(04-25-2014 09:48 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(04-25-2014 09:33 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy, but you make me look like the world's biggest pessimist by comparison.
I'm hopeful Bridge can do well. His FCS numbers as a true freshman (and FCS is greater than JUCO, IMO) surrounded by lesser talent make me think that as a redshirt senior who has taken meaningful snaps in FBS games and shown great physical talent he will have a good year. Did I mention that Charles Johnson of the NFL Network said he was the most impressive QB at the Manning Passing Academy last year? I'm optimistic but I know that things sometimes don't work out like we expect. Luckily USA has a solid backup returning in Trey Fetner, an impressive redshirt sophomore in Grant Powell, and Matt Foyd will be transferring in from USF this summer with two years of eligibility. USA will have a solid running game, a really good offensive line and probably the best receiving corp in the conference. They are in their third year in their spread offense that really started getting results last year and that should make life better for whoever takes the snaps.

I'm not slamming Troy's QB candidates, but I have a hard time seeing why Troy's coaches, if they had two "extremely talented" QB's on campus felt the need to sign not one, but two JC QBs. And those QBs were apparently not threatened by each other or the guys they saw on the roster either.
Pruitt put up great numbers at East Mississippi, but EMCC might have had the best defense in the history of JC last year (Jag DE signee Jimmie Gipson III was part of that defense) and Pruitt was allowed to rack up stats against demoralized teams in 60 and 70 point wins, so his numbers don't wow me too much. I think the EMCC coaching staff ran up a lot of scores and they are really unpopular with their counterparts in the Mississippi JC ranks right now.
Bravard put up solid numbers but there has to be a reason why his only other offer was from Southern Illinois, and Pruitt's flashy stats only resulted in offers from Troy, ULM and UAB. I know they are both not very tall, but that can't be the only reason.

Again, I am not saying Troy won't find a solid QB from it's pool of candidates, only that assuming their untested prospects are better than USA's more experienced options just doesn't compute with me.
It's a wash at best, in my opinion.

A very well thought out post. I agree about USA having the best WR corps in the SBC. Hard not to with three Alabama receivers on the roster. Troy is close behind, as they've been in the Top 17 in passing every year for 8 years. The rest of the league has some catching up to do with their air attacks.

Troy does have a QB with FBS game experience in Dallas Tidwell. He was Corey Robinson's mop up guy. As for adding two JUCO QBs, its standard practice to have 4 or 5 QBs on the roster. Before we added the two JUCOs we had two QBs and maybe a walk on who wasn't going to play anyway. The addition was a numbers decision, not necessarily a talent decision. But if you're going to add two QBs might as well grab two with really good credentials.

I'll say one more thing. Just because they are JUCOs doesn't mean they should be underplayed (or overplayed). Cam Newton and Nick Marshall were both JUCOs, neither of which were 1st Team All-Americans in the JUCO ranks. (Not saying our guys are better than them). There have been several JUCOs to play in FBS football over recent year that that had great careers in FBS football.

You've made some good points. I wish you all the best in all but one!

I believe JUCOs can do well. I hope they can, USA signed seven on defense this year to help make up for their losses.
Best of luck to you this year as well, except for....you know.