Who is leading for the starting qb position?
- Thread starter Upperrwestsidetrojan
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Browne will start. Hearing he looks good and bad but maybe that is to be expected with changing teams, OC and receivers.
Yea, transfers buried on depth charts somewhere never have success somewhere else. Nate Peterman started 1 game at Tennessee vs Alabama and was terrible. Ironically, 1 of the only 2 games Max Browne started was also against Alabama. Kinda hard to play against Bama.
he has a lot of talent. just bad circumstances during his time at usc. all kinds of coaching changes and changes to the offense. the team was really messed up. no stability. then last yr. he gets a brand new oc, new qb coach and a new offensive scheme and he opens against at bama and at stanford. the guy is very good.
"buried on depth charts?" He was second string. Savage, Peterman and hopefully Browne follows suit. To be honest that would be pretty amazing to have three transfer QBs that play in the NFL in a short span.
true. darnold is like the best qb in the 5 years. so even if browne was the 5th best qb in the nation he could not keep the job. darnold turned around sc all by himself. but browne is a very good player.
I don't think it's a strategy a coach prefers but it actually has turned out a solid one for us. Its the most important position and realistically we can't afford to be in the sweepstakes for the best candidates at the high school level.
Reading that Kevan Smith article in the news today is a stark reminder of how poorly we have recruited high school QB talent. The guy himself and the article spun it like he was some fantastic player that Pitt stupidly buried (and Pitt coaches certainly have made stupid choices over the years). But in reality other than one single good pass (which in classic SOP fashion, was dropped) Smith was breathlessly inept at the position, but he had good (which is to say, bad) company.
Not to have digressed on a Kevan Smith rant, but its an example that sometimes, given the choice of dipping into the pool of dubious 1 star high school prospects with very little chance of greatness, vs. taking a flyer on 4 or 5 star transfer who got squeezed out by a bigger program merely due to its embarrassing riches, the latter is a not such a bad option. As long as you can keep the guys repeatedly coming in. Somehow, we have.
I'm going with DiNucci. Browne appears to be a nice kid but he doesn't appear to have the "it" factor that all successful QB's need.
Browne will start, only because Narduzzi had to guarantee he would start to get him to transfer - I don't care what Narduzzi says about "Open Competition". However, after Pitt struggles against YSU and loses to Penn State and Oklahoma State - Mainly because of Narduzzi's stupid defensive philosophy and his stubbornness to change, DiNucci will get the call and lead Pitt to a 7-5 season after a terrible 1-2 start.
Finally, DiNucci played great in the bowl game considering Narduzzi didn't give him 1 snap during the regular season and Orndorf dropped the game winning TD pass. It sucked that Narduzzi criticized him after the game, now his tune has changed a little.
Trojan -- one thing that concerns me about Browne, after seeing him play some in the spring game, is that he doesn't appear to be very mobile. Was that a problem in his days at USC?
Thanks for any info on what we might expect to see from him - like arm strength and accuracy, decision-making, etc.
Go Pitt.
Thanks for any info on what we might expect to see from him - like arm strength and accuracy, decision-making, etc.
Go Pitt.
Much truth here, in your typical blunt fashion that send our faux-Ivy hipster posters running to their safe rooms. I think (hope, pray) Browne is better than you seem to think, but honestly i agree that doesn't matter either way, that the fix is in for him to get the starting nod (but i don't disagree with that, a savvy coach sometimes has to make such deals to get better guys than he can normally snag... and flawed as his rep may have been, Browne still had a pedigree better than we usually rate).
But I thought DiNucci showed decent aptitude and spunk in the relief effort last game and wouldn't be incapable of stepping in if Browne is a disaster. Problem could be you are also right about the stubbornness, at least with clearly unsuitable defensive scheme last year. So he might stubbornly stick with a Browne far too long as well, if he has some similar bug in his brain that he's infallible in that opinion.
But the positive there is that he (they) were willing to pull the plug on Vojtek in favor of Peterman, which was frankly a surprise. It hopefully bodes well that a similar change would be made before too much of the season got squandered.
No he is not too mobile. He is not quick. He is very tall so once he gets going he is pretty fast. He can avoid pressure but is not slippery at all in the pocket. If you have a good offensive coordinator he can be great. If not he will be average. He needs good protection. If he gets it he will pick apart the defense. If not he will take some sacks. Great pro style qb. So so if the plat breaks down.
I don't know if DiNucci is the answer, but absolutely do not think Browne is. I thought he was average at best in the spring and if you are a 5 star out of high school no one should beat you out in college, even Darnold. Pitt's next star QB is without a doubt Kenny Pickett, IMO!!!!!
I truly hope you're right Trojan, I have been an avid Pitt fan for over fifty years and I would love to see Browne be an all American which would mean Pitt would have great season, but still believe Pickett will be a star ⭐️
I doubt All American but 2nd team all league. This is his first year on the team so he will probably be much better during the second half of the season
Unfortunately we need him to be good in the first half of the season, Penn State and Oklahoma State
What is funny is that people here MAC did not have a good spring so he is out. DiNucci came in the bowl game because he was the only one to get them out of the huddle. Has so limitations. Smart Kid. After getting a little tip all 4 where having a good camp based on there talent. Just another tip if you can back peddle and throw the all on a rope 60 yards you can negate a lot of pass rush. It comes down to who handles the team the best.
both those teams are very good. I thought penn state was very good for a young team last year. Now they are vets. OSU is always good. So you are correct. It might be tough. I like max, but I have to be realistic.
Browne doesn't chose Pitt unless he had some assurances he would start, grad transfer just don't have the time mess around.
How I see it happening...
Browne starts, goes 7-5 or 8-4, and then the keys get handed over to DiNucci or Pickett. I've always been a big DiNucci fan, but I think Pickett wins out. Regardless, that's some of the best QB talent we've had in a loooong time.
Browne starts, goes 7-5 or 8-4, and then the keys get handed over to DiNucci or Pickett. I've always been a big DiNucci fan, but I think Pickett wins out. Regardless, that's some of the best QB talent we've had in a loooong time.
It will be Browne to start and then we will see how he does. The key will be running the ball. We have to be able to pound the ball to avoid depending on the QB and keeping our defense off the field!
I wonder if Browne has problems with intangibles. Everything I read and hear is that he can make every throw, is smart, and a leader. Yet he hasn't reached his potential and the spring game was concerning. Man I hope this is the year everything clicks for him.
Willing to bet that Darnold doesn't have that "great" year this year. He had a great bowl game and the media couldn't hype him any higher in that game. Let's see what he does this year.
We have a 5 star competing with a 2 star, 5.4 rating and 1 power 5 offer. Something wrong with that picture. in the wings we have two 3 star backups
with ratings of 5.5 and 5.6, and another 3 star coming in with a 5.6 rating.
They all have impressive highlight videos. Gotta wonder how accurate these ratings are. I put more faith in the coaches decisions.
Lack of instinct/being a "natural" is usually the reason QB's will all the skills fail and having those qualities is also the reason why QB's lacking some skills succeed!
The STAR rating system leaves out the intangibles/instinct/natural ability for the position, including the drive to succeed at a designated position.
Yes its kind of interesting. A guy who won at the highest level in a serious football state and was pretty far and away elected the player of the year in the state at the highest level, demonstrably tough and obviously smart (qualifying for an Ivy league scholarship...a real Ivy, not the "public Ivy" a lot of our eggheads fancy us to be). A proven winner. Yet next to no attention from D1 or even legit 1-AA. Pitt gave him an offer basically to try to (futilely) entice the Jerky kid playing behind him and good PR. Seems ratings are overwhelmingly based on size parameters.
So after all of that info no conclusion? Let us know how his year will end?
yeah sometimes I lose my own point! What i meant to conclude is that this totally unheralded guy (who nonetheless was enormously accomplished in his HS career) could yet eclipse the all world guy. We only really have to consider the case of Pat Bostick to remember that QB evaluations may not be what they crack up to be.
This is an interesting post. What happens if our offense stalls against osu and osu. Hope we don't find out but would be curious to see how long the leash is for Browne if he falters out of the gate. Can only stick with a 5th yr senior for so long.
I thought DiNucci looked good in that game too. His teammates let him down. Dropped TD pass, juggled pass that turns into interception, etc. Plus he was playing without Conner and the defense was gutted w/ injuries. That dude can play and I hope he's getting a fair shake.
