Portal Woes and Lack of Development: Why 9-1 Feels Worse Than it Should

[TOcane]

CBS is B1G now

I know but isn't 247 run by them? They have been SEC forever I'm sure the bias is still their.

 

[TOcane]

In regards to running back, there's a disconnect between Dawson and MC. Martinez and Fletcher aren't build to be #1RBs and to make matters worse, they are not the right fit in this offense. We need someone with burst as soon as they get the ball and a 4.38-4.44 RB in this offense. It still bothers me that we keep trotting Martinez and Fletcher when we have 3 running backs that fit this scheme better.

What are you talking about Martinez is getting 6 yards a pop?

 

[Jassid82]

Havent seen this many insane "hot takes" after a loss in a long time. Alot of you posters have really lost it and I guess had alot of money on this game because you have really gone off the ledge. I get being mad after a loss like that but Jesus..you would have thought we lost and completely ruining our chances of getting to the #1 goal of winning the ACC title. Which is STILL THE #1 goal and is still in our view. Being undefeated was not the #1 goal. Winning the ACC title by any means was.

People bringing up Lannings success at Oregon are also being very unfair. First off, Lanning was left the keys to a **** Rolls Royce at Oregon and should be kissing Marios a$$..But thats neither here or there.. In one breath people on here HATED Manny Diaz just a week ago because he left the program in shambles..literally spent a week HATING the guy. Now you arent giving Mario the benefit of the doubt that he had to completely revamp the roster and the mess that YOU POSTERS said Manny left him. And we are in year 3 and we are 9-1 and now we are getting folks questioning development?? LOL. I will keep saying it..there are about 50% of the posters on here who couldnt wait for us to lose so they could bring out the pitch forks. That is the most evident thing I have seen in the last 48hrs.

 

[TOcane]

Corey Flagg >> Jaylin Alderman.

Fr, JA looks like he's 30 with 3 kids.

Next year, I hope we prioritize our signees with potential over a malformed/experienced transfer.


We can't let Kaleb Spencer xfer & popo aguirre sit the bench while JA gets pt.




Can't man!

Have you watched anything Aguirre is hurt and Alderman is a 2 year guy not that he has done anything.

 

[D_G87]

This isn't based on any info, so it shouldn't spark transfer speculation. But I really hope some of the 2023 guys stick around to truly develop. Chris Johnson, Jr., Tommy Kinsler, Frankie Tinilau, Josh Horton and the Washingtons are guys with impact tools who have flashed in practice.

There are reasons why they aren't ready to contribute on an ACC Title contender right now, but long-term the payoff is potentially big. I hope they stick with it.

Besides being fast, what has CJ shown that he can be a contributor for an ACC title contender? I mean even walk ons will “ flash” during a practice. I don’t see anything, although limited, that show he will ever be a major contributor. Terrible vision, small, and still extremely raw

 

[NJshoreCane]

Just saw a graphic that GT put up the most rushing yrds against us since 2020 vs. UNC.

They averaged a first down (10.1 yards) per carry that game, smh.

 

[Jassid82]

What are you talking about Martinez is getting 6 yards a pop?

Dont feed the trolls bro. Clearly that guy didnt read the 1000 previous posts as to why Ajay Allen and CJJ are not getting PT. Because they are not good in pass protection. And in this offense, if you dont pass protect at RB, you dont get PT. Simple as that. ****, Don Soldinger had that rule back in the day. If you dont want to pass protect..he didnt care how great you were..you were not playing.

 

[NJshoreCane]

Appreciate the write up.
The no-brainer concerns are the HS and Portal D back 7.
Some tough grading, especially on this past class.

I will say that not having a very good QB1 would cost just about any potentially good team 2 or 3 wins.
Pretty obvious stuff.

 

[ST26]

I'm going to put this up for debate..... Should Jason Taylor get a little heat with the underwhelming dline performance this year?

 

[JamesQuall]

Yall don’t feel like yall kinda over doing it over one loss? Especially after wining 9 straight.

Genuinely asking..

Maybe some or certain people but for most? Not really. The reason it stings so much more is that we are wasting a historic offense with the worst defense a lot of us have ever seen at UM. It’s year 3 with our DC being in his 2nd year. What excuse is there for that?

That’s the sentiment that’s been building since USF and definitely since VT for most people. It was withheld because we were winning and there was hope that they would start to figure SOMETHING out.

As we can see though, we faced a team that was telling us what they were going to run on offense and we literally could not stop them.

Yes there is still a lot to play for but the confidence has faded and our years of PTSD are back and haunting many fans.

 

[PIPO]

Yall don’t feel like yall kinda over doing it over one loss? Especially after wining 9 straight.

Genuinely asking..

The way we have been winning has been because of Cam Ward.

The defensive performances alone would have us at 3-4 losses with any other QB.

I get it though. The name of the game is to win regardless of how it looks but @WeBallinBoyz is doing a future projection as well. Not just current season.

 

[CANEFAN83]

So yesterday sucked. I think I speak for many posters on here that while this loss was inexcusable in the moment, everything we expected preseason is still on the table. For me, an ACCCG appearance was the bar, and that is still well within reach - in fact, it’s in our control. Win, and you’re in. Pretty decent, all things considered.

I want to focus on the larger picture here, rather than putting yesterday under a microscope. There’s been enough of that.

And for those that don’t want to read all this, the TLDR version is that there are way too many players on this roster that either fail to raise the floor of their respective rooms, or are still “coming along”. Through six portal windows and four plus recruiting classes, we still have gaping holes in both our starting units, and our depth. For a recruiting savant, I have questions.

I’ll go class by class here. I want to preface this by saying…

- No, I am not saying Mario is a bad recruiter.
- Yes, these players can take a significant leap from year 2 to year 3, or year 1 to year 2.
- Yes, scheme may impact their production.
- Yes, some players were projects when we signed them out of HS.

2022 HS class

Cyrus Moss - transferred
Nyjalik Kelly - transferred
Jaleel Skinner - transferred
Chris Graves - transferred
TreVontae’ Citizen - transferred
Khamauri Rogers - transferred
Wesley Bissanthe - starter, certain improvement from Y1 - Y3.
Markeith Williams - barely cracked the two deep in Y3
Jacurri Brown - transferred
Isaiah Horton - solidified #2 WR, massive improvement
Jaden Harris - no bueno
Matthew McCoy - stagnant development
Ahmad Moten - 3rd string in year 3
Colbie Young - transferred
Anez Cooper - starting RG, production down in Y3

Transferred: 8/14 (oof)
Starters: 4/14
Star players: 0.5/14 (Horton gets .5).

Synopsis: Definitely not blaming Mario on this one, however he ultimately decided to keep the current recruits on this roster; therefore, they’re his recruits imo. He cycled 8 out, and kept 6. Horton has another jump in him, very pleased with his growth and believe he’ll feast as WR2 next year.,Wes still makes mistakes but is getting better. Cooper has regressed from 2023. He’s barely an average P4 guard, ranking outside the top 250 in PFF.

View attachment 310707View attachment 310706

Jaden Harris is a disaster. McCoy will never start here. Markeith is still too scrawny and can barely fight for second string snaps in year 3. Transition classes are tough, this one embodies that sentiment.

2022 Portal Class

Darrell Jackson Jr. - transferred
Caleb Johnson
Akeem Mesidor - starter
Johnathan Denis - transferred
Logan Sagapolu - transferred
Antonio Moultrie
Henry Parrish - transferred
Frank Ladson Jr. - transferred
Jake Lichtenstein
Daryl Porter Jr
Mitchell Agude

Transferred: 5/11 (oof)
Current Starters: 2/11
Star Players: 0/11

Synopsis: Mario’s First portal window, not very good. Jackson was basically Judas (and ended up not being very good). The UCLA pairing was underwhelming, Moultrie was a non-factor, and Ladson was just plain bad. The Oregon OL were horrible takes, Parrish was solid…but not a game-changer. Good P4 running back, nothing more. We all remember Mesidor against Clemson in 2022, but injuries have slowed him down. DPJ has regressed since coming on in 2023.

View attachment 310708

Maybe it’s playing out of position, maybe it’s lack of desire. Nonetheless, the numbers are the numbers.

Sooo 2022 wasn’t great; over 50% of all additions have since transferred, and only three players are starting. Mario’s first year, sure give him a mulligan. Just getting a lay of the land. Let’s move onto 2023.

2023 HS/JUCO

Francis Mauigoa - starting left tackle
Samson Okunlola - non factor
Rueben Bain - small regression but not concerned (will get to him below)
Mark Fletcher - decent, but far from a game-changer. An elite team’s RB2 or RB3.
Jayden Wayne - transferred
Robby Washington - changing positions because he’s a non-factor at WR
Ray Ray Joseph - non-factor
Riley Williams - non-factor
Robert Stafford - must be pure trash if he can’t sniff the field with this DB group

Damari Brown - we have to prop someone up because the other DBs are booty juice

Collins Acheampong - transferred
Malik Bryant
Josh Horton - non factor
Popo Aguirre - coming along, decent so far
Antonio Tripp - non factor
Chris Johnson Jr. - non factor
Tommy Kinsler - non factor
Bobby Washington - non factor
Kaleb Spencer - transferred
Emory Williams
Jackson Carver - non factor
Shemar Kirk - non factor
Demetrius Freeney - transferred
Frankie Tinilau - non factor
Marcelius Pulliam - transferred

Transferred: 5/26
Starters: 2
Star Players: 1/26 (maybe?)

Synopsis: No one wants to hear this, but there’s A LOT of potential dead weight here that will be feeling the pressure to perform in the spring. Francis is still the crown jewel of this class. Unfortunately, Samson hasn’t panned out; what happens to him regarding cost-benefit remains to be seen.

I can’t count Bain as a star player anymore. The definition of star player (and this is nationally), is someone that can completely change a game. I know he was hurt. I get it - injuries take time. But in five games, against very mediocre/bad offensive lines, he has 2.5 sacks and only 8 tackles. This was a second-team all-American in the preseason. This guy was in the backfield religiously in 2023 as a TF. He’s just not having the same impact on a game as of now. His form can return, I’m not saying it won’t. Could absolutely be the injury. Let’s hope he regains his form down the stretch here, we need him bad given the lack of pass rush.

Popo seems to be getting better, but again he still makes key mistakes (Cal game). Fringe starter. Same can be said for Fletch. A lot of OL guys waiting in the wings, it’s put up or see yah for guys like Samson, Kinsler, Tripp and Tinilau in 2025. I fear guys like Carver, Kirk, Bobby Washington, Emory, etc. will never play meaningful snaps here. It’s early, but this class could shape up to be very concerning.

2023 Transfer Portal

Jamil Burroughs - future MMA career
Rocky Shelton - walk on
KJ Cloyd - below average P4 linebacker
Luis Cristobal - lol
Anthony Campbell - non factor
Tyler Harrell - non factor
Ajay Allen - flashed in limited opportunities, probably portal bound?
Jadais Richard - ***
Jaden Davis - ***
Terry Roberts - so *** he left immediately
Cam McCormick
Branson Deen - supposed to be a placeholder for the young DTs, but slightly above average addition.

Matt Lee - slam dunk addition
Kiko Mauigoa - gotten progressively worse
Thomas Gore - transferred
Davonte Brown - transferred.
Javion Cohen - Good addition

Transferred: 5/17
Starters: 2 (ish, now that Richard is out)
2024 Star Players: 0

Matt Lee, worth every penny. Javion Cohen, **** of a job in pass pro. Great additions.

And then the fun stops there.

The DB additions are quite horrific. DL, we whiffed again on the guys that had more than a year of eligibility. Deen was supposed to be a guy to bridge the gap between now and 2024. He was serviceable, decent really. Just not exceptional. Harrell, nothing. Campbell, nothing. McCormack, I guess for what he’s asked to do (which is nothing), he’s fine.

Kiko…man I’m disapppinted in his regression. It’s virtually across the board. The tackling…WOOF

View attachment 310709

Zero difference makers in this portal window. Zero star players. So through two seasons of recruiting, we have…1 star player? An offensive tackle?

But let’s continue to 2024.

2024 HS class

Justin Scott - nothing noteworthy
Marquise Lightfoot - not ready
Armando Blount - we’ve been gashed when he’s in the game
Zaquan Patterson - lost in coverage
Joshisa Trader - not ready
Ny Carr - not ready
Booker Pickett Jr. - not ready
Elija Lofton - flashed in limited opportunities
Chance Robinson - not ready
Artavius Jones - not ready
Jordan Lyle - one good run against USF, otherwise not ready
Adarius Hayes - not ready
Markel Bell - eh
Cam Pruitt - emerging imo
Elias Rudolph - not ready
Ryan Mack - not ready
Dylan Day - not ready
Deryc Plazz - not ready
OJ Frédérique - playing like a future CB1
Isaiah Thomas - not ready
Judd Anderson - no
Cole McConathy - non-factor
Chris WH - not ready / probably won’t ever play here
Juan Minaya - project
Daylen Russell - project
Nino Francavilla - backup but seems solid when he’s in?

Transferred: 0/27 (so far)
Starters: 2/27
Star Players: 1?

I expect the least out of the 2024 kids, I’m not some crazy guy that thinks if they don’t play immediately, they’re busts. I totally get some of these takes are projects, and yet at the same time…some of these guys still can’t crack the two deep? Given how bad the DB room is, how bad the DT room is, how weak the LB room is (I just described the whole defense, nice), I would’ve thought some of these 5 stars would be ready to contribute more in the two deep. It seems like every 5 star we miss on is not only playing, but balling out. Ours (besides Mauigoa) are all projects…elite tools, but have to be properly developed. I don’t see any indication that development is going on right now, apart from a select few guys.

The final piece: 2024 portal class

Tyler Baron
Simeon Barrow
Sam Brown
Damien Martinez
D’Yoni Hill
Jaylin Alderman
Mishael Powell:
Cam Ward: beast
Elijah Alston: meh
Reese Poffenbarger: meh
Marley Cook: depth and not good depth
Zach Carpenter: good addition
Savion Riley: so bad he transferred immediately
CJ Clark: depth

Transferred: 1/14
Starters: 8-9
Stars: 1.5/14 (Ward and .5 for Martinez)

Finally some quality additions. Cam Ward is the best QB in America imo. Without him, we’re 6-4 or worse, and talking about Mario’s buyout (even though there would be no chance). Damien Martinez is finally running like a bulldozer, and Carpenter was a good replacement for Lee.

Simeon Barrow would be a very good DT2, next to a huge space eater like Harmon at Oregon. He’s a quality addition and has played well.

The DB evaluations continue to be an unmitigated disaster. Powell is getting progressively worse, and my god was he bad vs. GT.



Riley, another Vandy failure, left immediately. Hill has been pretty poor.

Sam Brown hasn’t been the beast I expected. He’s still a good WR3 and there’s a reason we keep targeting him. Alderman, meh. Mediocre. Same goes for Alston, and Baron is what he was at Tennessee - feasts on bad teams, no show against conference opponents. We got cucked here needing DE’s. Clark and Cook, whiffs.

So to encompass everything in this long breakdown: do you honestly trust this staff to develop the guys on this roster to star-level talent? Are we purely whiffing on evaluations? The portal in particular, we can’t find a defensive beast to save our lives.

Don’t tell me it’s not possible in the portal, because Ole Miss completely revamped their defense in one offseason to a champion-level caliber unit. FSU did it two years ago. Oregon is doing it this year. Mario didn’t exactly develop a ton of recruits when he was at Oregon, and I can make a thread for that too if people need more clarity. I’m not saying he was horrendous, just that the stars don’t necessarily equate to the draft picks.

I mean how many Mario-recruited star players do we have on this team after 2.5 years of recruiting…3? It’s not good enough. It’s quite simply not. How many tweeners are we going to recruit? How many guys with slim frames? How many guys that need multiple years to develop? Where are the instant impact guys???

The guys in the 2023 or 2024 class absolutely have a shot to develop and become nationally-recognized players. It would be asinine to count them out. I personally don’t trust Mario to develop them to their maximum capabilities, however. I’ll happily eat crow if I’m wrong. 2.5 years is a larger sample size than people think, and we’ve had too many 5-stars and high 4-stars fail to make a sizable impact.

We should not be struggling with mediocre ACC teams in Year 3, not with a Heisman caliber QB.

2025 needs to be a statement class, both in the portal and HS recruiting. We need dudes that are ready to take over a game NOW, no more projects, no more “oh give him 2-3 years”. That hasn’t worked for us. Find a Dylan Stewart, win a Colin Simmons recruiting battle, keep Jeremiah Smith home, steal a Ryan Wingo or Ryan Williams, don’t let Stanquan Clark or Xavier Lucas or Jacorey Barney leave Florida. I could keep going.

Evaluations need to be better in the short-term. Development needs to be better all around. Coaching? That’s another topic for another day.

And yet we’re still 9-1. All that negativity and concern, yet we still can make the CFP by winning out. Keep trudging along, keep improving the roster…but if it looks dire in 2025, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Nice detailed post. Time will tell if you are right or not. Big recruiting class and portal class for miami in 2025. Time will

 

[JamesQuall]

This has been something in the works since the VT game. I just happened to post it now because the GT game was the product result of our development (or lack thereof) this season. It finally caught up to us. I would have been fine posting this at the end of the year too, but 10 games of sample size is certainly enough.

Ward is masking the deficiencies on the roster - the same deficiencies that are routine issues and were supposedly fixed every offseason.

If I told you this roster costs just as much (or rumored more, surprisingly enough) than Ohio state, would that change your mind on things?

I’ve been of the opinion that we are still paying the suck tax at a very high rate. The 2025 class is very underwhelming so far.

 

[PIPO]

Genuine question and I don’t know the answer… how does this compare with other successful teams? Do top teams compete with only the top half of their rosters (approximately 40 players) and the rest are developmental or dead wait? Or what is the number of players in any given year that is historically considered dead weight on any team or in any program?

Let’s compare it to FSU 2023 as they had the same question going into the following season: who’s going to be the QB.

Also, their defense compared to ours this season was way better and they beat a Jayden Daniels led LSU and won because of their defense that game and won the ACC Championship with no QB play thanks to their defense.

We can’t depend on our current defense for anything. It’s Cam or bust!

 

[tsimonitis]

Let’s compare it to FSU 2023 as they had the same question going into the following season: who’s going to be the QB.

Also, their defense compared to ours this season was way better and they beat a Jayden Daniels led LSU and won because of their defense that game and won the ACC Championship with no QB play thanks to their defense.

We can’t depend on our current defense for anything. It’s Cam or bust!

View attachment 310741

Thanks. Does this actually show that most top teams have a lot of dead weight on their rosters? They had a good season last year and the remaining players this year are awful. It can be assumed that there is much more waste on rosters than most of us realize.

 

[Gables Cane]

I wish this board could engage in meaningful, respectful debate without labeling posters as “mope” or “sunshine pumper.” Both sides have credible points of view.

The OP presented one POV that questioned Mario’s (and his staff’s) ability to identify and develop talent. That happens to be the ONLY skill many of us expect Mario to contribute to this program since clearly game day coaching is not a virtue. The OP presented facts to support his contention, yet many get defensive and go on the attack.

Take the now recent Bain counterpoints. This is what the OP initially said about Bain:
“ Rueben Bain - small regression but not concerned (will get to him below).”

That was followed by: “I can’t count Bain as a star player anymore. The definition of star player (and this is nationally), is someone that can completely change a game. I know he was hurt. I get it - injuries take time. But in five games, against very mediocre/bad offensive lines, he has 2.5 sacks and only 8 tackles. This was a second-team all-American in the preseason. This guy was in the backfield religiously in 2023 as a TF. He’s just not having the same impact on a game as of now. His form can return, I’m not saying it won’t. Could absolutely be the injury. Let’s hope he regains his form down the stretch here, we need him bad given the lack of pass rush.”

I don’t agree with the OP’s conclusion that Bain is no longer a star player. However, the OP is correct inasmuch as it’s no longer a foregone conclusion that Bain remains a dominant player because there have been little to no signs of that this year. Is it the injury? Scheme? No clue. But, it is certainly worthy of debate and discussion.

My advice to the OP… Keep brining the data and discourse. Engage with those who want to debate without hyperbole and ignore those who provide no substance to the conversation.

Go ‘Canes.

 

[OldhamA]

The way we have been winning has been because of Cam Ward.

The defensive performances alone would have us at 3-4 losses with any other QB.

I get it though. The name of the game is to win regardless of how it looks but @WeBallinBoyz is doing a future projection as well. Not just current season.

I'm interested in the discussion around Ward.

Evidently some on here think he's a generational QB that we'll never see the likes of again and we won't even begin to replicate his production next year.

Personally the more I see of him the less I like. Don't get me wrong he's very, very good and a huge part of why we're 9-1 (for his attitude if nothing else - he never panics), but I just see too many flaws in his game to say he's singlehandedly carrying the team.

For example against GT, ignoring the moronic fumble to end the game, he missed a wide open Arroyo down the seam for a walk in TD because he didn't come off his first read - something he's done more and more as the season has gone on. We know he hates to check down, thereby leaving free yards and first downs on the field, and his deep ball is so-so.

It's no coincidence that the last few teams we've faced have simply said "we'll play 2 deep Safeties and make you methodically move the ball down the field on us". He's ALWAYS looking for the kill shot so eventually drives stall.

We're obviously going to take a step back at QB next season as Ward has (to date) put up Heisman numbers, but I just don't think the position will crater like it has at FSU.

 

[Dghustla]

I don't think he's trying to compare us to those programs but he is trying to compare us to a program like Texas under Sark who had his program from talent standpoint in year 3 where I would of thought Mario would have us right now. I'm not ready to freak out just yet but it is a little concerning

And the question again is what is this based on?

The argument was that the 2023 and 2024 classes aren’t showing signs of “talent”.

And a quick google search shuts down.

Texas is relying on Jr and Sr.

They spilts carries with 3 RBs a Jr. Soph and a Fr and the only reason the Fr is getting careers is due to Cj Baxter’s injury. So they likely would have only be using Jr and 2 soph.

(And mark Fletcher has a higher yard per carry average than their RBs while having the same amount of carries as their leading rusher).

Wingo is a fr with 20 catches the rest of their top receivers are jr and sr.

Their best defender is Hill(soph) and the rest of their top contributors are jr. And sr.

Some ppl put a lot of effort and jump through hoops just to say they don’t like Mario.

Everyone knows we’ve whiffed on DBs going after elite prospects and missing.

Everyone knows this team has an athletic deficiency at LB. So we are writing off the class and Mario because none of the kids have turned out to be as good as Hill on Texas? The other kids on his team with access to the same facilities, coaches and nutrition haven’t turned out as good as him…

No excuse for the defense to be this bad. And every change we try something else becomes easy to manipulate.

The team has shown improvements in some areas and regression in others.

But trying to claim that other teams are getting this great production from Soph and Freshmen across the board and competing for a national title is fantasy.

 

[Dghustla]

I'm interested in the discussion around Ward.

Evidently some on here think he's a generational QB that we'll never see the likes of again and we won't even begin to replicate his production next year.

Personally the more I see of him the less I like. Don't get me wrong he's very, very good and a huge part of why we're 9-1 (for his attitude if nothing else - he never panics), but I just see too many flaws in his game to say he's singlehandedly carrying the team.

For example against GT, ignoring the moronic fumble to end the game, he missed a wide open Arroyo down the seam for a walk in TD because he didn't come off his first read - something he's done more and more as the season has gone on. We know he hates to check down, thereby leaving free yards and first downs on the field, and his deep ball is so-so.

It's no coincidence that the last few teams we've faced have simply said "we'll play 2 deep Safeties and make you methodically move the ball down the field on us". He's ALWAYS looking for the kill shot so eventually drives stall.

We're obviously going to take a step back at QB next season as Ward has (to date) put up Heisman numbers, but I just don't think the position will crater like it has at FSU.

I’m with you there are times and parts of Cam’s game where he looks like a generational QB.

His clutchness is off the charts. When he plays in rhythm and with the arm angles he uses it’s a thing of beauty.

But then there are the things that NFL scouts saw that made him at best a 3rd rounder.

Inaccuracy on vertical throws.
Holding the ball too long, racking up holding penalties, throwing back across the middle, leaving hundreds of yards on the field by not taking what the defense gives him. Stalling out the offense trying to hit too many home runs.

We have two RBs averaging over 5 yards a carry. How many times are we either abandoning the run or Cam is audibling out of runs to try to win the game as (with) the star QB?


Unfortunately for Canes fans we’ve been at the far end of the spectrum when it comes to QBs

We gone from Rosier/TVD (melting down) who could barely produce to the extreme end of Cam putting up a school record.

Obviously no one in our QB room is as bad as DJU obviously our OLine is way better than FSU.

So my guess one of these guys in there is probably closer to the median of a college QB.

 

[PIPO]

I'm interested in the discussion around Ward.

Evidently some on here think he's a generational QB that we'll never see the likes of again and we won't even begin to replicate his production next year.

Personally the more I see of him the less I like. Don't get me wrong he's very, very good and a huge part of why we're 9-1 (for his attitude if nothing else - he never panics), but I just see too many flaws in his game to say he's singlehandedly carrying the team.

For example against GT, ignoring the moronic fumble to end the game, he missed a wide open Arroyo down the seam for a walk in TD because he didn't come off his first read - something he's done more and more as the season has gone on. We know he hates to check down, thereby leaving free yards and first downs on the field, and his deep ball is so-so.

It's no coincidence that the last few teams we've faced have simply said "we'll play 2 deep Safeties and make you methodically move the ball down the field on us". He's ALWAYS looking for the kill shot so eventually drives stall.

We're obviously going to take a step back at QB next season as Ward has (to date) put up Heisman numbers, but I just don't think the position will crater like it has at FSU.

I agree his play at times can be very frustrating.

As an Eagles fan, I feel the same way at times with Jalen Hurts and they have similarities in terms of holding on to the ball too long at times.

But the other aspect that you can’t see is how he also at times checks out of a play or how he changes plays/calls them based on looks. He makes Shannon Dawson look better. The same way Pat Mahomes makes Andy Reid and the coaches look better.

Cam is a special QB with some things to fix but let’s not get it twisted: despite those flaws that he has, for this one loss, he’s won us 3 other games we should’ve lost.

Our defense can’t hold other teams, we aren’t creating very many turnovers and basically, this season is riding on his shoulders.