I was impressed with Damien Williams

[archdog]

He has some skills. Needs to work on his internal clock on getting rid of the ball, but overall great work from the freshman. He could be extremely tough to bring down on a 3rd and 2 sweep option.

[Coach 57]

At the same time C34 if he can make the jump Chris Jones did from H.S to competitor you might wanna pump it yourself. Dak still has to do a better job of reading coverages. He got lucky a few times today. But I know he'll get better.

[smootness]

At the same time C34 if he can make the jump Chris Jones did from H.S to competitor you might wanna pump it yourself. Dak still has to do a better job of reading coverages. He got lucky a few times today. But I know he'll get better.

This is always the mistake people make, though, when claiming the guy nobody's seen is better than the guy they have. There are no negatives that we can see from the guy who hasn't played - so all we think about are the positives.

Staley is torching HS defenses, so we think the kid is amazing. Dak is having to adjust to the college game, so we start to see his weaknesses. Dak also rolled up high school stats...3 years ago.

I guarantee you Staley will not start next year. And that has nothing to do with him or his talent level. This will be Dak's offense, and there really is no question about that.

It is funny, though, to see people getting a head start on 'we need the backup!' We moved quickly from, 'Dak should start over Tyler,' to, 'Staley should start over Dak'.

[NorCalDawg]

In some ways, yes, but he has a much much looser and more lively arm than Relf. Much better thrower. Not saying he is great, but he should be a perfectly adequate backup.

I hope no one thought when I said he reminds me of Relf that it was meant to be an insult. I think Relf did a surpisingly good job for us. I think it's Williams physical build and his throwing stance that reminds me of Relf. But, I agree, Williams' does appear to be a better passer than Relf.

[Coach 57]

Have you seen Staley play? How about coached Vs him? Check.....&....check.

[I seen it dawg]

57 I get that Staley is good and may well over time be the best QB we have had in awhile. But while he may be good it's gonna take him some time to get used to the speed of the game which Dak has already done. And the speed of the game is in another universe in our conference than what he is doing now and even what he will do in practice when he gets here. He won't beat Dak out. Dak is ready to be the man if not now then for sure next year. It's his time and he will show why he will be the man for the next 2 years. It will be nice to be developing guys to play QB when they are Rsoph or juniors versus having an open hope we find one QB competition every year. Dak is the first to have to bide his time.

[smootness]

Have you seen Staley play? How about coached Vs him? Check.....&....check.

Yes, I have seen him play. Came away very impressed. He should be very good for us eventually.

But do you realize the difference in HS and the SEC? You do realize Dylan Favre put up stupid numbers in HS, right?

[Coach 57]

Yeah, I don't know the diff between the two. Lol. There were tons saying Chris Jones wouldn't play alot this year too (me included). But after seeing jump he made from his team's playoff loss to now. It aint even the same player. Guys like Jameis Winston shouldn't be doing what he's doing either, but he tore a pretty good Pitt defense to pieces too. Let me break it down for you like this. I don't just GO to games.....I'm ACTUALLY on the sideline. Although highschool kids may not be as tough and as physical as my generation's were but they are FAR superior from a physical (size/speed/strength) but the biggest jump is mentally what they are able to process. It just ain't possible for a true pocket passer like Luck to come into the NFL & tear it up like he did. Guys like RG3, Cam & Wilson are awesome but they use their legs to overcome the coverages. Luck uses his mind. The reason? Because of things like camps, internet, Madden/NCAA 2013, better grade of film to study, axis cameras, better nutrition, weight conditioning, coaches, schemes...etc etc. No more does your starter HAVE to be a red shirt Jr. It COULD now be a fresh out of the water fresh fish high school player. One of the hardest positions to play in college is DL right out of H.S. and the reason is the addition of these dual threat QBs. Used to you could just pinch ALL DAY unless every now & then you felt a toss. Now as a DLmen you basically have to either read the coverages like a LB & still go against a guy who has been in a D1 weight program for 3 yrs while all you took was weightlifting in 7th period & worked out with your highschool teammates. But guys like Nkemdiche & Jones are products of the new age H.S football. It's amazing to see. And that trend is filtering to QBs too. Staley is one of those kids. I didn't say he would start.....I said he'd "PUSH" for the job. Williams (if you read Paul Jones' bit about it) actually pushed Dak for the 2 spot. Why could a kid who is superior physically to Williams. Who has a better throwing motion than Williams. And can read coverages right now as good as Williams not PUSH Dak for the job next yr? Especially if you consider him learning the playbook early (being able to process it). Plus I think that's why Dan played Williams yesterday anyways. He knows Staley is coming & understands that Williams afterwards could conceivably transfer. I'm hearing the same about Griffin too because of Shumpert.

[BrunswickDawg]

I'll add one more element to what 57 is saying - Staley is playing against top level HS talent and top level HS COACHING week in and week out. The programs in his region are pipelines of D1 talent, and have been for 20+ years. Am I saying he will come in start? No. I am hearing from friends in that area that he may be the most college ready QB from Cobb County since Eric Zeier - and that is big praise in that part of the state.

[Political Hack]

agree with 57 on this one. I said Jones would be starting by mid season and was told to pump the brakes. Said the day he committed he was a freak and was called a sunshine pumper.

I'm saying now that Staley is good enough to push for PT immediately (if he gets here during the spring). He has tools at the QB position that State has NEVER had. Period. From a raw talent standpoint, we've never signed anyone as good as him. He needs to put on some muscle, learn the play book, and throw with the WRs. Thos things happen during spring ball and there's a very serious chance that Dak is not the clear cut starter come fall.

I think it will be very hard to overcome him, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Staley taking reps in game 1 next year (again, if he shows for spring).

[Coach 57]

+1

[smootness]

You're on the sideline?!?!??! Holy crap, nevermind, I take back everything I said.

Look, Chris Jones is a DL and it was obvious to everyone that he was good enough to come in and see playing time right away. If you didn't think he would play a lot, honestly, I just don't value your opinion as much.

But he's a DL. He isn't a QB. And there's one huge difference between Jameis Winston and what Elijah Staley will be next year, aside from the fact that Winston was the #1 QB in the country...he is a redshirt freshman. So even Winston didn't come in and play right away. Neither did Manziel, neither did just about any of the QBs you've seen recently.

And the other difference between Chris Jones and Elijah Staley is that Chris Jones didn't really have much in front of him blocking his path to playing time. Staley has Prescott, who will be in his fourth year in the system.

Staley isn't going to play next year unless a disaster occurs. Sorry, but I think you guys are high.

ETA: If you honestly believe Damian Williams pushed Dak for the backup role, again, I think you're high.

What is the reason everyone has soured on Dak? It certainly isn't anything he's done...I guess it's just the same old fan mindset of, 'That guy I've heard about is better than the guy I've seen'; we're just speeding that process up.

[I seen it dawg]

Got to agree with Smoot here...if I remember correctly Dak had a couple of late offers from some pretty good schools but stuck to his commitment, meaning he was a sought after recruit. I've seen Dak play, from the sidelines, and in high school he carved people up (Louisiana HS football aint bad) and ran over people probably like Elijah is doing. He played in a spread, pass-first, offense and had to read defenses against high level competition - he didn't come from some back swamp 7 man football hick town.

I'm ELATED that Elijah is coming here and I expect him to compete at a high level. With that being said I just don't see how anyone can EXPECT that a true freshman is going to come into this conference and truly PUSH a quality RS Jr that has been in the system for 3 yrs and will have possibly have had meaningful conference playing time under his belt. His freshman year is going to be spent acclimating himself to faster football and soaking up as much as he can so he can provide meaningful snaps if he is called upon his second year on campus.

I think it's a great problem for a program to have to have a QB to come in and learn for 2 years and then become the starter their RS Jr year. I hope this trend has started with Dak because that means we are doing a great job of evaluating, signing, and developing the right kind of QBs for our program.

[Coach 57]

Are you reading my posts at all? I didn't say Williams was pushing Dak. I said Paul Jones said it. Do you know who he is? He covers the team on a daily basis. He was right about Jones, he was right about Shumpert. I value his opinion over a message board hero like yourself as it is HIS JOB to cover the team.


Furthermore I said Jones wouldn't play this year AT DEFENSIVE END! I didn't know he put on all the weight he did. He was far lighter Vs Louisville in the playoff game they lost. Coupled with the depth at DE we have. Yes I said he wouldn't play.........AT DE! Nobody knew Quay would be suspended & that Nick would be eating cupcakes in the junction. Even Turner said he was surprised he progressed so quickly.

[I seen it dawg]

I said this to a guy today. If Staley comes early I FULLY expect him to push for the starting job! Write it down! I said it!

Not sure you are replying to me or smoot.....but if it's me here's my rant

Uhhh yep I read your posts....I'm not trying to be a message board hero. Nor am I acting like I'm the end all authority because "have you seen staley play? Have you coached vs him. Check....and check..." Now I'm readily willing to admit you know more about Staley than I do especially if you, at the minimum, have seen him play because I haven't. I've seen Dak play. From the sidelines. And I've coached football before. Therefore by the same logic I probably know more about Dak than you do.

Now none of that means shit because my whole point is not that Elijah specifically can't come in and PUSH for the job it's that any true freshman will have a hard time coming in and doing anything meaningful over a guy that's 3 years in the system, that is a good player, at the QB position in this conference. I'm not saying it can't be done I'm saying that given the circumstances as they are today I can't see it realistically happening even if he enrolls early. And the main reason is because Dak isn't some slug we have manning the spot because we don't have anybody able to do it, he is a damn good player.

I can't understand why I'm so off base in thinking that 2 players with very similar skill sets and one has been in the system for 3 years would have a very decided advantage over the one that has never been in the system...what am I missing?

Eta:: Oh and playing early (like True Freshaman early) at QB vs playing early at RB or DE are slightly different..like in different solar system different

[thf24]

Sorry to further hijack this thread, but in regards to the Staley discussion going on; if he's the stud he's looking to be right now and can push to start as a true freshmen next year as 57 says, what's making him a three star with a grade of 86 on 24/7? I know stars don't mean everything (or even a lot), and I'm not doubting that he's great. I'm just curious as to what's counting against him at this point. No matter what I'm excited to get him on campus and watch him play for us in a few years based on what we're hearing.

[Dawg61]

There ain't a chance in hell Staley is the starter next year. Of all the positions Mullen wants a veteran starting it is this one. Mullen is a very conservative coach at times. No way he takes the risk of starting the true freshman and pissing off the veterans. Mullen can't jeopardize the depth he's built. Even if and it's very doubtful Staley is the superior player he still won't start a single game next year. You can throw out 2015 too because Dak will be a senior. Buying that Staley doesn't start till 2016.

[Bully13]

There ain't a chance in hell Staley is the starter next year. Of all the positions Mullen wants a veteran starting it is this one. Mullen is a very conservative coach at times. No way he takes the risk of starting the true freshman and pissing off the veterans. Mullen can't jeopardize the depth he's built. Even if and it's very doubtful Staley is the superior player he still won't start a single game next year. You can throw out 2015 too because Dak will be a senior. Buying that Staley doesn't start till 2016.

not saying your prediction isn't true, but I certainly hope it's not because of the reasons you say...If Mullen is going to recruit well and build a program, then the best need to be on the field despite senority... young recruits need to know that their ability is going to dictate their opportunities, not their length of time in the program...

[Dawg61]

not saying your prediction isn't true, but I certainly hope it's not because of the reasons you say...If Mullen is going to recruit well and build a program, then the best need to be on the field despite senority... young recruits need to know that their ability is going to dictate their opportunities, not their length of time in the program...

Oh I certainly believe that Mullen would start a freshman at ANY other position but he'll never choose the freshman at QB. Remember this is the guy that ran Tebow as the backup as a freshman. He believes that is the best way to improve the player.

[hells bells]

I was impressed with the entire redshirt class that played. Mullen has talent, just does not brag about it. I left Davis Wade at 00.00, soaking wet from the heat and dam pleased with the future.