Could QB competition be just what Iowa needs?

T

thejumper5

Well-Known Member
Just read this article on Texas' QB Shallows Chart (they don't like to call it depth). One of the premises of the article is that Texas has been at it best over the past ten years when they've had a QB who has fought through a competition to earn the starting job. Major Applewhite, Chris Simms, Vince Young and Colt McCoy all had to fight for the job against some tough competition. On the other hand, when Texas allowed a "coronation" of Garrett Gilbert, they bombed because of it and have yet to recover. Obviously Greg Davis was in charge of Texas' offense during that coronation, and now in his first full off-season at Iowa, his offense is in the midst of a hotly contested QB battle.

I wonder if Davis learned from the situation at Texas and if the disaster that was Garrett has had a major impact on Iowa's current QB battle?

Thoughts?

(PS. Thinking about Iowa's four QBs in the past decade, it seems that the two more successful QBs, Tate and Stanzi, have both had to win a QB competition, while the two that struggled more, Christensen and Vandenberg, have both been the "heir apparent.")
 
Help me out Jumper. Who did Tate have to beat out? He was the RS FR backup to Chandler in 2003, even seeing action in a couple games. In 2004 he was our "heir apparent"...wasn't he?

Honest question...my memory apparently isn't that good but I don't remember him having to beat anyone out.
 
hawkfan2679 said:
Help me out Jumper. Who did Tate have to beat out? He was the RS FR backup to Chandler in 2003, even seeing action in a couple games. In 2004 he was our "heir apparent"...wasn't he?

Honest question...my memory apparently isn't that good but I don't remember him having to beat anyone out.
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yeah, i don't think Tate had any competition.
 
I remember McCollum (?) being the backup...or was Manson there yet? A quick Google of 2004 stats shows the only other QB to throw the ball was McCollum so maybe Manson was #3?
 
hawkfan2679 said:
Help me out Jumper. Who did Tate have to beat out? He was the RS FR backup to Chandler in 2003, even seeing action in a couple games. In 2004 he was our "heir apparent"...wasn't he?

Honest question...my memory apparently isn't that good but I don't remember him having to beat anyone out.
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Tate, McCollom, and Manson were all sophomores going into the 2004 season who all saw very limited offensive PT as freshmen. Tate saw limited action as the #2 QB in '03, Manson saw even more limited action in '03, and McCollom saw some action at WR but was still playing QB at that point as well. I think I remember the coaches having the coaches had an open competition for the job, though perhaps Tate closed the competition pretty quickly.

Granted, it was a long time ago, so maybe I'm misremembering.
 
Here's what BHGP recently said about the '04 "competition". Apparently I'm simply misremembering how competitive it was.

I don't remember quite as much certainty around Tate's future in his early days at Iowa, but it seemed clear that he was being groomed as the quarterback of the future when he became the #2 quarterback as a true freshman in 2003 (when he saw some meaningless action in a few blowout wins), supplanting RS freshman Jason Manson on the depth chart almost immediately. Similarly, I don't recall much of a quarterback competition between Tate and Manson before the 2004 season -- Tate was widely tipped to be the starter and he quickly became entrenched at the QB1 spot. In hindsight, his immediate success in 2004 (as well as Manson's less-than-inspiring performances against Iowa State in 2005 and Syracuse in 2006) makes it pretty obvious that there wasn't much of a decision to make.
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g11 said:
Lets be honest, did Vince Young really have competition?
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Yes. He split time with Chance Mock for basically his whole freshman season. Mock was a better passer that year, but Young brought a lot to the table with his legs.
 
I know, side note, but if Vince Young still had the tools of the game, and was dedicated to the game, would he be a QB of consequence right now in the NFL? Jeeze, how many clichés did I have there?
 
HomerChampless said:
I know, side note, but if Vince Young still had the tools of the game, and was dedicated to the game, would he be a QB of consequence right now in the NFL? Jeeze, how many clichés did I have there?
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NFL teams ae certainly coming around to that style of QB. I thought I read about a year ago that he's trying to get back in. I would think if he could get in shape he's still young enough to have a chance.
 
hwk23 said:
NFL teams ae certainly coming around to that style of QB. I thought I read about a year ago that he's trying to get back in. I would think if he could get in shape he's still young enough to have a chance.
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VY's problem is mental toughness, even somewhat out of shape he's a better athlete than most QB's.

OTH, this QB competition is what the team needed.
 
Oh please lets keep the conversation going on Vince Young lol.....In all seriousness I do agree with the OP a good QB competition could/should make for some excitement but then again GD and KF having some competition for their jobs would do the same thing.
 
HomerChampless said:
I know, side note, but if Vince Young still had the tools of the game, and was dedicated to the game, would he be a QB of consequence right now in the NFL? Jeeze, how many clichés did I have there?
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VY had maturity issues, Jeff Fisher never wanted him and lack of arm strength was his down fall. Yes, arm strength can be overrated, but you have to be able to throw those deep outs and come backs, which simply isn't Young's strength. GD simplified the Texas offense in 2005 to better suit Young's skills it helped them win a NC, not sure it made him a better NFL QB.

As for the Iowa competition I expect it to be close with Rudock winning out. He will probably have the month of September to cement the job. Yes, I do believe KF/GD will pull the trigger and go with someone else if Rudock or whoever wins the QB competition struggles for a long period of time.
 
Brad Banks was not in competition, Chandler was not in competition, Tate was not in competition, Stanzi was not in competition all during Iowa's best seasons during KF's tenure at Iowa.
 
CAARHawk said:
Brad Banks was not in competition, Chandler was not in competition, Tate was not in competition, Stanzi was not in competition all during Iowa's best seasons during KF's tenure at Iowa.
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Neither was Vandenberg last yr.... I could be as wrong as all get out here but I think that if Ruddock wins the qb battle and does a good job of being a game manager kinda like what Chandler was asked to do then that would be what's best for Iowa this year and going forward. He can be asked to do more and more as he and the receivers get more comfy with the offense and each other. The potential of a 3 yr starter being able to take this young group and run with it might be better then what Sokols would be in the shorter term or if there was a back and forth of who's starting and hot at the moment situation. Now I say that without knowing much of anything about the Texas true frosh coming in. He has some confidence in himself and wants to see how he stacks up. I thought the TN kid looked pretty green out there. Camp will be really really interesting to see how it shakes out and what the coaching staff chooses to go with.
 
QB competitions work if your worst option is another 4-5 star QB like Texas gets every year.

Not so much when you've got some relative unknowns who've never taken a single snap. All last year we made fun of ISU for (among other things) not being able to pick a starter. But now it's a good thing? Like the old saying goes - if you have 2 QB's, you don't have one.
 
greenrocket said:
QB competitions work if your worst option is another 4-5 star QB like Texas gets every year.
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This is the the key. Iowa has rarely had a legit QB competition. Stanzi/Christensen has really been the only one in the last 10 years.

I'm not sure what the best solution would be. It seems to be part recruiting issue and part developmental. I've always wondered if Iowa shouldn't have a bona fide QB coach. I'd love to see Chuck Long back in that role for us.
 
I don't think we have a lot of talent at the qb spot anyway, so this inbound freshmen giving his "taking ur spot tweet" excites me to no end. I think a qb battle is exactly what we need. Although coach needs to be honest with himself and the results rather than just calling for the upper classmate.
 
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