Thoughts on the Ball/Bilbo situation.....

G

Gold Rush

Flats Noob
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1. If Ball is playing the best of all the QB's, I don't care what year he is.....Last year Suggs was a junior, and look what happened...

2. I actually like the idea of recruiting QBs and, if necessary moving them...During those great UNC years under Mack Brown (who most folks agree is a great recruiter), M Brown was BIG on recruiting a lot of big atheletic QBs, because he felt that they were the most easily moved to another position, due to their athleticism....His feeling was that High School QBs were typically the best atheletes...

3. From the first time I ever saw Bilbo on the field, I always thought he looked like a big possession type receiver, or a TE....

4. Bilbo, because of his atheleticism, could turn out to be a pro-caliber TE or big possession receiver...I follow the Raiders, and one of the up and coming big receivers in the NFL is Jerry Porter, and he is a converted DB (what he played in college).....Changing positions happens ALL THE TIME in football...Its not so unusual IMO.

5. IF Bilbo is having a hard time adjusting to playing QB at college "speed", then his best chance at the pros could well be at another position

6. I'd be surprised if Bilbo sticks at RB, based on what others have said (speed, running tall" etc...But who knows, maybe he will adjust...)

7. With his size, if he could adjust to WR or TE, I think he could be a BIG addition at whatever position he plays.....He is CLEARLY a great athelete, and I'll bet we see him a LOT on the field this fall....somewhere.....

8. Allready commented on the way this was "handled"......College kids need to learn that everything in life will not go as they have planned.....Changes happen in corporate America every day that people don't necessarily like, but to remain employed, they have to adjust and move on....Thats life.....I can promise, then when people get re-assigned in corporate america, a company-wide meeting is not held for the purpose of "hand-holding" or whatever......
 
Excellent post Gold Rush... I just hope Bilbo can find a "home" at Tech ... Bilbo is a great talent, and a great kid... the kind of guy you want playing for you at Tech...
 
Originally posted by jacketguy:
Excellent post Gold Rush... I just hope Bilbo can find a "home" at Tech ... Bilbo is a great talent, and a great kid... the kind of guy you want playing for you at Tech...
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I agree jacketguy....I REALLY hope he finds a suitable position....You can just watch him warm up and see his atheleticism....I have a feeling, if he sticks it out here, he'll find a position that works out for him, and he'll go on to be a great player...
 
Nicely done, GR.
 
GoldRush, one comment. Dodd said he loved to recruit quarterbacks and use them at other positions.

He claimed the quarterbacks were generally the most athletic players on the high school teams. Of course, I am sure he was biased, since he was a quarterback himself.

Father Time
 
An interesting stat (to me and some others) would be how many QBs Bobby Bowden signed and then re-assigned.
I really love Bilbo and know first of all that he is an athlete par excellance (sp: sorry we have no speell checker). I would love to see him as quarterback; I will equally love him at any position he plays and feel that he will do a tremendous job there. He has success written all over him in football...whichever position he settles in will display even more his great abilities. From QB to anywhere: Go D'Bo Man; lead the way!!!!!
 
Joe Paterno also has a history of moving high school quarterbacks to other positions. I believe he converted a few to linebackers.
 
When Bryant got to Bama in the late 50s, he rebuilt with high school QBs playing O Line and other positions.
 
I don’t know how good his hands are but it looks to me that Dbo would have good potential as a wide receiver, particularly flanker. Its relatively easy to envision him as a big, third down, possession type WR. With his size (6-3, and say 210 after he drops say 15 lbs) he might put the fear of the Lord into several of those prototype 180lb, ACC “cover corner's” as he runs an out pattern into the flat. (He’s big enough and maybe tough enough to go across the middle too.)

There are legions of ex-quarterbacks (Hines Ward, Deion Sanders, Paul Hornung, Kelly Washington amoong them) that successfully converted to other positions----I suspect that Dbo can be one of them. Of course, there is always the chance that CCG is trying to “get Dbo’s attention” too and that he’ll still end up taking quite a few snaps under center during the season (but I doubt it, unless injury becomes a factor).

Like many of the other members of this forum, I am rooting for Demarius to make it and to contribute to the team in some capacity. He seems like a classy kid who can, with some practice, some coaching, and maybe a little more maturity, "make it" at another position.
 
Originally posted by flakjacket:
I don’t know how good his hands are but it looks to me that Dbo would have good potential as a wide receiver, particularly flanker. Its relatively easy to envision him as a big, third down, possession type WR. With his size (6-3, and say 210 after he drops say 15 lbs) he might put the fear of the Lord into several of those prototype 180lb, ACC “cover corner's” as he runs an out pattern into the flat. (He’s big enough and maybe tough enough to go across the middle too.)

There are legions of ex-quarterbacks (Hines Ward, Deion Sanders, Paul Hornung, Kelly Washington amoong them) that successfully converted to other positions----I suspect that Dbo can be one of them. Of course, there is always the chance that CCG is trying to “get Dbo’s attention” too and that he’ll still end up taking quite a few snaps under center during the season (but I doubt it, unless injury becomes a factor).

Like many of the other members of this forum, I am rooting for Demarius to make it and to contribute to the team in some capacity. He seems like a classy kid who can, with some practice, some coaching, and maybe a little more maturity, "make it" at another position.
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I completely agree...Bilbo has the big, posession receiver build that is now coveted in the NFL.....
This could not only help out the team tremendously, but also offer Bilbo a legitimate shot at the pros if he could succeed here.....

FWIW, I could also see him at TE......
 
Does anyone know what DBo's time is in the 40 yard dash? I looked on Rivals and can't find it there. You can get 40 times on the recruits, but not present players?

The reason I ask is that I thought I remember someone saying his 40 time is in the 4.8 range. If that is the case, he will most likely find a home at linebacker (which he has the size for, by the way)...not at wide receiver, where those guys are turning in consistent 4.5, 4.4, and some in the 4.3 range. Since a receiver doesn't run a lot of straight fly patterns (over 90% of plays probably have a receiver running less than 40 yards), this time will matter a bit more than it might for other positions.
 
Ive thought all along he would or could end up at LB...of course im not on the practice field every day like the coaches...Do you realize we lose 3 maybe 4 Lbs after this year due to graduation?
 
Originally posted by i_bleed_gold_white:
Does anyone know what DBo's time is in the 40 yard dash? I looked on Rivals and can't find it there. You can get 40 times on the recruits, but not present players?

The reason I ask is that I thought I remember someone saying his 40 time is in the 4.8 range. If that is the case, he will most likely find a home at linebacker (which he has the size for, by the way)...not at wide receiver, where those guys are turning in consistent 4.5, 4.4, and some in the 4.3 range. Since a receiver doesn't run a lot of straight fly patterns (over 90% of plays probably have a receiver running less than 40 yards), this time will matter a bit more than it might for other positions.[/QUOTE
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I thought I had read it was in the 4.6 range, and presumably as a QB, he hadn't worked on his speed much....

If I am correct, and it was in the 4.6 range, I would imagine he could get it down to the 4.5 range, which is more than acceptable....Plus, the ability to get open and the ability to run after the catch is not 100% dependent upon "track speed"....

Bilbo always looked like he had pretty good Football speed (ie, in pads, on grass, in games) to me FWIW
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From what I have seem (obviously not as much as the coaches), Bilbo's biggest physical gift is his strong arm. Wasn't he drafted as a pitcher in b-ball? It seems like his best chance at the pro's would be to continue to develop as a QB or play b-ball.
 
Thanks, Goldrush. I completely agree with you about the ability to get open being important. A fellow named Harvey Middleton was called "slow" by the NFL, but he sure seemed to be able to get open and he always caught anything thrown to him. Let's hope it works out for Bilbo at Tech.

By the way, I thought it took a ton of guts for Gailey to make this call as early as he did. Knowing that he'd be severely criticized if Ball, Suggs, or whomever wins the job doesn't work out. But doing it this early was most definitely the fair thing to do for Bilbo if they had lost confidence in his potential to start at QB.
 
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