ACC Shit: Part 2, Quarterbacks Wanted.

If there is one overriding theme with the ACC this season it is this. Everyone, and I do mean everyone has some sort of issue at quarterback. That does not mean that every school needs to replace their QB from last season, though that might be a good idea for some, but everyone has an issue with this possition going into fall camp. Ranging from lack of consistent play and inexperience at the possition to out and out quarterback controversies, or as Jimbo Fisher likes to call it quarterback competition. Either way, there are just three schools with cut and dry, QB possitions. Meaning there are no overriding worries that could drive them to the bench in favor of another guy on the roster. Boston College has Matt Ryan, Wake Forrest has Riely Skinner, and this last one is a bit of a stretch, but I am nursing an, oh so slight, man crush on Jamelle Sewell right now. Sewell does have something to prove, namely increasing his effiency,  but he is secure as a starter. The most puzzeling thing is that some of the biggest questions are about guys who were univeraslly renowned coming into college. These are VHT guys who have not lived up to the billing.

Sean Glennon, Virginia Tech, PS#21

Kyle Wright, Miami, PS#1

Kirby Freeman, Miami, PS#14

Drew Weatherford, Florida State, PS#15

Xavier Lee, Florida State, PS#2

Josh Portis, Maryland (by way of Florida), PS#14

Everywhere else, well that is where it gets complcated. The Quarterback du jur right now is Taylor Bennet, who everyone is fawning over based largely on the strength of his bowl game against West Virgina. But I do not place a lot of stock in Bennet buring the WVU secondary for a couple of reasons. First the Mountaineer secondary last season was bad, really really bad. He also had the bennifit of the most physically gifted wide receiver the NCAA has seen since Randy Moss, a guy by the name of Calvin Johnson. I am pretty sure that I could put up 300 plus yards on West Virginia if I had CJ on my team. But that is not the overrideing reason for my skeptisism. If Bennett is really as good as the Bowl Game told us he was, then why oh why couldn’t he unseat Reggie Ball, a guy who is universaly regaurded as one of the worst long term starters in recent College Football history? Chan Gailey is not a stupid man, there must be a reason why Ball started.

Clemson has not been a hotbed of talk this season when it comes to the Quarterback spot. Mainly becuase the talk has focused on replacing 3 of last seasons offensive line starters. That and James Davis and CJ Spiller. Cullen Harper was a guy many fans in Clemson were clammering for last season when Will Procter was struggling. This year they will scream for Willy Korn. Korn is a nice prospect. I had the chance to check him out last season at the Herbstreit Challange last season, but he did not strike me as a Divsion 1 ready QB. Before long I will imagein that that Korn will take over the starting role to build up his experience for what should be a nice 2008 season for Clemson. Either way, both guys will be asked to do the same thing. Make timely plays, avoid mistakes and hand the ball off to Spiller and Davis.

But the biggest questions about quarterbacks resonate out from Florida, more specificly Tallahassee and Coral Gables. Most of the talk has been about Florida State, largely due to the big splashy hires by Bobby Bowden. Namely Jimbo Fisher. Fisher has not been all that happy about what his two QB’s bring to the table. Some pundits has looked at Xavier Lee as being the favorite because he can be kind of like Jamarcus Russell, except without, you know, the ability to throw the ball 80 yards, or have hands the size of my face or weighing 260 pounds. Aside from all that I can really see the comparison. I think that Lee will win the job becuase, simply put, you can do more things with your personel with Lee on the field than you can with Weatherford. Honestly, I don’t think that it matters than much in the grand scheme of things who starts. Both are prone to big mistakes at the wrong time, both are looking to be massive busts at this point. The main reason I don’t think it matters is that Jimbo Fisher is a good coach who really, truely understands the game unlike Jeff Bowden who had no creativity and a limited understanding of the game at this level. College Football at this level is a game for great minds, if you like axis and allies you love Football, or you should. Fisher plays chess, Bowden played checkers. I know this because Jeff Bowdens all time favorite play was the “Brett Farve.” In that play the QB, be it Lee or Weatherford, would get the snap, take a seven step drop and throw it as hard as they could in the direction of Gregg Carr. That was as creative as Bowden ever got. Thats why I think the starter is about as close to irrelevent as you can get. Whoever plays will improve but that will have more to do with the commitment to the running game than any kind of drastic improvement in either QB. For FSU to compete for a national title the QB has to be more than competent, for them to win the ACC competent will sufice.

The last discussion of this day will pretain to Miami and the dreadfull possition that they find themselves in at the QB spot. Kyle Wright has been an unrequited bust, his carrer to date really can not be argued any other way. It is too early to lable Kirby Freeman as anything really, his game experience is limited, but he is sure to get a run at the job, mainly because he would be around for a couple of seasons while Wright is done after this season. Wright should be the starter IMO, his lack of production is not entirely his fault. But someone has to step up for this team to be a threat to anyone on a national scale. It was not that long ago that Miami thrashed Virginia Tech and was on the verge of a national title discussion. But those dreams were wrecked by the Ramblin Wreck. But since that point Miami has been something of a black hole for offenseive firepower. Miami has talent everywhere and plenty of depth but when the gems of recruitng classes past come here they disapear into crushing gravitational force that was a Larry Coker offense, never to emerge as anything but defeated. Case in point Greg Olsen, arguably the most talented Tight End ever to play at Miami. Take in the width and breadth of that statement. Consider who came before him. Olsens numbers? Not so great. The question posed is will Miami remain a black hole for offensive talent or will the gravitational force continue to crush the Hurricane offense into comeplete and total mediocrity? If the eary returns on Javarris James are any indication the awnser might be no. But, and this is a massive but, the success of this offense will hinge upon Kyle Wright. He has to keep defenses honest or Miami is going to struggle. Everyone knows what they are going to do, they will play it tight to the vest, run the ball hard and rely on that stellar defense to win games for them. But there will come a point where Wright, or Freeman if you prefer, will have to go up top for a big play to win. Will they be capible of that? That ability is what seperates the great teams at Miami from the merely good. So far the awnser is no, but the question will still remain untill they prove that it can happen. Like I said this conference has lots of questions at quarterback and fewer awnsers.