I am pretty excited about Carter Stanley's potential, but at the same time he might not be the most ready of the two incoming guys...
Re-watching Willis's clips, the kid is a gunslinger in every sense of the word. He throws it all over the field. That can come in very handy in an air raid type offense. He also has a little bit of speed to him - he can run a QB draw every now and then as his highlights show.
What's going to be most important for either of the incoming freshman to have a chance of playing right away is decision making. In this offense, you have to make decisions fast. No room for being hesitant, high speed and quick decisions are a must in this offense. So can Ryan Willis do this?
I see some goods and bads here. First focusing on the bads... It has to do with his footwork and delivery. Even in the shotgun, he often takes a three step drop. Many of the times, this is a very relaxed three step drop which upon finishing the third step he passes. You see this a ton. Problem is this can become a bad habit. For example, watching Matt Cassel when he played for the Chiefs - many of his throws he wouldn't make until he patted the ball twice - just a half second or so extra of time, but enough to mess up a plays timing. I would like to see him shorten that process up and not be so relaxed - he will have to rush throws at times and he can't do that with this current three step drop in the shotgun. I would also like to see him shorten up his delivery. Sometimes he winds his arm back adding time to his release - shorten that up and the footwork and it drops a second or so to when he can throw the ball.
Now with the goods, his eyes are always downfield. When pressure collapses on Stanley, he has a tendency to just take off running. Not Willis - Willis can avoid pressure as well but often when he does he still keeps his eyes downfield looking to make a pass instead of taking off right away. He also does a decent job at reading the defense - that initial read is crucial for this offense in making quick decisions. Again, whichever QB can make quick decisions most consistently may have the lead early on of the two and that just might be Willis. Of course, there is the arm he has...
More and more, depending on the Cummings news, I think we are going to go with a true freshman QB unless Cozart makes a big leap. It makes sense. Cal just did this with a true freshman QB, took some bumps early on, and now are ready to roll a couple of years later (and their QB is projected to be a first round draft pick...). I see some value in this - get things implemented this year, progress next year, and by Year Three you have a veteran QB ready to lead this offense.
Ryan Willis's clips
Re-watching Willis's clips, the kid is a gunslinger in every sense of the word. He throws it all over the field. That can come in very handy in an air raid type offense. He also has a little bit of speed to him - he can run a QB draw every now and then as his highlights show.
What's going to be most important for either of the incoming freshman to have a chance of playing right away is decision making. In this offense, you have to make decisions fast. No room for being hesitant, high speed and quick decisions are a must in this offense. So can Ryan Willis do this?
I see some goods and bads here. First focusing on the bads... It has to do with his footwork and delivery. Even in the shotgun, he often takes a three step drop. Many of the times, this is a very relaxed three step drop which upon finishing the third step he passes. You see this a ton. Problem is this can become a bad habit. For example, watching Matt Cassel when he played for the Chiefs - many of his throws he wouldn't make until he patted the ball twice - just a half second or so extra of time, but enough to mess up a plays timing. I would like to see him shorten that process up and not be so relaxed - he will have to rush throws at times and he can't do that with this current three step drop in the shotgun. I would also like to see him shorten up his delivery. Sometimes he winds his arm back adding time to his release - shorten that up and the footwork and it drops a second or so to when he can throw the ball.
Now with the goods, his eyes are always downfield. When pressure collapses on Stanley, he has a tendency to just take off running. Not Willis - Willis can avoid pressure as well but often when he does he still keeps his eyes downfield looking to make a pass instead of taking off right away. He also does a decent job at reading the defense - that initial read is crucial for this offense in making quick decisions. Again, whichever QB can make quick decisions most consistently may have the lead early on of the two and that just might be Willis. Of course, there is the arm he has...
More and more, depending on the Cummings news, I think we are going to go with a true freshman QB unless Cozart makes a big leap. It makes sense. Cal just did this with a true freshman QB, took some bumps early on, and now are ready to roll a couple of years later (and their QB is projected to be a first round draft pick...). I see some value in this - get things implemented this year, progress next year, and by Year Three you have a veteran QB ready to lead this offense.
Ryan Willis's clips
