Let's be totally honest. If DR had gone to Georgia and HH had been our starting QB all season, in all likelihood, we would be in the exact same spot we are now record wise. We still would have beaten Colorado and we probably would have scored more points against Rutgers with a running QB. Also remember that HH beat Illinois last season.
This isn't to say that HH is better than DR (he's not), but rather to say that the affect on the team's record by having DR our QB the first 8 games has been neutral.
Now that being said, DR is now a FINO (Freshmen in Name Only) QB. He's a vet, and the last 4 games of the season are now much more winnable now that he has the experience, and from that standpoint, we're way better off than we were at this time last season.
Where DR will really pay dividends is next season when he's further into his career and players like Barney, Lloyd, Coleman, Nelson, and others are more veteran players. On the OL, Gunnar has played as well as you could expect and is frankly now an upgrade over Corcoran (who will probably never play another snap). Evans is a better guard than we've had in quite a few years and while Henry has his moments, he's not a disaster that some other players on the OL have been. By the time next season rolls around, Sledge will be close to Scott's level or Evans still might move to center. We'll find other guards out of Kannk, Pyle, Tamura, and Davidson. We can only hope that we can get Teddy healthy and have Brix ready for next fall.
This isn't to say that HH is better than DR (he's not), but rather to say that the affect on the team's record by having DR our QB the first 8 games has been neutral.
Now that being said, DR is now a FINO (Freshmen in Name Only) QB. He's a vet, and the last 4 games of the season are now much more winnable now that he has the experience, and from that standpoint, we're way better off than we were at this time last season.
Where DR will really pay dividends is next season when he's further into his career and players like Barney, Lloyd, Coleman, Nelson, and others are more veteran players. On the OL, Gunnar has played as well as you could expect and is frankly now an upgrade over Corcoran (who will probably never play another snap). Evans is a better guard than we've had in quite a few years and while Henry has his moments, he's not a disaster that some other players on the OL have been. By the time next season rolls around, Sledge will be close to Scott's level or Evans still might move to center. We'll find other guards out of Kannk, Pyle, Tamura, and Davidson. We can only hope that we can get Teddy healthy and have Brix ready for next fall.
