So my two longtime friends and I watched the Northwestern game at a sports bar at one of the NU watch sites. Before the game, several of our MENSA fans talked about how bad Tanner Lee is. Their insights ranged from "I don't like his statistics" and "he sucks" to "why would you have a quarterback who throws interceptions?"
As the season has progressed, people with vision, sanity and sobriety see that Lee has at least improved. The Northwestern game was not his best, but he was very accurate against both Wisconsin and Ohio State and has made better decisions as the season has gone on, though he did have some bad throws vs. Northwestern (which coincide in time with losing his Center in favor of the backup; I'll forego discussion of that here).
My buddies and I wondered a few weeks ago whether NU might be 1-7 or 0-8 without Tanner Lee. While he hasn't been perfect, NU had to win a shootout against Arky State and came close to winning one against Oregon. They couldn't run the ball a lick against Purdue and won because of passing. The defense has been bad to horrific, and when we've needed to count on running the ball and defense to win games (Northern Illinois), it hasn't worked consistently.
Lots of geniuses wanted Lee benched in favor of O'Brien. From the eyeball test, I think Lee looks better, but we really can't know yet. We thought Sam Keller was better than Joe Ganz, and we were very wrong. Many thought Joe Dailey was better than Jammal Lord, and they were dead wrong. Some of us thought Zach Lee would be better than Joe Ganz because of his "arm talent." Boy were we wrong. Most thought Curt Dukes, Harrison Beck Cody Green and Johnny Stafford would turn out to be playmakers, and they the better playmaker ended up beingTaylor Martinez, despite his imperfections. We know nothing, but we sometimes act like we know it all.
Here is the question: what do you expect to see of Patrick O'Brien going forward? Do you think he will light the world on fire? Throw all TDs and no interceptions? Will he get rid of the ball in tough situations or hold it forever, stare down his first option, take sacks, fumble snaps and/or throw interceptions?
Transparency admission: I'll admit that part of this post is aimed at exposing all of the Lee haters who think they know best. I think many keyboard warriors have been unfair and even brutal to a kid who has quietly taken the criticism and improved greatly under difficult circumstances when many would have tanked. That is a form of leadership.
Here is the challenge/invitation: Everyone is invited to play, but if you have called for O'Brien all year because you think Lee sucks (I disagree), please consider your invitation engraved. For those who will play, please write back and go on record now and tell us what you expect from POB now that he is the man. I'd like to hear about metrics only, not intangibles. Passing yards, TDs, turnovers, sacks and wins/losses.
Here is what I predict: I expect POB to look like the second best QB on the roster not named Tristan Gebbia. I admit I could be wrong or even very wrong. I hope he succeeds and leads NU to a shocking upset over PSU (they may need to score 70 to make that happen) and Iowa. If POB is an instant superstar, I'll be overjoyed and will admit I was wrong.
As the season has progressed, people with vision, sanity and sobriety see that Lee has at least improved. The Northwestern game was not his best, but he was very accurate against both Wisconsin and Ohio State and has made better decisions as the season has gone on, though he did have some bad throws vs. Northwestern (which coincide in time with losing his Center in favor of the backup; I'll forego discussion of that here).
My buddies and I wondered a few weeks ago whether NU might be 1-7 or 0-8 without Tanner Lee. While he hasn't been perfect, NU had to win a shootout against Arky State and came close to winning one against Oregon. They couldn't run the ball a lick against Purdue and won because of passing. The defense has been bad to horrific, and when we've needed to count on running the ball and defense to win games (Northern Illinois), it hasn't worked consistently.
Lots of geniuses wanted Lee benched in favor of O'Brien. From the eyeball test, I think Lee looks better, but we really can't know yet. We thought Sam Keller was better than Joe Ganz, and we were very wrong. Many thought Joe Dailey was better than Jammal Lord, and they were dead wrong. Some of us thought Zach Lee would be better than Joe Ganz because of his "arm talent." Boy were we wrong. Most thought Curt Dukes, Harrison Beck Cody Green and Johnny Stafford would turn out to be playmakers, and they the better playmaker ended up beingTaylor Martinez, despite his imperfections. We know nothing, but we sometimes act like we know it all.
Here is the question: what do you expect to see of Patrick O'Brien going forward? Do you think he will light the world on fire? Throw all TDs and no interceptions? Will he get rid of the ball in tough situations or hold it forever, stare down his first option, take sacks, fumble snaps and/or throw interceptions?
Transparency admission: I'll admit that part of this post is aimed at exposing all of the Lee haters who think they know best. I think many keyboard warriors have been unfair and even brutal to a kid who has quietly taken the criticism and improved greatly under difficult circumstances when many would have tanked. That is a form of leadership.
Here is the challenge/invitation: Everyone is invited to play, but if you have called for O'Brien all year because you think Lee sucks (I disagree), please consider your invitation engraved. For those who will play, please write back and go on record now and tell us what you expect from POB now that he is the man. I'd like to hear about metrics only, not intangibles. Passing yards, TDs, turnovers, sacks and wins/losses.
Here is what I predict: I expect POB to look like the second best QB on the roster not named Tristan Gebbia. I admit I could be wrong or even very wrong. I hope he succeeds and leads NU to a shocking upset over PSU (they may need to score 70 to make that happen) and Iowa. If POB is an instant superstar, I'll be overjoyed and will admit I was wrong.
- 200-225 passing yards per game
- 1 TD per game
- 1-3 turnovers per game
- 3-5 sacks taken per game
- No wins (team losses; not because of him but because of the team as a whole (and its opponents))
