hunt-ducks said:
Brown has plenty of arm strength. We have re-hashed the reasons why he has not looked like Tom Brady many times on here. But few want to give the kid a break for being very young, with only two games of starting experience, a very poor blocking O-line, and offense which doesn't help a young QB by asking him to function in 3-step and 5-step drops and slow-developing WR trees, rather than quick slants, TE drags, and outs, no running game to keep the defenders from pinning their ears back in the rush, and an offensive scheme which looks more like a high school offense.
Yes, Brown does not yet see the field, and secondary receivers well. Yes, Brown occasionally throws into coverage (just like our 6th year 24 year-old QB still does). Give the kid a chance to grow into the position, for Christ's sake!
I have tried to find Jordy Johnson's freshman passing stats from 2010, but can only find that he played in 6 games, completed 52% of his passes, and had two interceptions. Jordy worked-out pretty well in the following three years he started. The verdict is still out on Brown, but jeeez, cut the kid some slack!
Why, in a year where everything else about this team was championship calibre at the beginning of the year, would you ever want a kid playing QB that has to "grow into the position"? If he (Brown) has all of these shortcomings (which you're just NOW admitting to, despite months of claiming he was the best QB on the roster), isn't that exhibit A for why Cam was starting over him? I think we're seeing right now, in real time, why Brown wasn't the starter.
And FFS, literally EVERY pass he threw against Sac State was within 3 yards of the LOS. When he DID take a 5-step drop he held the ball too long, was sacked, and inevitably fumbles. As 84 pointed out, he has almost zero pocket awareness, doesn't move around, doesn't feel the rush, holds the ball too long, locks in on receivers, etc., etc., and then gets blindsided and fumbles (on three of the four Dixie State sacks, FFS)....ALL these things make the offense (and in particular the offensive line) look WAY worse. And when the defense knows there won't be a pass longer than 5 yards, that makes THEIR job a shitload easier to just pin their ears back and charge in.
UW - 1 sack
WIU - 0 sacks
CP - 2 sacks
EWU - 3 sacks
Dixie State - 4 sacks
Sac State - 4 sacks
the O-line has given up more sacks in Brown's 2 starts than in the four games previous. I don't think that's a coincidence.
And despite all that, I do believe Brown could be a good/great QB someday. That day just isn't today. And another season will be shit down UM's collective leg because we don't have a serviceable backup for the most important position on the field.