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Can someone explain why there's so much focus on what Wimbush can't do?

chaseball

chaseball

I've posted how many times?
Sep 8, 2007
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And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
 
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chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has ran for over 400 yards and 8 TDs through his first 5 games, turning NDs offense into one of the best running games in the country. Defenses have to respect his ability to run on read option which opens up the running game for the other backs on the team as well.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Wimbush is the leader on one of the better Notre Dame offenses during the BK era and his skillset is a big reason why. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results (so far) with his dominant running ability and athleticism.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Whether it comes with Troy Aikman like accuracy or with Lamar Jackson esque scrambles/runs.
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Amen !! Wimbush is a great college QB !! I would rather have Wimbush than Sam Darnold or Deshone Kizer anyday !!
 
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BW has taken a major step forward this week. The game has slowed down for him. That turns him from extremely dangerous to highly lethal. BK said the offense successfully completed the two minute drill many times this week. By Job, I think he's got it.
 
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Ara64 said:
BW has taken a major step forward this week. The game has slowed down for him. That turns him from extremely dangerous to highly lethal. BK said the offense successfully completed the two minute drill many times this week. By Job, I think he's got it.
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There is a reason the Irish are about perfect in the redzone when Wimbush is playing (20 tds out of 22 and the other 2 field goals) It is because Wimbush is a dual threat that sees a crease and just darts to the end zone. Or he rifles it to a receiver. And the Irish Oline gives him time and space. And he doesn't turn the ball over (knock on wood)
 
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chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
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I agree too many people want the cookie cutter QB and realky have no idea that you CAN win in college without big throwing numbers.

Having said that my problem is his accuracy is so bad it's hard for him to even be an effective passer.

Tony Rice had accuracy problems but he was effective. For every three bad throws Rice had he would complete a big one for a big play. He also played his best in the big games.

So far BW isn't showing effective passing. Allegedly we've this stable of top tier recieving talent but it's going to waste without accurate passing.
 
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chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
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The only stat I care about is his W/L record. So far, he's doing one heck of a job.
 
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Toby Smart said:
From what I hear and read from ND insiders who make it their living covering ND football, BW will only get better and better. He's that good. Patience. It will come.
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agreed. he may not be the pure passer kizer is but this offense runs much smoother. no formation issues or play clock snafus. kizer having the same play clock issues in cleveland.
 
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Great post one of your best. Wimbush will beat good teams. he will also improve as time goes on
 
chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
Click to expand...
Great post! Looking at the past national champions since 2008, there are probably 1 or 2 pure QBs. Otherwise, it has been athletic, make plays either on the ground and air that has propelled teams to the championship.
 
88ND said:
I agree too many people want the cookie cutter QB and realky have no idea that you CAN win in college without big throwing numbers.

Having said that my problem is his accuracy is so bad it's hard for him to even be an effective passer.

Tony Rice had accuracy problems but he was effective. For every three bad throws Rice had he would complete a big one for a big play. He also played his best in the big games.

So far BW isn't showing effective passing. Allegedly we've this stable of top tier recieving talent but it's going to waste without accurate passing.
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But he's been very good in the red zone. He's had several TD passes among those 20 TDs we've had in the RZ, and hasn't turned it over down there, either.

There's been a lot of very successful college QBs who weren't great passers, but were excellent runners.
 
The criticism should be of the passing game, not Wimbush per se, but that comes with being the QB. Seems to me we have settled into a good rotation of our receivers, with Claypool and Mack and St Brown getting the most snaps; and that will only help Wimbush as he and the receivers get comfortable and start trusting. I fully expect Stepherson to play a big role starting this Saturday, and him stretching the field will help the other receivers with single coverage. This will help Wimbush to have more confidence as he has been hesitant to pull the trigger and has been slow to deliver and slow to see open targets. I think we will see a better than average passing game from this team for the remainder of this season, and it starts Saturday night.

Now, if St Brown continues to play soft and in a funk, I hope we see a lot more of Boykin.
 
chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
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If we had social media 30 years ago, it would have been the same thing with Tony Rice.
 
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I think BW opens the game with a 40+ toss to either KS or Miles Boykin. He must be reading this stuff about his arm and he and his coach know exactly what it can do.
 
chaseball said:
And little to no focus on what he can do?

The guy has amassed 1185 total yards and 14 TDs through his first 5 games.

This isn't the NFL. QBs have no requirement to throw for a certain completion percentage, or a certain amount of yardage. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It's silly to harp on what Wimbush struggles with while ignoring just how important his strengths are to this offense. Production is production is production. Who cares if he's not passing the football like Jimmy Clausen? He more than makes up for his mediocre passing results with his dominant running ability and athleticism.
Click to expand...
I love Wimbush and his abilities. It's first year starting and his attitude is tremendous. It seems the other guys like playing for him. He is doing just fine.
 
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The passing game is Wimbush's phone booth.

1940s-PhoneBooth.jpg
 
Quest4Twelve said:
Great post! Looking at the past national champions since 2008, there are probably 1 or 2 pure QBs. Otherwise, it has been athletic, make plays either on the ground and air that has propelled teams to the championship.
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He doesn't have to be the next Montana to succeed. However there were two QB on the last dozen years similar to BW who won the championship. Vince and Cam. I can't say BW running is on their level yet but he might be. As inaccurate as both those guys were they were still more accurate than BW.
Sadly, accuracy is the hardest of all things to improve upon. You either have it or you don't.

I can't express to.you enough the difference between throwing at ones shoe tops or hitting your athletic reciever in stride on the numbers. It matters between a short completion or incomplete ..to a huge gain if caught in stride. It really is that important.

He has to try and find some accuracy magic. Just a little bit wouod go a long way.
 
impossibilityofreason1 said:
I love Wimbush and his abilities. It's first year starting and his attitude is tremendous. It seems the other guys like playing for him. He is doing just fine.
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Which guys you speak of? I see
some recievers being pissy that he's in there. Or rather....the entire recieving group had a spring in their step when Book was in at QB.

Wrong or right make no mistake it was evident.
 
The difference in talent and big play potential between Wimbush and Book is significant.
ND is far more effective and dangerous when Wimbush is in the game.
 
justified1 said:
The difference in talent and big play potential between Wimbush and Book is significant.
ND is far more effective and dangerous when Wimbush is in the game.
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I'm not sure how you say that with Book one start was in shit conditions and he still threw the ball much better than BW.

Look I'm the world's biggest running QB fan. It stresses the defense like nothing else....however that's provided the QB can throw some so the defense doesnt stack eight and even nine/ten in the box.

BW is going to have to complete some passes and I don't mean the little five yard flat pass. That's going to get picked off and returned by USC. But real passes. A deep in hit on stride so he can run with it after the catch.
 
88ND said:
I'm not sure how you say that with Book one start was in shit conditions and he still threw the ball much better than BW.

Look I'm the world's biggest running QB fan. It stresses the defense like nothing else....however that's provided the QB can throw some so the defense doesnt stack eight and even nine/ten in the box.

BW is going to have to complete some passes and I don't mean the little five yard flat pass. That's going to get picked off and returned by USC. But real passes. A deep in hit on stride so he can run with it after the catch.
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Well good news, USC does not have the healthy bodies to stack the box. They did so against Stanford, but they don’t have the bodies to even attempt it Sat. night.
 
88ND said:
He doesn't have to be the next Montana to succeed. However there were two QB on the last dozen years similar to BW who won the championship. Vince and Cam. I can't say BW running is on their level yet but he might be. As inaccurate as both those guys were they were still more accurate than BW.
Sadly, accuracy is the hardest of all things to improve upon. You either have it or you don't.

I can't express to.you enough the difference between throwing at ones shoe tops or hitting your athletic reciever in stride on the numbers. It matters between a short completion or incomplete ..to a huge gain if caught in stride. It really is that important.

He has to try and find some accuracy magic. Just a little bit wouod go a long way.
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Tim Tebow says hello.
 
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Because what he has shown "so far" is that he cannot consistently and accurately pass the football. And since he is a QB, and since ND stands ZERO chance of successfully navigating the remaining schedule without a quality passing attack. It sems like a really, really viable subject. Except for the Holtz Bone fan boys who think "3 yards and a cloud of dust" is still a viable way to win football games. Which its not.
 
echowaker said:
agreed. he may not be the pure passer kizer is but this offense runs much smoother. no formation issues or play clock snafus. kizer having the same play clock issues in cleveland.
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To reply to both of your posts:
I think people point out the bad here more often than the good is because this is a website populated by fans who are more than a little tightly wound when it comes to ND football. I'm a totally different person when I'm watching the game than when I'm posting about this or that aspect of the game.

As to Wimbush:
I've been highly critical of his passing and have become highly critical of his receivers. I, for one, thought Kizer was awesome, coming in with no experience the way he did in 2015. (I think losing Prosise, Fuller, etc after that season really hurt.) Wimbush came in this year as a junior; yeah, he didn't play at all last year, but he gained a lot of valuable experience in practice. Back to Kizer: he should have never gone pro when he did because you knew he'd end up in a losing situation. i.e., in Cleveland.
 
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HDK said:
To reply to both of your posts:
I think people point out the bad here more often than the good is because this is a website populated by fans who are more than a little tightly wound when it comes to ND football. I'm a totally different person when I'm watching the game than when I'm posting about this or that aspect of the game.

As to Wimbush:
I've been highly critical of his passing and have become highly critical of his receivers. I, for one, thought Kizer was awesome, coming in with no experience the way he did in 2015. (I think losing Prosise, Fuller, etc after that season really hurt.) Wimbush came in this year as a junior; yeah, he didn't play at all last year, but he gained a lot of valuable experience in practice. Back to Kizer: he should have never gone pro when he did because you knew he'd end up in a losing situation. i.e., in Cleveland.
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Kizer was a turnover machine. Wimbush is not (knock on wood)
 
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echowaker said:
agreed. he may not be the pure passer kizer is but this offense runs much smoother. no formation issues or play clock snafus. kizer having the same play clock issues in cleveland.
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Concur on Kizer. When I said this would happen I was roundly criticized because he was a good guy, but have to say at this point--"told you so."
 
Bodizephax said:
Kizer was a turnover machine. Wimbush is not (knock on wood)
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Kizer had an incredible sophomore year, coming in cold late against Virginia right to the end of the season, as starters dropped to the left and right from serious injuries.

Last year not so great, but I don't think that was all his fault by any shot. If anything he tried to do too much last season.

Wimbush has been great as a first-year starter, although we have to remember he is a junior. His running is spectacular, but he has also thrown about a half dozen interceptions, several of which would have been returned for TDs.

He is either going to become a better passer, or Notre Dame is going to lose a couple of games down the stretch because of his inability throw the football.

The corollary is his receivers better improve fast too.
 
HDK said:
Kizer had an incredible sophomore year, coming in cold late against Virginia right to the end of the season, as starters dropped to the left and right from serious injuries.

Last year not so great, but I don't think that was all his fault by any shot. If anything he tried to do too much last season.

Wimbush has been great as a first-year starter, although we have to remember he is a junior. His running is spectacular, but he has also thrown about a half dozen interceptions, several of which would have been returned for TDs.

He is either going to become a better passer, or Notre Dame is going to lose a couple of games down the stretch because of his inability throw the football.

The corollary is his receivers better improve fast too.
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"Wimbush has been "great" as a first-year starter." Don't forget about Book.
 
floridairish said:
Because what he has shown "so far" is that he cannot consistently and accurately pass the football. And since he is a QB, and since ND stands ZERO chance of successfully navigating the remaining schedule without a quality passing attack. It sems like a really, really viable subject. Except for the Holtz Bone fan boys who think "3 yards and a cloud of dust" is still a viable way to win football games. Which its not.
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Wrong. Not no, but hell no.

You very well can win with the above decription if you do it good enough.
It's that simple. Moreover a lot of defenses are recruited for and schemed to play against spread football. So when you get the best power running personnel at all the pertinent positions you would be a nightmare to stop.

Think navy and Georgia tech with better material.
 
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