Football IQ Only

[GoSkins!]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Yeah but how can you bail on a guy who has done everything right and is a team leader - by all accounts working harder than anyone the last two offseasons in spite of having his learning curve complicated by a constantly rotating offensive system - after one game in a new system?

It sounds like you are making the same criticisms of Campbell's performance against the Giants that many, including me, have made in other threads; the difference is that you are framing them as irreparable flaws, not correctible hiccups. Where I see a bad game, you seem to see a bad player. When one of your athletically gifted players holds the ball too long habitually, for example, do you bail on him or do you coach him up? Does it never occur to you that players are more likely to play with hesitation when they are still learning a new system?

Gotta address this. You cannot teach reaction speed to conditions a guy hasn't seen before. Some guys just process better tham others. To me, it looked like Colt may have that gift (though he is not ready to start yet). Jason doesn't seem to have it, but attempts to make up for it through hard work. Can he learn to learn to get the ball out faster? Yes. Can he learn to operate the system effectively, Yes. Can he learn to make better instantaneous decisions under pressure? NO! And this will probably keep him from being an elite QB. I stress the word "instantaneous". The ability to do this has a lot to do with how you brain is wired. The decisions are subconscious. Most of your brains wiring is complete by adolesence. It can be improved marginally, but only so much. There are other statgies that can be used to improve decision making, but I'm not sure they apply well to football. The book "Blink" offers some insight.
The good news is that Jason doesn't need to be elite. He just has to be good, effective, and steady.

Also, I wish people would stop telling us how they "feel" about certain players (i.e. Devin Thomas). Support Your position with facts not feelings.