team to victory this year.

frdbtr wrote:
Ok, I have been reading the posts today (thought I would stay away from it this weekend to cool down) and I come in here and find that there is little rational thought going on here. I agree that there is a problem at QB but I don't agree with the sentiments that Riley is the reason our offense is so bad. What has Jake done so far that leads everyone to believe that he would have led us to touchdown drives in the second half? I watched the game and it looked to me like Jakes reads were slow, and his decision making was poor. On the interception throw, he followed his reciever with his eyes all the way down the field and threw into double coverage. Riley runs too much so here is my opinion. (Dick harmon says the same thing in one of his articles).



Pick a guy and get him ready to play!



I think that Nelson has plenty of talent to lead this team(I know that this is a minority opinion). BYU needs to pick one of them and make the other the back up. If it is Heaps...fine, if it is Nelson...fine. Either one is talented enough to get the Job done. Frankly, after watching Heaps in 2 games, IMO I think that Riley should be the guy. Heaps is slow on his reads and doesn't get the ball out on time, when he does throw, his bad timing and hard throws make it nearly impossible for the recievers to catch. Riley tucks and runs too fast. Either way, both guys are a product of trading practice reps all year. It is time to let one of them take ownership of the offense and prepare 1 guy for the Job all week. Max Hall got 99% of the Reps in his fall camp and looked really polished in his first game. Neither of these guys looks prepared to lead a team to victory this year.

First off Jake didn't throw into double coverage. His WR's were too close. They didn't run good routes. If the underneath was supposed to run at the 1st down marker then the guy on top should have had enough separation that the db covering the WR in the flat wouldn't be able to come off his man and make the INT. Again it wasn't double coverage-that is two dbs one WR when in reality there were two db's and two WR's.



As for proof that Heaps should start, it is not what has Heaps done necessarily but what Riley has done. He showed the world that he is not a good passer, has a below average arm, and panics when in the pocket-so much so that he even tucks the ball while in the pocket (this is the glaring evidence). Every team from now on will follow AF's gameplan and stack the box and dare him to throw. He has shown his inability to stretch the field and doesn't make many reads before he tucks the ball and runs. I had hoped he was the 2nd coming of Doman but this has proven not to be the case. As for what heaps has done, he has thrown some very nice balls and if you can't catch a ball 30+ yards away because it was thown too hard you should not be on the field. He has also had some nice deep balls that were close to completions and cause defenses to be wary thus stretching the field. Why do you think JJ was able to run wild on that drive he fumbled? Because the D had to play honest for fear of getting burned deep. You've heard the expression, keep the ball in front of you, well with Riley they know he can't get it deep so they don't have to play so deep and they also don't have to stick to their man for long because he is not patient. He won't wait for a guy to get open, he will just run it if he doesn't see anyone open (again tucks ball while in pocket). Riley has led us to some touchdown drives but I seriously doubt he will be able to much in the future because he has been exposed. Defenses will do the same thing and stack the box and unless he learns pocket discipline he will keep running for 1-2yrds and we will need a new punter by midseason due to fatigue.

I agree that we need to pick a guy - what I don't agree with is whom. Riley showed us about all he could and it wasn't enough. It is my opinion, therefore, that Heaps should get his chance, at FSU, see what he can do. They pulled him way too early in that game and at moments where we needed a good arm. One thing Riley has proved is that he is tough, he can run and given the right play call/field position he can produce scoring drives. He as also proved that he cannot engineer a comeback simply because he does not have the arm.



I know all the points have come off Riley drives but Heaps has been the victim of teammate mistakes he would have led as many scoring drives as Riley were it not for mistakes and were it not for the coaches pulling him early against AF.

I like it on the ledge. The view is better here.

I agree that Nelson has his weaknesses. If there were a clear cut choice the coaches would be going with him right now. I don't buy the argument that Bronco hates playing young players. If Heaps were head and shoulders better then Riley right now, he would have been named the starter weeks ago and our offense would be geared completely for him. I do, however, feel that the reason either guy isn't performing up to potential in the game is because our coordinators have to create a gameplan to prepare 2 guys instead of 1. We need to pick a horse and ride him for the rest of the season and beyond. I don't care who it is. I think both can be successful. I have pointed out what I thought were strengths and weaknesses of both guys. Now it is time to pick one and iron out the weaknesses.

Why can't Riley play RB and run some double back sets with JJ?



That would give you lots of good looks in the run game and get Riley in the game where he can and does make an impact.