Coach34 said:
and the option pass Lee never could throw far enough will probably look good too- he just has to get the mid-range throws looking better....
I have no doubts Russell will end up being the better passer. People just need to be patient, let him mature, get some playing time next year for experience, and develop into the best QB he can be.
We have coaches that are actually developing QB's now...no need to rush someone who isnt ready for SEC speed defenses yet
We have a highly rated QB come in- be it Fant or Todd Jordan, or whoever, and then it's "Hey! Let's burn his RS and see what we've got! I hear this guy is the real deal, so he can play right now. I mean, playing against Madison Central's defense is just a notch below a Nick Saban led Alabama defense, right?" Heck, I remember people clamoring for Tyson Lee- a freaking walk-on- to start.
And then as soon as the guy throws an incompletion, it's "We need to switch him to WR and let the next real deal see what he can do."
It's a vicious cycle.
You are absolutely right about Russell. There is no reason to not let him develop when we have a functional QB in Relf. Unless we have a special Peyton Manning type of QB or we are just in a horrible situation as far as injuries, we should never play a freshman QB (true or RS) unless it is in a back-up role. Dan did the right thing in RS Tyler Russell. Especially when we have so many unproven WR's. We need to let Russell be a back-up for two years and then let him start as a junior. And I don't see us getting a Peyton Manning any time soon, although I would love to have one.
The thing that the Tyler Russell fans need to realize is that what we are doing for him right now is going to benefit him and MSU more in the long run as opposed to throwing him to the wolves and shattering his confidence.