re: Aggie Board - Wanting a new QB?

Collins probably ends up at a smaller school if he wants immediate playing time
he's a poor man's Reed that aggies already have

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Swann was a west coast passer at vandy

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Which means it made even less sense for us to sign him as a backup. Nuss was always going to be a pro-set dropback passer. Why go for a west-coast QB when he would be no better fit as a backup than Collins was as a dual-threat QB? Neither of those styles are good backup "fits" for an offense built around a gunslinger like Nuss.

Guess I'm just saying that I wasn't sold on Swann when we first signed him, and nothing changed my mind over the course of a year. Not that we really needed a backup this year, but having another pro-style QB that could go in for a series or two when Nuss needed some time to settle down on the sidelines might have helped in a game or two.

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Nuss’s coming out party was the SECCG against Georgia, which feels like decades ago. I think the growth he’s shown is being more guarded in his passing attempts (at times). But in that amount of time I feel like pocket awareness and ability to scramble should’ve been remarkably better and that have to rate him as a D-.

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I don't disagree, but how much of that can be laid at the feet of the offensive line, injuries on the OL and OL coaching?

God bless Will, but he let his alligator mouth overload his jaybird arse with his "we came for a fistfight" BS before the start of the first game. Dude can pass protect like a demon, but the OL as a general rule couldn't run-block for crap and would have sucked if we had Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry lined up in the backfield at the same time.

Lack of a good running game probably contributed to a LOT of the panic throws and poor pocket awareness this year. Would a truly elite QB have been able to overcome that? Maybe, but Nuss (as good as he is) isn't elite - or at least he wasn't this year.

Next year? I'm hopeful. I'll leave it at that. But I also believe that Nuss will also always be somewhat at the mercy of what his OL can do for him. As good as he is, I don't think he has that Burrow skillset and FAFO attitude to put on a cape and win the game singlehandedly if/when needed.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth.

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possibility of a QB scramble

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We can’t put all of this on Nuss. Just as an OC calls pass plays that are seemingly low risk to get a qb’s passing confidence level up, the OC could also call designated qb run plays to get his scrambling confidence up. Without these types of plays, the qb can’t really get acclimated to running the ball past the line of scrimmage with authority because it’s not what’s normally asked of him.

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We can’t put all of this on Nuss. Just as an OC calls pass plays that are seemingly low risk to get a qb’s passing confidence level up, the OC could also call designated qb run plays to get his scrambling confidence up.

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Just an observation, not a criticism, but if we couldn't get a decent running game going with actual running backs what makes you think a called QB run would have worked?

The types of QB runs that needed to happen were when plays broke down, or when defenses offered up 5 free yards for a QB willing to use his feet. Called QB runs are still running plays, and our OL was shite blocking for runs this year. Maybe losing Markway was a bigger deal than anyone realized?

IMO, Sloan or Kelly calling QB run plays this year would likely have caused an injury to Nuss, or made him more skittish when he got stuffed like Durham and Jackson did most of the time. Scrambling, OTOH, is a completely different story. Is that something that can actually be coached and developed? I don't know, but I suspect successful scramblers have a combination of awareness (to see the opportunity) and the "chest" to actually take advantage when the opportunity presents itself.

The other thing to consider, too, is the recurring idea here that our coaches knew our backups were shite and told him NOT to run - at least, not until the last game when, if he got carted off with an injury, it wouldn't doom the rest of the season.

Again, just asking questions, not throwing darts.

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Let him get hit a little bit, it’s part of getting better.

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That's the part that would scare me, after watching Swann try to fill in for him. Putting him in situations where he's likely to get hit hard - and can be treated as a runner when tackled - is a dicey proposition when your backups suck.

Warning, old geezer moment inbound....

Nuss' game reminds me a lot of watching Lynn Dickey for the Packers, back in the day. The dude had a rocket cannon for an arm, but couldn't/wouldn't run for shite. He got sacked so many times because he couldn't/wouldn't run that by the time he retired I think he had two bionic knees.

But when he had time to throw, man, he could make you PAY.

That was a different time, a different game, and was the NFL, but I get the same vibes watching Nuss. Difference is that he can run if/when he decides to (and if he's allowed to). The question is and always has been - what's been stopping him from doing so?

And, again, I'm talking about scrambling, not designed running plays (which I still think would have gotten him killed with this year's OL play).

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shouldn’t have to cheer because the qb FINALLY decided to scramble a few yards in a play

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I disagree with much of your post, but this is spot on

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Given how shitetastic our runblocking and backup QB's were this year

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Did Collins and Hurley even play this year? If they did I don’t remember