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JJ said on Bo Levi Mitchell: "I have watched thousands of high school quarterback DVDs over the last ten years and Bo I think is the most accurate passer that I had looked at on film. We are really excited that Bo is coming here to be a part of what we do. I think he has a chance to come in and compete right away and we're counting on him to do that. Competition makes everybody better, and I think Bo Levi Mitchell will do that for our quarterbacks."

and

"On Braden Smith: "He has been very, very productive. He, too, had a sensational high school career. His touchdown-to-interception ratio says a lot about his accuracy and the type of quarterback he is. He will get his chance to play, and as I told all the quarterbacks, whoever the best player is, is going to play"


Is this a warning to current players that their position, regardless of how secure they make think it is, is really up for grabs?

I hope so. We were 1-11 last year.

Personally I'd rather have a QB that Jones knows would be a good fit and let him compete than just throwing in Willis into an unfamiliar offense. Especially since Willis has some kinks to work out. Besides, every returning player should be playing at 110% in spring ball to show the new coaches what they can do.

Every current player is starting from scratch with a new coaching staff. They have to prove they can play and that they will do what it takes to be successful.

Granted, I think Willis and some of our current players have what it takes to do just that.

ponyfan84 wrote:Personally I'd rather have a QB that Jones knows would be a good fit and let him compete than just throwing in Willis into an unfamiliar offense. Especially since Willis has some kinks to work out. Besides, every returning player should be playing at 110% in spring ball to show the new coaches what they can do.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Tuchdowns
699 yards Rushing
3 Rushing Touchdowns

Competition is a great thing but don't move so quickly to throw Justin to the wolves for some high school QB who accurately threw the ball(against a mixed bag of soph., junior and senior HS. DB's).

You guys only remember the fumbles when JW was running for his life after the OLine broke down. Also, there was no running game to keep the Defense honest. I'll be the first to say JW had way too many turnovers last season but he showed his freshman season he's capable of taking care of the ball.

IMO we should wipe the slate clean for all players on that (1-11)2007 roster.
They were all poorly lead and I think we will see the same players who struggled to catch, tackle, cover, etc. make big plays in 2008.
http://www.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=59014

TheBestAvailable wrote:

ponyfan84 wrote:Personally I'd rather have a QB that Jones knows would be a good fit and let him compete than just throwing in Willis into an unfamiliar offense. Especially since Willis has some kinks to work out. Besides, every returning player should be playing at 110% in spring ball to show the new coaches what they can do.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Tuchdowns
699 yards Rushing
3 Rushing Touchdowns

Competition is a great thing but don't move so quickly to throw Justin to the wolves for some high school QB who accurately threw the ball(against a mixed bag of soph., junior and senior HS. DB's).

You guys only remember the fumbles when JW was running for his life after the OLine broke down. Also, there was no running game to keep the Defense honest. I'll be the first to say JW had way too many turnovers last season but he showed his freshman season he's capable of taking care of the ball.

IMO we should wipe the slate clean for all players on that (1-11)2007 roster.
They were all poorly lead and I think we will see the same players who struggled to catch, tackle, cover, etc. make big plays in 2008.
http://www.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=59014

im going to disagree that they were poorly led ... all players from that team know their jobs arent safe and competition this spring should make them all better i hope

Willis will start. But as I pointed out early last year, the coordination between QB and Receivers wasn't where it needed to be last year. The biggest issue for Willis is that he needs to be more accurate in hitting his receivers where they can do something with the ball once they catch. That is just as much the responsibility of the Receivers as it is the QB-so I don't mean to single him out. You can't watch a Texas Tech game for example and not see how precise Graham Harrell is with his passes. In this offense it takes more than just completions-it takes precise accuracy. Without a TE he will have even less time to make decisions than he did last year. More discipline is required and less playgroud. But I'm less worried about Willis than just about any position on the team. The QB is a lightening rod where everybody takes out their frustrations when you lose 52-51. Let's worry a lot more about the 52 we gave up or the 99 yard yard drives or the 600 yards in passing defense we gave up or the 40 points per game we surrendered.

Stallion wrote:Willis will start. But as I pointed out early last year, the coordination between QB and Receivers wasn't where it needed to be last year. The biggest issue for Willis is that he needs to be more accurate in hitting his receivers where they can do something with the ball once they catch. That is just as much the responsibility of the Receivers as it is the QB-so I don't mean to single him out. You can't watch a Texas Tech game for example and not see how precise Graham Harrell is with his passes.

Do what

Coordination wise, that is.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Touchdowns

Graham Harrell has 400lb linemen protecting him, and about 3 minutes to get a pass off.

I believe Willis has what it takes to be successful in this offense but if you look at Hawaii and Tech what makes this offense great is with the right coaching you can plug in any qb in and they will be successful. Hawaii did that at times this year when colt was hurt. I say willis get the job from the start but dont be suprised if he struggles June unlike phil will find someone else.

PlanoStang wrote:

Stallion wrote:Willis will start. But as I pointed out early last year, the coordination between QB and Receivers wasn't where it needed to be last year. The biggest issue for Willis is that he needs to be more accurate in hitting his receivers where they can do something with the ball once they catch. That is just as much the responsibility of the Receivers as it is the QB-so I don't mean to single him out. You can't watch a Texas Tech game for example and not see how precise Graham Harrell is with his passes.

Do what

Coordination wise, that is.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Touchdowns

Graham Harrell has 400lb linemen protecting him

their not even comparable...SMU and Tech run two different offenses...

J.T.supporta wrote:

PlanoStang wrote:

Stallion wrote:Willis will start. But as I pointed out early last year, the coordination between QB and Receivers wasn't where it needed to be last year. The biggest issue for Willis is that he needs to be more accurate in hitting his receivers where they can do something with the ball once they catch. That is just as much the responsibility of the Receivers as it is the QB-so I don't mean to single him out. You can't watch a Texas Tech game for example and not see how precise Graham Harrell is with his passes.

Do what

Coordination wise, that is.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Touchdowns

Graham Harrell has 400lb linemen protecting him

their not even comparable...SMU and Tech run two different offenses...

That differ how

PlanoStang wrote:

J.T.supporta wrote:

PlanoStang wrote:

Stallion wrote:Willis will start. But as I pointed out early last year, the coordination between QB and Receivers wasn't where it needed to be last year. The biggest issue for Willis is that he needs to be more accurate in hitting his receivers where they can do something with the ball once they catch. That is just as much the responsibility of the Receivers as it is the QB-so I don't mean to single him out. You can't watch a Texas Tech game for example and not see how precise Graham Harrell is with his passes.

Do what

Coordination wise, that is.

JUSTIN WILLIS STATISTICS FOR 2007
2,944 yards Passing
25 passing Touchdowns

Graham Harrell has 400lb linemen protecting him

their not even comparable...SMU and Tech run two different offenses...

That differ how

Tech only has one TE on their roster, none in this upcoming class and I just watched 5 mins of their offense and never saw a tight end. Leach himself says he's borrowed a lot from the run n shoot. More similarites than differences. OL splits won't be as wide for sure.

Stallion wrote:Let's worry a lot more about the 52 we gave up or the 99 yard yard drives or the 600 yards in passing defense we gave up or the 40 points per game we surrendered.

Excellent point. I think our offense will be fine, assuming we can find the right mix of offensive lineman. Our defense had very, very few bright spots last season. That was the most critical fix with this recruiting class, and I think JJ, et al addressed it as best they could.

if we start a freshman at qb, the honeymoon will be over quickly and it will be another long year. Lets hope this is a motivational technique.

Agreed on the freshman QB comment, but I firmly believe that nobody's job should be considered safe. Competition is a GOOD thing. If JWill is going to keep his job, he'll have to prove he can do JJ's offense in practice.