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Next year we potentially have:

Prater 4star freshman
Ridder Junior 2 year starter
Bryant Sophomore 3star
Jones RSF 3star
Lindauer RSF 3star
Kosco RSF
Sopko SR

A great problem to have. I could see Bryant transferring.

(10-09-2019 07:13 PM)doss2 Wrote:  Next year we potentially have:

Prater 4star freshman
Ridder Junior 2 year starter
Bryant Sophomore 3star
Jones RSF 3star
Lindauer RSF 3star
Kosco RSF
Sopko SR

A great problem to have. I could see Bryant transferring.

Prater is a high 4 Star and is rated the number 104th player in the country by 247. Some serious talent that won’t be ignored for long.

If Ridder continues to play like he has and we continue to win you figure he won’t be going anywhere.

I expect Jones may end up finding a new position. I know there was talk when he committed that they would give him a shot at QB but he was willing to play other positions as well.

Bryant does seem to be the odd man out at this point, but things can change in one play in Football and he could be called in to action and prove himself.

The QB is not just measured on the field, he also is measured in his he manages the locker room. This has been’s Des’ team for the past two years and I don’t see it changing next year, regardless of how talented Prater is as a true freshman. My guess is Prater will redshirt next year.

This staff also isn't going to give anybody the job based on high school ratings. It has to be proven on the field as well. If what is on paper is accurate, I totally agree there could be controversy.

Ridder has done a good job this year managing the offense but he's certainly not lighting the world on fire. None of his stats put him as one of the Top 50 QB's in the nation. If Prater or some other QB on the roster looks good and Fickel makes a change, I won't be heartbroken. I like Ridder but I think there's a lot of room for improvement at that position.

Ridder has probably been a top half of college football starter this year. He's solid, but not a difference maker. UC wins on steady offense and great defense. If Ridder takes off the rest of the year...great. If not, I certainly hope the job is open to competition next offseason.

(10-10-2019 06:08 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  This staff also isn't going to give anybody the job based on high school ratings. It has to be proven on the field as well. If what is on paper is accurate, I totally agree there could be controversy.

I’d really like to see Bryant get a couple meaningful series a game once the schedule lightens up a bit. IMO he has as live of an arm as we have seen here in many moons. He flicked that ball at Marshall effortlessly @65 yards in the air on a dime. If nothing else, see what we have with him in games and get him work as an insurance policy. Ridder is tough as nails but he’s human and seems to take a couple big hits a game.

On the field Ridder sorta reminds me of a more mobile Dustin Grutza. I mean that as a compliment.

I agree with the recent comments. Ridder is solid but not great. I'd like to see what Bryant is capable of before losing him due to lack of playing time. And in the offseason I'd like to look at all three options. A player of Prater's talent should be on the field immediately; if not as a starter then at least getting some packages.

In retrospect, probably one of the reasons he reminds me of Grutza is that this offense seems to progress more and more into what Don Treadwell ran under Dantonio.

Ridder's record @ UC (though he has missed parts of games due to injury) is now 15-3 by my count, which suggests he's doing very well running the offense. But I also agree that Bryant should get some scheduled, extended playing time in the next few games as we've seldom seen a Bearcat starting QB make it through an entire season without incident.

One could say it of any player I suppose, but as we're painfully aware, a QB is always one snap away from a season ending injury.

Taking nothing away from a brilliant victory last week, but it took a long run from Warren ending the 3rd quarter to break the game open for good. And some tense moments when our offense couldn't move the ball in the 4th quarter to preserve the win. Was that play calling that was simply too conservative by our coaches, or a failure to make a critical play at times by the offense?

As we said in wins against UCLA and Miami, the offense was a handful of plays away from breaking Friday's game open for a comfortable lead too. Stay tuned, we'll learn more again this Saturday in a hostile environment.

It's obviously pretty rare to see a QB start as a true freshman and Prater won't be an exception.. most cases are when the player is that good or the team has no other options.

Graham Mertz was Wisconsin's highest rated QB ever, #65 overall recruit in the country, and he's going to redshirt. Spencer Rattler #11 overall recruit, is redshirting at Oklahoma... not surprisingly because the room is stacked.

Bo Nix is starting as a true freshman because he's that good.

I expect Prater to redshirt next year and I doubt he'd have a problem with it. He knows what the QB room looks like at Cincinnati. As previously mentioned, I hope Bryant can get some meaningful snaps in these next 6 games and get a tryout. From the few plays we've seen him he looks damn good, that deep ball against Marshall sticks out as a thing of beauty. I'd also be shocked if he doesn't transfer next year if he doesn't win the starting job. Just the nature of the position.

(10-10-2019 07:33 AM)dubcat14 Wrote:  It's obviously pretty rare to see a QB start as a true freshman and Prater won't be an exception.. most cases are when the player is that good or the team has no other options.

Graham Mertz was Wisconsin's highest rated QB ever, #65 overall recruit in the country, and he's going to redshirt. Spencer Rattler #11 overall recruit, is redshirting at Oklahoma... not surprisingly because the room is stacked.

Bo Nix is starting as a true freshman because he's that good.

I expect Prater to redshirt next year and I doubt he'd have a problem with it. He knows what the QB room looks like at Cincinnati. As previously mentioned, I hope Bryant can get some meaningful snaps in these next 6 games and get a tryout. From the few plays we've seen him he looks damn good, that deep ball against Marshall sticks out as a thing of beauty. I'd also be shocked if he doesn't transfer next year if he doesn't win the starting job. Just the nature of the position.

I agree that it's not uncommon for talented QB's to redshirt. But we're not Wisconsin or OU. And we haven't had anyone come out and lock down the starting job. While he may not be Nix good we're not Auburn and we're not playing in the SEC West. If he's the best player next year then he gets the job.

We're not Wisconsin, but Prater still needs some time in UC's strength and conditioning program to bulk up. He's 6'5 180. By comparison Des, who is lean himself, is 6'4 215. Prater will eventually get to be about 215 himself, which would be ideal, but its going to take him at least a year to get there, if not more.

(10-10-2019 07:12 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(10-10-2019 06:08 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  This staff also isn't going to give anybody the job based on high school ratings. It has to be proven on the field as well. If what is on paper is accurate, I totally agree there could be controversy.

I’d really like to see Bryant get a couple meaningful series a game once the schedule lightens up a bit. IMO he has as live of an arm as we have seen here in many moons. He flicked that ball at Marshall effortlessly @65 yards in the air on a dime. If nothing else, see what we have with him in games and get him work as an insurance policy. Ridder is tough as nails but he’s human and seems to take a couple big hits a game.

On the field Ridder sorta reminds me of a more mobile Dustin Grutza. I mean that as a compliment.

Totally agree. Our group really noticed it in the spring game - he has a really effortless flick of the wrist that allows him to zip the ball around the field. But he needs to start getting meaningful reps in order to adjust to game situations. Given our history with QBs it's likely he may be called into action at some point anyway.

Prater may be highly ranked, but he plays against a lower level of competition. It would be quite a step going from Div IV football to making an impact as a freshman. He's probably a couple of years off.

Yes Ridder was also a freshman, but he came from the highest HS football division in KY, so the jump wasn't quite as steep.

(10-10-2019 08:51 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  Prater may be highly ranked, but he plays against a lower level of competition. It would be quite a step going from Div IV football to making an impact as a freshman. He's probably a couple of years off.

Yes Ridder was also a freshman, but he came from the highest HS football division in KY, so the jump wasn't quite as steep.

Not really apples to apples though. Ridder played higher competition but was a low level recruit. Prater is the second highest rated player in the state of Ohio. I'd bet on Prater's talent being more ready to play early than Ridder's experience at the top level of KY HS football.

Ridder was also a RS freshman when he was called into action.

There's no QB controversy on a team that is 15-3 since Ridder started as a frosh and was named the league ROY. He hasn't done anything to warrant a change and he's also one of the respected leaders on the team. I do agree that it would be good to get Ben Bryant some playing time in appropriate spots to keep him ready because Ridder does not have a lot of meat on his bones and he has taken some shots this year. Maybe during the UGone or Tulsa games Bryant can get some extended minutes.

In terms of numbers, Ridder looks to be trending about the same or slightly better than last year. With the type of offense we run featuring the ground game and plays that move the chains I don't know that we can expect him to have big passing numbers per se. As a comparison to former UC QB's, he only needs about another 1,000 yards passing to move up to 10th all-time. His completion percentage over two years [62.3] is second only to Brendon Kay's 65.4. Not too shabby.

I agree that Ridder is not an elite talent but no one expected that out of him anyway. He's doing what the staff is asking - manage the game and limit negative plays. He still could have more upside but it is something he can continue to grow in and not try to become something he's not too quickly.

On another note, isn't it telling to our overall team talent and depth that we can even entertain the question of a QB controversy when the starter is playing solid? Credit to Fick and the staff for building our team up in solid recruiting.

Though he never would've played there, Ben Bryant had a comittable offer from Georgia to go be in the QB room with Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, and Justin Fields. He has legit talent.

(10-10-2019 10:28 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  Though he never would've played there, Ben Bryant had a comittable offer from Georgia to go be in the QB room with Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, and Justin Fields. He has legit talent.

That's exactly why I want to see what he's got before we lose him. I think many on here agree that Ridder is solid but is never going to be an all conference caliber QB; especially in a conference with Milton coming back next year. To be a highly ranked non P5 I really think you've got to have a difference maker at QB whether that's Bryant or Prater it's unlikely to be Ridder.