My Latest Heaps Opinion

As many of you know, I was in the "Nelson Camp." And I've been pretty adamant about how poor a QB Jake Heaps has shown to be in this his freshman season. He is still, by far, the worst statistical QB to ever play at BYU and complete 100 passes.



But if you read my posts on this site and others over the years, I think I've been one to point out flaws in our players and criticize them when they've been poor. But I've also been fair. I praise out guys when they play well. I'm also a BYU fan who can acknowledge our struggles, but still find silver linings.



Jake is still an atrocious QB. But he has now done something QBs must be able to do in two of the last three weeks. And that is win ugly. BYU is 2-1 in their last two games and Jake is showing improvement. At the end of the day, it's wins that matter most.



Passer rating is still the most important stat and predictor outside of points scored/allowed. And BYU did win the passer rating battle today (100.58 vs 88.07). Heaps had third game (second as a starter) with a rating over 100.



I think he is getting better. I think he is gaining confidence. I think the bye week will serve him well. I think we continue to see better play from him in two weeks against UNLV.



I believe in Heaps the remainder of the year. I believe he can become an effective thrower this year. I believe he will be much improved in the bowl game - if we can qualify for one. I believe he can finish his career as an all-time great.

Remember, based on practice reps, etc, this is really like his 3rd game. I think we'll see a HUGE jump in Heaps from freshman to sophomore year, when he gets all reps from spring and fall camps.

My source has told me he's considering transferring to U-dub. NOT!!!!



That pic was the worst I've ever seen. So disappointing to watch him struggle, but if we keep winning and go to a bowl and he can improve I'll take off the heat on Anae (who needs to get his A** in the booth) because that'll mean he's getting more plays in that are suitable for him. He had his best game today right?

add the drops, what is his rating?



There were no less than 6 and - I think - around 10...



Not being contentious, just curious.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
add the drops, what is his rating?



There were no less than 6 and - I think - around 10...



Not being contentious, just curious.

I don't remember that many drops. 1 by Matthews, 1 by DiLuigi. No more stick out.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
add the drops, what is his rating?



There were no less than 6 and - I think - around 10...



Not being contentious, just curious.

You can't add the drops. It's part of the rating. It's an efficiency rating of the passing game. The BYU passing game is not overly efficient right now.



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kitic77 wrote:

add the drops, what is his rating?



There were no less than 6 and - I think - around 10...



Not being contentious, just curious.

You can't add the drops. It's part of the rating. It's an efficiency rating of the passing game. The BYU passing game is not overly efficient right now.



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I think Blue's point is that if the drops had been completions instead, Jake's rating would have been better.

Good gravy. Ashworthless-less dropped a critical 3rd down right in his hands early in the game. Yep, couldnt remember that one--wouldnt remember that one, cause we like throwin Heaps under the bus in whatever innumerably "creative" posts that we can come up with.



This notion that it was "the worst" pick anyone has ever seen. Really? C'mon. How many INT's have received that label over the years. Well, "worst decision", "Worst throw", etc. Stupid is, is stupid does. It was bad, yes. Jake is bad, yes. But Can't we get a different schtick than Dick? "Worst ever?" The guy's old enough to have alzheimers.



Anyway, good points Kitic, thanks. Calling out the other guys.

I think we tend to forget one key thing that is that a lot of these kids are barely 18 years old playing under incredible pressure and stress they will grow into it and they are improving. I will be surprised now if they dont end up bowl eligible and those extra practices will be huge, Go Cougars.

33311710 wrote:
Remember, based on practice reps, etc, this is really like his 3rd game. I think we'll see a HUGE jump in Heaps from freshman to sophomore year, when he gets all reps from spring and fall camps.

Agreed.



Let's all keep in mind that Heaps didn't get the reps or attention he needed this summer/fall. An entire year to improve will be great for him. I expect great things in the future. Unlike many here, I did not necessarily expect great things from him this year... just improvement, which I believe we are seeing.

Mars wrote:


Harmon's minimum standard for Jake against Wyoming was 2 TD passes.

Kitic's minimum standard for Jake against Wyoming was, what, a passer rating of at least 120?



Jake didn't meet either of those. Though it's likely that anyone else BYU threw out there would have been even worse.

Screamineagle wrote:
I think we tend to forget one key thing that is that a lot of these kids are barely 18 years old playing under incredible pressure and stress they will grow into it and they are improving. I will be surprised now if they dont end up bowl eligible and those extra practices will be huge, Go Cougars.

I am not going to cut Heaps that much slack for his age because we have older highly rated QBs behind him. If his age makes him worse than the other guys on the bench then that is where he needs to be.



But unfortunately, as Mars points out, I am not sure Lark or Munns could do any better this year. Still I did not see the improvement that I was hoping for yesterday and I am very open to the idea of open competition during the spring. It would even help legitimize Heaps as a starter if he wins the competition.



Of course this assumes that he doesn't go on a mission, which, if I were him, I would serve a mission.



Now some smilies for the benefit of my kids who are sitting on my lap. :love: :bug:

The only drops I saw were on bad throws by Heaps. You can't say things like "if you count the drops what would his rating be" because they were not completions. You know what, BYU would be undefeated if it weren't for those 5 losses.

frdbtr wrote:
The only drops I saw were on bad throws by Heaps. You can't say things like "if you count the drops what would his rating be" because they were not completions. You know what, BYU would be undefeated if it weren't for those 5 losses.

I'm glad someone said it.

You can add drops when you subtract circus catches and subtract YAC from passing yards.

This is my 45th season as BYU blue goggled fan. I have seen many worse interceptions. Two that without much thought I can recall decades after the fact. Both cost us the game and were technically as bad also. One was by Steve Young's younger brother and IIRC he didn't play another down for us again. But he was a junior or senior at that point. The other was by Steve Lindsley(sp?). We had a lead over CSU and had the ball on their about 10 yard line with about 2 minutes left in the game. Really all we had to do was take a knee and run aout the clock (it was probably 2nd or 3ed down). Whether Lindsley audibled from a run play to a pass, or whether the coaches called for the pass, I never found out. I suspect the audible, unless our offensive play calling was as bad then as it is now. But, CSU intercepted in the end zone, took the 2 minutes down the field and won. Lindsley was a senior. That fact, combined with the supposed audible and the game situation makes that interception stick out as worse than anything Jake has thrown yet. Give me some time and I could think of more than 2. Give me time to look at the 200-250 BYU games I have on tape and DVD, and I could find a couple dozen.



By the way. If Jake has the worse QB rating of any BYU QB to have ever thrown 100 passes, it is meaningless. He is the only BYU QB to have ever thrown 100 passes this early in his career. When I was a BYU undergrad student in the mid to late 60's, we had some pretty awful qb's. Does this stat go back that far? I don't think so.

It isn't "meaningless" if Heaps' QB rating is the lowest of any BYU QB ever, because he's our starting QB, if he really is the best we have and our best chance to win, then his QB rating is VERY bad news.

It's meaningless to me because I don't even believe it to be true, if you go back far enough. Also, as I said it is still meaningless to me because he is the youngest. It is not meaningless to you. That's OK.



It's not very bad news because he is improving. What is his record as a starter? 2-2 or 2-1? My BYU memory goes back to when that record would have been good for many jr. & sr. QB's.

Alfie



Let's do the math.



1st start after looking bad in 6 QTRs of 3 shared games must have been UNR at home.

UNR loss

USU loss

SDSU barely held on to win

TCU loss - totally ineffective

WYO barely held on to win



I don't know what u were smoking to come up with 2-1, but it is 2-3 Vs a schedule that should have yielded 4-1.



Heaps is not the entire problem, but is a big part of it.



I have heard rumblings that Heaps is symbolic leader of the entitlement movement of inexperienced players believing their own hype instead of working hard this season.



I am so weary of the few remaining lovers that whine about Heaps not getting enough reps last Spring and summer.



The often ridiculed Jordan Wynn could not have gotten any more reps last year and was more effective in his first start in about game 7 than Heaps is after playing in 8 games and starting 5 of them. And now, Wynn, even after sharing reps this year when he was hurt, is leading the #9 Utes to blowout wins.

Now that we are in our easiest games, if we don't start seeing Heaps look sharp, we should try Lark or Munns if the situation allows for it or calls for it.



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Cougarbib2 wrote:
Alfie



Let's do the math.



1st start after looking bad in 6 QTRs of 3 shared games must have been UNR at home.

UNR loss

USU loss

SDSU barely held on to win

TCU loss - totally ineffective

WYO barely held on to win



I don't know what u were smoking to come up with 2-1, but it is 2-3 Vs a schedule that should have yielded 4-1.



Heaps is not the entire problem, but is a big part of it.



I have heard rumblings that Heaps is symbolic leader of the entitlement movement of inexperienced players believing their own hype instead of working hard this season.



I am so weary of the few remaining lovers that whine about Heaps not getting enough reps last Spring and summer.



The often ridiculed Jordan Wynn could not have gotten any more reps last year and was more effective in his first start in about game 7 than Heaps is after playing in 8 games and starting 5 of them. And now, Wynn, even after sharing reps this year when he was hurt, is leading the #9 Utes to blowout wins.

Now that we are in our easiest games, if we don't start seeing Heaps look sharp, we should try Lark or Munns if the situation allows for it or calls for it.



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Keep crying about how you think that Heaps is a problem and will always be. It'll be sweeter when this kid puts it all together and starts to show off why he was the elite 11 mvp, etc. etc. etc.



He's a true freshman... there had to be a learning curve, particularly with such a terrible receiving corps and mediocre coordinator. Eventually he'll break through and never look back... bank on it.

craigoscarson wrote:
Keep crying about how you think that Heaps is a problem and will always be. It'll be sweeter when this kid puts it all together and starts to show off why he was the elite 11 mvp, etc. etc. etc.



He's a true freshman... there had to be a learning curve, particularly with such a terrible receiving corps and mediocre coordinator. Eventually he'll break through and never look back... bank on it.

Agreed. He's already winning games when playing awfully. Granted it's against lesser talent. But they're still wins.



I'm encouraged that a poor Jake Heaps can still beat bad teams. What happens when we get a decent Heaps? We're going to kill bad teams and be competitive against good teams. What happens when start getting a good Heaps? Bad teams won't even show up and good teams are going to be scared? And what happens when we start getting a great Heaps. Good teams are going to lose and elite teams are going to have a hard team beating us.