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Well so much for that. Not a good game to show him off in. Alabama was just too much for them all the way around.
No, not a good game. But, I can try to imagine what one of the other QBs would have looked like if they had played for Mich. St.
AgamemnonOnce again, RB Todd Gurley did not practice (foot). Has been in walking boot.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 31, 2015
DE Ethan Westbrooks has cleared concussion protocol, so he's good to go Sunday vs 49ers.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 31, 2015
LB/S Mark Barron, who's also going thru concussion protocol, returned to practice Thurs. Fisher expects him to be cleared Friday.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 31, 2015
AgamemnonAll the pie is gone. All the cake is gone. The stores are closing. I will have to make meringue cookies(left over egg whites from the cheesecake). 😉
AgamemnonI always liked Kaepernik. He would be better than Foles. Do we have anybody who can catch his fast balls?
AgamemnonConnor Cook, QB, Michigan State
Height: 6-4. Weight: 218.
Projected 40 Time: 4.60.
Projected Round (2016): 1-3.
12/17/15: Sources say that Cook has good height, weight, and delivery but a number of evaluators don’t really like Cook. They think he’s too inaccurate, and they question his lack of leadership with his team not voting him a team captain. If one highly touted quarterback prospect slides like others have in years past, Cook could be the prime candidate.This season, Cook has connected on 57 percent passes for 2,921 yards with 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. He played well against Oregon, but wasn’t overwhelming against some mediocre opponents, though he had a prolific game against Rutgers. The Spartans have admitted their play calling was overly conservative at times and needed to let Cook throw more often. Late in the regular season, he played with an injured shoulder.
Cook has athleticism, good size, experience in a pro-style system and a strong arm that can make some beautiful throws downfield into tight windows. However, he isn’t a quarterback who drops back and throws 50 times a game while dominating a defense. His accuracy needs improvement as well. Cook has been more of a game manager, and that could be his future in the NFL.
8/8/15: Cook completed 58 percent of his passes in 2014 for 3,214 yards with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. League sources identified Cook as a potential high first-round pick. He needs to improve certain aspects of his game to meet that grade though, mainly accuracy. Cook has proven to NFL evaluators that he has a big arm, pocket presence, the mobility to avoid rushers and roll out, and the ability to make the occasional precision throw. Cook plays in a pro-style system and has shown steady improvement with his ability to function out of the pocket while working through his progressions.
Cook has often thrown the ball better than his numbers illustrate. He can make some amazingly accurate throws into extremely tight windows for completions downfield, but also has some inconsistency with his accuracy on the routine passes and when going deep down the middle. Cook has to improve his footwork, which in turn will help his accuracy.
2013 was Cook’s first year as the full-time starter, and he got off to a slow start before coming on strong in the second half of the season to help lead the Spartans to a Big Ten title and victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Cook completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 2,755 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions for the year. He had great games against Ohio State (24-40 for 304 with 3 touchdowns, 1 interception) and Stanford (22-36 for 332 yards with 2 touchdown, 1 interception) to close out that season.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/draft2016QB.php#E8w9Z94K1MCoJmOX.99 AgamemnonAnother QB to watch, Cook.
Quite a test for him.
So we’ll see.
Maybe he’s a Cutler?
He could be Cutler. I don’t think so. I do think he is the most pro ready QB, him and Hogan and then Goff. The two biggest knocks on Cook seem to be that he wasn’t a team captain and the he isn’t accurate. Winston wasn’t a team captain. They would like him to be 60% plus in completions. He is 58.x%. Just throwing a percentage out there isn’t a good definition. Cook is making much tighter throws into coverage than the other QBs. If they were doing that their percentage would suffer, too. imo Cook has to be much more ‘center of the target’ accurate. That is what I look for.
AgamemnonIt reminds me of BigFoot and Giant Squids and other things.
Are you saying the Rams offense reminds
you of a squid ?I dont see any reason to be casting
aspersions onto giant squids.w
vDid you know that Timmermann was a giant squid? Do you remember how well he held?
AgamemnonI finished watching the game. I was really checking on the OL. The Rams held their own against a good Seattle DL. They worked well on picking up stuff in pass blocking. They sometimes got some push in the running game. Havenstein played as always, solid and no mistakes. Wichmann and Barnes played their best games and not just cause Barnes got 2 fumbles. Wichmann didn’t win all the battles, but he won some against good players. Reynolds had some good and some bad, but he played well for a backup replacing a starter and certainly better than some starters we have had at guard in the past. Robinson didn’t make any killer mistakes, a big improvement. Seattle had as many as 10 men in the box, but they didn’t seem to do too many games when rushing the passer or a lot of blitzes. When they did, the Rams seemed to handle it. All in all, an encouraging performance. imo
AgamemnonForgot to mention this one earlier on Rams injury report. DT Doug Worthington (thigh) did not practice.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 31, 2015
Agamemnonhttp://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-rose-bowl-hogan-20151229-story.html
Stanford’s never nervous Kevin Hogan can just relax and play — and win
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan strolls into the end zone past USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson in the Pac-12 championship at Levi’s Stadium. (Shotgun Spratling / Los Angeles Times)
Mike DiGiovannaMike DiGiovannaContact ReporterThe low point of Kevin Hogan’s season came in the fourth quarter of a Nov. 14 game against Oregon, when the usually sure-handed Stanford quarterback fumbled away two center snaps, the second with two minutes left and the Cardinal deep in Ducks territory driving for a potential game-tying score.
The mistakes were costly in a 38-36 loss that derailed Stanford’s national title hopes, pushing the Cardinal out of College Football Playoff contention and toward Friday’s Rose Bowl game against Iowa. But they did nothing to demoralize Hogan, who has learned a thing or two about dealing with adversity.
Hogan, a fifth-year senior, played the 2014 season knowing his father, Jerry, 64, was dying of colon cancer. No one at the university, not even Coach David Shaw or Hogan’s closest friends, knew because Jerry wanted to keep his illness private.
Not until early November, when Jerry’s condition worsened, did Hogan’s mother, Donna, call Shaw with the news. A month later, on Dec. 8, 2014, Jerry, a Washington lobbyist for AT&T, died in McLean, Va., with Kevin and other family members at his side.
See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >>“It changes your mind-set on a lot of things; it changes your perspective,” Hogan said Monday. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game we’re playing. You have to treat it that way. Have fun with it, relax. You can’t tense up. That’s what I’ve been trying to do all year, and I feel comfortable out there. I’m never nervous.”
It shows. Hogan has completed 194 of 283 passes for 2,644 yards, with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions, to help Stanford (11-2) win its third Pac-12 Conference championship and earn its third trip to the Rose Bowl in four years.
“He’s a different player this year,” Cardinal offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren said. “The confidence he has and how much he’s grown as a human being as well as a player in the last year is unbelievable. He grew up really fast in those few weeks with his father.
“He’s got a different outlook on life that he’ll talk to the guys about openly. I think he’s living his life to the fullest and trying to really attain excellence in everything he does because he knows that’s the way his dad did it and the way his dad would want it.”
“There’s so many things he instilled in me — the values, the voice, and how he carried himself as a person,” Kevin Hogan said. “He was always so humble and interested in other people. I’ve really tried to be like that myself.
“Football-wise, it’s just going out and having fun and enjoying the game I’ve been playing my whole life. I’ve been trying to keep it simple. It’s a game, so treat it like a game. It’s not like you’re going to war. … It’s allowed me to kind of relax my shoulders and just play the game I know how to play.”
Nothing has fazed Hogan this season. After an opening loss to Northwestern, Hogan helped guide Stanford to eight straight wins in which it averaged 41 points a game.
Included in that run was a 41-31 victory over USC on Sept. 19 in which Hogan, despite suffering a severely sprained left ankle early in the second half, completed 18 of 23 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
“He could barely even walk, and all of a sudden he’s out there scrambling and doing all these things, and the day after the game, his ankle just blew up,” Stanford linebacker Blake Martinez said. “It was like, ‘OK, that’s a warrior right there.’ He always gives you that extra oomph to get it to the next level.”
Stanford and Iowa to meet in Rose Bowl
Stanford and Iowa to meet in Rose BowlAfter his second fumble against Oregon, the Cardinal got the ball back and drove 51 yards in eight plays, Hogan teaming with Greg Taboada on a four-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left. But Hogan’s pass on a two-point conversion try fell incomplete.
Two weeks later, against fourth-ranked Notre Dame, Hogan led Stanford on a five-play, 45-yard drive in the final 30 seconds, and the Cardinal pulled out a 38-36 win on Conrad Ukropina’s 45-yard field goal as time expired.
“His preparation, his execution and his leadership have been unbelievable,” Bloomgren said of Hogan. “What makes him so effective is the way he attacks the game plan.”
Hogan, 23, took over as starter midway through the 2012 season and led Stanford to its first Rose Bowl win in 41 years. With considerable physical tools — he’s 6 feet 4 and 218 pounds, with a strong arm and enough speed to scramble for key first downs — Hogan projects as a mid-round NFL pick.
But as big a reason for Hogan’s success — he has 35 career wins, most among active college quarterbacks — has been his ability to master Stanford’s intricate offense, to identify defensive fronts, spot blitzes, change plays at the line of scrimmage and not rush through his progressions.
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey runs with a purpose
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey runs with a purpose“He drives the ship in everything we do,” Bloomgren said. “If we didn’t keep challenging Kevin and putting more on his plate, he’d get bored with it because he’s so smart. He doesn’t want it to be easy.”
A coach will often refer to a heady quarterback as a “coach on the field.” Hogan really is. The quarterback runs the weekly pass-protection meetings with the offensive line while Bloomgren and other coaches sit in the back of the room.
Not even Andrew Luck, the current Indianapolis Colts star quarterback, did that at Stanford.
“It’s his meeting — he’s running it, he’s in charge,” Bloomgren said. “That’s rare. I don’t know anybody that’s doing it in college football or who would want to do it because I don’t know if they trust their kids.
“We trust Kevin with everything in our offense. I don’t think I tell him ‘Thank you’ enough for making our job so easy.”
AgamemnonSomethin about him reminds me of most
of the Olinemen on the 99 championship team.w
vIt reminds me of BigFoot and Giant Squids and other things.
AgamemnonTx, I had the wrong time on that. They will probably replay at some point. Probably the Goff game too.
AgamemnonIt took me 20 hours over a week. That was good because that was all the time I was going to put in on it. I did it at work during down time. It was original and it isn’t the way the books say. The best thing about it was it works for the cubes that have symbols along with the colors and it works for more the 3 sides. It isn’t the fastest way, but it is a more general solution and I didn’t read any solutions until I had a solution.
No matter what series of moves you make, if you repeat them, they will eventually return to the original position. I didn’t prove the theory, but it worked on everything I did.
Then it is a matter of efficiently finding the patterns that you need to solve the type of cube that is scrambled.
AgamemnonI am watching the game again. So far, the OL looks good, mostly starting in the second half. More later.
AgamemnonCowboys, 49ers, Rams best NFL fits for Cal QB Jared Goff
By Rob Rang | The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
December 29, 2015 5:40 pm ETWith California cruising to a 55-36 victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Tuesday, it is likely only a matter of time before junior quarterback Jared Goff officially announces that he will forgo his senior season and head to the NFL.
As such, the time has come to begin projecting which NFL team Goff — who completed 25 of 37 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns without an interception in the win — projects to fit best.
Before taking a team-by-team approach, it is important to recognize what separates the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Goff from the other quarterbacks atop NFLDraftScout.com’s board.
When projecting quarterbacks to the NFL, so much attention is spent evaluating arms. While velocity and accuracy are obviously critical for success at the position, footwork and poise are equally important. These are two elements in which Goff excels.
Goff has enough velocity to make every NFL throw and he has spectacular touch on intermediate and deep routes, as demonstrated by this drop in the bucket for a touchdown Tuesday.
And this one a few moments later.
As was highlighted by ESPN’s commentators during the Armed Forces Bowl, however, it is Goff’s fundamentally sound footwork which earns his accuracy.
While Goff isn’t a true dual threat, he possesses the light feet and spatial awareness to buy time in the pocket, subtly side-stepping pass-rushers and stepping up when needed.
This is an important differentiation from stronger-armed passers like Michigan State senior Connor Cook and Penn State junior Christian Hackenberg, who occasionally spray passes because they fail to consistently step into their throws. These quarterbacks have the rifles to simply zip passes through the tight windows. Goff, conversely, relies more on anticipation and terrific ball placement to hit receivers as they make their cuts or simply lofting throws over the top of defenders.
Asking Goff to fire deep outs from the opposite hash or battle fierce winds in an outdoor stadium could lead to struggles in the NFL, which is why the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears or Buffalo Bills might want to look elsewhere if any of those franchises chooses to add competition at quarterback during the offseason.
While the ball-hawking secondaries of the NFC West would present a formidable challenge for Goff, the commitment to young running backs Todd Gurley and Carlos Hyde (when he’s healthy) for the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers could make the Cal quarterback an intriguing option. With opposing defenses committed to stopping the run, Goff’s technically sound footwork, accuracy on the move and touch on deeper passes could make him effective quickly — in much the same way that the similarly slim-built Teddy Bridgewater has performed for the Minnesota Vikings.
Goff, who grew up a 49ers fan in nearby Novato, California, and wears No. 16 in tribute to the great Joe Montana, would seem an obvious candidate for San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke. The 49ers are currently projected to take Goff with the fifth overall pick.
While being selected by his “hometown” 49ers would certainly make for a terrific human interest story, teams draft players based on schematic fits, not zip codes.
Because Goff has good accuracy and enough athleticism to keep defenses honest as a runner, a creative offensive mind like New York Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey could find Goff especially intriguing, as could Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, who worked wonders with Hackenberg while at Penn State but is likely to be out of the Goff sweepstakes with his Texans fighting for a playoff spot.
While Goff shows some upper level traits (like the ability to look off defenders) to get scouts excited, it is worth noting the relative simplicity of the offense he starred in at Cal, a spread attack with plenty of predetermined reads.
As such, like most young quarterbacks, Goff would be best served learning for a year or two before getting pushed onto the field. Serving as an apprentice behind Tony Romo in Dallas, for example, could be ideal.
In summary, Goff isn’t a transcendent talent with the traits to wow scouts the way that Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota did a year ago. His blend of anticipation, accuracy, subtle athleticism and poise, however, project well to a quick-hitting offense that allows him to challenge down the seam and sidelines with his deft touch.
Jared Goff is the No. 2 QB in the NFLDraftScout.com prospect rankings. (USATSI)Jared Goff is the No. 2 QB in the NFLDraftScout.com prospect rankings.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2016/QB
For some reason they forgot Hackenburg. So here he is. AgamemnonThe dropoff from Long to Hayes isn’t that significant. It’s damn near a wash. But the dropoff from Quinn to Westbrooks, or Longacre, or Sims is pretty glaring. Makes you wonder if Fisher is thinking of targeting a defensive end high in this next draft. I don’t know how they’re going to stack their board, but it has to be in the back of his mind that losing Quinn again will ultimately change the dynamic of his defense. I won’t be surprised if they roll those two second round picks into a trade to move up into the first round again, and for that very reason.
There is no Quinn in this draft. There will be a number of decent DEs in the 2cd round, but no reason to trade up. The entire draft is like that. Not much in really super players but a lot of good players at a lot of different positions. imo
AgamemnonGetting to 8 – 8 is a step, but I wouldn’t call it a springboard. To many question in the passing game. imo
“Right now, the goal is 8-8, to be honest with you,” Laurinaitis said. “To get to a point where I’ve never been — and that’s just heck, 8-8, .500. For this organization, this is a big step.”
AgamemnonOn conference call from Napa Valley, Fisher said early signs encouraging for Barron, Fairley, and Westbrooks in concussion protocol.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 28, 2015
Fisher not pleased w/Hekker's hijinks in Seattle, because roughness penalty cost the team 15 yards.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) December 29, 2015
AgamemnonNot proud of costing my team 15 yards yesterday. The hit on @cliffavril was unnecessary and I want to apologize to him for that personally.
— Johnny Hekker (@JHekker) December 28, 2015
Right Johnny. Your are just evil. 😉
We see he got you too, @cliffavril. [cc: @Seahawks] https://t.co/Od627IZgkx
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 28, 2015
AgamemnonKeenum, “We didn’t have any quarterback hits. When that happens, it’s a pretty good day.”
I imagine a lot of things go into that.
AgamemnonSomebody needs to go back and break it down, but if feels like the best effort by the OL this year.
Agamemnonhttp://www.theolympian.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/john-mcgrath/article51840040.html
“The Rams play good football against us,” said Hawks defensive end Michael Bennett. “They just don’t play good football against anybody else.”
Agamemnon#Seahawks locker rm video: Michael Bennett: Rams P Johnny Hekker "like a little girl" cowering after hitting Avril pic.twitter.com/gXdEHIGvUW
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 28, 2015
Hekker is trying to hurt poor Cliff. 😉
Agamemnon
