QB Todd Boeckman (official thread)

[Dryden]

I think Todd played well enough tonight. The defense didn't do him any favors asking him to score 40. I think one of things that's forgotten with Todd is that he hasn't really played game-speed organized football for a full year for what? Five years?

He did a phenomenal job this season. He should grow by leaps and bounds in 2008.

 

[Buckeyecty4]

Bottomline, as good as the guy can look at times.. he usually finishes the game with 1-2 interceptions and 1-2 fumbles..

We cant have that..

To be brutally honest, I have no confidence that he can be "the guy" who makes big plays against the best opponents..

I also see that he gets out of wack footwork wise and arm slot wise too many times throughout the game.. the ball comes out ugly far too often..

I also see a player who gets flustered when teams bring heat.. he doesnt hit the hot route, holds onto the ball too long or leaves the pocket too early.. make your reads, get rid of the ball or throw it away.. on that 4th down fumble, he bailed way too early

I just dont know what the future holds.. IMO, we need a dual threat guy, a guy who can make plays outside the pocket and a guy that can scare a defense with the threat of run..

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

I think Todd played well enough tonight. The defense didn't do him any favors asking him to score 40. I think one of things that's forgotten with Todd is that he hasn't really played game-speed organized football for a full year for what? Five years?

He did a phenomenal job this season. He should grow by leaps and bounds in 2008.

I agree whole-heartedly with that. He showed a lot of poise in the pocket and took some hits. In fact, the only times that our offense looked out of sync was when we asked Todd to pass out of an empty backfield on third and short. This is negativity and I probably deserve some dings for this but that's not setting up for your quarterback to succeed there.

Of course there are all world QBs who can carry the game on their shoulders and lead their teams to victory no matter what, like Elway or Mario or Manning. But you don't need guys like that to win championships. I believe that we can win with championships with Todd, he's good enough to lead us there, and that's all it matters. But we got to put him in better positions to make a play than we did tonight.

 

[Steve19]

I agree, Todd did not lose this game. The Buckeyes lost this game and we can all be appreciative of the contribution he made this year.

That said, if we are to be competitive, the coaches have to really think through our ability to be more mobile and faster. Personally, I wonder if Todd is going to bring us that. He is competent, even excellent, against weaker opponents, but the sad truth is that he does not have the tools to do the kind of things the Buckeyes need to get done when we play the best.

I didn't get to watch the game and I can't comment on his performance last night. But it seems to clear to me that when it collapsed around him, he wasn't able to make magic happen.

If we're going to win a national championship, the guy driving the bus has to be the kind of guy that can make magic happen. How many times did we see Todd fold, make bad decisions, or take sacks when defenses decided to really put pressure on him (e.g., the second half against MSU, TSUN)?

The last time I felt this way about a quarterback was when Justin Zwick was running the offense. Nice guy. Right values. Moments of excellence. But not that spark of magic. I was early in saying I thought Troy Smith deserved a chance and I feel the same way now about Antonio Henton.

Let me be clear, I am not bashing Todd. I deeply appreciate his standing in there and getting whacked last night and all that he accomplished this year. I just hope the coaches will do some real green fields thinking about his ability to help us win a national championship.

 

[NFBuck]

The last time I felt this way about a quarterback was when Justin Zwick was running the offense. Nice guy. Right values. Moments of excellence. But not that spark of magic. I was early in saying I thought Troy Smith deserved a chance and I feel the same way now about Antonio Henton.

My feelings exactly.

 

[craigblitz]

Agree with RobOSU almost to a T. The kid plays hard and gives it his all but I just do not think he is the type of QB who can lead us to a NC win. If there is any type of pressure forget it.. his feet get so happy and mis-throws.

Lord knows I am the last person even remotley close to be able to critique a QB and what it takes to be succesful, but I really hope the QB is truly up for grabs next spring and everyone has a legit shot at taking it.

 

[ShakerBuck]

Todd did a fantastic job, better than what could have been expected from him this year, and he may have been our MVP because if he would have went down...our backups certainly weren't ready (especially when Henton was suspended).

If an OL does their job, they can make any QB look great. Todd clearly needs solid protection to be effective. I think he makes good decisions and can make the throws when he has time. I'm no expert, but I think he lacks some of the QB instincts (like the internal clock, pocket presence etc. ) that are needed to be an elite QB. Hopefully these are things that can come with experience....USC looms.

anyway, great year. Keep your head up. this was supposed to e a rebuilding year anyway...got some good big-game experience under your belt

 

[Bobby Hoying]

.. the ball comes out ugly far too often..

I noticed this during the Michigan game. I don't really see him throw many tight spirals, the ball comes out a little wobbly which has to be hard to catch.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I've got no problem with TB. He is what he is, its the coaches who should know better than to put that much of the game plan on him. There has been enough track record to see bad things happen if you ask him to do too much.

 

[NightmaresDad]

a lot of good, accurate analysis on Boeckman and the pros and cons.

It sure seemed to me that as the season went along, he became more and more jittery in the pocket. At the beginnig of the season, he would stand in there and deliver the ball and always seemed to have his eyes downfield. He got better each week (except for maybe the Purdue game) culminating in the PSU game, where he certainly played like a NC caliber QB.

After the MSU game, however, it seemed he was very antsy in the pocket and was looking for pressure, even when there was none, and not going through his reads like he had. Culminating in last night when he more than once tucked it down and looked for a place to run when there was absolutely no pressure, or was very undecisive and held it too long when there was pressure.

Flynn, on the other hand, was getting drilled all night, but was always able to deliver the ball just in time to the open receiver because he was focused downfield.

TB had an outstanding year considering he was a first year starter.

The only thing I wish he would work on, as far as his throwing motion, is his tendency to lean back when he is throwing. Now that's fine to throw the long rainbow type deep ball, but he does in on almost every type of throw, and that's why his passes are so high all the time, and why they tend to float sometimes. He really only threw one bad ball last night - the second INT. Other than that, and the indecisiveness at times, he and the offense definitely made enough plays last night to win the game.

It was penalties, the dropped TD pass by Robo, a couple of turnovers, and the missed blocked punt/penalty that killed us last night. And hats off to LSU's OC.

My big question for next season is - if/when we get Pryor - will we go to a two headed Henton-Pryor monster with the option and spread look we had in '05, or will TB still be the man?

 

[joefoshow]

The fact that the field goal was blocked as well when they got the ball close early in the gmae they had to settle for a filed goal I think was the difference which forced him to pass more when he was't too afraid of getting hit.


Also the fact the refs wouldn't call anything on LSU and everything on us

 

[JackTatum]

 

[OregonBuckeye]

He got better each week (except for maybe the Purdue game) culminating in the PSU game, where he certainly played like a NC caliber QB.

After the MSU game, however, it seemed he was very antsy in the pocket and was looking for pressure, even when there was none, and not going through his reads like he had. Culminating in last night when he more than once tucked it down and looked for a place to run when there was absolutely no pressure, or was very undecisive and held it too long when there was pressure.

The MSU game was before the PSU game.

 

[Bleed S & G]

The defense didn't do him any favors asking him to score 40.

2 picks and a fumble didn't help with the 40 points.

That pick WAS NOT on Todd. IF IT'S AN INCOMPLETE PASS, FINE. It should not have been an interception. Ray let Todd down on that pass IMO.

The ball was underthrown.. that pass needs to be where Ray can catch it or no one can. The man to man killed us as we didn't make any noticable adjustments outside of not running the ball from my vantage point.

 

[OCBucksFan]

I'm not really sure if this should go here or in the game thread...

In today's college football landscape it is really starting to feel like you cannot be successul over a 13 game season without having a mobile QB. The last team to be great with a traditional QB was USC 3 or 4 years ago. Even that extremely talented team got upstaged by a VY led Texas team.

Well, I have to agree with this. The Spread-Option is becoming the offense of college football which doesn't exactly excite the NFL. However, that's not to say you can't win with a pro-style QB, he just has to be extremely accurate and be able to handle pressure.

Pressure is one of Todd's major downfalls, when he starts to get pressured, he makes mistakes. I think anyone who has watched our season this year is aware of that, but the coaching staff still left the game on his arm instead of letting Beanies legs do most of the work.

We'll see what happens next year, odds are we'll wind up with Henton under center and run more of an option attack.