Returning Roster in a New Offense - QB

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Assuming (hoping) we move away from the option offense with our HC/OC hire, we will certainly have some roster shakeups and position changes.

This could be discussed for all positions, obviously, but I think the most important is QB.

I dont think we will be in as bad of shape here as we would have been a couple of years ago, making a switch to a more pass-heavy offense.

I think Lucas obviously becomes the immediate favorite to start. He has the height and throwing ability to be a good QB in a more traditional offense...probably better than he ever would have been in PJs offense, honestly.

Depth at QB is a concern. Without having seen Graham throw a pass but having seen his athletic ability and aggressive play, and having seen how timidly and uninspiring our current receivers play, i'd like to see Graham moved to receiver. Tobias needs work on passing, obviously, but I think with more reps and an actual passing coach, he could be a serviceable backup and a short-yardage or wildcat type guy. The new coach would clearly need to recruit a QB to fit his offense immediately, so by year 2 or 3 we should have a handpicked QB ready to take over from the option guys we have now. Maybe we get lucky and recruit a freshman phenom that can play in 2019, but I doubt it.

Without doing a full breakdown, here are my thoughts on the rest of our offense:

We have enough running backs on roster that I'm sure we will find someone serviceable in a tailback-type role for a couple of years until we hopefully recruit one. Benson returning will be big.

We have some receivers that could be good enough if they learn to run better routes and actually fight for the ball. Add Graham and maybe some of the younger A-backs as slot guys and I think we will be OK there.

Not sure we have a true TE on roster. We might have to get by with someone like Juanyeh or Dolphus, or a LB/Safety convert, for a couple of years.

O-line could be a real weakness for a while, if we can't teach our current guys to properly pass protect. We need to recruit some bigger bodies here ASAP.

Defense needs to recruit better athletes, same as always, but there shouldnt be any huge shakeups here, even if we get a new DC.

Thoughts?
 
Wonder if there are any graduating O line that we will target on the transfer market?
 
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I'm not as concerned about the transition as most are. Some people act like this is going to be a big deal going from PJ's offense. I disagree. These guys have been playing football their whole lives. I don't think we're ready to compete with the big boys yet but there's enough talent for us to at least be what we've been the last couple of years.

As the OP stated, plenty of options at QB. Lucas Johnson of course. I'd like to see what Graham can do at QB. As long as Yates stays committed, that could give us the luxury of moving Graham to WR if need be. Maybe in the market for transfers now? Not sure what you do with Oliver.

Plenty of RB's. Howard. Mason. Not sure how Benson would fare as a traditional back. Definitely need to upgrade the talent here but there's enough to have solid production, IMO. Interested to see what these AB's do. Guys like Cottrell, Jarrett, Gantt etc.

I think we have some good options at WR. Dolphus is a big, athletic guy. Sanders and Carter. Like RB, need a talent upgrade here.

Tight end. Haven't had to recruit one in 11 years. I wonder what we'll do here. I've seen where people have mentioned WR's like Camp or OT's being moved to TE. Might be a good spot for a transfer.

Offensive line. Again, this is one I'm not worried about. Braun and Cooper will be back along with others. We have enough size here and a whole offseason of these guys working on their craft in a new offseason. Again, these guys have played football their entire lives. They've been in PJ's offense for 2-4 years.
 
SGA_Jacket said:
I'm not as concerned about the transition as most are. Some people act like this is going to be a big deal going from PJ's offense. I disagree. These guys have been playing football their whole lives. I don't think we're ready to compete with the big boys yet but there's enough talent for us to at least be what we've been the last couple of years.

As the OP stated, plenty of options at QB. Lucas Johnson of course. I'd like to see what Graham can do at QB. As long as Yates stays committed, that could give us the luxury of moving Graham to WR if need be. Maybe in the market for transfers now? Not sure what you do with Oliver.

Plenty of RB's. Howard. Mason. Not sure how Benson would fare as a traditional back. Definitely need to upgrade the talent here but there's enough to have solid production, IMO. Interested to see what these AB's do. Guys like Cottrell, Jarrett, Gantt etc.

I think we have some good options at WR. Dolphus is a big, athletic guy. Sanders and Carter. Like RB, need a talent upgrade here.

Tight end. Haven't had to recruit one in 11 years. I wonder what we'll do here. I've seen where people have mentioned WR's like Camp or OT's being moved to TE. Might be a good spot for a transfer.

Offensive line. Again, this is one I'm not worried about. Braun and Cooper will be back along with others. We have enough size here and a whole offseason of these guys working on their craft in a new offseason. Again, these guys have played football their entire lives. They've been in PJ's offense for 2-4 years.
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I think our A-backs are going to be divided up. Whoever catches the ball better will be slot receivers and whoever runs better will be 3rd down backs.

For TE, I’m thinking Jerry Howard will probably get moved there and maybe one of our WR’s. I could easily see whoever is our most athletic and slimmest lineman moving out there as a blocking TE.
 
theDude47 said:
I think our A-backs are going to be divided up. Whoever catches the ball better will be slot receivers and whoever runs better will be 3rd down backs.

For TE, I’m thinking Jerry Howard will probably get moved there and maybe one of our WR’s. I could easily see whoever is our most athletic and slimmest lineman moving out there as a blocking TE.
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I could see that. If you remember when PJ tinkered with the pistol stuff in the Sun bowl with Vad Lee, we had some AB's in the slot and ran some jet sweep stuff. Could definitely see that. I could also see a couple transferring.
 
We are going to be REALLY hard pressed to maintain any semblance of our current offensive efficiency, IMO. I think the biggest problem will be receivers. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the coaches realize after Spring practice that we still will need to run the ball 65% in order to be effective.

Our offense has been covering up for a defense that allows 6 yards a play. If that same defense now has to play 30-35 minutes, it could get ugly before it gets better.
 
My fear with graham is he will transfer if his position is changed. He was a VPI commit at DB but flipped to GT for an opportunity to be a QB
 
Graham at QB. Oliver at RB. Graham at least has footage of him throwing passes from the shotgun in HS. From what I saw from TO, he's not QB material for a non QB-Keeper-type offense.
 
OL pass pro is my only concern. I think we'll be fine at RB between Benson, Mason, Howard. We lost our best 2 AB's so this was a good year to transition moving Cottrell to slot or 3rd down back. I think we've got some size and talent at WR. It'll be interesting to see how the QB competition unfolds. But OL is a major major concern.
 
I hope Graham and Lucas can battle it out for QB1. Will Lucas even be ready for spring ball?

This is bad news for Tobias. No chance at QB at all. He could probably play RB, but we have so many. He got offered by Troy so he might have them to fall back on. Or he might be able to provide some depth at safety. It's really unclear what he can do for us.
 
RamblinWreck92 said:
Graham at QB. Oliver at RB. Graham at least has footage of him throwing passes from the shotgun in HS. From what I saw from TO, he's not QB material for a non QB-Keeper-type offense.
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Oliver would be more useful as a WR or Safety than as a RB.

If Lucas wins the job, I think Graham needs a shot at WR, being one of our best athletes, but it's not inconceivable for him to also stay in the QB rotation as a backup.

Ideally, Collins can pitch the chance to play immediately and we can pull a stud recruit this class.
 
Demetrius Knight.

If he stays committed he could easily out pace our other QB's simply because he will not have any 3O to unlearn.
 
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