I have to admit, I never thought to extrapolate Green's passing numbers based on Cato's attempts. It certainly makes one consider our QB from a different perspective. If nothing else, it's given rise to some interesting debate. I've enjoyed this thread. Nice job,
@extragreen.
As intriguing as this speculation is, though, the bigger problem with Green’s smaller number of attempts is
why they were so many less than Cato’s at a similar time. The coaching staff has an obvious lack of confidence in Green’s ability to play the position. I know some on here complain about the play-calling, and there may be times that is an appropriate criticism. But what I saw in most games this season was an OC whose hands were tied by a QB who was as likely to do something bad as he was to do something good.
Green’s positive this season has been his running. He still isn’t fast by any means, but he has developed a decent instinct for knowing
when to run. Since he doesn’t
read the zone read, he should be about 50% on his flip-a-coin decision strategy. But he isn’t. He’s much better than that, which shows that he does have a feel for the flow of the game and when it is best to pull the ball out or pull the ball down, and use his feet.
Will Green improve his skills next season? Maybe…in some aspects of the game. I would love for him to work on his throwing mechanics – get that elbow up so his throws wouldn’t sail as much – but I’m not optimistic. It would be nice if he
read the read. That’s on Green, but also on a coaching staff who needs to be willing to
make him do it. Can he improve on his downfield reads? Yes. Experience is a great teacher. He does a pretty good job with a pre-snap, single-receiver set up. It’s when you get to the post-read RPO (which is one way the playbook got smaller this season) and checking down to hot reads or the #2 option. He tends to decide who he’s throwing to before the snap. He can definitely improve here.
Will Green improve on the intangibles of being a good college QB? His leadership qualities were suspect as a freshman, and not just because he was a freshman. He lacked the humility to listen to those upperclassmen who could have helped him make better decisions, or at least understand the game from a wider perspective. I hear he has made strides in this area. Now, it's always been my opinion that a good QB also finds ways to make the others around him better. Sometimes it’s what’s said in the huddle or on the sideline, sometimes it’s the example set in the weight room, sometimes it’s a hand on a shoulder when a guy is down. It’s how a QB carries himself, and how he handles being the face of the team. I haven’t seen any evidence of this yet, but he’s still young.
Next season, Green won’t be young. He will need to improve on all aspects of the job. He has grown up some since he first stepped foot on the field. But now he has to grow the rest of the way up. No excuses next year. He won’t be young, he won’t be inexperienced, he will not have the ridiculous sophomore slump to point to. He’s either the man or he isn’t.
Sorry, this got a little long. I just got typing and the next thing I knew…
