PSU QB room
- Thread starter blion72
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also didn’t have Morehead to put together an offense in 2018. Clifford had KJ to bail him out in 2019, but not in 2020. See the difference?
With the new OC and hopefully a full spring, I was hoping there would be a full evaluation of the QBs. Unless someone comes via the portal, now that Levis is out, Clifford will probably start by default.
Trace has shown he’s a quality QB for the Ravens, so much so that they’ve let go of RG3.
Statistically, Clifford’s 2020 was better than Trace’s 2018. No doubt Trace benefited from incredible talent in his first two years plus he had Morehead. Clifford did better in Rahne’s second year than Trace did in his first. Trace was always surrounded by NFL caliber RBs, WRs, and TEs. Clifford not so.
Huh?
Hamler, Pat F, Journey Brown, Cain, Dotson? Outside of Sanders, the supporting cast in 2018 was either disappointing or too young to have an impact.
We can make the argument over stats all day, but if you had the choice of QB for next season between McSorley and Clifford, the decision is McSorley and not close at all.
If you haven’t been paying attention, Franklin and MY are looking diligently for an opportunity to find a new starting QB in the portal. Sean Clifford is not going into the shoe and getting a win over the buckeyes, let alone putting us over the “hump.” A win for Clifford against OSU would be for him to not shit his pants in his third go around against Ryan Day.
Your opinion but to me Trace is so far behind Clifford he isn't even in the conversation. If your argument is talent, you are way off base. Sanders is considerably better than Brown, Cain et all and there was almost no difference in level of play for Hamler and Baby Gronk between 18 and 19. The difference was Clifford and the fact that he was clearly much better as a first year starter in comparable situations than Trace was a third speaks volumes. Like you said, it isn't close. Clifford is the obvious choice, unless you reverted to the triple option.
Appreciate the back and forth here.
So for the record - just a yes or no, you think that Sean Clifford is better than Trace McSorley?
Thanks for joining the board, Mrs. Clifford.
I don’t know why we’re bringing Franklin into the argument, we’ve been discussing the QB room.
Franklin has his faults no doubt, but he’s won some big games as a coach. Do you trust Clifford in a big game situation? What game of significance has Clifford won? The Cotton Bowl? He was god-awful in that game and we were lucky to win that game despite him. He threw three picks vs Minny and laid down like a scared dog vs OSU.
You mean against OSU two years ago when will fries was made into a bit*ch and Clifford was injured? Or this year where he threw for nearly 300 yards with 3 TDs and one interception coupled with a literally non existent running game. OSU could have scored 70 against our defense, we got bigger problems against OSU then a qb completing 60 percent of his passes and 3tds.
Clifford plays scared against good competition. Do we want to mention the 3 picks against Minny in ‘19, which turned out to be the more devastating loss compared to the OSU game? To your point, without a running game to help manage, Clifford isn’t capable. He’s a game manager at best - without Bama/OSU/Clem talent around him, we’re a pretty mediocre team.
We’re an elite QB away from having a shot against OSU. If you truly believe Clifford is capable of a BIG championship and CFP berth, then I guess we should just stop the back and forth now and agree to disagree.
Quite the double-speak here. So Clifford isn't good enough to make up for all our deficient players and coaches. Is Trevor Lawrence an elite QB? Was he able to beat OSU all by himself? Clifford is good enough to win big games assuming our defense is and our running game is. No, he can't beat OSU on his own, I'm not sure mahomes could with this roster.
That’s over the top. Thinking people are crazy because they have a different opinion then you might be crazy.
I’m learning that my opinion on Clifford’s capability is definitely not the majority, so I’ll pause on all the arguments I’ve started in this thread. But I’ll leave everyone with the following question and I’d love to read bottom line answers. (With no more back and forth from me, I promise)
Do you think Sean Clifford as our QB is capable of a win over OSU, a BIG Championship, and a CFP berth? Seemingly getting us over “the hump” which has been a major topic since Franklin got into year 3 here.
Do you think Sean Clifford as our QB is capable of a win over OSU, a BIG Championship, and a CFP berth? Seemingly getting us over “the hump” which has been a major topic since Franklin got into year 3 here.
Measured and fair. I dont think he is a top 5 or top 10 QB in college football. I don't think he is capable of scoring 40 points in the horseshoe without a good run game and dominant offensive line. Our defense needs to be way way better. I think my only point is that its easy to focus all of our attention on the QB, but so much more goes into it than that. He has had 3 coordinators in 3 years. His WR' until this year couldn't catch a cold, his backs have been hurt, and our defense doesn't stop a nosebleed in a big spot....like ever. Everyone needs to GREATLY improve and I hope this OC can get Clifford's mechanics right, his confidence, i hope they stop trying to make him cam newton, he is athletic, but i dont want to see him bail everytime his first read isn't there.
I do. But with that, the head coach and offensive coordinator need to be on the same page with what will make him and the team the most successful. I don't think that was the case last year and maybe not even the year before. He'll need a running game that should be significantly better with a cain and hopefully an offensive line that is at least as good if not better than last year. Lastly the defense needs to be able to keep games manageable not ones where we are down 14 nothing after the other team had the ball twice.
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I am not comparing Clifford to Burrow, I am comparing the situation. Why was Burrow always average until he was paired with Brady and all of a sudden the light bulb went off and he became elite) in addition to having great receivers)? So what if our new OC/QB Coach can have even say 70-75% that impact on Clifford? Sometimes the right combo can make magic. Let us hope that MY can create some magic and help that light bulb go off.
Let us all know when you finally watch your first football game or when you stop smoking whatever it is you’re smoking.
The answer is no, not with the team as it is currently configured. To use a recent Big Ten comparison, Clifford is Brian Lewerke. Considerably better than Trace, capable of being 1st team all Big Ten in an off year (best QB in the league in 2017), capable of being a playoff QB but not with our current staff.
I would say the same for you as you have proven you can't argue Xs and Os. Sorry, my opinion.
Well you cannot really say that because none of us know how MY and Clifford will do together.
Brian Lewerke as the best quarterback in the conference in 2017 - and Lewerke being better than Trace - might be your most unhinged take yet. Impressive work!
Yet I’m smart enough to know Clifford is not light years ahead of McSorley, so there’s that.
What was Trace's record against Lewerke? 0 and 2 you say? Lewerke was a key in both Spartan victories while Trace was the reason we lost both you say?
You can’t possibly believe this kind of BS. This is just so dumb I actually feel bad for you.
So Bo Pelini is a better coach than Bill O’Brien, then? Because O’Brien’s record against Pelini was 0-2.
I had high hopes for Cliff, he's not a difference maker sadly.. I hope Roberson can play and holding out hope someone is out there in the portal..
While Clifford’s play was severely lacking last year, and he very well may have been the team’s most disappointing player, you are under valuing his success in ‘19 in relation to that of McSorley.
Clifford has won as many road games vs. final ranked teams in 2 years as McSorley did in 3.
Clifford won more games against final ranked teams in ‘19 than McSorley did in any of his year’s starting.
Clifford won as many bowl games as McSorley.
Clifford had a losing season.
Clifford didn’t lose to Pitt.
This season will cement Clifford’s place in history. At this point in time, he’s had the worst season of their combined 5, while also having arguably the most successful season.
McSorley won a Big 10 championship, McSorley beat Ohio State.
The 'bowl game' victories are a shared team effort.
Not losing to Pitt cannot be compared to beating Ohio St., Nebraska, etc.
As for the other points; I still do not feel any better having read them.
But, respect your opinion I must and do.
Of course Clifford didn’t lose to Pitt because they didn’t play them this year, otherwise he would have.
Clifford got us to 11 wins in 2019 no reason to think he can't do the same thing with better WR's and an improved offense.
Maybe lets wait and see what the "2021"roster is going to be before we start throwing around insults.
Yes he did. I’m not making the case Clifford is in front of McSorley at this point in time, just they are in the same ballpark. Clifford has had some rarely mentioned advantages while McSorley’s are often pointed out. McSorley is not in the Collins/Blackledge group.
As for 2016, I think 2019 was a better season.
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