My thoughts on Olsen's Spring Game

[ghost2]

Just finished watching the full replay of the Spring Game on espn3.com. I tried to key in on KO as much as possible.


The biggest thing I took away from watching him on film was that, in my opinion, most of his problems Saturday were related to "comfort level" - timing issues, rapport with receivers, moments of hesitation, etc. The good news is that most of what I saw can be fixed simply with more reps and more time with the offense. I didn't see a lot of glaring mechanical issues, or anything that led me to think "this is a bad quarterback." Some things I liked specifically:

- Quick release
- For the most part, hung in the pocket
- Rollouts were crisp
- Pretty decent play-fake
- I watched him actually scan the field and make secondary reads


The downside as of Saturday:

- Lots of "pushing" the ball - to me this is more a trust issue than anything to do with arm strength - he's throwing to a spot but isn't yet comfortable trusting the spot
- Happy feet - again, seemed to be more him rushing his internal clock than anything mechanical, even on designed rollouts
- Went through progressions, but half a tick slow leading to timing issues


In general, I was of course disappointed in his performance during the "game" (laugh laugh), but came away feeling cautiously optimistic about his overall abilities as a quarterback.

Kid needs reps and confidence and I think you'll see a lot of the issues from Saturday begin to resolve themselves. Thoughts?

 

[JHallCanes]

Just finished watching the full replay of the Spring Game on espn3.com. I tried to key in on KO as much as possible.


The biggest thing I took away from watching him on film was that, in my opinion, most of his problems Saturday were related to "comfort level" - timing issues, rapport with receivers, moments of hesitation, etc. The good news is that most of what I saw can be fixed simply with more reps and more time with the offense. I didn't see a lot of glaring mechanical issues, or anything that led me to think "this is a bad quarterback." Some things I liked specifically:

- Quick release
- For the most part, hung in the pocket
- Rollouts were crisp
- Pretty decent play-fake
- I watched him actually scan the field and make secondary reads


The downside as of Saturday:

- Lots of "pushing" the ball - to me this is more a trust issue than anything to do with arm strength - he's throwing to a spot but isn't yet comfortable trusting the spot
- Happy feet - again, seemed to be more him rushing his internal clock than anything mechanical, even on designed rollouts
- Went through progressions, but half a tick slow leading to timing issues


In general, I was of course disappointed in his performance during the "game" (laugh laugh), but came away feeling cautiously optimistic about his overall abilities as a quarterback.

Kid needs reps and confidence and I think you'll see a lot of the issues from Saturday begin to resolve themselves. Thoughts?

I agree. Just my opinion but I saw a lot of nerves, a lot of tension, a lot of overly fast play mentally. The kid has the tools to be a really good QB, he just needs reps. How many? I have no idea. We really don't have a choice at this point.

 

[NorthFlaCane]

According to the folks that actually attend the practices, he's looked a lot better in practice than what he did on Saturday.

That doesn't exactly give me great comfort for him making his first start against Louisville though.

 

[NVA CANE]

Just finished watching the full replay of the Spring Game on espn3.com. I tried to key in on KO as much as possible.


The biggest thing I took away from watching him on film was that, in my opinion, most of his problems Saturday were related to "comfort level" - timing issues, rapport with receivers, moments of hesitation, etc. The good news is that most of what I saw can be fixed simply with more reps and more time with the offense. I didn't see a lot of glaring mechanical issues, or anything that led me to think "this is a bad quarterback." Some things I liked specifically:

- Quick release
- For the most part, hung in the pocket
- Rollouts were crisp
- Pretty decent play-fake
- I watched him actually scan the field and make secondary reads


The downside as of Saturday:

- Lots of "pushing" the ball - to me this is more a trust issue than anything to do with arm strength - he's throwing to a spot but isn't yet comfortable trusting the spot
- Happy feet - again, seemed to be more him rushing his internal clock than anything mechanical, even on designed rollouts
- Went through progressions, but half a tick slow leading to timing issues


In general, I was of course disappointed in his performance during the "game" (laugh laugh), but came away feeling cautiously optimistic about his overall abilities as a quarterback.

Kid needs reps and confidence and I think you'll see a lot of the issues from Saturday begin to resolve themselves. Thoughts?

I agree. Just my opinion but I saw a lot of nerves, a lot of tension, a lot of overly fast play mentally. The kid has the tools to be a really good QB, he just needs reps. How many? I have no idea. We really don't have a choice at this point.

This is what I thought as well. He didn't look comfortable and its understandable given it was his first "real action." I think there will be improvement come August. How much, we will see, but no one should panic right now. I also liked that he was willing to throw the ball away rather than force a play. The numbers didn't look good and it was excruciating to watch during some of it, but over all I think he's got the tools to be a solid QB and actually produce this year. . He's just gotta put in work.

 

[JHallCanes]

According to the folks that actually attend the practices, he's looked a lot better in practice than what he did on Saturday.

That doesn't exactly give me great comfort for him making his first start against Louisville though.

Me neither. Pocket presence is something that is hard to teach but should get better with experience. People talk about Winston because he was a RS frosh too but his pocket presence was light years ahead of his time from the beginning. The upside is there's lots of time this summer and our skill positions are as talented as they've been in a long time collectively. Bad news is we are going to need to score a lot of points, not just play field position.

Last few days were probably a whirlwind for him so I expect it should get easier.

 

[NorthFlaCane]

According to the folks that actually attend the practices, he's looked a lot better in practice than what he did on Saturday.

That doesn't exactly give me great comfort for him making his first start against Louisville though.

Me neither. Pocket presence is something that is hard to teach but should get better with experience. People talk about Winston because he was a RS frosh too but his pocket presence was light years ahead of his time from the beginning. The upside is there's lots of time this summer and our skill positions are as talented as they've been in a long time collectively. Bad news is we are going to need to score a lot of points, not just play field position.

Last few days were probably a whirlwind for him so I expect it should get easier.

I don't think he'll have a problem scoring points with Coley, Dorsett, Lewis, and Duke in the lineup, but the real question is if he can maintain drives and not turn it over. Very similar to last year's problems, but at least it's a RS Frosh instead of a senior having those issues.

 

[ssj4cane]

He will be fine if we can run the ball and play defense. We get into shoot outs and its big trouble. Really no different though than if Williams was starting.

 

[Consigliere]

He will be fine if we can run the ball and play defense. We get into shoot outs and its big trouble. Really no different though than if Williams was starting.

This is really impossible to tell based on the lack of information and evidence available.

 

[mr_rogers_gayborhood]

KO will be fine. he needs a full half under fire to get over his nerves and then a few games to adjust to the speed.

we all gotta start somewhere.

 

[ghost2]

lol that's quite the screen name...

 

[hoover437]

I think the kid will do better than most on here. Always the guy that's never played that's better, however, I think he will be all in come August. Could be wrong, but love that we will have other guys push him.

 

[ghost2]

Something else I saw I liked - under pressure, Olsen has an innate knack for knowing when and how to throw a ball away. May not seem like much, but how many times have we been screaming for that exact skill over the last few years?

 

[drifters1234]

Just finished watching the full replay of the Spring Game on espn3.com. I tried to key in on KO as much as possible.


The biggest thing I took away from watching him on film was that, in my opinion, most of his problems Saturday were related to "comfort level" - timing issues, rapport with receivers, moments of hesitation, etc. The good news is that most of what I saw can be fixed simply with more reps and more time with the offense. I didn't see a lot of glaring mechanical issues, or anything that led me to think "this is a bad quarterback." Some things I liked specifically:

- Quick release
- For the most part, hung in the pocket
- Rollouts were crisp
- Pretty decent play-fake
- I watched him actually scan the field and make secondary reads


The downside as of Saturday:

- Lots of "pushing" the ball - to me this is more a trust issue than anything to do with arm strength - he's throwing to a spot but isn't yet comfortable trusting the spot
- Happy feet - again, seemed to be more him rushing his internal clock than anything mechanical, even on designed rollouts
- Went through progressions, but half a tick slow leading to timing issues


In general, I was of course disappointed in his performance during the "game" (laugh laugh), but came away feeling cautiously optimistic about his overall abilities as a quarterback.

Kid needs reps and confidence and I think you'll see a lot of the issues from Saturday begin to resolve themselves. Thoughts?

I agree. Just my opinion but I saw a lot of nerves, a lot of tension, a lot of overly fast play mentally. The kid has the tools to be a really good QB, he just needs reps. How many? I have no idea. We really don't have a choice at this point.

This is what I thought as well. He didn't look comfortable and its understandable given it was his first "real action." I think there will be improvement come August. How much, we will see, but no one should panic right now. I also liked that he was willing to throw the ball away rather than force a play. The numbers didn't look good and it was excruciating to watch during some of it, but over all I think he's got the tools to be a solid QB and actually produce this year. . He's just gotta put in work.

Voicing concern about a RS Freshman who did not "look comfortable" "[had] a lot of nerves [and] tension," and did not appear composed in a spring game, where he's in a non-contact jersy is not "panic[ing]." Given that performance, he's far more likely to have similar problems under the lights on a far bigger stage against Louisville than he is to resolve those problems in 4 months of off season training.

 

[drifters1234]

He will be fine if we can run the ball and play defense. We get into shoot outs and its big trouble. Really no different though than if Williams was starting.

This is really impossible to tell based on the lack of information and evidence available.

This.

 

[valid]

What Olsen needs is someone other than freaking Gray Crow to push him. Kaaya will give him the competition he needs to bring out the animal.

 

[Cans4life]

It didn't help Olsen that we ran about 8 different plays total during the entire scrimmage.

 

[Consigliere]

What Olsen needs is someone other than freaking Gray Crow to push him. Kaaya will give him the competition he needs to bring out the animal.

That is the case regardless if Kaaya is enrolled or not. Considering that he hasn't earned the starting job prior to RW going down, he should have this fire under his **** already.

 

[Gamineal]

so its olsen and not coaching...

just want to make sure..I know how posters get when it comes to players versus coaches...

 

[Consigliere]

so its olsen and not coaching...

just want to make sure..I know how posters get when it comes to players versus coaches...

We will never know the answer to this question.

KO is still a freshman, I don't know what people expect from a freshman at QB. It is a really tough position to forecast.

Gunner Kiel was the #1 QB in 2012, he hasn't played one down of football. All he did was commit to a bunch of schools and transfer, now he MIGHT start at Cinn.

 

[itsacanething]

What Olsen needs is someone other than freaking Gray Crow to push him. Kaaya will give him the competition he needs to bring out the animal.

not trying to discount your post but olsen was running second the entire spring behind williams. if that wasn't enough to push him what makes you think kaaya is going to push him?