is now rated a composite 4 star QB! 247 sports.
K.J. Needs to be the day 1 starter next season unless a high profile Grad Transfer is in our future. I get it. Freshmen that come in and excel immediately in the SEC level is rare. However, the upcoming schedule is a great opportunity for experience building and in season development for KJ.
- You get Portland State First. Let him go from day one and figure it out. He probably wins that game on athletic ability alone, regardless of whether he grasps the concepts and schemes in the playbook or not.
- Ole Miss. His first SEC game. Just saying we almost and “should have” beat them this year says a lot about the level of opponent they are. It’s one of the easier opponents to have for your first SEC start on the road. If you are going to get an SEC win in year 2, this is one you have to circle and say we need this.
- Colorado State at Home. I don’t expect us to have a meltdown to the same team twice in a row. Two games under his belt before this one, I think he will have figured a lot out and will take care of them.
- San Jose State. Again, Athletic ability alone probably gets him this win.
If he has shown he can’t run the offense yet by now, He’s played his 4 Games, set him down and use his redshirt. If he has won you 2 or more of these games, then you ride him the rest of the season.
- His first real “WELCOME TO THE SEC” Moment is going to be Week 5 in Jerrys World. By that time, we could have easily already gotten more wins than last season, and he’s gained at least a little college football experience to possibly make the game interesting.
You ride this kid for the season, 4 wins is expected, 6 wins isn’t unrealistic. We handle the non conference and beat Ole Piss and Kentucky without Snell and we are bowling in year 2.
The started next year will be who performs best in fall drills.
It would be good to seee KJ take hold and make that happen.
But it seeems to be a long shot to me.
Just because MANY freshmen quarterbacks have been successful early in the last few years does not mean ALL are ready to play immediately. In fact, most are not.
We just have to trust our coaches to choose the right guy when the season starts, and judge how much (if any) playing time KJ gets.
Keep this in mind - no matter WHO plays QB this year, a .500 season is about the best it might get. Better to hold a true freshman back and introduce him to playing time when he’s ready, so that he can contribute in upcoming years when we might be able to truly compete, than to “ruin” him by playing him too soon.
Just because all of us are literally starved for some kind of success sooner than later, doesn’t mean that progress will happen any sooner than it would if we weren’t so “win deprived”.
Agree 100%.
I believe Connor will be the starter and they will have certain packages for KJ.
If KJ is the best you start him but I doubt that will happen just like I didn’t think Connor would be the day one starter as a freshman.
Agree with your assessment of the probable early usage of KJ, but given the football timing, etc. losses while playing baseball I would be surprised if Conner can surpass the other contenders for the starting role. However, we shall see.
A year ago, people said Connor should be the starter from Day 1. Now it’s K.J. should start from Day 1. Next year, will it be young Mr. Morris should be the Day 1 starter for 2020 (if he signs with Arkansas)? Let’s not put so much pressure on the freshmen. Let them get acclimated to school and their surroundings, then college football, and then SEC football. K.J. is not going to be here until the summer from what I understand; that makes it even harder to crack the lineup. If he does, so be it. But we sure are discounting Connor Noland just because he wants to play baseball, too. Give the guy a chance. And, as Dudley said, there may be somebody else on campus by then, too.
True freshmen QB’s in the SEC that have started from day 1 with success had exceptional talent & a lot of talent around them. Others have started in the SEC as true freshman on weaker teams, taking their licks early & becoming top 2-3 QB’s in the league in couple years