FanPost

In defense of Trickett and other thoughts

I have seen all the comments regarding Trickett's ability to lead FSU next season and I think that people are putting wayyyyy too much emphasis on his lack of physicality. I think people on this site are not giving Trickett a fair evaluation.

First let me state that Trickett doesn't have to LEAD FSU anywhere. We will have very good running backs, a solid if not spectacular OL to run behind and protect Trickett, a deep, talented and experienced corps of receivers, a good special teams unit and that DEFENSE. Trickett for his part just has to not lose the game. Not saying his role will be of a game manager because it won't, Fisher expects his QB to make plays down the field. He will, however, be required to be accurate, know where his check downs are, to just throw the ball away when there is no play to be made, just take a sack, punt and rely on that defense to get you the ball back. That's it....nothing more is required out of him this year in order for the Noles to win at least 10 games.

In addition, the schedule as it looks so far is not that daunting which will give him time to get ready for UF and Clemson. Before you say he hasn't played that much...I'll say this: I first saw Ponder in the loss on the road at Va Tech. He hadn't played that much and was only a three star coming out of Texas. We lost the game but I knew after that game we had a potentially great QB. When it comes to QBs, in Fisher I trust.

Now I take Trickett's case to start to you all and judge him on the factors that I think make a great QB:

A) Intelligence: There is no doubt Trickett knows the playbook and better than EJ I might add. Due to his lack of mobility he has had to compensate in other areas like the mental aspect of the game. Fisher is a good QB coach, by the time Trickett is done with the spring/summer camps he will know when to audibilize, where his check downs are, how to properly go through his progressions, how to slide protection and call out blitzers. This facet of the game cannot be overlooked as he did a masterful job at Clemson. He was bad at Wake but that is due to lack of experience. But that experience was good for him and it made him better this year as I noticed he threw the ball with more confidence.EJ's terrible UF game in 2011 did not improve him for the following year which tells me Trickett has more upside that EJ.

B) Pocket awareness: Because Trickett isn't fast he has to slide in the pocket and make plays with his arm. Pocket awareness is his one of his strengths. I love the way he slides while keeping his eyes down the field. REAL QB's make plays with their eyes and arm IMO, not their legs. Traditional, yes. Not unless you have a special dual threat QB (like Vick, Tebow, Ward etc), the traditional QBs are the best bet to lead you to the Promised Land.

C) Anticipation / Accuracy: Ask any NFL scout what is at the top of his list in the things he wants in a QB and it will be accuracy, BUT THEN it’s the ability to anticipate. Trickett's accuracy is good but it will become better with reps. EJ threw to the man because he didn't trust his reads, Trickett I noticed throws to the spot. That comes from knowing the play book and knowing you are not the fastest guy or have the strongest arm. He has GOT to anticipate where the man will be as he doesn't have the arm strength to take chances. Trickett also doesn't stare down his man as much as EJ did at this stage of his career. A QB must learn how to move the DB's with his eyes, another skill that Trickett is ahead of EJ on. Fisher will approach this season doing a lot of play action to take advantage of a strong running game, a better kicking game and stout defense. Trickett is the perfect play action QB due to his great anticipation and improving accuracy.

D) Arm strength: As long as a QB can throw the ball straight line from the outer hash to the sideline on a 15-20 yard out cut he has enough to play in the NFL. Any team foolish enough to play tight man to man against our receivers will pay a heavy price. Additionally, from what I've seen, he is a better deep ball thrower than EJ because he is more accurate. He also has wayyyyyy more touch on his passes than EJ. Kenny Stabler had the weakest arm I've ever seen BUT he won a Super Bowl under Madden with a similarly built team to what FSU is now: strong defense, great running game, good special teams, blazing speed at WR, a pass catching TE and he didn't make mistakes while employing a short passing game.

I may not have convinced you that Trickett will lead us to a NC but hopefully I have convinced you that Trickett starting is not the end of the world and that he is an improvement over EJ. By the way, Winston starting is a pipe dream. Fisher prefers experience in his system and Winston just doesn't have enough yet. Although those two games (Clemson and UF) are not likely to go our way, we still have a good chance to win both of them. Fisher will not throw what could be an unexpected NC run away on untested talent. Just my opinion!

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