Not a single decent option left in the portal beyond Howard who isnāt coming here
Holy ****. I wonāt watch a single game with Emory or Jacurri under center.
This is incorrect. There are some good options still in the Portalā¦and there will be more before next season starts. I think the more correct statement is there are currently relatively few quality one & done upperclassmen left that you can bring in for a yr (without potentially upsetting your QB room & leaving it without quality depth).
Further, people on here donāt value Emory enough because they are judging him prematurely based on:
1) Two starts where
Dawson severely limited the playbook to protect his young QB. How in the world can you judge a QB that is basically allowed to execute on only about 5 plays (including a bunch of short throws such as screens that everyone knew were coming?);
2) Those two games were against FSU & Clemson (which were
two of the toughest games of the yr). You donāt think itās normal for a young QB to have a few first start jitters/not be entirely comfortable out there? TVD looked robotic, jittery & pretty bad in his first 3 starts under Lashlee before turning it on in games 4-10. It takes time to get comfortable; and
3)
Conservative decisions by Emory in those first two starts to avoid damaging Turnovers. After TVD had thrown 3-4 TOs in quite a few games (which gave us virtually no chance to win those games), Emory undoubtedly tried to avoid putting the team in bad positions. See the throw he made from his own end zone at the start of the FSU game. He put a ton of air under that intentionally so it was either caught by our WR or no-one. Emory typically has great touch on his passes. Once heās developed a reputation as a very good QB & heās gained additional experience, he likely throws that ball a little differently. He was simply trying to avoid putting his team in a really bad position.
Some other notes:
1) Emory beat Clemson in his 1st start (something we hadnāt come close to doing in a long time). He had a signature win in his first game as a starter (something Iād argue TVD didnāt do in 3 yrs);
2) Emory had us driving to tie undefeated FSU on the road in a super hostile environment in his 2nd start (when they were at full strength). We probably would have won that game if the ACC officials didnāt take that obvious safety away from us. They know exactly when to make those bogus calls (critical moments like the end of the 1st half & in the 4th qtr). Had we gotten those 2 pts plus the ball back plus gotten the ball to start the 2nd half, we likely beat FSU as all the momentum was going our way. The Conference badly needed a team in Playoffs to remain relevant. That also would have generated an extra $30 mm of revenue for the Conf so they did everything they could to prop up FSU. I think itās highly likely Miami wins that game if the officiating had been fair. That likely would have made Emory 2-0 against two of our toughest opponents of the yr in his first two starts (in spite of all the challenges he faced, including super conservative & predictable play calling designed to protect him); and
3) Emory is injured & that is cause for concern. We also donāt have quality depth in the QB room & that is a concern.
Iām not advocating that we stay with what weāve got (and donāt add a QB or two via the Portal). We need an experienced starter & high quality depth at the QB position & itās too risky to not add QBs via the Portal (especially as Emory sustained a tough injury). What Iām saying is letās respect a young QB that has a heart of a lion that we havenāt even seen at full speed without āone arm tied behind his back.ā The feedback on Emory from some of our former greats at the QB position (who have seen him practice) has been very positive. I think he will be very good if he returns at full strength.