William Brown or Ben Hicks

[Stallion]

he by far has the rawest mechanics of any QB I've seen start a game for SMU except maybe Chris Phillips. Take a look at his form on that long pass. Simply awful-He side armed it-heaved it is a good description-his body and feet end almost in an open stance. However, he threw it a good 55 yards with horrible mechanics-that's his redeeming quality-arm strength. Plus that's not reading a defense-its simply just attempting to throw over a defense. I think his form is going to get him in a lot of trouble--and soon. For now we'll see a lot of short passes in the flat and about 2-3 yards and 6-7 yards downfield. Main thing right now is to avoid 3rd and long

[PoconoPony]

he by far has the rawest mechanics of any QB I've seen start a game for SMU except maybe Chris Phillips. Take a look at his form on that long pass. Simply awful-He side armed it-heaved it is a good description-his body and feet end almost in an open stance. However, he threw it a good 55 yards with horrible mechanics-that's his redeeming quality-arm strength. Plus that's not reading a defense-its simply just attempting to throw over a defense. I think his form is going to get him in a lot of trouble--and soon. For now we'll see a lot of short passes in the flat and about 2-3 yards and 6-7 yards downfield. Main thing right now is to avoid 3rd and long

I totally agree with your assessment. I have extensive experience working with baseball pitchers and once the "muscle memory" is entrenched in the brain it is extremely difficult to to correct mechanics, if not impossible. Despite hours of constant practice using proper mechanics the athlete will almost always resort back to "muscle memory" in the course of actual competition and resort back to the mechanics the brain was initially trained to believe was proper. Tim Tebow, Paxton Lynch and Tyrell Pryor are current examples of athletes whose mechanics could not be corrected despite endless hours of special coaching to effect technique changes. As a result, I am very dubious that Brown will ever be able to be developed as a top level passer.

[Timothythegreat]

I disagree with the assessment of the long throws. The receiver who had the least ability to out jump a defender, he threw a perfect pass to. For the others, he did what Hicks never did - take advantage of an athletic receiver who can go get the ball. How many times did Hicks put balls for Sutton out of bounds or just out of reach?

If you are able to, I encourage you to watch those highlights on the replay. There were at least two that were completely uncontested by the DB and were Actually thrown short where the receiver had to stop the route and come back for it.

[JasonB]

he by far has the rawest mechanics of any QB I've seen start a game for SMU except maybe Chris Phillips. Take a look at his form on that long pass. Simply awful-He side armed it-heaved it is a good description-his body and feet end almost in an open stance. However, he threw it a good 55 yards with horrible mechanics-that's his redeeming quality-arm strength. Plus that's not reading a defense-its simply just attempting to throw over a defense. I think his form is going to get him in a lot of trouble--and soon. For now we'll see a lot of short passes in the flat and about 2-3 yards and 6-7 yards downfield. Main thing right now is to avoid 3rd and long

I would like to see his throwing motion compared to early VY. I think they are pretty similar.... not saying that is a good thing, it is just what it reminds me of.

[Stallion]

Its not even close-Vince did drop down a little on some passes but his feet and his motion are at least all going in the right direction. His speed for a kid that huge is really amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OJWrqGnyc8

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Vince Young never really did much though other than that national championship.

[SMUer]

Are we really [deleted] about the mechanics of multiple +50 TD throws in a game?!? Who are we, Alabama? Yes, please, let's put in the QB who sails short route passes but has pretty foot-work and mechanics...this place is unbelievable sometimes.

[JasonB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bUioKDiOGg

Look around the 1:29 mark and his first two throws, that sidearm flip type of thing. That is what I was referring to... for most of his college career, when he threw the ball he would drop it down at the end and flip it.

[ponyboy]

I see it.

The last time UT was any good was the VCR days?

[ojaipony]

Uh, Will Brown is 2-0 as a starter. He played really well against Michigan AT Michigan. He's completing almost 67% of his passes and he has a TD:INT ratio of 6:1. He's also our 3rd leading rusher and has only played 2 1/2 games.

So, I don't give a [Deleted] about mechanics if these are the results. Now, Stallion is correct, it will get him in trouble and he has a LONG way to go before we anoint him the next Vince Young LOL. But he's a true freshman, and I'll give him some rope. He needs to finish games and of course not turn it over. He's dynamic, and I'll take that for now.

[BUS]

Thank you Hog Boy.
Now having said that... Brown is the Bomb. Run, pass, and such a puppy now.
Give him some time and he will get better.
For now, he is darn good and if something happens, Hick can come in. I bet hicks is learning some things too.

Play hard young men!

[SMU Pom Mom]

Two years from now you'll be wringing your hands about whether Brown will be back for his senior year.

[One Trick Pony]

I don't know about that Mom

[No Quarter]

he by far has the rawest mechanics of any QB I've seen start a game for SMU except maybe Chris Phillips. Take a look at his form on that long pass. Simply awful-He side armed it-heaved it is a good description-his body and feet end almost in an open stance. However, he threw it a good 55 yards with horrible mechanics-that's his redeeming quality-arm strength. Plus that's not reading a defense-its simply just attempting to throw over a defense. I think his form is going to get him in a lot of trouble--and soon. For now we'll see a lot of short passes in the flat and about 2-3 yards and 6-7 yards downfield. Main thing right now is to avoid 3rd and long

I totally agree with your assessment. I have extensive experience working with baseball pitchers and once the "muscle memory" is entrenched in the brain it is extremely difficult to to correct mechanics, if not impossible. Despite hours of constant practice using proper mechanics the athlete will almost always resort back to "muscle memory" in the course of actual competition and resort back to the mechanics the brain was initially trained to believe was proper. Tim Tebow, Paxton Lynch and Tyrell Pryor are current examples of athletes whose mechanics could not be corrected despite endless hours of special coaching to effect technique changes. As a result, I am very dubious that Brown will ever be able to be developed as a top level passer.

I not prepared to debate Pocono or Stallion. But Tim Tebow? Maybe so. Tebow had more good players around him. But Florida went 52 -4 during his time there and he played in 13 games as a freshman and started 2 or 3 years and was third in the Heisman and broke H. Walker's record for rushing TDs at UGA and, well, go check the WIKI.

Some one else will have to estimate his chances to win more games as the starting QB than anyone in a long time but if he does two - thirds as well as Tebow there might be more fans in Ford at the end of his eligibility. Shoot, if he does half as well.

For the moment I hope he is past whatever made him leave the game last week and stays injury free. And if he wants to play at the next level I hope he takes to coaching.

[One Trick Pony]

WTF