TrueBlue2003

April 20th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^

and Barrett was 8th. So pretty much on par.  They're both great runners, highly erratic passers and questionable decision makers with a ton of talent surrounding them.

Hurts had a bit of a down year and the Bama offense wasn't very good overall (24th in S&P+).  He struggled mightily in the few tough games they played (@Auburn, National title game).

Blue in Paradise

April 20th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^

but hear me out...  Barrett had some great games where he won it for OSU.  HOWEVER, Barrett had two bullshit games where he never gave OSU a chance to win (especially Iowa).  Those two games cost OSU a chance at the playoffs.

Hurts never did that and put his team in position to win the National Championship - even though he was bad in that game.

Fezzik

April 20th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^

Barrett has the most TDs in conference history and the 2nd place guy (Brees) is a whopping 41 TDs behind him. And I don't think you can ever put a loss solely on your QB when the other teams puts up 55 on you (Iowa). 

Bama QBs are never asked to do much in a Saban offense becuase their team is always more talented than whoever else shows up. Tua was the first QB I've seen in I don't even know how long that was forced to go out and win a tough game for Bama. Hurts couldn't do it and got benched. You are underrating Barrett and overrating Hurts. Both are great college QBs in the right system though.

chomz14

April 20th, 2018 at 2:12 PM ^

This 100%. Look at the numbers. Kid had a monster season. But if the kid was the next Vince Young. He would have never been benched or would be fighting for his job. Speight looked very good in 90% of his starts in 2016. When you have 2 NFL recievers, a NFL TE and a respectable ground game. Good things happen. Now when you add in a monster Oline and a GREAT run game. Good luck trying to stop any QB.

Blue in Paradise

April 20th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^

if you strip out Hurts' production on the ground.  And they do not have a monster OLine - they were mediocre and got exposed against the good DLs they faced.

There is not one Bama OL that is projected to get drafted in 2018 (and they have only had two drafted in the last two years combined).

Blue in Paradise

April 20th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^

Give me a break guys, I am not saying JT was terrible.  He was a good college QB that started for 4 years (hence the numbers) on a great offense.

But the guy is projected as a UFA (a few analysts have him as a 7th round pick but I haven't seen anything higher than that).

I don't think it is a ridiculous statement that Jalen Hurts was better / more consistent QB than Barrett.  It is arguable.

TrueBlue2003

April 20th, 2018 at 6:08 PM ^

He averaged fewer than 20 pass attempts per game, which is bonkers in modern NFL.  Our of 14 games he only attempted more than 20 passes 5 times with the most being a 24 pass game against LSU in which he was pretty bad (11-24 for 183) as he tended to be against good defenses.

But Bama had a good run game and absurt defense.  Their defense allowed him to play completely differently than OSU's defense did for Barrett. OSU's defense gave up nearly 500 yards on about 7 yards per play to Iowa. That's awful.  Barrett was definitely bad in that game when trying to make up for the terrible defense, but if they had the defense Bama had, they'd have never had to press to try to come back.  They would have just handed it off and won the game 24-10 like Bama did against LSU. Hurts had that luxury.

Context matters.  Bama's defense won them that national title.  A lot of QBs could have done as well or better than Hurts, and a freshman had to come in cold to save the title for him in pretty much the only game in which anything from the QB was necessary (and even then the defense pitched a shutout in the second half).

UM Fan from Sydney

April 20th, 2018 at 12:39 PM ^

You're right. They probably have 17 QBs that are more talented...not just 2 or 3.

Why QBs continually want to play for Urban Meyer is beyond me. That is, of course, if they want to make it to the NFL as a QB. If they want to win a lot of games in college, then sure, go to OSU, but they ain't making the league as a QB.

DoubleB

April 20th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^

Many of those guys don't have the height or arm strength to be valued by the NFL regardless of where they go to school. Regardless, they will get exposure if they play at OSU and almost all of them will get at least a shot in the league.

Perkis-Size Me

April 20th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^

If Hurts wants to continue being a QB he won't go to OSU. If he ended up going there for whatever reason, it would be to play a position other than QB. That would be what would concern me the most if it did happen.

Meyer already has an embarassment of five star riches on the offensive side of the ball, and then he'd be getting another athlete to hand the ball off to and make plays. 

UofMfanINcolumbus

April 20th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^

If Shea truly is one and done I wouldn't mind him coming to Michigan. You can never have too many options at QB.

TrueBlue2003

April 20th, 2018 at 6:39 PM ^

which is a well-studied phenomenon in which you overvalue something that you have ownership of or attachment to.

I'm reading a book about behavioral economics which UofM grad and professor Amos Tversky was essentially the "father" of.  Pretty interesting!

Larry Appleton

April 20th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^

I feel bad for the young man.  What an awkward situation to be put in by his father.  Parents just don't understand, and they need to shut their damn pieholes!  

corundum

April 20th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^

He's not an incredibly accurate passer, but he doesn't turn the ball over often and carried his team to back to back championship appearances. He is also younger than both Fromm and Tua, so he still has a ton of upside. He would be one of the most talented QB transfers in recent years.

Blue in Paradise

April 20th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^

QBs were playing?  Bama had a good, but not great, OL in 2016 and a very mediocre OL in 2017 (at best).  He was my QB in fantasy football this past year so I was watching every game and he was legit way ahead of Tua until the last month of the season.

I will say that he was not good in the Nat Champ game against a ferocious GA front seven, but he was so solid during the season. 

Tua won that game with some crazy plays running for his life and then the blown coverage on the last play.