Overall thoughts on the class

[Creebuzz]

Absolutely. But I also think it's fair to call Montana an outlier. He was ridiculous with his reads, anticipation and accuracy. Athleticism was severely under-rated too (PA state high jump champ in high school). For the most part, though, you need a cannon to be an elite NFL QB. I just don't agree when that logic is projected onto college where we see so many elite QBs that don't have big arms, including some Heisman winners who couldn't even run.

Danny Wuerffel comes to mind.

 

[BuffLuke80]

Koy did pretty well for not having a Kordell type arm. Don't get me wrong, he could sling it. Kordell could throw it a mile.

 

[BuffLuke80]

Whether he stays at qb or not, I have a feeling this guy is gonna do some things.

 

[Buffnik]

Danny Wuerffel comes to mind.

Great example. Awesome college QB. Another good one was Steve Walsh at Miami, who the Cowboys wasted a pick on in the supplemental draft after they'd already nabbed Aikman in the regular draft.

 

[buffsblg]

Well come on, we all know the Buffs are doomed: CJ and his a&& kissing buddy Kreckman and the rest of the John Embree worshipers all assured us yesterday that this is a class of cripples unable to recognize a football and certainly incapable of playing a single down with the legendary players of yore. Do not try to bring perspective to this, make no effort to actually determine the strengths of some of these kids and certainly do not acknowledge that the star system is not perfect, just listen to the nay sayers and accept our fate.

Or realize that a 1-11 team is not being sought out by blue chips and that transition does hurt recruiting. This class as the intelligent on here have noted has some strengths that might fill the massive holes left by the recent failures on the field and off. I doubt that Mac is satisfied but to call this an unmitigated failure is ridiculous.

 

[Quattro]

Well come on, we all know the Buffs are doomed: CJ and his a&& kissing buddy Kreckman and the rest of the John Embree worshipers all assured us yesterday that this is a class of cripples unable to recognize a football and certainly incapable of playing a single down with the legendary players of yore. Do not try to bring perspective to this, make no effort to actually determine the strengths of some of these kids and certainly do not acknowledge that the star system is not perfect, just listen to the nay sayers and accept our fate.

Or realize that a 1-11 team is not being sought out by blue chips and that transition does hurt recruiting. This class as the intelligent on here have noted has some strengths that might fill the massive holes left by the recent failures on the field and off. I doubt that Mac is satisfied but to call this an unmitigated failure is ridiculous.

Most of this class was Embree's.

 

[BlackNGold]

I hope that some of these players can come through and contribute. Overall we did not close the gap on the rest of the conference which is concerning. Also nothing this staff did in recruiting helped answer the question "Can this staff recruit?" We will have to wait until next year which has been a constant refrain for way too long.

Arm strength for a college QB is just part of the story. You have to be able to make a variety of throws, have good timing, accuracy, and good reads. Just because you cannot throw it on a rope does not mean you will not be successful in college. Webb last year had horrible timing - he would throw the ball after the receiver made his break instead of anticipating the break and have the ball arrive at the receiver when he is coming out of his break (the top opportunity for the receiver to be open). Not one of our QBs could throw the fade (and the receivers had trouble catching it). Wood was totally lost and I think he has good arm strength. Hirschmann showed the most but it was not consistent. He was the first QB on the team that I saw hit receivers coming out of the break on a somewhat regular basis.

Klatt is an example of the QB with average arm strength but he had good timing with his receivers and could make a variety of throws with the fade route being his bread and butter. If we would have a QB that could master some of this and with a couple of receiver threats then we could win some games. Good QB play would help the receivers, and open up the running game. The last several years teams have stacked the LOS without fear from our passing game.

 

[MtnBuff]

I hope that some of these players can come through and contribute. Overall we did not close the gap on the rest of the conference which is concerning. Also nothing this staff did in recruiting helped answer the question "Can this staff recruit?" We will have to wait until next year which has been a constant refrain for way too long.

Arm strength for a college QB is just part of the story. You have to be able to make a variety of throws, have good timing, accuracy, and good reads. Just because you cannot throw it on a rope does not mean you will not be successful in college. Webb last year had horrible timing - he would throw the ball after the receiver made his break instead of anticipating the break and have the ball arrive at the receiver when he is coming out of his break (the top opportunity for the receiver to be open). Not one of our QBs could throw the fade (and the receivers had trouble catching it). Wood was totally lost and I think he has good arm strength. Hirschmann showed the most but it was not consistent. He was the first QB on the team that I saw hit receivers coming out of the break on a somewhat regular basis.

Klatt is an example of the QB with average arm strength but he had good timing with his receivers and could make a variety of throws with the fade route being his bread and butter. If we would have a QB that could master some of this and with a couple of receiver threats then we could win some games. Good QB play would help the receivers, and open up the running game. The last several years teams have stacked the LOS without fear from our passing game.

If it was about arm strength and physical ability Wood is the hands down winner. There is a reason that Texas which has their choice of a huge pool of talent went after him.

Unfortunately as you say ability to throw a ball hard or a long distance is just part of it. Decision making, leadership, composure under pressure, and a number of other things are just as if not more important and so far we haven't seen anyone in a Buffs uniform for a number of years who seems to have the whole package to be an effective QB at this level.

I keep hoping that Wood will make that step and become the kind of QB that his physical ability would let him be but as time goes by it becomes less likely.

A huge thing I like about Sefo is that he was able to make the big plays at the HS level while under huge pressure without a great supporting cast. From what I see on the tape he can and does make the throws he will have to to win at the college level. He may not be the next John Elway but not many guys are.