I would like to momentarily cut Clausen a little bit of slack for his performance against BC after watching this compilation from the geniuses over at Blue Gray Sky, but I still believe that for now, Sharpley is the better choice. I hold off on all of my criticism because, before watching the video, I had no idea how much pressure Jimmy constantly had to deal with in the pocket; ND seemed incapable of blocking more than 4 rushers, and any type of delayed blitz was an automatic game over. I'll admit that Clausen did a decent job of avoiding the rush and at least getting the ball off for an incompletion many times instead of the sack, but I still think Sharpley is the man for a few reasons:
Timing and Accuracy: There were several routes (a curl to Parris and an out to Grimes jump to mind) where Jimmy was given ample time to throw, but either delivered the ball too early, too far behind, or too far above the receiver. In the case of the overthrown ball to Grimes (which ended up getting us a first down thanks to a personal foul), BC only rushed three men, and instead of taking his time and throwing a good ball or looking at the rest of the field, he panicked and threw it 5 feet over Grimes' head. Sharpley's accuracy, especially with his long balls, has impressed me more than Clausen up to this point in the season.
Rookie Mistakes: In an effort to use Golden Tate as a decoy, ND lined up #23 wide right and had him run a fly route (surprise), expecting BC to blanket him like UCLA was able to. Anticipating this, the Irish had Grimes run a fly wide left as the primary read; I'll try not to get too complicated, but Grimes was supposed to be open down field. During Jimmy's 7 step drop, he stared down Grimes, allowing the safety to come over (mistake 1) and then under threw the receiver (mistake 2) which led to an interception. Someone with two more years of experience isn't as likely to make such vital mistakes.
Escapability: ahhh the term dubbed by Stonebreaker from NDLNA, but Jimmy, as seen in the movie clip, also possesses escapability. The difference is that when Sharpley avoids the rush, he not only has the ability to throw the ball away and avoid a sack, but Evan can often find a receiver to connect with after avoiding the pressure.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Hopefully Sharpley will live up to the Nastie's expectations and deliver big on Saturday.
In other news, the OC Domer put up an interesting take on the transfer situation. The football fan in me wants to agree with him, but the college student in me doesn't want to judge the situation without knowing all of the underlying reasons why the players as individuals decided to or not too (thank you Chris Stewart!) transfer.
Lastly, I'll leave you with a clip recommended by the folks at the Observer. If you've ever read this blog to avoid doing work, you might be able to relate to it.
Go Irish. Beat Trojans.
2 comments:
Hopefully SupercaliSharpalistic.
As long as its not Shrapnel...
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