Monday, August 19, 2024

The "Sure" Things

 


Seitu Smith


Coming into last season, it was a decent assumption that one of Columbia's best and deepest positions was quarterback. 

After all, the Lions had two starters with career winning records as starters returning for 2023. One of them, Joe Green '24 was a former Ivy Rookie of the Year. The other, Caden Bell '24, was riding a a three-game winning streak going into the new season. 

Naturally, both Green and Bell had a lousy 2023.

Bell had just a 42% completion rate and 4.46 yards per pass attempt. 

Green's completion rate was a decent 56%, but his YPA was also a paltry 4.67.

Columbia's QB's combined for just six TD passes. 

When looking for reasons for CU's 3-7 2023. everything starts and ends with the QB position. 

New Offensive Coordinator Seitu Smith is also taking on the duties of QB coach, and one can see the pluses and minuses connected to that double duty. 

On the positive side, there should be no loss of communication or fuzzing of the bigger offensive picture for the QB's when the same guy is in charge of the playbook and the signal callers. 

On the negative side, it feels like a heavy lift for the same man to take over a brand new offense and a stable of QB's at the same time. 

While QB's seemed like the deepest position last year, WR's sure looks like the most talented and diverse group this season. 

With Bryson Canty, Marcus Libman, Titus Evans, and Edan Stagg all back the new QB starter will have some nice targets to choose from. But new WR's coach AJ Gallagher has some big shoes to fill in replacing the popular Jerry Taylor in that role. 

The overall point of this post is that preseason perceptions can often be very wrong. But they can also be correct in a vacuum. That is, the Lions may indeed have a very talented and deep WR corps but if the QB play doesn't improve it won't matter. 



 

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

QB play was hurt by the loss of Canty to be sure. And the pass protection wans’t very good either. As far as this year, tell me how the OL will perform and I’ll tell you how the pass game will go.

Anonymous said...

The Offense is going to explode and the Defense will be dominant.

Anonymous said...

THE FACT THAT SO MANY GUYS CAME BACK FOR A REDSHIRT YEAR IS A GREAT SIGN OF ENTHUSIASM FOR THE NW STAFF.

Anonymous said...

MEANT NEW STAFF

Anonymous said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

Seitu Smith was a tremendous player during his collegiate days. The Columbia Offense is going to be very exciting and highly successful under his leadership.

Anonymous said...

Columbia adds some more firepower to the offense by switching speedy junior defensive back Ethan Hebb and. first year db Miron Magee to wide receiver. Look for the Lions to have a wide open offense with big play potential.

Kim said...

Olá Administrador do Blog,
Quero apenas deixar esta mensagem aqui no seu blogue para dar a conhecer a alguém um apoio financeiro que o Sr. Pedro me oferece durante a época do covid-19 porque essa época foi muito má e difícil para mim depois do confinamento do país quase perdi o o meu negócio perante Pedro Jerome, um agente de crédito que me ajudou com um empréstimo à taxa de 2% em troca de financiar o meu negócio, estou muito grato e mostrar gratidão ao seu apoio testemunhará o quanto estou grato ao seu serviço e à sua equipa de trabalho como bem, depois de visitar o seu escritório na minha localidade, soube que era um bom homem com um coração agradecido.
Gostaria que qualquer pessoa aqui com condições financeiras contactasse o Sr Pedro Jerome no seu email pedroloanss@gmail.com e WhatsApp: +393510140339 ele irá ajudá-lo com qualquer tipo de crédito, crédito habitação, crédito automóvel, crédito construção, crédito empresarial, pessoal empréstimo, desde que seja honesto o suficiente para fazer um retorno.

Anonymous said...

Anyone have some insight into how camp is going so far?

Anonymous said...

No real details but have heard things are going well.

Anonymous said...

Don't you like last year's offense where the Bubble Screen was the featured norm? How about control the clock and hang it on the defense? It's a whole new day for CU football! Open it up, sit back, and watch it move down the field thru the air!

Anonymous said...

How is the QB competition shaping up so far? And who other than Chapman is going to start on the OL? PS,looks like John Martin is really heavy again—the new roster shows him at 335.

Anonymous said...

Team is looking good. Ivy Championship on the horizon

Anonymous said...

whoa let's not get ahead of ourselves yet

Anonymous said...

You heard it here first. Ivy Championship. That’s right.

Anonymous said...

10-0. No doubt.

Anonymous said...

Time to unleash the Lions.

Anonymous said...

The 10-0 post a weak attempt at sarcasm that only the poster finds funny.

Anonymous said...

Freshman QB’s HS tapes—kid has a big arm and is mobile in the pocket

Anonymous said...

Dad, I asked you not post like this!

Anonymous said...

so how did camp go?

Anonymous said...

Camp went well. Team is lock and load.

Anonymous said...

How about Buffalo over Lafayette! Check star RB stats! Gives us hope and provides a plan. How about moving season starting date up in the Ivies? ADs on the case like Cracker Jack Smith on the T Rump case!

Anonymous said...

So other than Chapman at center who is likely to start on the OL, especially left tackle?

Anonymous said...

Where is Jake? We miss Jake

Anonymous said...

Lock and load, baby!

Anonymous said...

Uh same guy that started at LT last 2 games of the year??? 4 returning starters from end of last season. Add in #73 and there are your starting 5

Anonymous said...

Not sure about 10-0, but we will be much improved from last year. I believe in Coach Poppe. The boys love him & are going to battle hard for him!! We all need to have patience!!

Anonymous said...

Hello!!! Is anyone there???

Anonymous said...

Ivies start soooo late.. Rest of the country? Isn't anyone upset with having to wait so long? ADs get paid to? How about our AD waking up and getting the schedule advanced, getting rid of Engles, in other words , doing a job that you get paid for.

Anonymous said...

Engles gunning for another 4-10 Ivy campaign. Poppe likely to have more wins in conference than Lucky Jim.

Anonymous said...

Engles doing his best but what other school would tolerate it?

Anonymous said...

Engles has profited by the fact that so many other Ivies have lost players through graduation and/or the transfer pool. I think Engles is looking at 7-7 with his roster and a few good incoming players.

Anonymous said...

Let’s not focus on Engles. Our attention should be on the great season the team is going to have.

Anonymous said...

No way Engles goes 7-7 in conference. Best he can hope for is 5-9, but 4-10 or even 3-11 more likely. The rest of the league ain’t standing still.

Anonymous said...

Poppe to run rings around Engles.

Anonymous said...

Poppe will take us to the Championship

Anonymous said...

Engles booked Mercyhurst and a host of other D III teams! Wow ! How and why does he get away with this year after year and still be UNDER .500?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know if there is a home scrimmage this weekend and if so what time and against whom?

Anonymous said...

Prediction: Engles will be sacked halfway through the season (after yet another campaign of massive underachievement) with as little communication about the change from the AD as there has been to date (from the same quarters) about why Engles has lasted this long. Is it the old Sherwin codicil that’s to blame?

Anonymous said...

Mercyhurst D1 now.

Anonymous said...

Home intersquad scrimmage tomorrow starting around 11:30 am - all welcome to attend

Anonymous said...

Strong safety Jordan Colbert 22C who pg'd at URI made the Miami Dolphins Practice Squad, just as Dante Miller made the NY Giants Practice Squad

Anonymous said...

Re the “Sherwin codicil” the will must have been admitted to probate and should be available to any interested party.

Anonymous said...

So why don't you lazy clowns go find it instead of tarnishing Mr Sherwin?

Anonymous said...

Or just ask BK.

Anonymous said...

Why not move the start of the football season back to October, give Engles a lifetime contract, bring back the bubble Screen and bring back, M. Diane Murphy! Talk about tragedy!

Anonymous said...

And while we’re at it, we could bring Mango back on staff.

Anonymous said...

Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Play Pad LLC!