A Kaaya Review

HurricaneVision

Staff Writer
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Messages
943
I wanted to take some time to review Brad Kaaya and his performance when adversity hit, so I decided to review his performance when trailing at halftime.

The next time Brad Kaaya wins a game after trailing at halftime will be the first. He was 0-13 in such situations in college. To be fair, most teams win when they lead at halftime, but to not come back from a deficit even once in your entire college career is alarming. Teams tend to win ~70% of the time when leading at halftime.

We've established that Brad Kaaya-led teams never came back if they trailed at halftime. We've also established how often the team leading at halftime goes on to win the game is around 70%, but Kaaya was 22-3 when leading at halftime, which is an 88% winning percentage.

I wanted to review if Kaaya played out of his mind in the 4th quarter of those losses, or if perhaps the defense just let him down and his team was just outscored in a duel in the 4th quarter. Here are Kaaya's results in the 4th quarter of losses:

64-124, 51.6%, 812 yards, 6.55 yards/pass, 3 TD, 5 Int, 16 sacks taken. His teams scored five 4th quarter TD's in 14 games (removed from Clemson game and I excluded North Carolina because it was 51-3 or whatever).

You can draw your own conclusions on what this all means, but to see that Kaaya never led the team to a come-from-behind win was alarming, and to see his struggles in the 4th quarter of losses leads me to believe that Kaaya was a QB who could win games against teams he was supposed to, but was more of a function of the talent around him, rather than a guy who will make those around him better and win games he shouldn't be winning.

This isn't intended to be a referendum on the poor play of Kaaya, but rather be an informational post to illuminate the fact that while we are losing experience at the most important position, we really only need marginal play to match what we received over the previous three seasons.
 
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I do agree with some but I think Kaaya gets to much blame. It just crazy to me how most canes fan can agree our O-line and Defense were terrible 2 of the 3 years (O-line was good in '14 and Defense was this year '16) he was here but blame him for most, if not every, big game lost.. Things like winning the big games, winning consistently, and making comebacks are team efforts. How can you win when your getting tooth knock out of you.. concussion causing hits.. flipped on his head vs Cinncy, no run game to speak of against top competition.. when Al Golden is your coach.. Coach No D is your team's D-Coord ... how is it Kaaya fault we give up a 50 yard run vs ND.. or Jamal Carter can't hold on to a fumble right on his lap. The only game I can really blame Kaaya for was the UNC this year. This was the only game where the O-line played well and the Defense played well.. he was terrible that game.. missed a couple key conventions.. Maybe u can blame him for the FSU game this year since his only mistake of the game was the difference maker.
 
0-13 when trailing at halftime & 64-124, 51.6%, 812 yards, 6.55 yards/pass, 3 TD, 5 Int, 16 sacks taken. His teams scored five 4th quarter TD's in 14 games; sums up exactly what his career was at Miami.

This is why blaming playcalling for the losses against, Notre Dame, UNC & Va Tech is simply foolish, it also highlights his 2nd half struggle against FSU despite having the lead in the 1st half.

The OL hasn't been great, but we've all watched Kaaya take dozens of sacks while having plenty of time to get rid of the ball.

This has been the team's Achilles' tendon on Offense more so than anything else, Kaaya is an incredibly slow read in the pocket & does not respond well against heavy pressure.

He doesn't have a quick trigger, so his reaction time would be thrown off rhythm quite often in pressure situations (3rd downs & crucial plays etc..).

The Va Tech & UNC games particularly for me show this in abundance, our Defense got so many stops early on in those games giving us chance after chance, but the O just couldn't move the ball, every time the Defense got a stop, they would be back on the field in 30secs after a 3 & out by the Offense.

When everything was perfect with a clean pocket & he only had to make one read he could get in a Zone & catch fire, but other than that in Richt's offense he just couldn't handle coming off his first read if it wasn't open.

To me, the 4 game slide in October last year was primarily on him, yes the OL deserve some blame as well, but Kaaya really couldn't handle the moment of those big pressure games against FSU, UNC, Va Tech & ND.

With that said, I still wish him the best in the league & hope he has success... I'm also still amazed how he managed to end up the All-time passing leader in school history lol.
 
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0-13 when trailing at halftime & 64-124, 51.6%, 812 yards, 6.55 yards/pass, 3 TD, 5 Int, 16 sacks taken. His teams scored five 4th quarter TD's in 14 games; sums up exactly what his career was at Miami.

This is why blaming playcalling for the losses against, Notre Dame, UNC & Va Tech is simply foolish, it also highlights is 2nd half struggle against FSU despite having the lead in the 1st half.

The OL hasn't been great, but we've all watched Kaaya take dozens of sacks while having plenty of time to get rid of the ball.

This has been the team's Achilles' tendon on Offense more so than anything else, Kaaya is an incredibly slow read in the pocket & does not respond well against heavy pressure.

He doesn't have a quick trigger, so his reaction time would be thrown off rhythm quite often in pressure situations (3rd downs & crucial plays etc..).

The Va Tech & UNC games particularly for me show this in abundance, our Defense got so many stops early on in those games giving us chance after chance, but the O just couldn't move the ball, every time the Defense got a stop, they would be back on the field in 30secs after a 3 & out by the Offense.

When everything was perfect with a clean pocket & he only had to make one read he could get in a Zone & catch fire, but other than that in Richt's offense he just couldn't handle coming off his first read if it wasn't open.

To me, the 4 game slide in October last year was primarily on him, yes the OL deserve some blame as well, but Kaaya really couldn't handle the moment of those big pressure games against FSU, UNC, Va Tech & ND.

With that said, I still wish him the best in the league & hope he has success... I'm also still amazed how he managed to end up the All-time passing leader in school history lol.

would rep

giphy.gif
 
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0-13 when trailing at halftime & 64-124, 51.6%, 812 yards, 6.55 yards/pass, 3 TD, 5 Int, 16 sacks taken. His teams scored five 4th quarter TD's in 14 games; sums up exactly what his career was at Miami.

This is why blaming playcalling for the losses against, Notre Dame, UNC & Va Tech is simply foolish, it also highlights is 2nd half struggle against FSU despite having the lead in the 1st half.

The OL hasn't been great, but we've all watched Kaaya take dozens of sacks while having plenty of time to get rid of the ball.

This has been the team's Achilles' tendon on Offense more so than anything else, Kaaya is an incredibly slow read in the pocket & does not respond well against heavy pressure.

He doesn't have a quick trigger, so his reaction time would be thrown off rhythm quite often in pressure situations (3rd downs & crucial plays etc..).

The Va Tech & UNC games particularly for me show this in abundance, our Defense got so many stops early on in those games giving us chance after chance, but the O just couldn't move the ball, every time the Defense got a stop, they would be back on the field in 30secs after a 3 & out by the Offense.

When everything was perfect with a clean pocket & he only had to make one read he could get in a Zone & catch fire, but other than that in Richt's offense he just couldn't handle coming off his first read if it wasn't open.

To me, the 4 game slide in October last year was primarily on him, yes the OL deserve some blame as well, but Kaaya really couldn't handle the moment of those big pressure games against FSU, UNC, Va Tech & ND.

With that said, I still wish him the best in the league & hope he has success... I'm also still amazed how he managed to end up the All-time passing leader in school history lol.

would rep

giphy.gif

What is happening in that gif?
 
"The OL hasn't been great" Dats a bit of an understatement. No they haven't been great ... they have been a cot dam abomination for most of the last two years.

Bottom line is Kaaya is better than any of the GuYs on the roster trying to fill his shoes.
 
0-13 when trailing at halftime & 64-124, 51.6%, 812 yards, 6.55 yards/pass, 3 TD, 5 Int, 16 sacks taken. His teams scored five 4th quarter TD's in 14 games; sums up exactly what his career was at Miami.

This is why blaming playcalling for the losses against, Notre Dame, UNC & Va Tech is simply foolish, it also highlights is 2nd half struggle against FSU despite having the lead in the 1st half.

The OL hasn't been great, but we've all watched Kaaya take dozens of sacks while having plenty of time to get rid of the ball.

This has been the team's Achilles' tendon on Offense more so than anything else, Kaaya is an incredibly slow read in the pocket & does not respond well against heavy pressure.

He doesn't have a quick trigger, so his reaction time would be thrown off rhythm quite often in pressure situations (3rd downs & crucial plays etc..).

The Va Tech & UNC games particularly for me show this in abundance, our Defense got so many stops early on in those games giving us chance after chance, but the O just couldn't move the ball, every time the Defense got a stop, they would be back on the field in 30secs after a 3 & out by the Offense.

When everything was perfect with a clean pocket & he only had to make one read he could get in a Zone & catch fire, but other than that in Richt's offense he just couldn't handle coming off his first read if it wasn't open.

To me, the 4 game slide in October last year was primarily on him, yes the OL deserve some blame as well, but Kaaya really couldn't handle the moment of those big pressure games against FSU, UNC, Va Tech & ND.

With that said, I still wish him the best in the league & hope he has success... I'm also still amazed how he managed to end up the All-time passing leader in school history lol.

would rep

giphy.gif

What is happening in that gif?

sniper popped his head like a grape.. got splatter and everything.
 
Hopefully somebody on the roster has 'it' because that's what Brad was definitely lacking. Big time players make big time plays in big time games... said no one ever when talking about Brad. Sucks, but it is what it is. Time to move on.
 
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Kaaya wasnt a elite qb and nothing is wrong with that. No need to keep breaking anything down. Everybody cant be elite or even great. Dude was a solid qb who tried to do what he can to win. He has his flaws but i would rather have him than sheriffs or rosier.
 
i think these stats correlate well with the commonly held belief that kaaya struggles dealing with pressure in the pocket

pressure, being the common denominator




disclaimer: kaaya is a good quarterback, probably better than any QB on our current roster, and i do not place sole blame, or even majority blame, on him for our performance the past 3 years. the above is simply a critique on an otherwise good quarterback.
 
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Meanwhile McShay now has Josh Dobbs ranked higher than Kaaya for the draft
 
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He's gone, why y'all still hating on him?

Because it is our prerogative

Almighty defender of Kaaya

Some fans make it seem like it is the end of the world to replace him and aren't taking into account how great this front 7 is the current QB's are trying to compete against. Dorsey used to look like crap in Spring and Fall vs our D when this team was up to full strength. This D actually knows what they are doing this year unlike last Spring/Fall
 
He's gone, why y'all still hating on him?

C'mon, man. This one isn't hard...

This isn't intended to be a referendum on the poor play of Kaaya, but rather be an informational post to illuminate the fact that while we are losing experience at the most important position, we really only need marginal play to match what we received over the previous three seasons.
 
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There is no reason to bag on Kaaya, that stuff is getting out of control, but this is an excellent, objective analysis of the numbers.

We can go back and forth all day regarding the causation-- i.e. the chicken or the egg, the QB or the OC, etc.-- but what this analysis makes clear is that replacing and improving upon his total production should not be too difficult. In fact, if one of the 5 QBs can't give us a reasonable chance at that, we have a serious problem.
 
Meanwhile McShay now has Josh Dobbs ranked higher than Kaaya for the draft

And with good reason. If teams are drafting a development QB, Dobbs offers a bit more - bright kid and far better athlete, though passing skills are raw.
 
I would love to have him on my flag football team where the rush is pretty limited. I wish the young man continued improvement and a successful career.
 
That's why I never go out on a limb to defend Kaaya.

I appreciate him but he never won ONE big game.

The QB takes the blame and also receives praise when things go well.

He just wasn't a winner
 
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