SMU_Sox said:
It's absolutely nothing personal either i just don't think he'll ever amount to anything. And this isn't because I lost some money on their bowl game this year in which he looked terrible. Just curious if you saw him against OU.
Never thought it was anything personal.
I'm by no means an Alabama fan but I've watched way, way more Alabama football than I'd care to admit. I DVR'd their past two spring games and studied A.J. in each. I've watched probably 75% of his snaps while in college, including the OU bowl game.
One of the more impressive things I've seen from him is in a game, he threw a pretty bad pick. Was livid on the sidelines, and when he got the ball back executed a perfect two-minute drill and got Alabama in position for a FG right before the half. Immediately drove that INT out of his mind.
The knock on him is that he is a "game-manager." I hate that term, but fine. Apply it to A.J. Don't most QBs start that way when they get to the next level and begin starting games? Offenses are simplified for them, they are given fewer reads, tasked to do less and less, and allowed to rely on the rest of the offense and the running game. Do I think A.J. can step into, say, Cleveland and start winning games on Day One? No. But what I like about the Patriots and A.J. as a potential marriage is that he will be allowed to come, learn a system, learn from one of the great ones, and continue to grow like he did while in college.
I have spoken often of A.J.'s performance in the game this year against Auburn. Saban put that game on A.J.'s shoulders and he delivered. If it were not for one freak play we're likely sitting here debating whether A.J. is the greatest college QB of all time after winning a third National Championship. Saban trusted A.J. his senior year in ways he never did. He had shed the f'ing "game manager" slur and became the QB Saban trusted to sling it when all the chips were on the table.
http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/embed?args=pcid%3D77176387825%26tc%3D21%26resizable%3Dtrue%26autoplay%3Dtrue
I honestly thought he won the Heisman at that moment. And that was just one of countless throws he made late in that game.
As far as the Oklahoma game, he was 19 of 30 for a career high 387, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Not that QB rating is the "be all and end all," but his QB rating for that game was 180.4.
And for the notion earlier that he "throws a lot of screens."
This is an article from February of last year that is worth a read. Again, it doesn't have his Senior Year stats incorporated (I'm looking for an updated chart), but A.J.'s pass attempts either behind or within 4 yards of the LOS are right there with everyone else. But look at his completion rate down the field.
And look at that completion rate down the field again.
I know I'm not going to convince people on this, and that's fine. It's been a while since I bought into a QB like this, and I may very well be wrong. If and when I am, I'll deserve all the shit I get. But I'll put my opinions out there now and not shy away from them.
Oh, and that game I was talking about earlier? When A.J. threw a pick, was livid, and responded? That was an Alabama spring game.
That's the kind of QB I want.