Staley made the correct reads on his 1st drive in the scrimmage when he led a his group to a TD. The battle for #2 won't be over until the 3rd week of August ends
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Making reads has to be the biggest adjustment from high school. Even Dak was night & day better his Sr year compared to his Jr year.
Unless our pass blocking dramatically improves, we're going to need the guy who can make the quickest reads (experience), has the best feet in the pocket, and has escapability to pick up yards on the ground. All of that points to Fitz. Staley's advantage in arm strength becomes less a factor when he has less time to throw. He also currently has the worst footwork out of the four, which doesn't bode well when the pocket breaks down.
Fitz's legs bring a different dynamic than Elijah. E could be the best pocket QB in the SEC but with our OL they may have to play Fitz regardless. Thank God the man has legs the size of most people's waist. I actually think he could be a better runner than Dak was. I don't know if he has the vision to run to open space like Dak did, but he's going to be faster, heavier, and just as durable IMO.
Man, it is great knowing we have 3 talented QBs on the roster for a change. Amazing how far we have come at the QB position in recent years
Is Tiano a lefty or righty?
Yeah- Fitz's mobility compared to Staley is a definite advantage with the OL we are putting out there
The only time I can remember having more than 1 SEC level QBs was with Madkin and Fant. Most of the time we haven't even had a SEC level QB and now we have 3. That is one reason why I would give Mullen some slack. He knows how to evaluate and develop the most important position in football. It is kind of like having one of the best pitching coaches in the country. If you can develop that one position then you at least have a chance in every game.
It's Fitz job to lose. Stanley is nowhere close and that's coming from people on the team. Same guys who told me this, also said Mullen is in love with Tiano and he actually wants him to grow up quick so he can be the starter. Tiano picked apart the defense in the fall as scout team QB.
I agree that this is the best MSU has had ... ever!
So the only consensus here seems to be that Fitz is the likely #1. Lots of different opinions on where Staley, Tiano and Williams are in the pecking order. I will be surprised if Williams ends up any better than 3rd in the Fall and most likely 4th. He gets a lot of credit his true FR year for the Ark and UNM games but realistically other than the OT TD run at Ark he really didn't do much. Russell made the plays at Ark and the only score we had against UNM in the Egg Bowl until Dak came in was a 30 yd TD drive on a short field after a Wallace INT. Add that to the fact that Williams did not play well the Fall of 2014 and the recent Spring scrimmage and it just seems Williams is not really an SEC caliber QB.
Of course everyone thinks Fitz is a done deal. Yes he looked alright against Troy, but I'm not ready to crown him in spring ball. We will not know our starter until the end of fall camp at the earliest. People seem to have had a foregone negative conclusion about Staley for no more valid reasons than they are ready to crown Fitz.
I will say that Staley looked better than a lot of experts said he looked Saturday (to me at least). I didn't see a huge difference in him and Fitz.
Also I would like to add that v. Troy we did not really move the ball consistently at all, which is concerning to me. Fitz threw one nice deep ball and another decent one that Gray made an incredible play on. Other than that, we pretty much stalled against one of the worst teams in D1. Only 336 yards of total offense. Not saying Fitz will not be improved and effective, just saying we are jumping the gun in thinkings he's light years ahead of the competition.
I hate to bring up the black "athletic" QB switching to WR because that seems to happen all the time. But with our lack of an X Receiver and the success of the ex-QB at Ohio State which runs the same offense as us do any of you think that Staley would be able to make that transition? I know he has the height to be a great X. He played basketball so he should have the soft hands and ability to box out like Bear had. What I don't know is about his straight line speed and his agility to make cuts. What say ye?
Staley is not fast enough to play WR. Fitz is a much better runner. Staley is a drop back passer that can run a little
Greg McElroy says Fitz is the clear #1. Not even close right now.