quote:
It is not that JJ is really good or really bad, as both of those statements are incorrect (and probably motivated by something other than football itself).

It is that he is getting better at the same things that were already his strengths, adding some small improvements, but is not improving in the areas where he needs to to become an SEC championship QB.

What he does well:

- He protects the ball well, both in his handling of handoffs and in avoiding INT's

- He throws a nice catchable ball, and can throw an accurate dart also, which he needed all of to thread the needle on that TD pass to Shep.

- He throws a lot of short passes accurately, which aid his completion percentage significantly.

- He is predominantly composed and has improved his pocket presence, and stepped up nicely in the pocket on the TD pass to Randle.

- He can run the ball well on planned runs (that are not an option), and has good open-field visionwhen he tucks it and runs with it.

Areas where he has improved:

- He is not throwing the ball as much as the players feet (save the early pass to Toliver which was bewo his knees)

- No sacks (better line helps, but he gets credit too!)

- He looks more comfortable and assertive.

Key areas where he has not hardly improved:

-He still does not have good field vision. The long pass to Randle did not require good field vision, as that was the the only option as drawn up in a really good play that UNC defended as we hoped (LB's swept to follow the fake to Shep, which gave him room to step into the pocket and deliver the pass).

-He does not progress in his reads and still predominantly looks in the direction he is going with the ball (a couple of exceptions, but this is by far the case - he has not grown in this area hardly at all).

His wind up delivery is slow. When we play against teams that match LSU's outside speed, like Bama, Florida and Auburn, he will not have time to deliver the ball, and the faster and more experienced DB's will close the gap because his release is slow. This fraction of a second is amplified in top notch SEC play.

-He still cannot run the option well, which Crowton has an an important element of his gameplanning, so that is a problem. It just is not his forte.

- He throws underneath short of the first down marker too often on 3rd down, and rarely throws passes in the intermediate middle of the field.

He is a wonderful young man. He and the coaches need to attack his weaknesses. His strengths are consistent. Throwing for 65-70% conpletion is good. He needs to add to that with several other improvements so that we have fewer 3-and-outs.

Points well stated and taken. However he did have both an interception and a sack that had nothing to do with line play and everything to do with JJ not exhibiting pocket poise. The sack(yes grounding is considered a sack) was particularly devastating and ultimately(along with Ridley's fumbleitis)allowed UNC to stay in the game. He just needs to have a better grasp of what to do when his primary reciever is perceived as covered. As a Jr. he should have "gotten it" by now.