Crimson Red Sports

Since fall football practice started the big question of the team was who would be the quarterback this year. Everybody had their own opinions of who was the best between McCarron and Sims and at that time no one really knew who it would be.

Since the first game of the season to the Florida game last night, I've seen a young man really grow his performance from a quarterback that had no experience to one that is performing as a very seasoned quarterback. Not to say he isn't making some non-experienced mistakes but he is playing at a much higher level than I ever thought he could do.

If there was a "growing up" lesson that he learned from last night's game it was when CNS went onto the field to grab him and settle him down from his celebrating tactics that he was expressing at that time. He will never forget that, to be a team leader you have to keep your composure and it can be very hard to do at times.

To me he has grown from a kid that loves to play football to a young man that has big aspirations of becoming the best quarterback in Bama history and I think he has a very good chance of accomplishing that.

Hopefully he will realize how much he needs Coach Saban as his mentor and coach to reach such a lofty goal and work as hard as Greg McElroy did because there will be many rewards ahead for him if he can do this. Roll Tide!!

He's not making many mistakes, but he has to be able to hit those deep routes to keep the safeties back. Other than that, I have no complaints with him.

Good post. I couldn't agree more!

 :clap:

I've been an AJ skeptic all year but he is beginning to win me over.  I like his poise and he is making great checks at the line.  He made a couple of nice plays on scrambles one of which should have been a TD. The 3rd down sidelines completion to Maze was a great play and kept one of the longest drives of the game going. These are big things.

But our offense is still lacking a deep pass, or even intermediate pass threat.  AJ was again overthrowing open rec's last night.  I don't know how that gets fixed but if AJ's going to be remembered as one of Bama's great QB's, he's gotta figure that out....hopefully before LSU.

I agree, good post.

Good post Jamos. I am surprised at how well AJ is playing, especially in big games on the road. I think AJ is ahead of where GMAC was after 5 games as the QB starter.

Well, I've come to respect what the media love to call "manager quarterbacks." Coach Bryant had spectacular ones and I suppose some managers. Does Saban try to recruit that type or mold them into it?

CNS recruits some of the best high school QB's in the country. It appears to me they must have good talent and be smart. CNS brings them in and coaches them up. In our system the QB has to be efficient, mistake free and distribute the ball to the play makers.

I've been on the AJ bandwagon for a good while. Right now I would give him a strong "B" for his play so far. All that is missing is the long ball and he consistently overthrows by about 1-2 yards.
Put a little more air under the ball on the deep routes and he gets a strong "A" from me.

I didn't know (and didn't care) who would eventually win the QB battle, but we've had fewer growing pains with AJ than I expected out of whomever won the starting job.  No complaints at all so far.

He's good enough, and with the talent surrounding him that's all that matters.  I've been impressed with his composure going on the road against Penn St. and Florida early in the year but haven't been overly impressed with his passing skills.  It remains to be seen if he could lead a late-game drive, but with this defense and running game it may not ever be necessary.

Although it would be nice to see some long completions, the end result is the same. The DBs have to respect the long ball just as much as if they were completed. AJ is getting better and better with his checkdowns, his progressions. What we have been seeing mostly is if his primary is covered he skips the progression and goes straight to the safety valve(Trent or Smelley). Here is where hscoach would come in handy. TIA

I've thought he would be a good QB. I do however wish he would practice and get the deep throws right. The one Fla threw was just good on, other than they caught us off guard on that one(1) play. If he can hit the deep throw he will be the great QB in my thoughts. RTR!

First, let me say I'm very thankful that AJ has developed well, stayed healthy, and taken over the starting position with authority.

My concern is that he seems to be missing a lot of passes.  Was his shoulder injured against Arkansas?  Maybe that's it.  Rumor is he injured his labrum.  Much like GMac, he's missing long passes.  And against Florida, as discussed by HSCoach, he seemed a bit off in his accuracy, seldom hitting a receiver in stride.

Maybe it's just that he's got so much to decipher on each play that he can't let go and throw the ball (as we know he can).  His accuracy was his strength last year (when everyone on TS called for GMac to be benched and AJ put in).  QB in this offense is certainly a complex role, and hopefully he'll improve in accuracy as he becomes more comfortable as the starter.  If he continues to improve, this team will BURY everyone they play, start to finish.  It could happen.

Here's hoping AJ keeps improving and becomes "all that he can be".  Roll Tide.

This offense is designed and simplified to take the complexities out.  I am sure you know this is what is meant when discussing the position in terms of game management.  This only varies away from basic when the discussion goes to his pass placement to protect the ball. As we have mentioned before, AJ's misses have been away from the defender. As he builds confidence, he'll start "walking" his throws back closer and closer to his target.

He has the ability. Remember the fake-field-goal long TD pass against the Hogs.

Exactly. Everyone needs to remember that this young man isn't going to complete all of his passes now, He has to mature with game time experience but his percentages will get better, per WV, the more he plays. I'm looking more at the positive things that he is doing now which far outweigh his negatives. He has a lot of potential and fortunately he has a very good team to back him up. When you compare his first game this year and the game last night, there's a big difference in how he played.