Are Fitz and Our WRs Good Enough?

[ShotgunDawg]

This team is fairly simple to me.

- We are good. Possibly damn good. Not sure yet

- Our defense is damn good. Like they score points good.

- While somewhat inconsistent right now, this is the most talented kicking game we've had in years.

- We are damn good and deep at RB.

- OL is what it is. Not elite but probably a little above average.

* That really leaves one massive question to me: is our QB and WRs good enough to make talented defenses respect a vertical passing game?

Our WRs are terribly short and have little catch radius and Fitz, while he has a strong arm, lacks accuracy, horribly stares down receivers, lacks anticipation, and natural passing instincts.

This team could be damn good, but could also have an extremely one dimensional offense that struggles to stretch teams vertically.

We'll find out this week, but I'm skeptical

[Commercecomet24]

Yeah they're good enough. Can they make the plays when they have too, that's a question that has yet to be answered. That being said I thought we win 7-8 games this year. However if we can beat lsu we have a shot at 9-10. We all thought next year could be special but with the way the west is looking this year we can win 9-10. Gonna have to tighten up some things thoughx

[msstate7]

We'll find out the next 3 weeks. Fitz and company are plenty good enough to beat our OOC teams and 4 sec games (aTm, arky, om, and Kentucky). Not saying we'll win all 6 of those games, but we can.

[Bully13]

If Fitz can't improve his accuracy, he will prevent us from competing for the 2nd slot in the SEC West. I'm not impressed with whatever he and Dan did to improve his accuracy during the off season. Some QB's have it and some just don't. I'm not convinced Fitz has it as far as being a pure QB. Hope I'm proved wrong. I hate it because I love his passion and toughness. But damn, he has GOT to get better with the passes 10 plus yards and more. if not, it will get worse as the season progresses because the tough SEC teams will just load the box on us and 17 us up the ass because of no down field threat.

[TimberBeast]

WR are dropping passes left and right. Fitz is doing fine. He is continually praised by people all around the country and continually questioned by some of our own worst fans. Let the guy grow and play football.

[ShotgunDawg]

If Fitz can't improve his accuracy, he will prevent us from competing for the 2nd slot in the SEC West. I'm not impressed with whatever he and Dan did to improve his accuracy during the off season. Some QB's have it and some just don't. I'm not convinced Fitz has it as far as being a pure QB. Hope I'm proved wrong. I hate it because I love his passion and toughness. But damn, he has GOT to get better with the passes 10 plus yards and more. if not, it will get worse as the season progresses because the tough SEC teams will just load the box on us and 17 us up the ass because of no down field threat.

It looks like he has regressed.

Dan does him a horrible disservice by not giving him easy throws early to find rhythm.

Fitz is football player. Not a QB yet.

Small WRs + an inaccurate QB is a double whammy and poor mix. No margin for error due to small catch radius.

[Commercecomet24]

WR are dropping passes left and right. Fitz is doing fine. He is continually praised by people all around the country and continually questioned by some of our own worst fans. Let the guy grow and play football.

Agreed. He's pretty inexperienced as a passer and he's got some development to do but the NFL scouting gurus have him ranked extremely high so they must know something .

[ShotgunDawg]

WR are dropping passes left and right. Fitz is doing fine. He is continually praised by people all around the country and continually questioned by some of our own worst fans. Let the guy grow and play football.

We are good team, but this issue will prevent us from having a chance to beat teams that we struggle to run on.

[ShotgunDawg]

Agreed. He's pretty inexperienced as a passer and he's got some development to do but the NFL scouting gurus have him ranked extremely high so they must know something .

They like his huge tools, but we've seen him more.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

He is in his what, 5th year as a QB in his life? He has to be more consistent with his footwork and unfortunately just needs more time to get better at the reads. I think we forget how raw he was.

[Commercecomet24]

They like his huge tools, but we've seen him more.

True but tools can be developed into weapons and remember he only played one year of qb in hs and that was running the option. This is only the beginning of his second year as a starter in the sec. Still has a high ceiling.

[Turfdawg67]

This team is fairly simple to me.

- We are good. Possibly damn good. Not sure yet

- Our defense is damn good. Like they score points good.

- While somewhat inconsistent right now, this is the most talented kicking game we've had in years.

- We are damn good and deep at RB.

- OL is what it is. Not elite but probably a little above average.

* That really leaves one massive question to me: is our QB and WRs good enough to make talented defenses respect a vertical passing game?

Our WRs are terribly short and have little catch radius and Fitz, while he has a strong arm, lacks accuracy, horribly stares down receivers, lacks anticipation, and natural passing instincts.

This team could be damn good, but could also have an extremely one dimensional offense that struggles to stretch teams vertically.

We'll find out this week, but I'm skeptical


Very good, honest post Shotgun. I'm not one for lengthy posts but I'd like to say this... Fitzgerald worries the crap out of me. The guy has ALL the physical attributes to be the greatest QB in MSU history... and one of the all-time best in the SEC. But I'm worried about what's between his ears. His slow starts show either his lack of maturity, his lack of confidence in his decision making or his nerves aren't where they need to be to be the best. I'm afraid that slow starts against great defenses like LSU, Alabama and possibly Auburn will be insurmountable. Dude needs to learn to be a self motivator and come out firing on all cylinders. Be a leader and and make smart decisions. He threw way too much to the wrong receiver early on tonight instead of checking down like he should.

[HSVDawg]

I'm not sure you are asking the right question. Are our QB's and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the vertical passing game? That's easy....no, they aren't. If they were, we'd be a consensus Top 5 team. But, that's not what we are asking them to do. Mullen didn't even ask Dak to stretch the field vertically much during his 5th year.

To me, the correct question is "are our QB and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the intermediate passing game enough to keep the running game going?" I think the answer is yes, they are good enough but are not consistent enough....yet. Fitz needs to not make throws like he did tonight on the near Pick 6, and he needs to know when to tuck and run just a little bit faster sometimes. And there are still little things like him throwing a pass 100 mph to Jordan Thomas when he's only 4 yards in front of him that need to be cleaned up. But overall, we are getting there. Next week will be the big measuring stick we have been waiting for since last December.

[TUSK]

They like his huge tools, but we've seen him more.

Wha?

[Commercecomet24]

I'm not sure you are asking the right question. Are our QB's and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the vertical passing game? That's easy....no, they aren't. If they were, we'd be a consensus Top 5 team. But, that's not what we are asking them to do. Mullen didn't even ask Dak to stretch the field vertically much during his 5th year.

To me, the correct question is "are our QB and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the intermediate passing game enough to keep the running game going?" I think the answer is yes, they are good enough but are not consistent enough....yet. Fitz needs to not make throws like he did tonight on the near Pick 6, and he needs to know when to tuck and run just a little bit faster sometimes. And there are still little things like him throwing a pass 100 mph to Jordan Thomas when he's only 4 yards in front of him that need to be cleaned up. But overall, we are getting there. Next week will be the big measuring stick we have been waiting for since last December.

Great post and accurate

[TUSK]

I'm not sure you are asking the right question. Are our QB's and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the vertical passing game? That's easy....no, they aren't. If they were, we'd be a consensus Top 5 team. But, that's not what we are asking them to do. Mullen didn't even ask Dak to stretch the field vertically much during his 5th year.

To me, the correct question is "are our QB and WR's good enough to make talented defenses respect the intermediate passing game enough to keep the running game going?" I think the answer is yes, they are good enough but are not consistent enough....yet. Fitz needs to not make throws like he did tonight on the near Pick 6, and he needs to know when to tuck and run just a little bit faster sometimes. And there are still little things like him throwing a pass 100 mph to Jordan Thomas when he's only 4 yards in front of him that need to be cleaned up. But overall, we are getting there. Next week will be the big measuring stick we have been waiting for since last December.

Teams with really good 2ndarys and an active front 7 will eat that up. LSU may fall into that CAT, AU does on half of that.... I dunno about UGA...

[JDog13]

They like his huge tools, but we've seen him more.

Keep it PG please. And no, I don't think they're good enough.

[HSVDawg]

Alabama will eat that up. LSU may fall into that CAT, AU does on half of that.... I dunno about UGA...

Fixed it for you. But, you are absolutely correct. Those type teams are few and far between, and generally "eat up" most every offense.

[RougeDawg]

To me, Fitz needs early "hard" contact in the running game to get going in the passing game. He ran a few times early tonight but never got that "hit" to settle him down.

This is a double edged sword because getting hit increases chances of injury, but when you have a guy who needs that contact to zone in you have to let him run it.

[ShotgunDawg]

He is in his what, 5th year as a QB in his life? He has to be more consistent with his footwork and unfortunately just needs more time to get better at the reads. I think we forget how raw he was.

I agree 100% but we need him to be good now. Not in 3 years.

This is a win NOW team. We may be fielding a team with double digit NFL players right now.

Development is great, but let's 17ing win something.

[TimberBeast]

We are good team, but this issue will prevent us from having a chance to beat teams that we struggle to run on.

Of course but the issue is mostly with him having time to throw and WR dropping passes. The two weaknesses of our team that we all knew about, OL and WR. Fitz ain't the problem here, have to remember he is still learning. Dak went through the EXACT same issues.

[Bully13]

yea, let's hope Mullen's not trying to put another notch in his QB development resume to the detriment of the team. I know he loves all the media blow jobs but Fitz ain't ready for an early exit to the NFL. I don't care WHAT the NFL "experts" are saying. play to your player's strengths and let things progress. but shotgun is right, we don't have time to wait, we need some semblance of a down field threat or we are going to get our asses stomped by legit SEC teams.

[Coach007]

The issue is Nick. He's too amped up before the game and it takes him some time to settle. He was 10 out of the last 11 passes. We do not have a Bear and winning will take spreading the ball around to the WRs and TEs AND the RBs out of the backfield.

[Bully13]

Of course but the issue is mostly with him having time to throw and WR dropping passes. The two weaknesses of our team that we all knew about, OL and WR. Fitz ain't the problem here, have to remember he is still learning. Dak went through the EXACT same issues.

no.

[TUSK]

no.

ahem... please see my signature.

Thank you for your compliance in this matter.

[BeardoMSU]

I think Fitz can be a great college QB for us. I also think people need to stop with the NFL talk regarding Fitz. I don't see it, tbh. That being said, we can still win a lot of games with him as our QB. He needs to get better in his reads, tho. Much better. That part of his game needs a lot of work.

[Commercecomet24]

Nick isn't ready for the NFL now but he's gonna be by the end of his senior year and yes he has some warts but what qb doesn't. Our qb situation is better than it's ever been in our history. Nick has to get better obviously but the kids a gamer a competitor and wants to win. Some qbs start fast and fade, some start slow and get better as the game goes on. Nick is the latter right now and I'm sure he's working to become more consistent.

[Bothrops]

The way I see it, we are better than Kentucky, and Arkansas on talent. We are a better team than A&M and Ole Miss. LSU is a match. Georgia - I like them better since on the road, and they are a strong second half performer. Auburn would be in trouble if in Starkville. If we win one game out of next 3, we should finish 8-4 4-4, or 9-3 and 5-3.

[Commercecomet24]

The way I see it, we are better than Kentucky, and Arkansas on talent. We are a better team than A&M and Ole Miss. LSU is a match. Georgia - I like them better since on the road, and they are a strong second half performer. Auburn would be in trouble if in Starkville. If we win one game out of next 3, we should finish 8-4 4-4, or 9-3 and 5-3.

That's how I see it too.

[HSVDawg]

I agree 100% but we need him to be good now. Not in 3 years.

This is a win NOW team. We may be fielding a team with double digit NFL players right now.

Development is great, but let's 17ing win something.

2018 is the "win now" year. We have a few good pieces now, especially on defense. Perhaps enough to get to 9-3, maybe even 10-2 (either would be amazing in my book). But, Bama's D is gonna rip our ass a new one just like they always do. And because of that, we aren't going to win anything substantial that Mullen hasn't already accomplished....not this year. My guess is you probably already knew that before you started this thread.

2018 is when Guidry, Heath, and Murphy get here, Rivers, Cole, and all our redshirting OL get on the field, Fitz gets another year of polish, and we lose basically no impact seniors except Gray, Rankin, and Jordan Thomas. That is when we need to be competitive for the West.

[msstate7]

2018 is the "win now" year. We have a few good pieces now, especially on defense. Perhaps enough to get to 9-3, maybe even 10-2 (either would be amazing in my book). But, Bama's D is gonna rip our ass a new one just like they always do. And because of that, we aren't going to win anything substantial that Mullen hasn't already accomplished this year. My guess is you probably already knew that before you started this thread.

2018 is when Guidry, Heath, and Murphy get here, Rivers, Cole, and all our redshirting OL get on the field, Fitz gets another year of polish, and we lose basically no impact seniors except Gray, Rankin, and Jordan Thomas. That is when we need to be competitive for the West.

I really like how it's shaping up for next season, but rankin will be a huge loss. Unless Reese and Eliand make huge strides this year, '18 could be missing a huge piece, OTs

[Commercecomet24]

This is the 8-9 win year. Next year is the year to make the next step. I think the majority of us realized that going into this year. We weren't gonna win the west this year unless the bama team vanishes off the face of the earth and it would still be difficult this year.

[HSVDawg]

I really like how it's shaping up for next season, but rankin will be a huge loss. Unless Reese and Eliand make huge strides this year, '18 could be missing a huge piece, OTs

That is right. Somebody will have to step up. We'll probably have a few guys like Sweat and maybe Gerri Green who declare early for the draft who will also be big losses. Nobody ever has a perfect offseason. But, next year could see our team with much less uncertainty than any MSU team I can renember in terms of the options we will have at all positions.

[Bothrops]

Next year, we could have the best defense we've ever put on the field. Very good, and very deep. If we had a shoe-in ready for LT, we'd possibly have the best offense we ever assembled, as well.

[Bully13]

ahem... please see my signature.

Thank you for your compliance in this matter.

I think that's the 2nd time you've busted me for that. just couldn't help myself sir.