I don’t envy Charlie Weis given his situation this season.  He started last Spring with 4 quarterbacks, 1 with experience and 3 highly touted recruits.  1 of them absurdly highly touted as well.  He narrowed it to 3, keeping a 3rd in there because of Jimmy’s elbow injury.  Then after the GT debacle and Jones’ extremely random departure, he was down to 2 and that’s where we stand.  And today, the ‘right’ QB has not yet emerged.  And much like the rest of this year, it’s a perfect storm of coincidences that makes the decision difficult, and neither option ideal.

Essentially, it’s “Pick Your Poison” time.

Clearly, I cannot pick the QB in front of you!

What do I mean by that? That neither QB is good?  Far from it.  Neither QB is complete, and that’s the challenge that Charlie faces right now.  Combined, Evan and Jimmy would make the perfect QB:  He’d make good decisions, but would have the confidence to make tight throws.  He’d be accurate, but have the experience to read plays well and manage the offense.  He’d know the play book tight, and be able to improvise and run when under pressure. 

The problem we have at QB right now is that you have a dichotomy with the two players at the position – each has his strengths, and his weaknesses.  And those weaknesses are what make it so difficult to determine which QB gives us the best chance to win.

First, just to address it, Jimmy is clearly the future.  Next year or the year after, Jimmy is the man for the long-haul.  He’s a freshman, a pretty raw freshman despite all of his early training, and he has a lot to learn. But you can see the poise, the ability to make the throws and the latent leadership in him.  But, today, Jimmy may not yet be ready. In a few short years, he’ll be amazing.  Today, he’s serviceable.

So pick your poison?  What do you get with each QB?

Jimmy Clausen – Starter for most of the season, highest rated QB recruit since Jesus played for the Jerusalem Cruisers, and a kid with a great throw.  I mean, no matter what you think of Jimmy, you have to admit that his toss is pretty.  It’s a hard, tight spiral and it gets to the right place fast.  He’s the more talented natural passer, and his upside is incredible.  No doubt, this technique and accuracy is what Charlie likes about Jimmy, and why he’s been the starter.  This is also a very Charlie-like type of analysis to do, but so be it.  Jimmy has done a decent job of managing the game lately, and the major mistakes (especially sacks without getting rid of the ball) have declined immensely as the season has progressed.   But, Jimmy is a conservative player today.  He doesn’t necessarily have the willingness or the ability to make the big downfield play yet. It may be that his confidence isn’t quite where it needs to be at this point. And given his first few games and the holes in our line, that’s completely understandable. Even with all that poise and comfort out there, if you don’t have that deep-down confidence in the huddle, then the rest of your offense is going to be a bit tentative as well.   It may also be that he’s still learning his reads and his progression.  Jimmy often checks down to his safety valve, which is the smart/safe play and that’s given him time to adjust and to learn his job.   But, it also makes for longer, slower drives.  Slower progress downfield and more plays, by the law of probability, are more likely to yield turnovers and mistakes for negative yards.  Finally, and I don’t know if this is the case or not because we dont always know what plays are called for each, but it SEEMS to me (and MQ) that Charlie is more conservative with Jimmy in there.  Maybe it’s to keep him safe/healthy, maybe it’s because he doesn’t have the full playbook down, or maybe I’m crazy.  But it appears that we’re more conservative with play calls with Jimmy in there.  All of that combined means that Jimmy is a good, solid QB that is more and more likely to not make a lot of big mistakes.  He’ll manage the game well, and protect the ball, but we’re not putting up a ton of points or wracking up a ton of yardage with him in there. 

Evan Sharpley – Potentially the polar opposite of Jimmy in some ways.  Evan has had a few years under Charlie and is more comfortable with the plays, the players and the offense as a whole.  He’s got an asset in some pretty solid legs, which we saw in abundance against BC, and can result in some positive yardage on broken/improvised plays.  He’s got decent mechanics, but is not as naturally gifted as Jimmy.  And his accuracy isn’t even close - we all saw several passes on Saturday that should have been easy completions where Evan threw way over/under/beside the wide open receiver.  Evan also has a ton of confidence in throwing the ball downfield, and is comfortable progressing through his reads.  The problem is that he’s likely too confident.  He’s a slinger, and he’ll sling that pigskin downfield 30 yards into triple coverage to try to make a play.  Essentially, he’s a high beta Small Cap stock – high risk, with the potential for high reward.  And also for disaster. 

He put together a great first drive on Saturday, and made some plays in the second half.  He was also THIS close to getting picked off 3 times that I counted – by a margin of an inch or two, or just because of horrible BC defender hands.  Much like MQ pointed out below, Evan is likely to give the team a spark because of his confidence and his aggressive nature.  But that spark could quickly be destroyed by a pick six in Irish territory.

So what does CW do? Stick with the better pure passer that is the future of the program? Protect his psyche and the ball by playing the more conservative choice that’s had trouble putting points on the board?  Or do you go with the more experienced gun-slinger, the kid who’s going to whip the ball all over the field and scramble his brains out to try to make a play?  That probably will make big plays, but will also toss 3 picks? 

My guess is the latter, because Charlie is ready to start taking some risks.  Jimmy is a smart kid and knows this isn’t punishment – that he just needs more time to learn and adapt.  As ready as he was coming out of high school, clearly there are adjustments to be made.  And those are much more difficult to make when the running game isn’t progressing and your o-line is inconsistent at best. 

I think we have 2 good options at QB, but neither is perfect.  One man’s strengthness is the other’s weakness.  Which would you play?

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