“We always
move forward,” Kelly said. “I don’t live in the past, and I don’t spend too
much time in the future. I live in the present, and in the present, we have
Tommy Rees. We have
Tommy Rees, who is an established player, and he will be our starter.
We think Andrew Hendrix and Malik Zaire can contribute, but Tommy will be our
starter.” – Brian Kelly at Grand Valley dinner in Grand Rapids
It would be nice for Rees to start against Temple in South
Bend on August 21 and be 12-0 as a starter when the clock strikes zero at the
end of the Stanford game in California on November 30 with no hiccups along the
way, but that might be a bit much to ask.
Sure, there are concerns with Rees, especially compared to the lost
incumbent – starting with speed, agility and athleticism (career long run of 12
yards and a long run of 2 yards last season) and the BIG one, turnovers (30 in
his career, 24 interceptions and 6 fumbles).
On the flip side, there are a lot of programs that would
love to have the experience of Tommy Rees running their offense heading into
the 2013 season; appearing in a total of 33 games, 18 games as a starter (14-4),
34 passing touchdowns, and a career
passing completion of almost 58% for over 4,400 yards.
Another thing to keep in mind is that like every other
player in the country, from season to season there is the excitement of the
development in the off season. Fans and
coaches alike come to the first practice of the season looking to see what
players have taken their game to the next level – whether they’re stronger,
faster, or in the case of the quarterback - smarter and more accurate. Maybe the most important for a quarterback
from year to year is the understanding of the playbook, which is not an issue
for Rees. At the very least, fans should
be excited that Rees has possibly improved and an improvement of a quarterback
with a winning percentage of 82 a good thing.
The biggest thing Rees has working for him are his
teammates. The senior has the respect
and loyalty of his fellow Irish players.
As far as his relationship with Coach Brian Kelly, most people see it as
one of a lot of yelling and disappointment on Kelly’s side, but I see it as one
of a player and coach who know each other and know what to expect from each
other.
At the end of the day our choices are limited. Option #1: Rees, who we are pretty familiar
with - his good, bad and ugly as mentioned above. Option #2: Andrew Hendrix, a 6’ 2” 220 lb.
senior with limited game experience, appearing in a handful of games with no
starts. His stat line (even for a
reserve) is minimal at best - 23 completions for 304 yards with 1 TD and 2 interceptions
while rushing for 203 yards on 33 carries for an average of 6.2 yards per carry
and one touchdown. Option #3: Malik Zaire, a true freshman who was an early
enrollee and at 6’1” and 205 lbs. is more of a dual threat quarterback than
Golson (as Golson is a scrambler and Zaire is a runner). In my opinion, Zaire has had a solid spring
and received high praise from the coaching staff while throwing the only TD
pass in the Blue & Gold Scrimmage.
Note: 6’1” 185 lb. non-scholarship quarterback Charlie Fiessinger
is also on the roster.
No comments:
Post a Comment