Martinez: "Fast" but "Feable"

[Roscoe Pound]

TMart needs in this off season to work on becoming a leader. To do this he needs to set the example by rallying the players and leading the off season work. The problem is, it seems that TMart has not done this to this point and I don't know if he will be able to capture this role or if he will even be accepted as a leader because of all the opportunity that has past.  Burkhead is clearly the one to take this role, maybe TMart can be Burkhead's adjutant.

[74Hunter]

This was clearly a "collective" loss, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a quarterback who wouldn't see the light of day in 9 out of 10 BCS level programs.  Would a better quarterback have changed the outcome yesterday?  Probably not.  Our problems go well beyond our problems at quarterback.  But having a "real" quarterback leading the team certainly wouldn't have hurt our chances. 

Those who want to defend T-Mess have simply convinced themselves that he has the ability to become (or has already become) something he will never be.  History will bear out that he was a marginal college quarterback, at best.  He may not be the worst college quarterback I have ever seen, but he certainly isn't anywhere near a list of even the "good" quarterbacks I have seen, much less the "great" quarterbacks I've seen .  There is no way a program with the stature of Nebraska should ever be starting a quarterback like Taylor Martinez...period!

Keeping in mind this is not a bash Martinez statement, he's gotten better this year and that is for sure.  But the truth remains that in the major bowl games he would not likely start for any of the teams I've seen and sure as hades would not start for a single BCS team.  It's not his fault, he's doing the best he can and is in the position he is in because of the coaches who play him.  He also isn't the reason that they lost yesterday, that's on many people across many fronts.  But the fact remains that he's an average QB in the B10, and among the top 20 teams in the country he's a non-factor.  The Huskers need to improve on many levels, but two more years of Martinez is not going to help this team reach it's goals. 

 I find this “wouldn’t start anywhere else” line of thinking to be quite funny. Not only is it speculative, but if we look back in the history of our program, most of our greatest qbs ever wouldn’t have started at other schools. Gill wouldn’t likely have started at Miami or Penn State. Frazier wouldn’t have started at Florida, Florida St, or Miami, he wouldn’t even have got shot to play qb there. Crouch wouldn’t have started at texa$$, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, or Colorado. Frost, hell, he couldn’t even start at Stanford, let alone start at Florida or Tennessee.

A ridiculous argument at best.

[Valiantsailor]

This was clearly a "collective" loss, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a quarterback who wouldn't see the light of day in 9 out of 10 BCS level programs.  Would a better quarterback have changed the outcome yesterday?  Probably not.  Our problems go well beyond our problems at quarterback.  But having a "real" quarterback leading the team certainly wouldn't have hurt our chances. 

Those who want to defend T-Mess have simply convinced themselves that he has the ability to become (or has already become) something he will never be.  History will bear out that he was a marginal college quarterback, at best.  He may not be the worst college quarterback I have ever seen, but he certainly isn't anywhere near a list of even the "good" quarterbacks I have seen, much less the "great" quarterbacks I've seen .  There is no way a program with the stature of Nebraska should ever be starting a quarterback like Taylor Martinez...period!

Keeping in mind this is not a bash Martinez statement, he's gotten better this year and that is for sure.  But the truth remains that in the major bowl games he would not likely start for any of the teams I've seen and sure as hades would not start for a single BCS team.  It's not his fault, he's doing the best he can and is in the position he is in because of the coaches who play him.  He also isn't the reason that they lost yesterday, that's on many people across many fronts.  But the fact remains that he's an average QB in the B10, and among the top 20 teams in the country he's a non-factor.  The Huskers need to improve on many levels, but two more years of Martinez is not going to help this team reach it's goals. 

 I find this “wouldn’t start anywhere else” line of thinking to be quite funny. Not only is it speculative, but if we look back in the history of our program, most of our greatest qbs ever wouldn’t have started at other schools. Gill wouldn’t likely have started at Miami or Penn State. Frazier wouldn’t have started at Florida, Florida St, or Miami, he wouldn’t even have got shot to play qb there. Crouch wouldn’t have started at texa$$, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, or Colorado. Frost, hell, he couldn’t even start at Stanford, let alone start at Florida or Tennessee.

A ridiculous argument at best.

To say our most famous and loved QB's wouldnt start anywhere else is in itself a ridiculously ignorant statement

[Jarhead Husker]

This was clearly a "collective" loss, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a quarterback who wouldn't see the light of day in 9 out of 10 BCS level programs.  Would a better quarterback have changed the outcome yesterday?  Probably not.  Our problems go well beyond our problems at quarterback.  But having a "real" quarterback leading the team certainly wouldn't have hurt our chances. 

Those who want to defend T-Mess have simply convinced themselves that he has the ability to become (or has already become) something he will never be.  History will bear out that he was a marginal college quarterback, at best.  He may not be the worst college quarterback I have ever seen, but he certainly isn't anywhere near a list of even the "good" quarterbacks I have seen, much less the "great" quarterbacks I've seen .  There is no way a program with the stature of Nebraska should ever be starting a quarterback like Taylor Martinez...period!

Keeping in mind this is not a bash Martinez statement, he's gotten better this year and that is for sure.  But the truth remains that in the major bowl games he would not likely start for any of the teams I've seen and sure as hades would not start for a single BCS team.  It's not his fault, he's doing the best he can and is in the position he is in because of the coaches who play him.  He also isn't the reason that they lost yesterday, that's on many people across many fronts.  But the fact remains that he's an average QB in the B10, and among the top 20 teams in the country he's a non-factor.  The Huskers need to improve on many levels, but two more years of Martinez is not going to help this team reach it's goals. 

 I find this “wouldn’t start anywhere else” line of thinking to be quite funny. Not only is it speculative, but if we look back in the history of our program, most of our greatest qbs ever wouldn’t have started at other schools. Gill wouldn’t likely have started at Miami or Penn State. Frazier wouldn’t have started at Florida, Florida St, or Miami, he wouldn’t even have got shot to play qb there. Crouch wouldn’t have started at texa$$, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, or Colorado. Frost,  @#!*% , he couldn’t even start at Stanford, let alone start at Florida or Tennessee.

A ridiculous argument at best.

Frost may not have started for Tennessee but he sure beat the hell out of them in the 1998 Orange Bowl! You are correct that this all speculative, but I think Gill could have started for quite a few top teams. And Bernie Kosar would not have started for Barry Switzer in 1985 either, but he was a good quarterback. No one wanted any of our short, squatty offensive linemen either, but they did ok here under Milt.  Different offensive systems emphasize different skill sets. In an offense that runs option 25-30 plays a game, running ability will be priority one. We are throwing the ball a little more than TO did in the 1990's and that requires a better passer.

[OhioHusker43065]

This was clearly a "collective" loss, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a quarterback who wouldn't see the light of day in 9 out of 10 BCS level programs.  Would a better quarterback have changed the outcome yesterday?  Probably not.  Our problems go well beyond our problems at quarterback.  But having a "real" quarterback leading the team certainly wouldn't have hurt our chances. 

Those who want to defend T-Mess have simply convinced themselves that he has the ability to become (or has already become) something he will never be.  History will bear out that he was a marginal college quarterback, at best.  He may not be the worst college quarterback I have ever seen, but he certainly isn't anywhere near a list of even the "good" quarterbacks I have seen, much less the "great" quarterbacks I've seen .  There is no way a program with the stature of Nebraska should ever be starting a quarterback like Taylor Martinez...period!

Keeping in mind this is not a bash Martinez statement, he's gotten better this year and that is for sure.  But the truth remains that in the major bowl games he would not likely start for any of the teams I've seen and sure as hades would not start for a single BCS team.  It's not his fault, he's doing the best he can and is in the position he is in because of the coaches who play him.  He also isn't the reason that they lost yesterday, that's on many people across many fronts.  But the fact remains that he's an average QB in the B10, and among the top 20 teams in the country he's a non-factor.  The Huskers need to improve on many levels, but two more years of Martinez is not going to help this team reach it's goals. 

 I find this “wouldn’t start anywhere else” line of thinking to be quite funny. Not only is it speculative, but if we look back in the history of our program, most of our greatest qbs ever wouldn’t have started at other schools. Gill wouldn’t likely have started at Miami or Penn State. Frazier wouldn’t have started at Florida, Florida St, or Miami, he wouldn’t even have got shot to play qb there. Crouch wouldn’t have started at texa$$, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, or Colorado. Frost, hell, he couldn’t even start at Stanford, let alone start at Florida or Tennessee.

A ridiculous argument at best.

Absolute apples to oranges.  You are comparing option qbs to the rest of the country that did not run the option.  Ridiculous indeed.

[LarstheRed]

This was clearly a "collective" loss, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a quarterback who wouldn't see the light of day in 9 out of 10 BCS level programs.  Would a better quarterback have changed the outcome yesterday?  Probably not.  Our problems go well beyond our problems at quarterback.  But having a "real" quarterback leading the team certainly wouldn't have hurt our chances. 

Those who want to defend T-Mess have simply convinced themselves that he has the ability to become (or has already become) something he will never be.  History will bear out that he was a marginal college quarterback, at best.  He may not be the worst college quarterback I have ever seen, but he certainly isn't anywhere near a list of even the "good" quarterbacks I have seen, much less the "great" quarterbacks I've seen .  There is no way a program with the stature of Nebraska should ever be starting a quarterback like Taylor Martinez...period!

Keeping in mind this is not a bash Martinez statement, he's gotten better this year and that is for sure.  But the truth remains that in the major bowl games he would not likely start for any of the teams I've seen and sure as hades would not start for a single BCS team.  It's not his fault, he's doing the best he can and is in the position he is in because of the coaches who play him.  He also isn't the reason that they lost yesterday, that's on many people across many fronts.  But the fact remains that he's an average QB in the B10, and among the top 20 teams in the country he's a non-factor.  The Huskers need to improve on many levels, but two more years of Martinez is not going to help this team reach it's goals. 

 I find this “wouldn’t start anywhere else” line of thinking to be quite funny. Not only is it speculative, but if we look back in the history of our program, most of our greatest qbs ever wouldn’t have started at other schools. Gill wouldn’t likely have started at Miami or Penn State. Frazier wouldn’t have started at Florida, Florida St, or Miami, he wouldn’t even have got shot to play qb there. Crouch wouldn’t have started at texa$$, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, or Colorado. Frost, hell, he couldn’t even start at Stanford, let alone start at Florida or Tennessee.

A ridiculous argument at best.

Absolute apples to oranges.  You are comparing option qbs to the rest of the country that did not run the option.  Ridiculous indeed.

I think the better comparison is who would you rather have start for us as opposed to TM if given a choice of some of the other talent we've seen so far in the bowl games. If we want to compare where TM would be a better fit, we could look at some of the schools that run offenses similar to ours. Michigan or possibly Northwestern, would they take TM over the choices they have? V-Tech or West Virginia, would they?

I agree we can't really say all over our QBs over the years would have been instant starters anywhere they wanted, but I do think you have to believe, given the right school, many could have had very successful careers elsewhere.

[74Hunter]

Frost may not have started for Tennessee but he sure beat the hell out of them in the 1998 Orange Bowl! You are correct that this all speculative, but I think Gill could have started for quite a few top teams. And Bernie Kosar would not have started for Barry Switzer in 1985 either, but he was a good quarterback. No one wanted any of our short, squatty offensive linemen either, but they did ok here under Milt.  Different offensive systems emphasize different skill sets. In an offense that runs option 25-30 plays a game, running ability will be priority one. We are throwing the ball a little more than TO did in the 1990's and that requires a better passer.

Bingo, Luck or Weeden aren't the same type of player, not playing in the same system, or with the same supporting cast.

Absolute apples to oranges.  You are comparing option qbs to the rest of the country that did not run the option.  Ridiculous indeed.

Agreed, yed that is what many have done here.

[discoverer27]

Was at the game. Taylor is not the main problem but he also is not a huge help.  He's just kind of there.  Making just enough plays to make it interesting and just enough mistakes to keep us out of it.  He is so hesitant and upright when he runs he is going to get himself killed at some point. By the same token that type of qb can not put the team on his back or inspire when It's needed in a run first optionish type of offense.

I agree.  At times, he looked pretty decent.  You can see improvement, but he doesn't have all the skills needed to be an option QB.  I thought he threw the ball pretty well in the first half.  He missed a wide open Burkhead on a wheel route, but other than that he was on target for the most part, in the first half.  He wasn't helped by a couple of drops, an ongoing problem (hopefully Jordan Westerkamp can see that we need a stud WR with great hands!).  On a positive note, we'll never have to watch BK doink another ball off his chest!

Bottom line, I agree with you that while Martinez isn't the answer he wasn't really the problem today, IMO. 

He could speak up and get after the WRs who drop catches for the hundreth time when they hit them in the chest.  However yes he wasn't the biggest issue today other than his back foot INT he threw which was way off.

He did that earlier in the year and it caused a firestorm among the anti crowd here.

[MadRat]

After rewatching the game, most of the drops were on TMart's delivery being improper for the situation.  He certainly wasn't helping them get the ball.  All in all he wasn't running the ball badly.  A couple of their guys he just couldn't outrun and they hit him hard every time.  He certainly isn't used to that.

Choi and Caputo were killing us in the second half.  Maybe Choi is supposed to run by people in his zone scheme, but his passive releases were allowing DL to squirt by.  Choi needs to work on his downfield blocking, because he whiffs a lot.  And Caputo wasn't exactly a solid rock when he blocked.  His inability to physically perform the job really hurt in the second half.

[CoeSker]

In all reality Martinez has played QB competitively for what? 3 or 4 years including high school? I realize he has issues and I though he improved a ton from last year.  I hope he keeps improving.

On the other side of things, he tries to be more of a silent leader, which unfortunately probably helps more in a practice setting than actually in the game.  He is a relatively quiet kid anyway.  I hope he becomes more extroverted this offseason, and really works on his nerves. 

I am still backing him, but I also realize he is young, improving, but still has a lot to work on.