Clausen - Personal Beef with Smitty Affecting His Play?/Overall Improvement?

[Udogg]

So.. Clausens bad play is because of Smitty. Yeah I can see how Smitty being open down the field would mess up his peripheral on the check down.

[Urrymonster]

Ok so let me get this right...

17/33 for 196 yards and 1 interception is better than 13/19 for 141 yards and 1 touchdown?

Yes, I watched the game. Skelton's completions were wide open every time, not once did he complete a tough pass. Well done to him for standing in the pocket 'all tough like', all it achieved was pressure all day long from our front 4 with another 3 sacks to boot. The interception was an awful awful throw and yet somehow, Matt Skelton comes out of this game with more credit than Clausen?

Look back at the game. Tell me how many times Jimmy was allowed to throw on 1st down after we were up by over a score. Tell me how many times we tried to run the ball on all three downs. Jimmy did as much as he could with what plays were called. Our coaching staff had no intention of putting this game out of reach and are 'playing scared' more than Jimmy is to throw downfield. Maybe, just maybe if they showed even the slightest bit of confidence in him he might believe in himself more, maybe.

Two myths from yesterdays game

1. The King TD Pass - The reason it was not perfectly thrown was because Jimmy looked the entire defence off until King's route had time to develop. The reason he had to get it off quick was because his protection broke down on the blind side. Was it a perfect pass? No, but he had only just turned to King, giving him a walk in TD, when the pressure from the back side was baring down on him. The pass wasn't perfect, but the execution of the play was.

2. The Smitty pass 'that never was'. The only reason people are pointing this out is because the TV cameras are. Fact is Jimmy was flushed out the pocket by really good pressure he did well to avoid before Smith gained any separation on Rogers-Cromartie (I think it was him). When Jimmy was on the run he could have 'lobbed it up' like you wanted, however you completely neglect the safety over the top. So you want our QB, to throw across his body on the run to a WR who has 2-3 yards on CB, with a safety lurking over the top. Any lob pass would have either been picked off by the DB, or gotten Smith killed. It would have been insane to throw that pass.

75% of the huddle was crying out for a game manager who was careful with the ball when our running game was clicking the last two years. Well here you go, Jimmy is about as careful with the ball as humanly possible. It would appear most on here do not actually know what they want half the time, so it's difficult to take a lot of the arguments with any credibility.

[vorbis]

honestly I can't think of a reason to dismiss the possibility that Clausen could one day be a pro-bowl caliber QB. at least not yet. i had several friends who were charger fans in the early '00's. you should have heard how tired they got of waiting for Drew Brees to get it together. there's definitely a chance the light comes on for Clausen and he can make things happen.

one thing i'll say is that i'm not as concerned about his arm strength as i was at the beginning of the season. i think with an offseason of training after this season and a training camp with the new regime he could be just fine in that regard. he'll never be a cutler-type slinger but i think if the other aspects of his game are up to speed he can get it done with his arm.

mostly he just needs to feel comfortable in the offensive system and have a rhythm in the passing game. a vet QB could teach him a lot of little tricks and habits that could add up to make a big difference. the next couple of seasons will show if he can find enough clarity to hang around.

[chef17]

Clausen played better than I expected so I will give him that. He made some throws, he missed some throws. Now I'm not sure which Smith pass everyone is talking about, but one play Smith beat the CB off the line and had 5-10 yards before he got to the safety. Yes, Clausen was flushed out the pocket but Smith was open at the very beginning of the play. These are the type of plays I hope Clausen can learn to recognize and throw between the CB and safety.

[SuperLego5]

Clausens making a lot of rookie mistakes, some that are very worrying (spotting blitzes) but I think the biggest problem is the coaching. The game plan sucks in the first quarter and due to Fox's anti-change campaign it still sucks in the 4th quarter. When BSP played we used a very limited playbook with short, high percentage passes. Thats what we should have done with Clausen, he may have come from a similar system at ND but treat him like a true rookie QB. Spoon feed him the playbook and gradually open it up to him like they are doing for Bradford in St Louis.

[CatMan72]

I don't think Clausen would sabotage his own career by refusing to throw to Smitty, I think the speed of the game is too much for this kid right now and he's not seeing the field.

[cookinbrak]

On the "X-Clown" play, when Smith made his cut to clear the DB, Clausen had already been chased out of the pocket- they showed it simultaneously.

If anybody wants to ask a question about our passing game, ask Steve why he went and sat on the bench and pouted on 3rd down.

[Urrymonster]

On the "X-Clown" play, when Smith made his cut to clear the DB, Clausen had already been chased out of the pocket- they showed it simultaneously.

If anybody wants to ask a question about our passing game, ask Steve why he went and sat on the bench and pouted on 3rd down.

Bingo

The only way he could have throw it straight away was by softly lobbing it to a spot around 15 yards ahead of Smith... which would then have been picked off by Rhodes...

Clausen played solid yesterday. His 'limitations' were from the gameplan and plays being called. Jimmy has struggled the two prior games, not yesterday. Give the kid some credit for once in a while, or are you more interested in him failing so we have a shot at drafting another kid?

[Davidson Deac II]

Regarding the comparisons to Bradford, Bradford was not good yesterday. Completed less than half of his passes, and threw a couple of interceptions. In fact, if you look at his last three games, 5 interceptions with 0 TD's and a couple of fumbles. Teams are starting to blitz him a lot and get a lot of pressure on him, the same as Clausen has been getting all year, and he is struggling.

[Urrymonster]

Regarding the comparisons to Bradford, Bradford was not good yesterday. Completed less than half of his passes, and threw a couple of interceptions. In fact, if you look at his last three games, 5 interceptions with 0 TD's and a couple of fumbles. Teams are starting to blitz him a lot and get a lot of pressure on him, the same as Clausen has been getting all year, and he is struggling.

I was actually going to post a breakdown of Bradford recently. It's pretty much as you said, he barely had any pressure on him all season (approximately 25% of drop backs) and completed short passes all day long. Now the pressure is going up exponentially and the sacks and incompletions are rising meaning the short passes no longer get first downs. I know Gettis & LaFell have showed promise, however the SL receivers are just as good and producing just as much. The difference really is the pressure.

Clausen has been pressured approximately 50% of his drop backs...

One other thing. People get annoyed with Clausen in the pocket, however Bradford has been credited with causing 7 sacks to Jimmy's 3.

[Davis83]

That pass to King was sooooooooo lucky - it was way behind King. he had to spin back around to get it.

Clausen just does not seem to have the accuracy and velocity that he needs.

The ball looks like its too big for his grip - he kinda like a little kid when he's on the field. he might make it one day - but I think he;ll end up being an "also played" in the end.

[Ricky Spanish]

i'm sorry but the O-line was fantastic yesterday. They only gave up 2 sacks and gave clausen all the time in the world to pass. on two of his scrambles for yardage he bailed on the pocket waaaaaaaay too early when all he had to do was step up and look downfield.

skelton looked much better in that regard.

[CRA]

i'm sorry but the O-line was fantastic yesterday. They only gave up 2 sacks and gave clausen all the time in the world to pass. on two of his scrambles for yardage he bailed on the pocket waaaaaaaay too early when all he had to do was step up and look downfield.

skelton looked much better in that regard.

Skeleton has much better basics to build off of.

[raleigh-panther]

....but, he was picked by Marty, and our scouts, right? He has to be good?

I was excited by the draft of Jimmy. Maybe, after being beat to a pulp this year, some of it his fault, some it the line's fault, some of it the receivers fault, he's a little jumpy back there thus his pocket awareness is not the best.

I'm sure if Luck, who is really a red shirt sophomore comes out, the Panthers will pick him, and if not there is Mallet and Cam Newton, though, I just have this feeling that Newton is the 2nd coming of Vince Young, don't know why.

Very interesting game between VA Tech and Stanford coming up. VA Tech can score. Let's see if Stanford can.