Anyone else concerned? My take: When Sam went down, it was great having Buechele able to step right in. That was an enviable position. I really like Roschon, but he's a true Freshman (and some say he could stand to work on his mechanics). Not sure how good Casey Thompson or our other QBs are. Losing depth at this critical position to the dad-gum transfer portal is enough to make one uneasy. Unless Thompson, Roschon, or somebody else are at least average, an injury to Sam could send us off the tracks. Many of us suffered through the Shannon Kelly, Murdock, Shea Morenz days of QB play, and don't want to see anything approaching that again. The bright side: perhaps it's different now with as many electrifying playmakers as we have on offense and a good OL. Maybe an average Joe could just 'drive the bus' while we grind it out with the running attack, and our superb skill position players take short passes to the house and get us a conference championship...? I'm still uneasy.
I hear you, and would love a ton of depth, and experience. The position has changed, for a myriad of reasons these dudes are ready early. The last two national championship games are proof of that. I feel better that Roschon is on campus, and Casey should have the O down. The way Sam plays though... They better be ready!
I agree with stability killer. Looks like the future is a solid number 1; a Sophomore back-up who will transfer out at the end of the season if number 1 will return; and a true Freshman. Makes recruiting a top level QB every year a must.
For whatever reason I am not terribly worried about the backup situation. No doubt, having Shane would be a stabilizing force but unfortunately I also think that the ceiling with Shane was reasonably low. (I didn’t believe that initially.) On the other hand, while we really don’t know yet about Thompson, I like the potential. I also believe that if Johnson is needed, he will be at a minimum adequate...with a huge upside. What I am saying is that I think we have more upside without Shane than with. I hate saying it, but I do believe it.
Honest thoughts, and I agree. Love Shane, and all he stands for. Our QB needs to be elite, and take games over, big games.
Funny how it has worked out to be the opposite for some other schools like OU. I have to think at some point, we'll also be the beneficiary and get an elite QB this way. Law of averages right?
You just never know what you're going to get with backup QBs that have seen little or no action in real games. We've seen this one before: Tech loses a QB or 2, and some young guy nobody's ever heard of comes off the bench, lights up the scoreboard a few weeks in a row, and is suddenly all conference material.
I think the whole issue is that we don't know. And starting freshman QBs who aren't Trevor Lawrence types are a risk. A strong program shouldn't have to worry about a QB injury from year-to-year because a highly rated backup QB got impatient.
Granted that there were only two games (USC & TCU) that were semi blowouts, the coaches knew that Shane was not coming back. Why no playing time for either of the frosh last season? The no experienced backup QB on the roster is on them. For better or worse, the back up QB situation is what it is. I hope that Sam doesn't get hurt but that there is enough separation in games that our backup QB gets some snaps throughout the season. I don't worry about it. I figure that a guy making $5 million plus a year knows what he is doing or he won't be making that kind of money soon if he doesn't.
Failure to get adequate game time for backup QBs has been an ongoing sore spot at least since the Mack Brown era. Herman doesn't do it, Mack didn't do it (for the most part), Charlie didn't do it either.
I don't think it's law of average, it's that a QB knows that a plug-and-play system is in place that will "guarantee" him great stats, postseason opportunities, and a look at the NFL. Texas doesn't have that yet - maybe it will eventually. For now, I think you have a handful of schools that top QBs are going to want to transfer into, and the rest are going to be based on who has the open spot on the roster.
Agree. Backup QB's with all world talent and skills in HS and show promise in practice, have to step into the huddle when the starter goes down with an injury. Some backups can handle it, but many succumb to the suddeness of change, pressure to perform when it counts, tempo of the game, deal with adrenaline / nerves, crowd noise, etc., etc.
I really don’t believe that Herman had a chance to use anyone other than Buchele in 2018. There was no opportunity because every game was undetermined until very late. On the other hand, I don’t think Mack managed this issue well at all. In fact, all through the 2009 season I kept telling my buddy that we desperately needed to get GG reps. We never did although there were more than a few opportunities.
