QB depth

There has been a lot of talk about QB play, our depth, our experience, etc. I think our depth chart goes like this :
1,Gabbert 4th year, injured , maybe out for the year
2 Smith 3rd year current starter, best running QB Since Sherman Smith?
3, Hesson 2nd year…few have seen him play much. I saw him at the preseason scrimmage and late in Robert Morris game. Strong arm is about all I know.
4. Humphries 1st year…highly touted when we signed him with good running and throwing talents, played at a lower level of hs competition?

In watching Miami fb for 55 years, Gabbert was easily the best first year QB we have had, and I think that includes Ben ( who redshirted his first year as we had a 3 year starting QB in Mike Bath who had gone 10-1 the previous year. Gabbert had such tremendous advantages over any other first year QB with his father being the hs coach and having won several state championships and with his two older brothers both having been Power conference QB’s and Blake Gabbert in his 12 year a an NFL QB ( currently Tampa Bay). Brett broke all of their HS records and won a couple of state championships. The first time I saw Gabbert in his first year I was just so completely impressed with everything about his game. He threw every kind of pass well and very quickly reacted to the defense and make quick and correct decisions. Humphries may be very talented, but you cannot compare his experience level to Gabbert in any way, shape,or form. Like every other Miami QB, he needs this first year to adjust to this level of competition.

A lot of posters want to see what the other QB’s have to offer, but I would say the only chance you have is to go to practice several times and watch them. Our games are going to be close the rest of the year, so maybe no chances at all to bring in the third or 4th QB, barring injuries.

I would just say that Aveon Smith is doing just fine for his first few starts, and seems to be getting better. His running in the last game was kind of spectacular. Bash asked the question about if the staff has adjusted the offense to fit Smith instead of Gabbert, who is such a pure passing talent. I have that same question. One area where Aveon should be doing better are the read option plays. Just my opinion, but he does not seem to be reading the defense very well and may not be making the right choice. Some people have posted that he runs the ball best when it is a called run play and he just goes and does not have to read the defense and make a choice.

QB’s always get the most credit when we win and the most blame when we lose, but Smith was not the guy who lost the game on Saturday. It was the stupid penalties. We have had so many penalties when we are inside the ten yard line this year that I feel like screaming at the offensive players, but I don’t remember any of those penalties being by Aveon. And what about the stupid players who jumped offside trying to block the game tieing field goal when it was 4th and 4. These guys are smart enough to get into Miami and make grades, there is just no excuse for not knowing anything as simple as down and distance and score and time. How about our defensive lineman who has about 4 hands to the face 15 yard penalties this season. Do you ever adjust what you are doing wrong??? You can blame the coaches for not pounding this stuff into the guys, and maybe that is fair, but we just gave that game away Saturday despite all the good things that we did, and the many great runs by Smith. I though this was clearly his best game, he finally took advantage of his running ability and hit a few good passes. I also think he is looking more and more like a leader on the field… So I do not think we should be going to these other guys unless injury forces us to. The coaching staff sees them all every day and they don’t seem to think anybody else is close.

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Great insight. I was curious about the high schools size after your question about Humphreys. Aveon played 4A, Hesson and Humphreys both played 6A. I think you’re right about not likely seeing much of 3rd, 4th string guys.

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Dick provides an excellent analysis- the players lost this game not the coaches- the penalties cost us the game - yes AV needs to throw the ball better but he has talent and will continue to develop. Please no more DL hands to the face of an OL player - and no more double reverse calls inside the opposing team’s 20 !

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@DICK Good post, Dick. I agree that Aveon is the best running QB we’ve had since Sherman. In fact, he might be even better at that - possibly faster and more athletic. But we mustn’t forget that Mallory and Crum mixed in Steve Sanna at QB to provide Miami some offensive balance. And you may recall the Seahawks drafted Sherman as a WR and immediately converted him to a RB. They knew what he really was.

I think the frustration now comes from losing an offense that was built around Brett’s ability to pinpoint pass. We don’t have that with Aveon and that makes us one-dimensional.

The loss last Saturday is certainly not on Aveon, as you pointed out. Penalties and questionable play calling are what cost us the game. With a one-dimensional offense and no pure power back there is little margin for error in a conference where virtual parity exists and no team has distinct advantages. We can probably win games in the MAC East with a limited offense but we’ll need to cut out the stupid penalties and stop making inappropriate calls.

That said, I would hope the coaching staff would consider using Hesson situationally to try to establish a two-headed monster - or if nothing more than to give us another experienced QB if something happens to Aveon. Run first QBs tend to be targets. And even if we had Iowa’s defense, it would be hard to win many games scoring 17-21 points a game.

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But the players didn’t call the double reverse.

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