He is named the starter for spring, then his main competition leaves, then his possible backup leaves too. Wow!! Dinner and a movie too!!! I hope he takes advantage of this opportunity.
Could Barker be in any better position to be successful?
- Thread starter Glenn Fohr
- Start date
Actually I think competition would be better. I'd like to see someone pushing him for playing time. Without that, what motivation does he have to play at 100%
Yes op, he could be starting behind Bama' s oline, throwing the ball to their receivers, handing the ball off to their rb's, and have their defense getting the ball back for him!
Also, it's pretty much sink or swim so great if he suceeds but a lot of pressure if things dont go well right away. Fans will be very quick to turn on Stoops and the team as a whole if we start off on the wrong foot. I dont call that a great situation
With us losing only one OL starter and one OL backup off the 20 other positions I think his support should be a lot better. And then with a 5.9 JC coming in to replace the starter and since we had a true freshman starting on the OL this year I wouldn't be surprised to see him improve a great deal, with another highly touted OL that does have the benefit of a redshirt probably having as big an impact as AA had this year-------AND he will have the benefit of not having to start.
Doing my best Yoda impression, this year he does or he does not, there is no try. He is all in with Stoops this season
If we had kept krok and our wr's didn't drop so many passes last year I'd say that barker hit the lottery. But given that he is gonna rely on a Juco LT and a freshman RT to protect him and we don't know if our receivers are as good as there highlights or as bad as their lowlights... I'll wait to say for sure.
I hadn't heard much about those, were the injuries long term? They would definitely be discouraging though regardless.
I have been in Barkers corner but was somewhat disappointed with his performance, yes I know there were a lot of other issues that impacted his performance, none the less I was disappointed. Personally after watching the pending transfer Johnson's video, I think he would give Barker all he wants in the competition and would likely be named the starter.
Barker should have plenty of motivation to work his tail off and get better this off season or he could find himself in the same position as before, holding a clipboard.
Go Cats!
[cheers]
You can want to win with all you heart and soul. BUT, it takes a whole lot more than that to make it happen. Patrick Towles is a perfect example.
As of today Barker reminds me a lot of Patrick. A drop back, stand in the pocket, relatively immobile, shooting range target when our pocket protection breaks down in nano seconds.
I hope, if we have any alternate plans available, that the OC will junk the emphasis on the vertical passing game. Then come up with something that fits our personnel's strengths. This might give Barker or another quarterback a chance to succeed. Maybe less three and outs and give the defense a chance to get off the field.
I have great confidence in Stoops' recruiting efforts and successes in the same. However, most of these recruits, maybe all, need a redshirt year before playing in the SEC. This is what all the top SEC teams seem do unless they get that rare super athlete.
I can tell you one thing...Barker will have a much better line protecting him this year, that's for sure. Drake and Young may be good enough to play next year. I know we'd like to redshirt them but if they can play they can play. Have got to improve this year to get this offense going.
I'm not a big believer in Barker. Has not impressed me, and has not shown himself to have a great arm, field awareness, or mobility. I really hope that I am wrong though.
Good point. You're right at most upper tier SEC teams they would be redshirted for their own and the team's ultimate good.
Personally, neither seem ready so why waste them as freshmen. We have a long history of that with linemen.
Yours is very much the minority opinion if you think that neither is ready. They are probably as ready as any linemen we've had in years. Maggard is absolutely raving about them today.
The context of my comment was about who would push Barker. Towles was pushed for two years and was always in a QB battle....that didn't turn out so well.
I'm just of the opinion that QB competitions don't make you better. If anything it makes you more timid for fear of making a mistake and getting yanked. What makes a QB better is repetitions and more repetitions with his WR crew, RBs, and OL.....getting everyone on the same page.
I think if Leavitt is as advertised, and with what I saw today from Young, Drew should enjoy a much much better offensive line, which can only help his production. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Drake Jackson take one of the guard spots. Kids a mauler.
Towles could move a hell of a lot better than Barker. Not a good comparison. Barker is SLOW!
Maybe they are as ready as any in the past. Now I hope they are ready to take on redshirted SEC linemen with recruiting ratings every bit as high as theirs. Their predecessors, for the most part, were not.
I know I'm in the minority on this and it only makes me more suspicious of the internet majority opinions
If Hoak or Johnson(if he's here) is equal in camp then they should get the job because at that point their upside should be hire than Barkers. He has no experience to count on
With all due respect to their predecessors, their predecessors were not near the caliber of Young and Jackson, and very few of them had their names called on draft day. These two guys are elite prospects, Young in particular. Young is light years of any tackle prospect we've had in decades. Players like him start in the SEC pronto and leave after three years.
Barker is guaranteed to take the 1st snap in the spring..... That is all he has been promised. IMO he will be challanged greatly by the JUCO Stephen Johnson if he winds up here.
He's an extra body with the size and traits to play OT. I was just pointing out we are thin at OT and are an injury away from being back to last year.
Can only hope you're right but they start with a disadvantage. As an extreme example how many true freshmen linemen or linebackers has Bama put in major roles during the past several years?
Now I know they'll be playing for us this season but I don't like selling talent cheaply and sacrificing the future.
Maybe you missed the "rave" comments by both Gran and Hinshaw on Barker. I don't think many people realize had much "psych" damage may have be done to Drew the last two years. I wouldn't be surprised to see one of the better QB's in the SEC playing at UK next year - we will all have to wait and see.
Go Big Blue!