I’m sure this has been discussed but curious on everyone’s thoughts. Here’s my play on the situation if I was Moorhead. I think since we landed Stevens he’ll be the starter. Coach is going to take this year to develop Key more. With the new RS rules he can play in 4 games and still redshirt. This way he can come in next year and have 2 years left as a RS Jr while still playing some this year. Redshirt GS also and that gives him time to grow in the system. Sets us up for a few years if Key can keep developing until handing the reigns to GS. It’s nice finally having depth and decisions to make at QB.
QB Theory
- Thread starter Tigr2ndbase
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I agree with Key transferring. If I’m Moorhead this was my strategy going into the season and made sure I had those conversations with Key to make sure he was good with it.
Agree. It may help keep him if we do redshirt him though. If he doesn't redshirt, he only gets 1 year to be the starter. If he does, he could be available if needed for up to 4 games this fall, then start in 2020 & 2021. Assuming Stevenes doesn't get injured or is ineffective and that Thompson would win the job next fall. If he does redshirt, I would use one of the other guys for mop-up duty in any blowout games and save him for games he's actually needed in to reduce the risk we play in in 4 games then need him in the Egg Bowl.
I find it unlikely that Joe's plan 1A beyond this year centers around KT when he's got a guy on campus who he's been targeting for years before he got here in Schrader. If he's aiming for KT to redshirt this year and start the next two, that means he wouldn't be putting "his guy" on the field until he's a redshirt junior, which in today's climate would carry a pretty good chance of "his guy" being the one to transfer out. I think it's more likely Joe's plan for KT is to play him this year and try to get him to stick around for next year in case Schrader needs one more year to get ready.
In any case, I hope we can find a meaningful role of some type for KT as long as he's here because he's a great athlete and he's been a great dawg to this point doing whatever is asked of him.
In any case, I hope we can find a meaningful role of some type for KT as long as he's here because he's a great athlete and he's been a great dawg to this point doing whatever is asked of him.
If KT does transfer, you can't be too upset with him. He was recruited to run a different offense and I'm sure he expected to be starting this year prior to Stevens showing up.
Don't shoot the messenger but barring injury I don't see KT ever starting.
Not this year and not next year. I hate it for him because of the time he's put in but he was recruited as a 50/50 run to pass qb. JoeMo expects those ratios to be more like 80/20 pass to run. That's just the system he runs and signs are pointing to still being an inconsistent passer. He's been evaluated 2 springs and 2 fall camps now. A transfer is what's best for him I think before it's too late. Yeah it's worst case scenario for us but he's too good to not be somewhere as a starting qb. Flame away, that's just what I'm predicting.
Not this year and not next year. I hate it for him because of the time he's put in but he was recruited as a 50/50 run to pass qb. JoeMo expects those ratios to be more like 80/20 pass to run. That's just the system he runs and signs are pointing to still being an inconsistent passer. He's been evaluated 2 springs and 2 fall camps now. A transfer is what's best for him I think before it's too late. Yeah it's worst case scenario for us but he's too good to not be somewhere as a starting qb. Flame away, that's just what I'm predicting.
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If Moorhead was going to redshirt KT, he should have done it last year. He barely played after the opener. There may have been some critical times where he replaced Fitz and just handed the ball off... I don't remember. So maybe we couldn't redshirt him. But in my opinion we missed our chance last season.
Thompson transferring is not a foregone conclusion. He will be the starter next year, and an injury away from being the starter this year. I cannot see Shrader beating out a 4th year player, he needs at least another year in the system and weight room.
Nothing but love for KT whatever he chooses to do. He brought home one of the most satisfying State victories of my life. As i sat in a sports book in Vegas having the Dogs on the money line +275, and a bunch of **** talking Louisville investors all around me, KT lead State fans in giving a huge middle finger to Dan Mullen, and upstaged Lamar Jackson and little Bobby Petrino for the huge win. I’ll always root for Keytaon Thompson no matter what.
I see GS redshirting this year and backing up KT next year. Possibly playing some next year and starting the rest of his career at State unless KT jumps ship before next year.
Could he transfer like Kelly Bryant did last year or was that only because he was a grad transfer?
Well, there was the A&M game, which may be the most curious use of KT all season. After the LSU debacle (where KT got a couple snaps due to concussion protocol) Moorhead publicly stated that KT would get to run a series against A&M. He put him in in the first half, and we ran three confused plays that lost yardage, only to have a penalty give us a first down. Then Fitz came back in.
I don't know enough about Moorhead to understand his use of backup QBs, but he really seemed to have no interest in giving KT any snaps last year. I think just about any other coach would have used him late in the games against LSU and Alabama, just to let him get experience playing in those stadiums.
It's not a foregone conclusion KT is the starter next year either. JoMo has given high praise to Shrader in Fall camp. If he progresses throughout the season and next Spring, he has a legit shot to start next year. Plus Moorhead recruited him hard. I hope KT hangs around and makes a run at the starting job next year, but he may see the writing on the wall and move on. Who knows at this point......
It should be obvious to everyone by now that KT is not what Moorhead is looking for in a QB. The fact that Stevens was brought in over the summer and will be the starter this fall shows that KT has not developed into the QB that Moorhead was wanting him to be. KT will not be the starting MSU QB this year or any other year. I like KT and I hate it for him. These things often happen when a new coaching staff comes in. I wish KT great success and hope that he can find a school that runs an offense that fits his talents.
FYI - According to their recruiting profiles and based on each QB's senior season, KT was a 4-star dual-threat QB who threw 63% of the time for 3,924 yds, 46 passing TD's, 26 running TD's against 7 INT's in 329 attempts and a completion % of 60%. TS was a 3-star who threw 63% of the time for 1,621 yds 15 passing TD's, 10 running TD's against 5 INT's in 187 attempts and a completion % of 58%.
So, coming out of high school, all indications were KT was the better passer & runner, with identical completion %. In college, TS got to be in Joe's system as a backup for 3 years, while KT was coached by Dan. Is it really crazy to think KT could well be the better QB after another off-season in Joe's system, particularly since it's the first time he has not been behind an incumbent starter?
Now consider many are convinced TS is a no-brainer, even if there weren't suspensions coming, despite the fact TS has thrown more than 4 passes in a game just three times in 3 years of college ball...never more than 7. Sure seems to me like some of us are far too ready to pronounce TS our savior based on what he has done at practices.
I hope the kid is the next Joe Montana, but I do think some of you are rushing to judgement based on a ridiculously small sample size of data. KT is the only one who has any significant game time, and he has 3 games. Of those 3, he was thrust into the Egg Bowl with no starter-reps prior to the game, in the highest pressure game of the year for us. Shaky at first, he settled down and damn near brought us back for a win...just running out of time. His next game, his first as a starter saw him out play Heisman-winner Lamar Jackson, and his 3rd was the very first game in a new system under Joe...a game where Joe clearly was determined to force passing to see what he had vs an opponent with no chance to beat us. And even then KT looked pretty damn good except for one bad stretch at the beginning of the 3rd Q.
TS may well be the man...but I think some of you folks are premature in your rush to crown him King of senior prom.
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I think I'll wait to see how each does this year with extended play in real games vs opponents who aren't lambs-to-the-slaughter. KT's stats are impacted greatly by his being thrust into tough situations. TS has not yet played enough in any one game to know how good he really is or isn't when the ****-hits-the-fan.
Pretty in practice means next-to-nothing, as does a high completion % when your QB is throwing it 1, 2, 3 or 4 times in a game. The proof will be in the pudding. I do hope each QB is given a fair shot to win the job on performance alone.
Pretty in practice means next-to-nothing, as does a high completion % when your QB is throwing it 1, 2, 3 or 4 times in a game. The proof will be in the pudding. I do hope each QB is given a fair shot to win the job on performance alone.
Please show us 'where,' with a healthy QB, JoeMo EVER had an O that was "like 80/20 pass to run." With Hill at RB and either QB a running threat, we will NEVER be close to 80/20.
His best O at PSU, even with Trace McSorley at QB had ..
Barkley has blossomed into a legit Heisman contender, after he rushed for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns to go with over 400 yards receiving and four TD catches in ‘16.
I wouldn't say that practice means next to nothing. Obviously being good in practice doesn't automatically mean you'll be in good in games, but if one QB is clearly better than another in practice, why should one think that things will be different in an actual game? From all behind the scenes reports (which is all we'll ever get), Stevens has been the better QB in camp. As long as he doesn't stink it up in games then I expect him to be the guy all season.
As much as I like and respect KT, I don't think one can argue that he hasn't been given a fair shot. He's been through two springs and now two fall camps with this coaching staff. In both springs he got all of the first team reps since Fitz was injured last year and Stevens wasn't here this spring. He's had a lot of time to prove that he can be the guy, and yet we still felt the need to bring in Stevens this summer who seems to have pretty clearly won the job in just a couple of weeks of practice.
I understand this thinking, but its a zero sum game. If KT is the starter in 2020 and 2021, Shrader won’t be here by then...and vice versa. Just the nature of college football these days. Moorhead has some decisions to make about which guy is the future for 2020 and beyond, and he needs to start preparing that guy and the others for that eventuality. I personally am going to be somewhat worried about Shrader if he isn’t considered the frontrunner by next fall. He’s Moorhead’s hand picked guy for this system, and he’ll have 20 months in the program by that time.
Joe is all in on Shrader. Has been since the day he first stepped foot in Starkville. He wanted Shrader to be "his guy" to run his offense. I will be surprised if he is not the starter in 2020.
I can't believe Tommy not being the starter is even being talked about. He was going to be the starter all along and there was never any competition. Think about it. This is a guy who demanded to know if he was going to be named the starter at Penn State. When Franklin told him no, he got out. Do you honestly think he would have agreed to come here if he was NOT going to be the starter. Don't you think he asked Moorhead the same thing before he came here??
I believe Tommy or his dad said something about being told one thing, only to have the coaching staff backtrack. I suspect it was that he was told he would be the presumed starter unless the other guy clearly beat him out by a decent margin, then after Spring, he was told it was at best 50-50.
TS has also stated he wanted to go somewhere where his chance to win the job in his final year of eligibility was a big factor. At PSU he was not ahead of the other guy. At MSU, he stepped into a situation where there was not a returning starter and his chances to win QB 1 were enhanced by not having to learn a new system.
The above reasons are enough to make his move here logical without a guarantee to be the starter.
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Hey guys, unless Stevens gets hurt Keytaon has likely started his last game at State.
Shraeder is next man up.
Shraeder is next man up.
I wouldn't be so quick to count out Mayden. I know its an incredibly small sample size, but he looked good this past spring game.
Yep my opinion is Stevens to Start and/or share time with KT to give Shrader another year to develop with it being his team for 3 years. It sucks for KT but also, I say that there is no job “given” to anyone because of who you are. And between KT and Shrader, whoever earns it will get the job, and if the othe transfers then so be it.
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