QB situation

cloneaholic · 04-19-2008, 03:54 PM

I came away from this afternoon's spring game scratching my head like I always do - never sure if I should be happy with one side's success or disaapointed with the other side's lack of success. However, I did come away feeling excited about the potential of Bates at QB.

Because the plays were automatically called dead whenever the QB's were even touched, you could only see one dimension of their game - how they throw the ball. I think Bates passing skills are more than adequate. But I'm really excited to see how he will stress the defense with his running ability.

I'm not down on Arnaud, though. He made a couple of major mental errors on two of the interceptions, but I think part of the problem was he felt very rushed to unload the ball before the defensive linemen got close to touching him. He'll be fine. He would have had a major run for a touchdown if the refs hadn't blown the play dead because Jesse Smith barely got a finger on him as he was taking off down field.

I have a feeling we'll see both Arnaud and Bates both play a lot of major minutes. That's good because odds are both of them will get nicked up during the season.

jj-cyclones · 04-19-2008, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by cloneaholic

I have a feeling we'll see both Arnaud and Bates both play a lot of major minutes. That's good because odds are both of them will get nicked up during the season.

Lets just hope the odds are in our favor and they both play 100%!

Landshark · 04-19-2008, 04:36 PM

I too think we'll see a two qb rotation and I have no problem with it.

As far as today goes, Arnaud faltered under pressure and had two stupid int's. I was very impressed with Bates, he made some nice throws right on the money.

However, I realize this was only a spring game, but I liked the look of our team out there, especially defensively, which is my major concern of weakness this coming season.

Clones85' · 04-19-2008, 05:16 PM

For people that were not at the game, and are just going off of stats, they are going to think Bates should be the clear #1. But as you said, it wasn't a real game set up. You have to throw the ball a split second before you normally would because the coaches blow the whistle before the lineman even touch the QB. To me it is not a true feel for a QB.

cyfreddy · 04-19-2008, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Landshark

I too think we'll see a two qb rotation and I have no problem with it.

As far as today goes, Arnaud faltered under pressure and had two stupid int's. I was very impressed with Bates, he made some nice throws right on the money.

However, I realize this was only a spring game, but I liked the look of our team out there, especially defensively, which is my major concern of weakness this coming season.

I also have no problem with a two qb rotation. It worked okay for Wayne Stanley & Buddy Hardeman in the seventies.

isucy86 · 04-19-2008, 05:50 PM

It seemed like Arnaud was shot putting a lot of his short passes. Has his throwing motion changed since last season? It seems to me he is going to have a lot passes blocked.

I wasn't hugely impressed by either Bates or Arnaud- but I did feel that Bates had a better game than Arnaud.

heyguy85 · 04-19-2008, 06:33 PM

Bates looked very impressive. It's only April and they have a long summer, but Bates made it look like it's his job.

ketelmeister · 04-19-2008, 06:59 PM

We are fortunate to have two good QB's. The real question will be who can hold up under the stress of competition for the top slot. Bates is a firely, confident personality, and Arnaud is more of a quiet type leader. I get the feeling that Bates loves the battle. In fact, after Arnaud misfired and threw an interception, you could see Bates smell blood and take his game to a higher level. Arnaud seemed to get down on himself late in the "game." I was glad to see him throw a home run late. We need them both to be up. Don't kid yourselves, Bates thinks he can win the starting spot, and I would not bet against it. He's fast, cocky and can run and throw.

snowcraig2.0 · 04-19-2008, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by ketelmeister

We are fortunate to have two good QB's. The real question will be who can hold up under the stress of competition for the top slot. Bates is a firely, confident personality, and Arnaud is more of a quiet type leader. I get the feeling that Bates loves the battle. In fact, after Arnaud misfired and threw an interception, you could see Bates smell blood and take his game to a higher level. Arnaud seemed to get down on himself late in the "game." I was glad to see him throw a home run late. We need them both to be up. Don't kid yourselves, Bates thinks he can win the starting spot, and I would not bet against it. He's fast, cocky and can run and throw.

I am starting to believe you.

IcSyU · 04-19-2008, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by ketelmeister

We are fortunate to have two good QB's. The real question will be who can hold up under the stress of competition for the top slot. Bates is a firely, confident personality, and Arnaud is more of a quiet type leader. I get the feeling that Bates loves the battle. In fact, after Arnaud misfired and threw an interception, you could see Bates smell blood and take his game to a higher level. Arnaud seemed to get down on himself late in the "game." I was glad to see him throw a home run late. We need them both to be up. Don't kid yourselves, Bates thinks he can win the starting spot, and I would not bet against it. He's fast, cocky and can run and throw.

Cocky or confident? Huge difference between the two.

ketelmeister · 04-19-2008, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by IcSyU

Cocky or confident? Huge difference between the two.

`

Guess that depends on your outlook. I mean this in a positive way. He is very confident of himself on the field and sidelines, and knows he can do the job. A lot of top athletes have that little extra that I consider cockiness, that puts them over the top into the elite status. Bates certainly exhibits that. He will have to prove it on the field.

IcSyU · 04-19-2008, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by ketelmeister

`

Guess that depends on your outlook. I mean this in a positive way. He is very confident of himself on the field and sidelines, and knows he can do the job. A lot of top athletes have that little extra that I consider cockiness, that puts them over the top into the elite status. Bates certainly exhibits that. He will have to prove it on the field.

Ok, I was hoping it was the good kind...

jberryma · 04-19-2008, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by ketelmeister

`

Guess that depends on your outlook. I mean this in a positive way. He is very confident of himself on the field and sidelines, and knows he can do the job. A lot of top athletes have that little extra that I consider cockiness, that puts them over the top into the elite status. Bates certainly exhibits that. He will have to prove it on the field.

Definitely agree with you here. And I loved this. I thought we've missed that little FIRE and SWAGGER the last couple of years. I for one, even though it was only the spring game, like seeing that out on the field.

SeattleClone · 04-19-2008, 08:15 PM

I was watching Bates and Arnaud throw the ball back and forth on the sideline during some of the early pre-scrimmage drills. They were standing about 10 yards apart. I noticed that Arnaud was just kind of lofting the ball over to Bates, while Bates was rifling the ball back to him. It definitely didn't look like it was intended to be a "one-sided drill" but Bates definitely seemed to be more aggressive with his throws. I wasn't sure what to make out of that.

jberryma · 04-19-2008, 08:17 PM

Let me also say that I saw some of the same enthusiasm out of Arnaud last year so he's got it too. In college athletics I think emotion is a very big deal and I like seeing our leaders show some of that!