NCAAbbs

So, I was just thinking about the future and I came up with this inquiry; who will lead the owls at the QB position after Chase is gone? Will it be JT Shepherd? Did we already recruit someone to fill the role, or are we hoping we land someone in the next recruiting class?

Shepherd would be first in line, but Ryan Lewis is the guy to keep an eye on. A true freshman this year who is a planned redshirt, he has good mobility and has impressed this fall with his throwing. As for recruiting, Bailiff has said he wants to sign a QB every class, and this is the year to find one in Texas with all the HS talent. No QB has committed yet, but Cy Falls QB Kolby Gray was at a recent practice, and is a former teammate of Shane Turner and Denzel Wells. He's a special talent the Owls have been after for a while now.. if Bailiff was to land his commitment, we'd be in pretty strong shape at QB for the next 5 years.

We have a couple other guys on Campus that were recruited as QBs... iirc... Beasley, Kitchens, Hotard and even THOR... I think a few others as well... I think we're fine for depth at the very least... and coach can concentrate on getting that "special" player (if he isn't already on campus)

It must have been something when King Hill and Frank Ryan were in the same Class of 1958. Both ended up having long NFL careers at QB. Neely alternated them with Hill getting more playing time.

Agreed regarding Shepherd stepping in capably, although I think that there is a strong possibility Thor may get in there occasionally in a role similar to that of Tim Tebow before he was the starter at Florida...

Maybe it's just me, but I think Thor is much more valuable as a H-back (or occasional RB) than as a QB. Chase can run pretty darned well and I don't like the idea of taking a receiver of Thor's skill off the field to get a different running QB in the game.

see thread title...

Fair enough, but I'm sure the situation will come up during this football season and I think the logic will still apply with JT.

It's not just you. The offense took off last year when we stopped using him as a QB and started using him as a HB. I think the decision will be between Shepherd and Lewis.

The problem last year with THOR at QB is that we ran one play. It was designed as a 4th and 1 offense. I don't think it had any bearing on the offense taking off... other than perhaps that we stopped calling plays that resulted in going for it on 4th and 1.

Hambone, Thor did attempt a pass or two early in the season, but iIRC, both fell incomplete.

I liked what I saw of him at QB during the fall.

That being said, it would appear that the heir -apparent is not Shephered, but Ryan Lewis. I do think putting Casey in there adds several dimensions that have to be defended against, including an absolute cannon for an arm (how many QBs do you know who can kneel down at the 40 yard line and throw a 70 yard pass through the uprights?).

Casey has a lot of potential at Qb. . . . but it seems the thinking on South Main is Lewis is the future QB.

There's also a rumor on the scout board that the Owls could land a pretty good QB from last year's class of Texas QB's that committed to an SEC school but has decided to transfer.

I specifically recall complaining that they left Chase in on a number of the passes called for THOR.... Which not only put our less effective passer at QB, but a less effective WR in the pattern. Surprise is only good if it creates an advantage... this move actually created disadvantages. Clearly, moving our QB to WR and a TE to QB only creates an advantage when we run the ball because out TE is 250 and our QB 210. My point was, and still is... that THOR was not used as effectively as Tebow... and ending the experiment had nothing to do with the offense suddenly averaging 40 points when it did average 10.

As to Lewis, THOR or anyone else... Time will tell and coaches will decide. It certainly sounds like we have a number of good options... starting with Shep and Lewis.

I (like all of us) have certainly seen THOR do things that mortals cannot with a football.. so if I were coach, I'd try and find a way to take advantage of that... Whether that makes him the starter or not depends upon how much better it makes the team. It appears that Hotard, Kitchens, Beasley and Thor can all help in other ways... so if its close, you don't move those guys. What we did with THOR last year at QB was not effective...

But.... This is SMU week, and we don't have to think about next year until next year. I hope that we find a way to take advantage of the special players that we have... STARTING FRIDAY!!!!

I know its SMU week - but I have followed the recruiting circuit for Rice the last few years and I for one am excited to see what Ryan Lewis can do. The guy had a pro style offense in high school, he is a great athlete, has good size and vision.

I think the decision to redshirt him will be heavily weighted on whether or not Kolby Gray signs with us. I submit that we do not redshirt Ryan Lewis, let him get in a few games this year, and groom him to be the starter as a sophomore.

Then, you redshirt Kolby Gray as a freshman (provided we do sign him, which is a huge assumption) and let him be groomed for two seasons or battle with Ryan Lewis for the starting job in 2-3 years. If you get super QB prospects, I dont understand signing a QB every year. You need 3 QBs ready and healthy to play every week, so maybe recruiting one every other year would stagger the opportunity to start and be successful...

Nevertheless, I cant wait for Friday....

Thor is so extraordinarily valuable, but there is only one thing he CAN'T do (currently at least), and that is pass with exceptional touch and accuracy....and that of course is the single most important skill you need at QB.

I can't agree with you about the accuracy - the throws I've seen him make have been on target. Touch is something I don't know about since the throws I've seen have all be hitting a dime 50 yards away type tosses where touch and distance just don't mix well.

While I don't think Thor will ever be the full-time QB, I do hope he is still used as a QB in certain situations and in trick swap plays.

Thor has the unusual combination of being both a bulldozer runner and someone who can throw it deep with ease. The best situation to use him is during 3rd-and-short deep in Rice territory. He puts the defense into a quandry: do they fill the box or pull back to cover the deep pass to Randolph or Dillard. When they are forced to make this decision with a surprise switch, the defense will blow assignments.

Report from Owldigest says Alabama star redshirt freshman quarterback, Nick Fanuzzi, just enrolled at Rice today. He will have to lay out one year , then have three years of eligibility remaining.

MK has the thread also at the Chron.com...
Fanuzzi looks to be a good athlete and clearly someone we would have jumped at signing a year ago. And now, he can learn and groom behind Chase and then we have a QB battle next year between Ryan Lewis and Fanuzzi as a RS Sophomore.

Hey, I like that!

I agree BAO. I'm not sure I really like the "suprise switch" very much... unless it puts either THOR or Chase in an advantageous situation... I've thought about it a lot because it seems like such a good play... but i can't think of many situations where a suprise shift would result in an advantage that would be better than simply pulling Chase for a play and replacing him with a blocker or wr. of course, i expect that Mensa can come up with more options than my feeble brain... but I think we have enough good WRs on the team to where I wouldn't expect Chase to be our best option at WR.

If you want to keep the threat to throw AND run... snap the ball to Chase, and have THOR as the RB. Only a flea-flicker of sorts... screen to Chase, throwback to THOR comes to mind. The other way around exposes two weaknesses as i suspect they'd shadow THOR with a LB and Chase with a safety. I'd rather Chase throw to THOR against a linebacker than THOR throw to Chase against a safety.

I think Casey would project best as a pro as a tight end. Maybe a big wide receiver.

I'd like to think that this fits into the stuff MK has been saying about Thor being used in more creative ways in the offense this year...

When Thor is going to function as a pass/run "QB", I don't think Chase should be handing the ball off to him. It just wastes time. Thor should either line up as the sole QB (with Chase on the sideline), or have Chase and Thor switch just before the snap.

In the latter situation, Chase is a good athlete and can easily run and catch the ball. He's probably not as good at catching as a full-time WR, but he would not be the primary receiving target in the play. That would be the deep threat receivers or perhaps Shane Turner. Chase's value is as a decoy. All Chase has to do is drift toward the sideline while still keeping behind the line of scrimmage, and he will draw attention from the defense. The defense will still consider Chase as a receiver with the potential to run or even pass. Indeed, Thor could run the option and Chase would function as the outside wing option. I think this sort of situational play could give a short-yardage defense fits...

Trying to be brief... and thus leaving out details.... but...

Why would it give them fits?? Is Thor/Chase running the option significantly more dangerous than Chase/Cj?? Thor running sideways is a downgrade from Chase running sideways. I know with Chase as the trail, he's a threat to throw, but so is Thor as the trail. Same argument in the passing game... Is Chase throwing to JD, Thor, Dixon etc. more dangerous than Thor throwing to JD, Dixon, Chase etc?

If you're trying to make him a dual threat, I'm with you... put him in the gun... that is what they did last year... hence my preference that they simply pull Chase and put in a WR... ESPECIALLY one that creates a mismatch... I'm thinking a guy like Beasley on the GL who is tall with long arms... or in long field, a guy like Randolph who can fly.... not necessarily those guys... but guys with skills that must be adjusted to.

One of my complaints about the offense early on last year was that it was one-sided... meaning it said... If I do this, then I have dozens of options. That is a pee-wee league way of thinking about offense. The REAL way to think about it is, if I do this, then they will do this... and THAT creates my options.

If you "surprise" someone... then they call timeout... or simply swap players just like we did. We downgrade our QB and H-Back positions... they don't downgrade their defense... Our loss.

As I said... I suspect there are situations to be created... but remember "Slash" for the Steelers?? Teams found that covering a part-time WR with a full-time DB gave them an advantage

In a nutshell, what Hambone said. Thor's biggest advantage is that it is hard for a defense to match-up to his skills as a RECEIVER. The point being, if he is on the perimeter, the defense has to choose if they want to cover him with a corner which gives us an advantage size wise. If they use a safety to cover him, the size differential is somewhat negated but he has the speed to match-up in the passing game with the safety. If they move a LB all the way out, then the size differential is fully negated but now they have a LB covering a receiver in space and the defense has one less big body inside to cover the run. This is a double whammy for the defense as they have multiple mismatches they are trying to cover. If you move Thor to QB, you loose all of these possibilities from Thor. You could make a receiver substitution and possibly gain a slight advantage somewhere, but not as great as forcing the defense to adjust to Thor on the perimeter. If you keep CC in as a receiver, it is true that they have to cover him. However, this doesn't force the defense to adjust player responsibilities as their regular defensive responsibilities will match-up well. Plus, it is likely that CC will need more "space" to get open as he nor Thor are used to seeing the subtle adjustments needed in their "new" alignments. The threat of run or pass is inherent on every play and thus is not a "surprise" just because Thor is in at QB. The other thing to remember is that NOBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!! on offense is ever a decoy or space filler. Each player should expect the ball even though the likelihood of them actually getting the ball is less on some plays given how a defense reacts. A good "trick" play will force a defense to maintain defensive continuity over the whole field during the entire duration of the play. Basically, make them pay for being out of alignment or slacking.

See, I listened!!

Try Kitchens. I know he's out this year with his surgery. But he'll be back as a RS Soph next year. He's 6'4" 215, can move unreal - very low 4.4 (as the coaches saw when he ran in scout team practice), is very smart, and can throw too. If you're going to run a spread offense, he's the guy that can do it. I just hope he's given a chance instead of leaving him in the secondary.

Rocketcoach, you and I are two of the few who would like to see him get a shot. I think he is one of these guys with intangibles - he just wins. I don't know if he would rise to the top of the chart, but I would like to see him get a shot. He reminds me of the Chase Clement of 2006.

Not going to happen, not with the new QB in town.

I don't think coach will rule out anything... especially with a guy with the tools we're talking about...

of course, a guy with Kitchen's dimentions might be looking at himself as THOR 2.0.

I'd rather have a great athlete playing his second best position than sitting on the bench because he's just a HAIR less effective than the other guy... whether that be Kitchens or Beasley or Lewis or Shep.

Last year J.T. Shepherd was 8/9 for 91 yards as a sophomore. Next year he'll be a 5th-year senior. He will have the most experience in terms of both years in the system and playing time. I'm not saying he's a lock or even the favorite, but I am sure he'll be in the running.

Fanuzzi doesn't need any more hype or pressure. For now I consider him a candidate, no more, no less.

I have always been high on Lewis. I haven't seen or heard anything to change my opinion.

I'm fine with giving Kitchens a shot if he wants it. Beasley too. I've heard that Pierre didn't look great last at QB last year, but next year may be different. The coaches have to be mindful of the tradeoff, which is missed work at their other positions, but I think it's worth it to give everybody a brief look at least.