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Post by paydirt18 on Aug 17, 2009 9:59:21 GMT -6
Coaches, need some advice:
Our best player on our team by far is our quarterback. Big, strong, smart kid who has started since midway through his freshmen year. Now he is entering into his junior year and we have a desparate need for help at LB. My questions is, do we even think about playing hiom both ways? The reason I ask, is if he were to go down at QB-our season would be seriously in jeopardy. I have discussed this with my assistants and it is almost a 50/50 split. My gut right now tells me to roll the dice and play him both ways........
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Post by tothehouse on Aug 17, 2009 10:04:09 GMT -6
Coach - can you move somebody from the defense to backer? I've seen QB play a lot of DB, but not inside where they will get pounded. I think, in our situation, he'd play QB only. Tough one though.
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Post by Yash on Aug 17, 2009 11:45:30 GMT -6
If he doesn't play at linebacker do you lose the same amount of games you would if he didn't play at QB?
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Post by paydirt18 on Aug 17, 2009 20:35:21 GMT -6
great question- for us the answer would be if he does not play QB we very well could be fighting for 1-2 wins the entire season. Thanks for wording it that way-good point.
House, yeah I agree-I have seen a lot more play DB. I think my wheels are just turning in my head trying to think of the best possible lineup....
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Post by touchdownmaker on Aug 18, 2009 2:45:53 GMT -6
Id play him at linebacker and just make sure that you have your single wing offense ready to go if you lose your qb to injury.
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Post by justryn2 on Aug 18, 2009 5:09:14 GMT -6
I have never had my starting QB start on defense also. The injury risk is just one factor. The main reason I don't play my QB on defense is because his effectiveness as a QB would probably go down. I still think QB is the toughest position on the field. When we're on defense, I want my QB resting and thinking about the next possession.
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Post by jpdaley25 on Aug 18, 2009 18:03:31 GMT -6
"Hey, offensive linemen, wingbacks, fullback, and wideouts - You see that LB right there? If we knock him out of the game we will win... Now, I'm not telling you to go after his KNEES, and I'm not telling you to CHEAPSHOT him, and I'm not telling you to THROAT PUNCH him or HIGH LOW him or anything like that. Just good, clean football."
I would never say anything like that, but you know there are some that would.
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Post by blb on Aug 18, 2009 19:24:34 GMT -6
Have used our QB as Punt Returner, even nose on GL defense when he was biggest (and most competitive) kid.
Obviously wouldn't recommend it if you can help it - every situation (numbers) is different.
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Post by alneufeld on Aug 18, 2009 21:30:18 GMT -6
I would put him at DB
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coachriley
Junior Member
"Tough times don't last; Tough people do."
Posts: 406
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Post by coachriley on Aug 18, 2009 22:18:19 GMT -6
We played our QB at Sam backer last year. He did go down once with an injury, but we had an average enough backup and enough talent in the backfield to pick up the slack, but in your situation, it doesnt seem like you have that. I would probably look at what the other coaches suggest and put him at DB.
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Post by superpower on Aug 19, 2009 0:20:50 GMT -6
I have been coaching for a long time now, and while I realize that we as coaches feel the need to protect our QBs by limiting their contact on defense, I haven't seen very many QBs sustain major injuries while playing defense. Our starting QB was upset with me last year because we didn't allow him to play defense. He wanted to get in there and mix it up, but we simply didn't need him on that side of the ball. However, this year we don't have the same depth, and he will start as a DE. I realize that he could get hurt there, but the team needs him to play on defense if we are going to be as good as possible.
I would also add that one of the best QBs I have ever coached against was also one of the toughest DEs I have ever coached against. This kid was a 2-time state wrestling champ, and in a playoff game he dominated us on both sides of the line. If his coach had not played him on defense, they wouldn't have been in the playoffs.
Sometimes we just have to take the risk and let our QB be a football player.
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 20, 2009 22:12:19 GMT -6
I'd say play him at LB, but be prepared to spell him to make sure that you're not tiring him too much to be an effective QB. Two years ago we had our QB also start at CB and, while he was a boost to our defense, his footwork would suffer and lead to poor throws.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Aug 26, 2009 19:41:47 GMT -6
I am watching my qb get tired and his footwork suffers for sure. Its got me thinking....but at the same time, how can I put an athlete like that on the bench when we are on defense...seems like we are going to hang seven points up for the other team right now just by doing that...
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Post by coachinghopeful on Aug 26, 2009 23:08:40 GMT -6
It sounds like you are relying on him A LOT on offense. If he was a guy who mostly just handed the ball off, I wouldn't think twice about putting him on defense, but this kid sounds like the foundation of your whole offense. It doesn't sound like you should risk it.
If you play him on defense, besides the injury risk (and it is there), ask yourself if you want him to get tired from playing twice the snaps, get a swollen/broken finger from having his hand stepped on in a pile that throws his accuracy off, get a stiff shoulder from a big hit, etc. The act of throwing a football is complex and requires a lot of precise mechanics, which can suffer even with minor injuries the player doesn't mind playing through. Studies on college QBs have shown that their accuracy and efficiency rating drops like a rock once they take about 12 hits in a game. If he's a LB, too, you're *hoping* he's going to take at least twice as much punishment every week!
Also, if he's on defense, that works against you if you want a no huddle or quick tempo on offense. The kid'll be gassed! Fatigue causes sloppiness. It's proven. He'll probably be a boost to the defense, but don't be surprised if his play slips by the 4th quarter on offense.
You've also got to look at practice time and mental preparation. If he's only playing one position full-time, he can devote himself there and get confident in his abilities. He can really hone in on learning the coverages and gameplan for the week and be thoroughly prepared mentally. He can even get a few "technique" reps by running the scout team offense too.
However, if he's splitting time at two positions, he's also going to have to work with the LB coach, learn the defensive playbook, etc. Then there's the psychology of him possibly feeling lost or frustrated by not learning his assignments on defense. He can't throw a switch and go from being a fish out of water to a confident field general when he goes in to take snaps.
Now, if he's primarily a runner in an offense that asks him to make few complex reads or checks, I'd be more willing to look at playing him at LB because the little nicks that would affect his passing mechanics aren't such an issue, but if you throw more than 10 times a game and don't have a backup you can count on, I just wouldn't risk it except maybe in clutch situations (goal line, 3rd downs, etc).
I would explore the possibility of putting him in on kick and punt returns if he's that big of a stud, though. He might take some bigger hits there, but it's not a relatively huge number of snaps added to his workload.
These are reasons I don't necessarily subscribe to the "best athlete at QB" philosophy. If he was at ANY other position I wouldn't hesitate a minute to play him both ways if necessary, but here the tradeoff is probably too much IMO.
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Post by backsiderush on Aug 26, 2009 23:25:29 GMT -6
our qb has started both ways for 3 years qb/lb we have played for the state championship both years and won last year every kid on our team does exatly what HE says he is here leader and may be the toughest sob i have seen in a ling time
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Post by knighter on Aug 27, 2009 7:32:10 GMT -6
I have seen SEVERAL teams that have a QB playing LB. If he is a tough kid, and he can play football why not play him at LB? Are QB's not football players too? If you are worried at all about his health use him at outside backer and always put him to the short side of the field or to the weak side of the formation.
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barnone
Sophomore Member
Posts: 132
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Post by barnone on Aug 27, 2009 8:02:24 GMT -6
Do you have a tough nose saftey you can move down and play LB... This year I have a Saftey and a corner converted to play outside backer for us because I am trying to put the best and fastest kids on the field. Course one of them is the hardest toughest hitter on the team...
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Post by Coach JR on Aug 27, 2009 9:21:26 GMT -6
If he doesn't play at linebacker do you lose the same amount of games you would if he didn't play at QB? I think that is the question...what's more costly, not having him at LB, or not having him at QB?
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Post by td4tc on Aug 27, 2009 10:34:23 GMT -6
what does the kid say? IMHO that would be important to me.the only time i did it out of necessity the kid had a blast (played olb) but i could never talk to him during the game like i always did when the D was out there.It was harder to talk to him about what the defense was doing etc, which was more important to me during the game that i realized previously.always took it for granted.He was having so much fun (and was a stud reading the plays) that we just went with it.depends on so many factors but i would include the kid in the decision to some extent.
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Post by coachcb on Aug 27, 2009 17:58:16 GMT -6
I wouldn't play him both ways for two reasons:
A. You're going to take away reps from him as a QB. If you're running a QB-dependent offense, then he needs reps.
B. The injury issue is a major one; you can coach up a lot of kids to play LB, finding a tough, smart QB is a whole different issue.
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