Is Gray our Pryor?

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Seems to have some of the same issues as Pryor and some of the same abilities - if he ever gets to play.
 

Pryor's an awful special player. I do see where you're going though. They spent a lot of time going over how much more they're letting Pryor do now that he's become experienced in the offense.
 

When Gary DiNardo was here with Howard Griffin

On the Big Ten Tour, made it clear he liked Gray over Pryor. The reason, the ball explodes off Gray's hand with a flick. That was during the spring. I can only imagine how we have worked with his throwing motion.
 




His talents are special, there's no doubt. It's hard to imagine with an all out battle for the starting spot next year that Gray doesn't win out. Now, he may have to earn it on the field in the first NC games but I think he will.
 

A case for Gray...

I'll say the same thing I said several months ago about Gray.

There's no doubt Weber has more experience and likely has a MUCH better handle on the offense and likely even more accurate (yikes).

However....

Gray's skill set adds an enormous amount of pressure to the defense, plain and simple.

Gray may not be Pryor but there could easily be some similarities. With the added dimension of mobility, Gray doesn't HAVE to be that accurate. Look at Pryor. Many of his completions are when he's broken from the pocket, receivers have separated themselves from coverage, and are WIDE open. It's not like Pryor is threading the needle all night, reading coverages and hitting 3rd and 4th options.

I don't know if that's the way to go just yet. Weber could really handle this offense next year, particularly with an improved line and running game. But I also know Gray will NOT get a lot better without getting consistent snaps.

Here's hoping for a spirited competition between now and late August...
 

I just really hope that who ever starts is because they did a great job, and not because the other didn't.
 

Yes

I've said if before and I'll say it again. Pryor and Gray both possess Vince Young-like potential. Pryor struggled mightily passing throughout his freshman and most of his sophomore year. Today we saw a much more efficient passer who knew when to tuck and run. Likewise, Vince Young did not truly become a great player until his junior year (Young's sophomore numbers are very similar to Pryor's) Gray is a year behind Pryor in development (arguably more since Pryor started most of his freshman year. However, he has the same build, speed, and, if you believe Gerry D from Big Ten Network, is arguably a more natural passer.

Gray needs to start next year. There will be mistakes and lots of turnovers. But this kid could really grow into something special by his junior year.
 



I sat very close to Gray's mom at the game last night. I listened to her make a few comments in frustration about her son not playing QB. I'm sure it was very difficult to be in her shoes last night. When Gray fumbled, his mom said two things: "Oh! I want to strangle him right now," and "You have to make it count when they give you a shot." I thought it was cool to hear her say those things. I agreed with both statements! I still wish we could see him for a full series or two. It's just so hard to judge his potential off of his current circus-position.
 

How can a guy perform when he never gets one series to get comfortable. What did Weber do to deserve all that playing time? The funniest thing of all was when Gray went shotgun and they flanked out Weber. What kind of threat is Weber? So Gray never gets a full complement of receivers....another handicap by our man Brewster.
 

I thought he gave us a glimpse of his potential when he completed something like 6 of 8 passes in the Ohio State game. People seemed to down play that because they had their second string in against us. However, their second string is probably better than the starting defense for many teams. Plalyers get better by playing in actual games and part of the learning process takes place as a result of making mistakes.
 

LA80 said:
I thought he gave us a glimpse of his potential when he completed something like 6 of 8 passes in the Ohio State game. People seemed to down play that because they had their second string in against us. However, their second string is probably better than the starting defense for many teams. Plalyers get better by playing in actual games and part of the learning process takes place as a result of making mistakes.
Click to expand...

Thank you for making the point about the OSU second string defense.

Gray showed in that game he can go up against quality for more than one play in a row.
 



Does anybody on this board actually think the QB next year matters as long as Fisch is the OC?

Fisch is as clueless an OC as I have ever seen in my 50+ yrs of watching college football. The fact that someone actually hired him and promoted him to OC is nearly as incredulous. I mean really. He was a WR coach for one season, ONE SEASON, before that he was nothing higher than an "assistant" QB coach or "assistant" WR coach. He wasn't even the fricking QB coach for crying out loud, he only assisted the QB coach!

As long as Fisch is the OC it simply doesn't matter who the QB of the offense is, they will look pedestrian in an ill-thought out offensive system directed by a woefully inexperienced coach. Period. End of story.
 

LA80 said:
I thought he gave us a glimpse of his potential when he completed something like 6 of 8 passes in the Ohio State game. People seemed to down play that because they had their second string in against us. However, their second string is probably better than the starting defense for many teams. Plalyers get better by playing in actual games and part of the learning process takes place as a result of making mistakes.
Click to expand...


Everyone acts like OSU's second string are 2 star players. What gray did against OSU was no fluke.
 

I find the comparison between Gray & Pryor interesting because of the frustrating way Brewster handled this situation in comparison to Tressel last year. IIRC, last year Tressel had an experienced senior (maybe captain) quarterback that started the year as the starter. But, he let Pryor lead the offense for several series and eventually decided that the offense ran better with Pryor. Unfortunately, Gray never got that opportunity this year.
 

WaterBoy said:
I find the comparison between Gray & Pryor interesting because of the frustrating way Brewster handled this situation in comparison to Tressel last year. IIRC, last year Tressel had an experienced senior (maybe captain) quarterback that started the year as the starter. But, he let Pryor lead the offense for several series and eventually decided that the offense ran better with Pryor. Unfortunately, Gray never got that opportunity this year.
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Brew could probably stand to learn a few more things from Sweatervest, too...
 

Lack of cupcakes on the schedule

What hurt Gray's development as a QB this year as much as anything was the
lack of cupcake/blowout wins in the OOC slate. When you're up by 35-3 in the 3rd quarter,
that is when Gray should have gotten 4-5 series. He would have been far more developed.

People laugh at scheduling 1-2 teams like that, but the more live game action you
can get your younger kids early, the better your depth will be later. Playing Syracuse,
USAF, and Cal was certainly exciting, but it did nothing to help those that could have used
some game time.
 

metrolax said:
What hurt Gray's development as a QB this year as much as anything was the
lack of cupcake/blowout wins in the OOC slate. When you're up by 35-3 in the 3rd quarter,
that is when Gray should have gotten 4-5 series. He would have been far more developed.

People laugh at scheduling 1-2 teams like that, but the more live game action you
can get your younger kids early, the better your depth will be later. Playing Syracuse,
USAF, and Cal was certainly exciting, but it did nothing to help those that could have used
some game time.
Click to expand...

Well, is 13-10 cushion enough?:p
 

Sumtimegophs said:
Does anybody on this board actually think the QB next year matters as long as Fisch is the OC?

Fisch is as clueless an OC as I have ever seen in my 50+ yrs of watching college football. The fact that someone actually hired him and promoted him to OC is nearly as incredulous. I mean really. He was a WR coach for one season, ONE SEASON, before that he was nothing higher than an "assistant" QB coach or "assistant" WR coach. He wasn't even the fricking QB coach for crying out loud, he only assisted the QB coach!

As long as Fisch is the OC it simply doesn't matter who the QB of the offense is, they will look pedestrian in an ill-thought out offensive system directed by a woefully inexperienced coach. Period. End of story.
Click to expand...

You are so much smarter than Steve Spurrier and Mike Shanahan and the Houston Texans brain trust. Jedd Fisch is going to be a head coach in the NFL in time. He was one of the top up and coming coaches in the league before he came here. he needs to cut back his playbook and the athletes will also piick it up better in time.
 

I believe that Gray was the 2nd rated dual threat quarterback of his recruiting class behind Pryor. Gray has a better arm, both can make plays with their feet.
 

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