Unit2Sucks;841945458 said:

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Separately I will add that I've been disappointed by Maynard's running this year. He goes down like a lump at first contact and is without a doubt the easiest guy on the team to tackle. He has some wiggle in the open field but doesn't use it well near defenders. If he weighed 20 lbs more he would be able to turn more of these scrambles into first downs (I think there were at least 2 where he had a good shot but got blown up by a safety short of the first down). Turning those kinds of plays from 4th and short to first downs would help this team a lot and make the defense worry about Maynard's running ability.

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Seems a little unfair to ding him on his running (although I agree with your points in general) without mentioning the really nice scramble along the sideline for 22 yards when we were 3rd and 21.

maynards interception was downright terrible, this is football, players come in untouched sometimes. a good qb can deal with it, at least make sure that its an incomplete pass

Unit2Sucks;841945400 said:

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Utah State's QB completed 88% of his passes against SUU 2 weeks ago. 22/26 for 304 yards. Still impressed by Maynard's 74%? I'm not saying Maynard is our biggest problem...

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+1. That bears repeating. Most things are relative and must be taken in their [U]context[/U].

That Utah State QB who did considerably better than our own starting Pac-12 QB versus an extremely poor Southern Utah defense, and with the benefit of much worse surrounding talent, was a 2-star (rivals, 247) out of high school and is only in his 2nd year in the WAC.

What's funny is that the play where Maynard saves a low hiked ball and then hits KA in a crossing pattern for the TD... watch the replay. Treggs is actually in the end zone completely uncovered. He could've lobbed it to him for the TD. I suppose he was scrambling because of the nearly lost ball but just saying.

ZM and the OL has done decent so far. But I have a feeling that once conference play starts we'll see ZM's completion percentage go way down and interceptions go up. I don't think he's had much pressure lately and once we start playing better defenses our pass defense will really be tested.

So. Utah is probably like last year's Colorado where we thought we had something going but it turned out we just played a really bad team and once ZM start playing against decently talented defenses he performed poorly. Like last year, once the falling game falls apart we'll have to go the run at which point opposing defenses will just stack the box.

freshfunk;841945747 said:

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What's funny is that the play where Maynard saves a low hiked ball and then hits KA in a crossing pattern for the TD... watch the replay. Treggs is actually in the end zone completely uncovered. He could've lobbed it to him for the TD. I suppose he was scrambling because of the nearly lost ball but just saying.

ZM and the OL has done decent so far. But I have a feeling that once conference play starts we'll see ZM's completion percentage go way down and interceptions go up. I don't think he's had much pressure lately and once we start playing better defenses our pass defense will really be tested.

So. Utah is probably like last year's Colorado where we thought we had something going but it turned out we just played a really bad team and once ZM start playing against decently talented defenses he performed poorly. Like last year, once the falling game falls apart we'll have to go the run at which point opposing defenses will just stack the box.

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I think this is a fair assessment of what we have seen and a reasonable (even if pessimistic) prediction. Though I do think with the injuries and shuffling around of personnel, the line has struggled more than Maynard has and as a result he has seen plenty of pressure, but that does not necessarily bode well for the future unless we get it together (get MSG back?) fast.

OskiMD;841944855 said:

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Watch this compilation of all his plays (passes and scrambling) and judge for yourself.

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This showed how bad our OL is, wow.:facepalm

calumnus;841944950 said:

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Seriously?

Sure, 74% is not good. Should have been 100% against a lower division team, that is what all the good D1 QBs do against the lower division. Right?

The screens to Sofele and Stevens were just bad. No question. The Stevens one hurt the most because that looked like a TD.

Other than the first long throw to Harper and Allen in the endzone when he drew three defenders, didn't he complete all of his down field passes? He looked pretty good doing so.

LOL, Baghdad Bob is back


"No I am not scared and neither should you be!"

"We have them surrounded in their tanks"

Britain "is not worth an old shoe."

Of U.S. troops: "They are most welcome. We will butcher them."

"We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."

"Washington has thrown their soldiers on the fire"

"These cowards have no morals. They have no shame about lying"

"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."





"May be" play calling? You are actually criticizing Maynard for completions because they were not long enough now?

Yes,
noodle arm can't throw it down the field so those plays are never called.

socaltownie;841945284 said:

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Some of this, unfortunately, is not the kid's fault. As pointed out, he LOOKS skinny in person. REALLY skinny. And so you have this kid - good wheels and all - with a suspect line and 280 pound studs running full speed to KILL HIM.

I would have happy feet as well.

I bet Jeff thought he might beef up a bit over the course of 2 years. That didn't happen. So it is going to get really ugly when ZM starts getting hit - cause so far that hasn't happened but I expect it to starting Saturday.

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No team in their right mind would hit him harder than to just knock him down. They want him to stay in the game (the backup might play better). I'll bet they're under orders, "Don't rough him up. He'll go down easy enough."

Rushinbear;841945845 said:

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No team in their right mind would hit him harder than to just knock him down. They want him to stay in the game (the backup might play better). I'll bet they're under orders, "Don't rough him up. He'll go down easy enough."

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Hilarious! Yeah, like Defenders don't want to knock out a QB any chance they get ("Don't do it! The backup is better!") and, despite all the helmet-to-helmet hits going against them, they can "control" their tackling ability, play-to-play. Amazing!



:sarc:

ducktilldeath;841945765 said:

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Maynard looks a LOT like Darron Thomas. He has better wheels than DT, but the same barely adequate accuracy that rarely leaves receivers in a position to gain YAC, and hamstrings playcalling to short plays and throws to the sideline because of the risk of interception via overthrow.

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One problem is those wheels become a big advantage only when he has a wide open field in front of him or gets perfect blocking. He's too small to bounce off tackles and not agile enough to juke most defenders (and pass rushers). He can also be too indecisive, slow to go through his reads, or waits too long for receivers to get open, so he hangs on to the ball until it's too late instead of quickly assessing the situation, tucking the ball in and running for needed positive yards.

Another problem is that he can sometimes be even more inaccurate with shorter throws. K Riley also had many problems completing short passes to his RBs.

This debate about Maynard's stats and how he gets them is all well and good. But, IMO, it misses the key part of being a QB: does the team and by extension the fans believe in him?

I remember thinking "man, if we can just get a stop and get the ball in Palawski's hands". Or Rogers hands. The team believes in a winning QB. We, as fans, can feel it from the team. When was the last time anyone ever had that thought about Maynard?