Vandeburg vs Rudock

I think many of you are jaded by JVB's senior season, because you obviously forgot that he threw for over 3,000 yards, 25 TD's with only 7 INT's his junior year. I think we all had extremely high expectations for his senior year and he struggled with a new offense, receivers who had trouble catching the ball and an injury riddled offensive line. So no, Rudock is not better than JVB ever was. Rudock is playing well, and I fully expect him to be better than JVB was, but he is not there yet.
 


I think many of you are jaded by JVB's senior season, because you obviously forgot that he threw for over 3,000 yards, 25 TD's with only 7 INT's his junior year. I think we all had extremely high expectations for his senior year and he struggled with a new offense, receivers who had trouble catching the ball and an injury riddled offensive line. So no, Rudock is not better than JVB ever was. Rudock is playing well, and I fully expect him to be better than JVB was, but he is not there yet.

The key number that you didn't post from that 2011 season was 58.7% That was his completion percentage. He could get away with that when he had McNutt and Davis to throw to.

You know what his completion % was in 2012? 57.3. Davis' offense will work, but not with a quarterback completing under 60% of their passes. Really, it doesn't work great with Rudock's 62% but if you factor in drops/throwaways then I think his completion % is more than good enough.
 


The key number that you didn't post from that 2011 season was 58.7% That was his completion percentage. He could get away with that when he had McNutt and Davis to throw to.

You know what his completion % was in 2012? 57.3. Davis' offense will work, but not with a quarterback completing under 60% of their passes. Really, it doesn't work great with Rudock's 62% but if you factor in drops/throwaways then I think his completion % is more than good enough.

I'm getting old, as I remember a time when 58.7% was a decent percentage. Not anymore; 66 QB's (among qualifiers) did better than 60% last year (just 31 QBs as recently as 2004). Vandy was #87 last year and #74 in 2011 in that category. But in passer rating, he was #107 last year and #42 in 2011. It's not unreasonable to suggest losing McNutt was the major difference in James' performance 2012 v. 2011. Longer completions, sticky hands, and forcing the defense to cover 2 deep threats (generating more open targets) will all enhance your rating against a constant completion %.

I think we all understood it was a factor. But it may have been *the* factor.
 








Rudock Is way better as a sophomore than Vandenberg was and he will only get better. Vandenberg was good against weak competition and when he had McNutt. He is TE perfect example of why arm strength does not equate to being a good QB.
 


Kirk went out of his way, unsolicited, back in Chicago saying that JVB was not to blame for last year...then saying things like Greg Davis would be a much better Iowa coordinator this year, JVB didn't have much help, etc. I believe that's why Rudock never played, because a fifth year senior with ability was struggling so much, you don't want to throw a young kid in there and have him fail and have those memories.
 




Kirk went out of his way, unsolicited, back in Chicago saying that JVB was not to blame for last year...then saying things like Greg Davis would be a much better Iowa coordinator this year, JVB didn't have much help, etc. I believe that's why Rudock never played, because a fifth year senior with ability was struggling so much, you don't want to throw a young kid in there and have him fail and have those memories.

I think Kirk knows that putting Vandy's inaccurate arm with Davis' system that requires accuracy above all else was a match made in hell.

I also think that JVB's "abilities" were greatly exaggerated. He was what he was. He was the same quarterback in 2012 that he was against OSU in 2009 both good and bad.
 




The thing I am very excited about is that CJ also looked very good in limited action. I think we potentially have two solid options at QB and it has been a while since I could say that. I am not going to compare QB's across different seasons.
 


I have to admit I didn't think Ruddock would get it done. But man he surprised me. GO HAWKS!
 




I think Kirk knows that putting Vandy's inaccurate arm with Davis' system that requires accuracy above all else was a match made in hell.

I also think that JVB's "abilities" were greatly exaggerated. He was what he was. He was the same quarterback in 2012 that he was against OSU in 2009 both good and bad.

College football aside, I don't think you become the most prolific passer in Iowa High School history by being an inaccurate thrower of the ball. He holds the number 6 all time season completion percentage for high school players nationally and is 10th all time nationally in career completion percentage. It's not like High School receivers catch everything that is thrown their way. For a QB to be great in high school, they have to be extremely accurate, not just lucky. I don't think somebody who was inaccurate could achieve that? He showed many of these skills his junior year at Iowa. His senior season at Iowa was affected by timing of a new offense and poor receivers. Again, I hope Rudock proves to be much better throughout his career. And again, I think most are soured by JVB's senior season and the outcome of the season as a whole as well.
 
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JVB should have spent less time "huntin' bear" during his summer leading up to his senior season, and more time learning to execute GD's offense.
 




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