Me also. Former Grambling coach Doug Williams was impressed with Johnson arm strength and work ethic. lmmediately after taking jobs new CATS offensive coaches went after Stephen Johnson!
How did Johnson look in the scrimmage today?
- Thread starter Glenn Fohr
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Me also. Former Grambling coach Doug Williams was impressed with Johnson arm strength and work ethic. lmmediately after taking jobs new CATS offensive coaches went after Stephen Johnson!
Besides maybe Cobb, have we ever had a backup QB come in and play better then the starter?
We saw Towles stumble and fall for two seasons and Barker only got a call when not to have done so would have been the height of ignorance. When he did finally get a shot he was poorly prepared and looked no better or even worse than Towles. That stands out in my mind as indecision in coaching or a unexposed weakness in the second qb. Now, to read reports, the previous second qb is being given the same build up that Towles received and the number two guy seems to be an afterthought plus the open competition touted was over before it began.
So am I griping? Not yet but it's pretty obvious that Barker has already been given the starting role since the beginning. No problem with that. However it has the potential to be a Towles/Barker repeat performance. The only legitimate coaching reason for that is when Barker is so superior to Johnson that Johnson doesn't deserve the snaps not indecision by the coaches. Saw it happen last year and who's to say it can't happen again?
Now I too have confidence in the staff's desire to win every game but with the pressure to win every game possible, with a marginal team, sometimes can cause a vapor lock of the best minds. Whether you're acting too soon or too slow at game speed, with this team, may just be a matter of a willingness to gamble. Gambling coaches don't sleep well at night.
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??? If you are saying Barker's situation has any relationship at all to Couch and Haskins, that doesn't register on the realism scale. And as for the way it was handled, neither Bill Curry nor Hal Mumme was ever known for diplomacy. But if you are saying Barker stays #1 as long as he moves the chains and puts points on the scoreboard, then you have hit the nail on the head.
Eddie Gran and Darrin Hinshaw are in charge and they know what they are doing. Johnson is behind Barker for a lot of reasons. One is that he came in here at less than 170 pounds, he needs to get stronger. My understanding is that is happening. Drew has been really good this spring and Johnson is having to catch up in terms of the speed of the game. It's going to take more time. The QB position is not going to be handed to anyone. Gran doesn't work that way. In practice both guys get reps with the ones. But over the past week Drew has geared it up another notch. Today he's clearly the guy because he's clearly the guy. It's not that complicated.
I believe they will have packages for Johnson. He will get reps in games. It won't be like the cluster created by Dawson.
I believe they will have packages for Johnson. He will get reps in games. It won't be like the cluster created by Dawson.
Did you attend our games in November? Let's tell it like it was. Barker was awful. All the beginner mistakes were on display. Almost always locked onto his 1st receiver. Couldn't read the secondary or the blitz. Saw the rush. Couldn't get the ball out. For all of Towles' troubles, he didn't play as poorly as Barker played. Anyone who says otherwise wasn't there, or else doesn't understand. Maybe Towles and Barker were so poorly prepared by Shannon Dawson that neither should be judged by last year's performance. Coach Hinshaw suggested as much when he criticized Barker's footwork at the beginning of spring practice. This would explain why Towles played well after studying with Donny Walker, then deteriorated under Dawson's influence. I was critical of Stoops in 2013 because he didn't hire a position coach for our young quarterbacks right off the bat. Hinshaw is bound to help Barker. The change to a pro style offense and improvement of the offensive line will help. Since Stoops got here, our quarterbacks have taken more sacks and hurries than any other SEC team. So there was no way to develop a consistent passing game with young quarterbacks. Give Barker time to set his feet in the pocket, give him a competent quarterback coach, then maybe good things will happen. But if they don't, then we will see Johnson. If someone can't move the chains, the program cannot succeed.
This is the way I saw it also,when you add the fact that Dawson wouldn't let Towles run(taking away a strong part of his game) yet he was still the best QB of the two then it is little wonder that the offense was a cluster from mid season to the end of the season.
Barker should be(and hopefully is) the best option right now.If he is not then we have a big problem. Maybe Mattingley gets into the mix or Johnson gains weight and gets up to speed and makes a push. Based on what we know and think we know I believe the QB position will be in better hands and handled better than it was last year.
I'm not convinced Tom Brady would have been effective at QB for Kentucky at the end of the season last year. I do think the spring game will be preliminary glance at what we may see as far as changes and personnel possibilities for next years team. Trying to predict what will unfold next year for this team at this time is simply futile.
You guys provide the best discussions. I love this board!! Any time I post a topic I get great feedback and true blue opinions. Love it!!! Go CATS!!!!
New guy isn't really a dual-threat guy. At all actually.
He's a passer first. He's better on his feet than DB, but that doesn't make him a dual threat guy.
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I'm afraid some are expecting to see a Dobbs or Jackson with the addition of Johnson. I've mentioned several times that those guys are runners first who can throw a little but not great. Johnson is a throw first guy who can run a little. If people think they're going to see a true dual threat guy in Johnson they're going to be disappointed.
Barker began the scrimmage time with the ones today but Johnson also got some time with the ones vs the ones as well. That should answer the previous question.
There is a reason why Johnson's other offers were Arkansas St., Eastern Michigan, Lamar. I'm not saying he can't make some plays for us. Coach Hinshaw picked him, and Coach knows what he is doing when it comes to evaluation. But even if everything goes right for him, Johnson is probably a year of development away from being able to lead an SEC pro style offense up and down the field and put significant points up on the board. Johnson is insurance in case Barker plays like he played in November. Hinshaw may be more comfortable with Barker now, but he could not possibly have been very comfortable with Barker when he and Gran arrived in Lexington in January. That's why Johnson is here.
not a knock against Johnson . . . the highlight reel looks good . . . appears he has a good O-line . . . but that is JUCO football . . . if he is the starter I will support him . . . but if he can beat Drew out then we are in big trouble and Drew must be the most overrated QB ever!!! I am glad Johnson is here . . . hope he can help us if and when needed . . . but as I said before, this is Drew's team . . . the chances of Johnson beating him out to begin the season is slim and none . . . and slim just left town!!! GBB
I went to the open practice and saw for my own eyes....Johnson is pretty good man. Good arm. Accurate. Throws a good, catchable ball.
That particular day I felt he held onto the ball too long and thought that was the difference between he and Barker that particular day.
Thought Barker looked really good that day keep in mind.
Johnson, once he adjusts to speed, and learns how to go about things at this level could be a pretty good QB for us.
Johnson is not a answer at QB if the scrimmage was any indication Sat but it was only one scrimmage.
did you see the scrimmage ob or are you going by a third party report,, either way thanks for the info.
Offer sheets are actually very important. Much more important than stars, in fact. But Gran and Hinshaw arrived at Kentucky in January. By that time, most of the impact level quarterback prospects in Kentucky's recruiting territory had already committed somewhere else. Coach Hinshaw identified the quarterbacks who were available, studied film, talked with other coaches, and decided to offer Steve Johnson. At the time, Johnson was the best available quarterback who fit Eddie Gran's offense and Hinshaw's requirements. That doesn't mean that an offer sheet of Lamar, Morgan State, Eastern Michigan, and Arkansas State isn't telling us something about Steve Johnson. Johnson didn't have a single offer from a significant program. Prospects sometimes fly under the radar, but we are not talking about Tom Brady here. That doesn't mean that Johnson can't make some plays for us. In a pinch, he could. But he needs a year of development to get bigger and stronger. Gran is heavily counting on Drew Barker. There shouldn't be any mistake about that.
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Truth is you really don't know who you are talking about because you have not seen him play much and you cannot evaluate his potential. Not meant as a slam. Just the truth for most who post here. But, the fact that you post a great deal as if what I just posted is not true, well that sucks.
I think Blue Decade makes a fair point that Gran and Hinshaw got here late in the recruiting process and basically took what they thought was best of the prospects left. That doesn't mean Johnson can't one become a very good QB but it would be quite lucky for us to have stumbled onto a really good college QB late in the season when all the other power 5 conference teams had missed him. Of course it is pre-season at Kentucky so we probably have three future all-American QB's on the bench that the rest of the world doesn't know about.
The first part is fair. Saying someone is not Tom Brady or Drew Brees or some other under the radar QB who became special is ridiculous. He, we, just don't know. Give the kid time to be coached and to grow into the position before closing that door. Sure, who else offered is often significant, but never is when the player blossoms into something unexpected. So, stop with all the pretend analysis and wait.
JUCO QBs are almost always very lightly recruited especially when they only have 2 to play 2. Most teams have 4-5 scholarship QBs and the upperclassmen have been in the OC's system for years. That makes it very unlikely for a JUCO QB to get major offers especially if they don't have a RS year to adjust and learn the offense. Our situation is rare because not only are we short on QBs we are bringing in a new offensive system so all of the QBs are starting at the same point learning the offense. Our situation is one that you don't see often so it makes it very difficult for a JUCO QB to get the same attention that a DL would get. The offer list doesn't carry near the same weight for a JUCO QBas a HS QB
Put me on the disappointed side. Don't think UK will ever consistently attract the great offensive lines that pocket passers need.
Don't tell me let me guess, we are a year older, hence they will automatically be better.
Same theory as last year at this time, and you see how that worked out.
You make good points too CC but if you are relegated to guessing as we are, then valuing the opinions of people who have to guess for a living and are successful most of the time i.e. the coaches of winning programs does seem to me to carry weight. I think that is all Blue Decade is saying.
If we get Wills,that would be two five stars and about four or five four stars.That would star wise match up with about anyone.