Would a healthy CJ be much better?

hawkinn3

Well-Known Member
Looking at the stats between CJ and JR last year, the numbers are incredibly similar. CJ slightly better on rating and yards per pass.

Do you think the injury explains this? Or, is he pretty similar to Jake but with better wheels.

I was excited to see him sling it more this year but the long downfield throws never really happened.

I thought he's easily pass 3k yards and 20 TDs.
 
First, CJ has just scratched the surface of his potential. The big difference though is YPA CJ 7.8 vs JR 7.1. The vertical threat helps keep the defense honest. Also, it would have been nice for CJ to have an Outland trophy winner at LT, another NFL player at RT and an additional vertical threat like Powell (and KMM).
 
The receivers have been open deep many times this year CJ just can't put the deep throws on the money.
 
First, CJ has just scratched the surface of his potential. The big difference though is YPA CJ 7.8 vs JR 7.1. The vertical threat helps keep the defense honest. Also, it would have been nice for CJ to have an Outland trophy winner at LT, another NFL player at RT and an additional vertical threat like Powell (and KMM).

Last year JR had a 7.1 to Cj's 7.0 though on the same team despite fans obsession with how big an arm CJ had, and this year it's CJ 7.8 to JR 7.7 so far, so again pretty identical. CJ finished third for Big ten qbs in rushing, JR will finish fourth, again pretty similar. Actually distance on throws hasn't changed at all, for the most part, we've just popped a few more RB screens this year than last and that increases the average. Michigan similarly has squeezed out a few more yards here and there on a screen or two than last year to help Rudock. Funny part is the slight advantage CJ has on JR in pass efficiency actually comes from the Vandenberg fumble recovery for a TD way back against Iowa State! That technically counted as a TD pass for CJ when we otherwise may have ran it in after the recovery. Kirk knew what he had all along, just too bad the defense didn't play better last year when we had the chance to put away Wisconsin and Nebraska. Folks forget just how close we were to playing in the CCG last season, an eyelash of pass deflection against Wisconsin on the Gordon catch, or not getting a stupid pass interference against Nebraska on their final drive after we'd overcome their huge comeback and retaken the lead. This year Wisconsin tripped over themselves without Gordon, no Abdullah, no Tevin Coleman, no DeAndre Cobb, injuries to James Connor against Pitt, Ferguson from Illinois, etc instead and the breaks went our way when we needed them. Need to remember that next year if things flip back the other way too. Kind of like 2008 when we didn't catch the breaks, and 2009 when we did, then 2010 again we didn't. The teams were almost the same but "that's football".

I will have to question when KMM was ever a vertical threat though, guy almost averaged less than ten yards per catch. Vandenberg is much more explosive and well rounded than KMM ever was. Just based on last year you could see why he beat out Willies even before he quit, he was just better at everything (hands, routes, YAC, blocking, and deep balls). So glad he's been able to be so successful this season and silence a lot of his critics. He isn't all Big-10 but he's as good as Ed Hinkel was and that's not too bad!
 
I liked JR. But stats aside, if you can't tell how much more CJ does for this offense in so many ways, can't help ya.

We are not 12-0 without him. Probably more like 8-4, 9-3.

Need everyone on point next Saturday.

Go Hawks.
 
Cj turned the game in Ames totally around several drives from his own endzone, major reason we beat pitt, and most of these games, you all realize hawks set scoring records this year.

How many 90 plus and 80 plus yard drives wonder Jake has this year with hawks. Jakes is good cj is better and a gamer
 
Cj turned the game in Ames totally around several drives from his own endzone, major reason we beat pitt, and most of these games, you all realize hawks set scoring records this year.

How many 90 plus and 80 plus yard drives wonder Jake has this year with hawks. Jakes is good cj is better and a gamer

Don't try to explain it,if they can't see what's happened this year with CJ they never will.
 
One huge difference between the two is that C J has such a better ability to read the opposing defensive alignment, which would never show up on any stat sheets.
Many times C J would change a play at the line and the play he puts us in would be a big gainer, where it seemed that Jake always called the same off tackle run (which never seemed to work)when he would change the play. Every opposing team had to have known we were going to use that same run play every time he called an audible. C J just seems to be an amazing game manger whereas Jake did seem to keep the turnovers down but he just didn't seem to make out offense better with his game management.
 
One huge difference between the two is that C J has such a better ability to read the opposing defensive alignment, which would never show up on any stat sheets.
Many times C J would change a play at the line and the play he puts us in would be a big gainer, where it seemed that Jake always called the same off tackle run (which never seemed to work)when he would change the play. Every opposing team had to have known we were going to use that same run play every time he called an audible. C J just seems to be an amazing game manger whereas Jake did seem to keep the turnovers down but he just didn't seem to make out offense better with his game management.

Im no football expert but I think this is dead on. I think CJ has a good mind for football. Some of that obtained from relatives.
 
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