Note to Riley

[SHIZ]

Riley is barely a division I-A QB, let alone the pure drop-back passer with an arm needed to make the Y offense go.

I have read this statement alot. While I believe that BYU needs to move on from Riley Nelson, I have a hard time with this statement. Utah State (a Division 1 school which is actually bowl eligible), was upset enough about losing Riley Nelson that they pursued a change in the rules regarding missionary service. Riley Nelson is certainly capable of running the offense. Jake Heaps was also capable of running the offense. It is not Nelson's ability that I am upset with, it is his performance. I believe that Lark, Munns, etc, are all capable as well. We need to see if one of them can perform live. As we saw last year, talent is not always the issue. Sometimes, talent is overshadowed by performance.
That said, I am not arguing that Nelson is even close to the most talented quarterback we have had, I simply cannot support the assertion that he is "barely a Division 1-A QB."

pop quiz

which 2 win, 5 loss sun belt conference team has a mascot called the jaguars?

the answer? south alabama. have you heard of them? i certainly haven't. i follow plenty of sports (not enough low major football apparently) but if you had told me there was a team called the south alabama jaguars i would have said yeah that sounds made up.

our QB'S pass efficiency is ranked 104th out of 122 qualifying div 1A QB's, ranked just below quarterbacks from rice, idaho, and, you guessed it, the south alabama jaguars. i don't care how bent out of shape utah state was about losing him via transfer, or about how much ability/capability/grit/heart he has, i'm pretty comfortable with the statement that he is "barely a division 1 quarterback."

should we be surprised? we didn't steal a quarterback from an elite program like usc or oklahoma or alabama. we didn't steal a quarterback from a pac 10 school, or even a mountain west school. we stole a quarterback from a wac school. and yes, wac schools are division 1. barely.

[rblack]

He was "recruited" by them, but they didn't give him a scholly offer.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruit ... 6432/print" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This would indicate that he at least had an offer from Utah and that there were multiple Division 1-A programs interested in him.

[rblack]

Riley is barely a division I-A QB, let alone the pure drop-back passer with an arm needed to make the Y offense go.

I have read this statement alot. While I believe that BYU needs to move on from Riley Nelson, I have a hard time with this statement. Utah State (a Division 1 school which is actually bowl eligible), was upset enough about losing Riley Nelson that they pursued a change in the rules regarding missionary service. Riley Nelson is certainly capable of running the offense. Jake Heaps was also capable of running the offense. It is not Nelson's ability that I am upset with, it is his performance. I believe that Lark, Munns, etc, are all capable as well. We need to see if one of them can perform live. As we saw last year, talent is not always the issue. Sometimes, talent is overshadowed by performance.
That said, I am not arguing that Nelson is even close to the most talented quarterback we have had, I simply cannot support the assertion that he is "barely a Division 1-A QB."

pop quiz

which 2 win, 5 loss sun belt conference team has a mascot called the jaguars?

the answer? south alabama. have you heard of them? i certainly haven't. i follow plenty of sports (not enough low major football apparently) but if you had told me there was a team called the south alabama jaguars i would have said yeah that sounds made up.

our QB'S pass efficiency is ranked 104th out of 122 qualifying div 1A QB's, ranked just below quarterbacks from rice, idaho, and, you guessed it, the south alabama jaguars. i don't care how bent out of shape utah state was about losing him via transfer, or about how much ability/capability/grit/heart he has, i'm pretty comfortable with the statement that he is "barely a division 1 quarterback."

should we be surprised? we didn't steal a quarterback from an elite program like usc or oklahoma or alabama. we didn't steal a quarterback from a pac 10 school, or even a mountain west school. we stole a quarterback from a wac school. and yes, wac schools are division 1. barely.

It may be semantics, however, I would agree with the statement, "he is barely performing like a division 1 quarterback." I would even agree with the statement, "he is not performing like a division 1 quarterback." However, I believe he has the skills of a division 1 quarterback, as evaluated by those who know the game better than I do. I just don't think he has the performance. Call it injury, call it complacency, whatever, he is not performing. It's time we allow someone else to show whether or not they can perform.

[SenorCougar]

Riley has shown the ability to make all the throws we need. Unfortunately, most of the times he's shown that was in 2011.

He's been very inconsistent in doing so in 2012. And he's shown very little of it in the last four games.

Sounds similar to the Jake Heaps story....

[byucougar1]

The OL has as much to do with Riley's performance as anything. It's hard to keep feet planted, not get happy feet, when you are worried about a DL blindsiding you, slapping your throwing arm, or just plain knocking your OL into passing lane. The OL allowed WSU DL to Ted off on him, and he played injured vs UT and BSU. Not wise and it let to poor performance. Give Riley OSU's OL and he performs like Vaz and has time to make throws. Remember last year, when he was able to bide time, he found and connected with his receivers. Taysom Hill was doing well but running 18 times/game - partly because he was flushed from pocket and had to scramble to avoid getting sacked. This isn't all about Riley when we have lost 6 (six) OL to injury. They are trying to jell and Riley has to adjust to their growing pains.

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[Airwolf1984]

Riley is not barely a division one QB and he clearly has the arm strength to make the throws-- if you've watched enough games you know he can do it. I'm not saying he has a rocket, but I've seen him make all of the throws. THE problem is simply that he does not perform close to where he needs to be and where the team needs to be. His performance is subpar.

I can throw a football farther than Riley because I can put velocity on a pigskin... and I am smaller than he is with undoubtedly smaller hands. Nelson has a weak arm as QB's go - this is a fact - any throws beyond 25 yards are up for grabs.

[SpiffCoug]

Riley has shown the ability to make all the throws we need. Unfortunately, most of the times he's shown that was in 2011.

He's been very inconsistent in doing so in 2012. And he's shown very little of it in the last four games.

Sounds similar to the Jake Heaps story....

Yep, which is why both deserved to no longer be playing or to be playing for as long as they did.

Coaches stuck with both QBs too long. Unfortunately for Jake, the coaches last year thought they had a viable option behind him. It doesn't seem the coaches think that this year.

[BoiseBYU]

Riley is not barely a division one QB and he clearly has the arm strength to make the throws-- if you've watched enough games you know he can do it. I'm not saying he has a rocket, but I've seen him make all of the throws. THE problem is simply that he does not perform close to where he needs to be and where the team needs to be. His performance is subpar.

I can throw a football farther than Riley because I can put velocity on a pigskin... and I am smaller than he is with undoubtedly smaller hands. Nelson has a weak arm as QB's go - this is a fact - any throws beyond 25 yards are up for grabs.

The fact that you believe you can throw a football farther than Riley does not supportyour argument that he can't make all the throws. The fact that Riley has in your view a weak arm also does not support your argument that Riley cannot make the throws needed. My observation is that he has made all of the throws required. For whatever reason, for me though, the problem is simply that he has NOT made the throws we need. His PERFORMANCE has not been acceptable. It is not that BYU is putting out on the field a player who cannot physically do what is required but that he has not DONE what BYU needs him to do to succeed. I will put off the problem of whether BYU put Riley out there, injured, and in his injured status, could not do what we needed for us to succeed. So how far can you throw a football?

[Gunk]

Riley is not barely a division one QB and he clearly has the arm strength to make the throws-- if you've watched enough games you know he can do it. I'm not saying he has a rocket, but I've seen him make all of the throws. THE problem is simply that he does not perform close to where he needs to be and where the team needs to be. His performance is subpar.

I can throw a football farther than Riley because I can put velocity on a pigskin... and I am smaller than he is with undoubtedly smaller hands. Nelson has a weak arm as QB's go - this is a fact - any throws beyond 25 yards are up for grabs.

I bet I could throw a football over those mountains. If coach would have put me in, we would have won State. I'd have gone pro.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[BoiseBYU]

Riley is not barely a division one QB and he clearly has the arm strength to make the throws-- if you've watched enough games you know he can do it. I'm not saying he has a rocket, but I've seen him make all of the throws. THE problem is simply that he does not perform close to where he needs to be and where the team needs to be. His performance is subpar.

I can throw a football farther than Riley because I can put velocity on a pigskin... and I am smaller than he is with undoubtedly smaller hands. Nelson has a weak arm as QB's go - this is a fact - any throws beyond 25 yards are up for grabs.

I bet I could throw a football over those mountains. If coach would have put me in, we would have won State. I'd have gone pro.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Rico! You're back!