Things I found Interesting on MSU Media Day

[Ifyouonlyknew]

If Damian is the best playmaker, he should play. I don't think that's the case though. Who do you think ultimately starts game 1 and who wins the job?

I think the safe money is on Fitz

[mic]

No matter who gets the nod early in the season or whoever takes the most snaps , we should be 3-1 ... ( Dak would prob be 3-1 if he was still here)
With week 5 being the open week we have from now until week 6 of the season for someone to separate themselves from the rest and win the job.

[HSVDawg]

I can't be any clearer. Mullen, the QB's, and most everybody on the team is going to know who the starting QB is going to be by the end of week 3 of practice.

I don't really agree with this. I expect the reps will be pretty even between at least 2 or 3 guys all the way up until game week (starting 8/29). Mullen is going to want the biggest sample size possible before making his decision, and its very possible that he continues to split reps even during game week and plays multiple guys against South Alabama to see how they respond to live game reps before deciding on the guy. Now, it's certainly possible that Fitz or Staley is not in that grouping of guys who are getting heavy reps towards the end of camp that they will see the writing on the wall. But I guarantee you Mullen isn't making his decision until 8/29 at the earliest and possibly not even until after USA.

[lamont]

I don't really agree with this. I expect the reps will be pretty even between at least 2 or 3 guys all the way up until game week (starting 8/29). Mullen is going to want the biggest sample size possible before making his decision, and its very possible that he continues to split reps even during game week and plays multiple guys against South Alabama to see how they respond to live game reps before deciding on the guy. Now, it's certainly possible that Fitz or Staley is not in that grouping of guys who are getting heavy reps towards the end of camp that they will see the writing on the wall. But I guarantee you Mullen isn't making his decision until 8/29 at the earliest and possibly not even until after USA.

Once we start getting closer to game week- #3 and #4 get their reps cut. You simply don't have the practice time to have 4 QB's competing evenly with the 1st group. You have to get your top 2 at that point getting as many reps as possible

[Turfdawg67]

How did Williams ever get the "reliable" label?

Where did this come from?

He was atrocious in 2014 and, out of the 4 QBs, he brings the least to the running game, which is by far the least risky thing we can do on offense.

I have hard time believing that Fitz and Staley have been here 2 years and Tiano 1 full year and they don't know how to line the team up.

I don't see the debate here. It's a mindless argument to me.

OK, ok! We get it... you don't like Williams. You don't have to belabor the point. I'll trust what Dan has done with QBs his whole career and if he thinks Williams is the best QB for our team, then so be it.

[HSVDawg]

Once we start getting closer to game week- #3 and #4 get their reps cut. You simply don't have the practice time to have 4 QB's competing evenly with the 1st group. You have to get your top 2 at that point getting as many reps as possible

Three things:

1) If it plays out the way you have it above and Staley / Fitz are the top 2, then what happens? Because Mullen won't name either one the starter before Sept 3rd. And they will possibly be splitting the reps down the middle if they are the final 2 up until kickoff.
2) You may have the top 2 guys getting as many reps as possible, but how many more reps they get over the other two depends on how much they have separated themselves. Lets say Fitz and Williams are the top 2, but by an eyelash. You could see each of them getting 30% of the reps over Staley and Tiano who each get only 20% of the reps. Or you could see each of them getting 35% with Staley getting 20% and Tiano getting 5%. Or they could all be even and all getting 25% reps. You can't just pick two guys if no one has separated themselves and earned the distinction; in that case you have to let the actual games be the judge of who can play. Every year there are teams that take 3 or 4 games to figure out their QB situation. It's happened to Alabama the past 2 years and it happened with Steve Spurrier's teams seemingly every year. It might be our turn for that to happen here, who knows.
3) Don't assume Mullen won't let the reps play out to maximize the chances of all QB's staying at least through this season. He's not an idiot and he knows he's not hanging onto both Staley and Fitz over the long term. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps their reps equal as long as he can, because it is in both his and their best interest for them to stick around at least until December.

[HancockCountyDog]

I think the safe money is on Fitz

I've always just assumed Fitz would be the guy and Staley transfers before the season and Damien transfers after.

I have no inside info, it's just what makes sense.

[DancingRabbit]

Once we start getting closer to game week- #3 and #4 get their reps cut. You simply don't have the practice time to have 4 QB's competing evenly with the 1st group. You have to get your top 2 at that point getting as many reps as possible

Game day sometimes reveals things you can't see in practice. If #1 and #2 (who ever that is) don't get the job done to Dan's liking, then #3 and maybe #4 see snaps in the first two games. If no one transfers, I think it could be up in the air until we get through two games.

[lamont]

If we are still wondering who our top 2 QB's are by Labor Day- we got real problems

[lamont]

We have SEC games in Week 2 and 3 of the season. Mullen is going to get the best QB he has ready to play SEC football. He is not going to get QB3 and QB4 equal reps after a couple weeks. By the end of week 3 of practice- there will have been 2 scrimmages. Mullen is going to get the best 2 QB's the most reps after that point. He's got to start getting QB 1 reps constantly with Myles, Ross, and Gray. While he might not tell the public, the team will know who the QB is going to be.

[ShotgunDawg]

Game day sometimes reveals things you can't see in practice. If #1 and #2 (who ever that is) don't get the job done to Dan's liking, then #3 and maybe #4 see snaps in the first two games. If no one transfers, I think it could be up in the air until we get through two games.

Stupid. Dan is a world class QB evaluator. Your insulting him by not believing he can pick out the best QB by game one. They have different levels of talent. It isn't a magic show about who the best guy is.

[DancingRabbit]

Stupid. Dan is a world class QB evaluator. Your insulting him by not believing he can pick out the best QB by game one. They have different levels of talent. It isn't a magic show about who the best guy is.

Stupid Dan Mullen himself said the competition could go into October. I'm sure that's exaggerated coach-speak but what's so outrageous about saying there will be ongoing competition between #1 and #2 or #2 and #3 during the first two games?

http://gridironnow.com/dan-mullen-mi...k-competition/

[lamont]

Stupid Dan Mullen himself said the competition could go into October. I'm sure that's exaggerated coach-speak but what's so outrageous about saying there will be ongoing competition between #1 and #2 or #2 and #3 during the first two games?

http://gridironnow.com/dan-mullen-mi...k-competition/

You want to divide a football team and create chaos? Then don't settle on a QB into October of a football season

[Johnson85]

Every year there are teams that take 3 or 4 games to figure out their QB situation. It's happened to Alabama the past 2 years and it happened with Steve Spurrier's teams seemingly every year. It might be our turn for that to happen here, who knows.

There are teams that juggle 2 qbs for 3 or 4 games without it derailing their season, but I can't think of a team that juggled 4 and it not be because their QB position was just a disaster. And I believe Spurrier liked to say something along the lines of when you say you've got two quarterbacks, it usually means you have no quarterbacks.

[lamont]

Teams that juggle QB's lose games because of it. Bama even lost a game they shouldn't last year because they started the wrong QB. It's just not a recipe for success

[ShotgunDawg]

Delete

[HSVDawg]

Stupid. Dan is a world class QB evaluator. Your insulting him by not believing he can pick out the best QB by game one. They have different levels of talent. It isn't a magic show about who the best guy is.

I don't think anyone is saying Dan can't pick a guy before week 1. He can and he will. But its naive to think whoever he picks can play well against USA, but then turn around and throw 3 picks against South Carolina and still be the guy going forward just because that's who Dan picked in camp. The point is that Week 1 is the first litmus test of the QB competition but that doesn't necessarily mean its over. Whoever is chosen must play well on a week to week basis to keep the job because none of these guys are proven against SEC competition. And its a lot more than who the most talented one is, too. If that were the case it would be Staley no questions asked, and many are saying he might be the least likely to be the starter.

[RiverCityDawg]

I don't think anyone is saying Dan can't pick a guy before week 1. He can and he will. But its naive to think whoever he picks can play well against USA, but then turn around and throw 3 picks against South Carolina and still be the guy going forward just because that's who Dan picked in camp. The point is that Week 1 is the first litmus test of the QB competition but that doesn't necessarily mean its over. Whoever is chosen must play well on a week to week basis to keep the job because none of these guys are proven against SEC competition. And its a lot more than who the most talented one is, too. If that were the case it would be Staley no questions asked, and many are saying he might be the least likely to be the starter.

Yeah, but I think the point is you go to 2 at that point, not 3 or 4. So you still don't need a 4th guy taking reps away from 1 and 2. Dan will know in 2-3 weeks who out of Fitz, Williams and Staley needs to seek another opportunity. It might not be an easy call, but he'll have to give 90% of the reps to 1 and 2 with 3 getting the last 10%. Tiano isn't going anywhere so someone else will have to move on.

[DancingRabbit]

Yeah, but I think the point is you go to 2 at that point, not 3 or 4. So you still don't need a 4th guy taking reps away from 1 and 2. Dan will know in 2-3 weeks who out of Fitz, Williams and Staley needs to seek another opportunity. It might not be an easy call, but he'll have to give 90% of the reps to 1 and 2 with 3 getting the last 10%. Tiano isn't going anywhere so someone else will have to move on.

Our QBs are going to be running the ball more this year. Guys get dinged up. I don't see Dan pushing anybody out of the nest. If Williams is clearly in 4th then maybe he does something. Dan's October talk is just managing the competition and egos and he'll manage the reps fine.

[HSVDawg]

Our QBs are going to be running the ball more this year. Guys get dinged up. I don't see Dan pushing anybody out of the nest. If Williams is clearly in 4th then maybe he does something. Dan's October talk is just managing the competition and egos and he'll manage the reps fine.

^^^Exactly. I think maybe the 2007 and 2013 seasons are distant memories for some folks. Our stable looks stocked now, but things can go south in a hurry (especially with the offense Mullen runs). The program has absolutely nothing to gain and is opened to considerable risk if somebody leaves before Game 1, and Mullen knows that. He's going to do everything in his power to keep the QB roster intact until at least December.

Lets say Fitz gets early starter reps, and Staley leaves immediately. It's still possible and maybe even likely that Williams may go the grad transfer route in December so he doesn't spend his last year on the bench. Then maybe either Tiano decides he doesn't want to wait until his 5th year to get reps and also leaves, or Thompson has a change of heart and goes elsewhere, or one of the three get hurt. Any of those three scenarios combined with the above departures leaves us with only 2 QB options in 2017, and in a worst case or as I like to say "typical MSU" scenario where more than one of those scenarios happen we are suddenly a one man show. Then we are stuck scrambling for another low ceiling QB prospect in late January just to have another warm body. It sounds like a lot of "what ifs", but its really not that farfetched. Its probably 50/50 as to whether we lose Williams, but losing Fitz or Staley before January is virtually guaranteed. After that its just a roll of the dice as to whether anything else happens with the remaining guys.