How did Johnson look in the scrimmage today?
- Thread starter Glenn Fohr
- Start date
I have a different take. Barker is a Kentucky native, and was the star recruit. Barker started several games in November so he is the returning starter. I believe Stoops and Gran know that Barker must be given every opportunity to win the starting job. This is important for locker room politics as well as fan politics. But it's still up to Barker to perform. Not for good or bad. This is only his team if he produces. If Barker gets the job done, it's his job. But if he can't move the chains and put points on the board, he will sit behind Johnson.
After all of the discontent surrounding the QB position last year, I doubt that any one player will get more Playing time than he deserves if he performs poorly.
Just adding this as an historical observation. There are those who say it took several years for UK football recruiting to fully recover in Western Kentucky after the Billy Jack Haskins - Tim Couch saga in 1997. I'm not here to argue that Couch was not the better QB under Mumme's scheme. What's done is done and is reflected in the record. But the transition was not handled with the greatest of diplomacy. I'm not sure if the linebacker who transferred with Haskins was in sympathy or just a coincidence. So, IMO it will be Barker's position to lose, as it should be.
my question: Is Johnson really going to get an opportunity to win the job? If he isn't given time with the best guys at their positions then why even call it a competition? Well, I hope whatever the case is the best guy is on the field come the day we play Southern Miss.
What??
We have a new OC and a new QB coach and every player is saying that there is a competition and no starters. In such an environment, how can this question even be asked? We don't know each other, but this kind of a post smells of bait.
No bait, just a good discussion about the most important position on the field. If there aren't starters announced then what does 1's and 2's mean?
The "Play the back up movement" has already begun.
Alright, alright, alright!
opcorn:Yes...and no. JMO, but, yes he gets the "opportunity" every day in practice. However, like most everyone else, I can't help but feel the job is Barker's to lose. With the unexpected departure of Phillips, they simply HAD to bring in another QB. The lightly recruited Johnson was probably the best prospect available that late in the recruiting cycle. IMO, regardless of pre-season coach speak (and the word "competition" is often coach speak), Johnson will play significant snaps only if Barker is injured or proves to be a big disappointment.
Peace
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My hope is this, I hope Johnson gets a little playing time along the way so that he will be better prepared to take over should DB get hurt. Last year Barker never got the chance until most of the rest of the offense had already packed it in for the season. Let Johnson play a little along the way to get his feet wet and better prepare him should he HAVE to play at some point.
Of course it's barker's to lose. He is the only guy on the roster with major D-1 experience. Johnson gets an opportunity every day to impress the coaches. If he wants the job then he will earn it on the field. I trust Gran, Hinshaw, and Stoops to play the best qb.
That's a pretty negative look at it. Shouldn't Johnson get some snaps just for a change of pace, Barker isn't known as a running QB, a valuable asset (see the UK/UL game last year) in some situations. Also I forgot the category but didn't Stoops say that Johnson was about 60% efficient in some category and Barker was 50%?
Barker is the frontrunner and should win the competition but it is still very early in the competition, how long has Johnson had to impress the coaches, two weeks?
Someone didn't upgrade Johnson to a 5.8 for nothing, of course Barker was not just a four star but a 5.9 that was highly recruited.
Not negative, realistic. When Phillips left they absolutely needed another QB on the roster and it was very late in recruiting game. I seriously doubt you were going to see any "big name" flips. So a very lightly recruited 2* JUCO was their best option. Hell, I heard if they somehow didn't get him they were going to offer you! [laughing] IMHO, if Johnson beats out Barker it says either he was one of the most underrated and undervalued prospects ever or Barker wasn't what everyone thought he was. Take your pick.
I don't think Gran wants to run his QB and the so called "Wildcat" is not really about a running QB; it is about a "runner" taking a direct snap for a few plays. UK has got plenty of guys that can do that. I have no idea what those percentages mean but probably not much (we are in the middle of coach speak season). I am not impugning Johnson; he may prove to be better than Barker, he may prove to be a star. And if he does, great. But there is absolutely nothing that suggests that right now.
Peace
The UK world according to the consummate UL fan.
I'll wait to see actual game performance before I say who looks good and who doesn't but I think giving snaps to the BU is good no matter who it is. Same as last year.
Drew so far had a good Spring and should be #1. There is a reason the day after coaches Gran and Henshaw were hired they went after Steve Johnson! Hope to see why in Spring game.
Blue Decade just gave us the answer to the question in the OP. Johnson will get his chance if and when Barker ceases to get the job done.
Johnson flew under the radar and was a near 4 star player on ESPN once he came onto the scene late. The guy can play he isn't just a warm body. I would rather roll with Johnson this season than Towles if he was still here
STRENGTHS: Good-sized pocket passer with sound awareness and ability to read and scan the field. Possesses good height and nice overall frame. Plays very confident and in control. Delivers the ball accurately while under pressure. A rhythm passer who delivers the ball on time. Shows good arm strength. ... AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Needs to gain more reps from under center. At times his release tends to get a bit tense. Not overly fast, but shows adequate mobility from within the pocket. Can get locked onto first target for too long. ... BOTTOM LINE: Johnson is a steady, confident QB that plays with good poise. Has some nice physical tools and abilities to develop. Still a bit green. Looks to be a guy who's best football is still ahead of him in the right scheme.
That is his ESPN scouting report and here is his profile. He's rated a 79 which is 1 point short of a 4 star player. Foot enter mouth
Well just for perspective Drew Barker was a ESPN 300 (also an Elite 11QB ) rated a 83 which is the highest rating ESPN has given any of our recruits including Landon Young. I'm glad Johnson is here but lets not forget Barker was highly regarded and recruited himself. Both Towles and Barker were under the same OC last year and they did not have a designated QB coach. I expect whoever is QB this next year, performance will be better than what we have seen the last few years.
I wasn't trying to argue that Johnson should start or that he's better than Barker. I was only letting WC know that just because he was a two star on rivals (as nearly all JUCOs are by default) and we signed him late doesn't mean that he's a project. There are absolutely reasons to think that he can be very good and challenge Barker
This looks like a rerun of the past two years with Towles. Name a qb and stick with him no matter how bad he plays. Give the number two guy no meaningful snaps until all is lost.
Not predicting Brker will fail but am concerned the same thing as the Towles fiasco seems to be shaping up, if he doesn't perform well. Coaches lip syncing open competition yet dancing to an entirely different drum beat of we've already decided.
What did we hear last couple of years? Towles was the best option because of his experience. Heard it so much I wanted to throw up every time I saw him trot out on the field and set new standards for poor performances. Now I'm hearing it about Drew.
The ray of optimism is we have different coaches to handle these matters and they are not new to their job requirements.
ESPN obviously thinks more of him than Rivals or Scout. Recruit evaluation is a very inexact business. FWIW, when discussing recruiting, I "stick" with Rivals evaluations because, IMO, you cannot "cherry pick" reports from multiple sources. The disparity in the evaluations of some prospects shows the disparity among the evaluators and the evaluation process. But is is alway good to see consistency among multiple evaluators.
As I said, he was probably the best prospect available at the time Gran and Hinshaw came on board. He was not a Cincy QB target. There were stories on some JUCO sites that as early as October, 2015 Oregon, Washington, Utah State and a few other FBS schools were "showing interest" but that interest apparently never materialized into an offer.
My biggest criticism of Stoops and Co. has been the way the QB position was handled from day 1 on campus. I don't think that will be a problem any more. But the unexpected post season departure of 2 able-to-return scholarship QBs clearly created an 11th hour scramble to bring in another QB. I trust Hinshaw to pick the right guy but the QB deck looks stacked in favor of Barker. JMO.
Peace
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If you know anything about Rivals you would know that the only way you get a good ranking from them is to attend their camps. JUCOs barely get a sniff of an evaluation unless they are widely regarded as elite. Most of those with a high JUCO ranking were also highly regarded coming out of HS. JUCO QBs by their nature are almost always lightly recruited because unless a situation like what happened to us (2 transfer) comes about most programs aren't going to JUCO for a QB especially if they have 2 to play 2. Watch his Hudl and come to your own conclusion. Don't be one of those that look at a kids profile and pretend like you know everything about him by his offer list and his ranking. UL has never recruited kids with great profile pages
Well, without question, going to a Rivals camp very often pumps up your "resume". And from time to time they do they do "downgrade" a top ranked prospect; usually not by much but enough to take him out of their Top 250 list.
However, I do think Rivals gets their Top 100 JUCO list from a Rivals affiliated JUCO site (JCGridiron ???). I see three 4*s and three 3*s on this years list and none of them had what I would call a "good" offer list. The 4* guys (#8, #25 and #30 overall) ended up at VPI, UT and AU (those schools probably being their "best" offers). There are very few Cam Newtons coming out of JUCO but there are some kids that "up their HS ranking" with some JUCO time. In fact I believe Leavitt was a very lightly recruited kid out of HS but had a great offer list as a JUCO.
Again, I think the late loss of Phillips was the main driver for adding another QB so late in the game. You got to have some "insurance" at that position. IIRC, in his first class Petrino added I believe 3 QBs late in the game (all of which have either transferred or moved to another position). And I'm not saying Johnson can't play. Only that I will be real surprised if beats out Barker which seems to be what many others think as well.
Peace
I think most would be surprised if Johnson was the starter vs Southern Miss. Drew has put in his time here and deserves a shot to prove himself before the staff moves on to the new guy. What you said didn't answer my post though. You came into the thread writing Johnson off as complete non-threat to play unless Barker is injured. We just took him because he was the best of the pile of crap that was left at the end of the recruiting cycle. Did you watch the 12 minute Hudl I posted? That was only half of his season last year. What did you find that didn't match the scouting report I posted? I want your expert analysis
In my opinion, and I've shared this before, Johnson didn't come clear across the country to sit.
But, I will say that I'm really impressed with Gran and Hinshaw and I do think that whomever wins the job will be much better prepared to be successful. It is a shame that Towles didn't get the opportunity to learn under these two. I was very impressed with Gran's interview today. No smartass remarks that Dawson would give all the time last year. Straight forward football 101.
Do we have the same coaches?
Don't you think the coaches have a lot more riding on the games than the players, at least money wise? I don't buy it that coaches that have their careers riding on winning aren't going to play the players that give them the best chance to win. How unfair would that be to the other players, and aren't most coaches pretty competitive to start with?
So what if the coaches didn't play the right player last year, different coaches, and who knows that IF they made the wrong choice it was on purpose------I don't think so.
Besides, if you are worried about them playing the QB with the most experience wouldn't that be Johnson, different level yes, but much more actual game playing experience.
I will leave it up to the coaches and not gripe about it before either one of our QBs play a down.