I really thought Town would come in and take the backup spot. It seems like he isn’t even in the picture at this point. Is it a talent thing or is he having a hard time adjusting to the offense?
It looks to me like he was overrated as a 4-star quarterback. He is fourth on the depth chart here (fifth before Peavey left) and I don’t see him ever really being in contention to play.
Saw a story yesterday that said Kelley would redshirt, doesn’t that put Town as the 3rd string? Say AA is injured wouldn’t Town be the backup instead of Kelley losing the redshirt?
They have said that Kelley would travel with the team. That implies that he would be 3rd string.
Kelley will redshirt if he doesn’t have to play. He would get a start before Town.
I would like to see more in depth looks at why none of these three young QBs have yet to develop in a program that bills itself as a development program. I have asked questions like this before and gotten the insightful answer of There are people better in front of them". Really? I had not thought of that. That is quality analysis.
I was shocked when Derrick Graham left. it was barely mentioned and I would love to know why he gave up or the coaches gave up on him after such a short time. I know personal reasons can and should not be revealed, but why did he not make it. Too slow? Could not learn the playbook? We were not the only ones that thought Graham was a talent.
Again we explain our three star heavy recruiting classes as we know how to develop unheralded players then why do guys like Brian Wallace, Graham all these young QBs take so long to come on?
Why do 5-star HS players flop and 3-stars end up starring in the pros? You act like “it must be bad coaching.” You don’t know what you have until you put them on the field to compete against each other. Nobody invests money and time recruiting players and then not bother to maximize their development. Some players are late bloomers, some were over-rated, some under-rated, and some max out early, stop growing, lose interest, etc. Ricky Town has been passed by because he got beat out, not because the coaches failed to try to develop him. Happens all the time. The 5-star Mitch Mustain flopped at USC. Must have been some more bad coaching there as well. :roll:
Unless Matt has heard some real skinny from the staff, I’m thinking that Town is just a redshirt frosh in August.
He redshirted last year
Why do you say “none of these three young QBs have yet to develop” – based on what? One of them is the second-team quarterback, behind a fourth-year junior. A true freshman appears to be developing fast. Rafe Peavey definitely developed during his time at Arkansas. He was much better vs. his freshman form. Just because he wasn’t the best QB on the roster doesn’t mean he failed to develop.
Do you know these names? Phillip Sims, Phillip Ely, Alec Morris, Parker McLeod, David Cornwell, Star Jackson, Alec Morris. Quarterbacks at Alabama. Did they “fail to develop” too? Sometimes good players sit behind better ones. Often, in fact.
Derrick Graham was a shock? Why? He was recruited by an assistant coach who then left. That former assistant’s recruits have not had a high hit rate. Graham was a 3-star recruit, and he looked like a tweener from his first practice at Arkansas. He might fit better in a different system. Don’t blame him for wanting a fresh start. You say Arkansas “gave up on him,” but the player left. Arkansas didn’t make him leave.
Football teams carry up to 85 scholarship players and 20 recruited walk-ons to fill about 50 active playing positions each season. A team is doing well if, out of 25 annual signees, 15 of them stick around and become productive players whether as starters or reserves. Get one or two real stars per class, you’re doing well.
The majority of highly rated recruits are not going to be stars. It takes many 2- and 3-stars to produce one real gem. That is how most football teams have to find them.
Right, that means he is a redshirt freshman. Second-year freshman.
Stars are simply someone’s opinion about how good a player is or will be in college. Quite often they’re wrong
I think it’s always a crap shoot on quarterbacks. They have the arm, but can they process information. Mitch Mustain was good when the coach told him the receiver to throw it to in high school just before the snap. He could not do that himself in systems that required him to learn reads and checks. That was the case at Arkansas and USC.
It appears that is the case for Ricky Town. He is third in reality because of that. His arm is just okay, not what I expected. I believe he is the product of a system. Happens all the time. You do not know until he’s required to run a pro offense that he is only average at it. But he is really fourth. If Austin goes down for an extended time, you might see Cole drop his redshirt.
I’ve seen around 10 full practices over spring and fall. I missed only one open practice. There were probably 15 more where parts were open. I saw those, too. At no time did I see Town do something that wowed me. I am sure the coaches got the same feel.
Derrick Graham did not show ability to turn, run and get to the ball. He made zero plays, or it seemed that way. He did try to gain weight to try to play down but that didn’t produce results either. In the end when you don’t play and others continue to arrive who are clearly better, it’s hard to flourish 800 miles from home. So he went home.
Insights on this board are unavailable to the common man.
WELCOME TO THE UNCOMMON BOARD.
Being honest I guess in a way I am.
I am a big CBB fan. I see dozens of ways that he grows and promotes the program in a near genius level. The way he says Woo Pig after every interview and his now trademarked “Uncommon” are unlike anything I have seen an Arkansas coach bring to the table and they are very effective. Could we ever have seen “Being Bobby Petrino”? Heck no. Only CBB could generate that kind of interest. Lou Holtz maybe.
My point is though that while we profess to be a developer of three star players into STARS do we really do that more than any other team? The move of Derby to TE and Froholdt to OG look brilliant. The move of Kirkland to tackle and the slow development of players like Wallace and Graham not so much. If we are going to sell the program in that way, then I think it is a fair question as to whether we are truly better than other schools. And of course even if we do we are not going to be perfect.
And I never said a thing about coaches failing to TRY and develop a player like Town. Where did you get that?
But there have been 8 QBs, recruited and on scholarship as QBs during the last four seasons, the two Allens, Derby, Mitchell, Peavy, Storey, Town and now Kelley. Way too early to tell with Kelley, but only the Allens have developed to where the coaching staff truly thought they were first or second team quality. Derby, Peavy and Storey were named second team, but there was never a sense that they had battled forth and secured the role. They were, are, just slightly better or here longer than the rest. That might be absolutely normal. If it is, normal, then we are not ahead of the pack in that one area. And what is wrong with that, unless you say that you are and aren’t?
Thanks for trying shut down this type of conversation. Some of you cannot discuss something without trying to make the other side look stupid. It is like you are threatened by questioning things. This could be a very enjoyable activity if you could ask a question without being attacked and really have a good discussion of a topic.
And you did not even answer my question at all. Nice.
Well that being said then, our staff just took him due to his HS star factor, maybe that scholly could have been better utilized elsewhere?
Do you think he may transfer to lower classification school so he can play?
Those who want an in depth analysis of why a player doesn’t make it to the top of the depth chart need to consider those consequences. Would you want your deficiencies or the deficiencies of your son exposed to the world? Especially if he is considering a transfer? Coaches with integrity emphasize the positives. If Kelley beats out Town it’s because Kelley is strong, not because Town has issues. At least that’s the company line and that’s as it should be.
Town still has time to turn it on. Somewhere I remember hearing that RT grew up in a spread type of offense. He and his Dad knew that doesn’t translate into the NFL very well when they have to read defenses and throw into tight coverage. They wanted him to go somewhere to learn the Pro style offense. Ty Storey played in a small classification that also didn’t have exposure to a pro style offense. Let’s give it time for Ty and Ricky to truly run our offense this year instead of the scout team offense.
I think part of the concern about Town is a product of where he played his high school ball. A California kid with four stars has to be an awesome quarterback, right?
Maybe, maybe not.
I’ve often wondered what stars are based on, other than height, weight, and numbers. Do stars take into account a high school QB’s presence in the huddle? His aptitude for reading defenses? His ability to stand in the pocket, read progressions, and deliver the football on time, into a tight window, against defenders every bit as elite an athlete as he is?
Until those things are seen, all you have is geometric shapes on a piece of paper.
Many high school offenses don’t have progressions. Most of the time the first choice will be wide open; there won’t be a tight window to hit. There might be a second option, there might not. Hit the open guy or scramble, or take the sack.
I suspect QB ratings in high school are on size, arm strength, maybe how they perform in summer 7 on 7 (where there is no pass rush, and thus no pocket). Whether it’s high school games or 7 on 7, the stats are going to be inflated because you’re not going against elite defenders, and if you do happen to play against a D-I-level cornerback, for instance, you just throw away from him. That’s why high school football scores are starting to resemble basketball; a passing attack of any quality at all is going to roll up the points.