In Saturday's game against PSU, Charlie Weis ended the quarterback derby by naming true freshman Jimmy Clausen the starter. While the offense was ineffective, Jimmy Clausen played well by all accounts and has probably cemented his position, barring injury. In naming him the starter for Penn State, Charlie indicated that Clausen's offseason elbow surgery had more impact on his readiness for the opener than his performance in pre-season practice.
Given the performance against Penn State, I see no reason not to build for the future with Clausen. This season is already facing a new set of expectations, so why not develop your quarterback of the future?
But what does this mean for Demetrius Jones? With Jones starting against GT, Charlie experimented with the spread offense with mixed results. With Clausen entrenched at QB, will we ever see the spread again? In what role will Jones be utilized?
I doubt we will see the spread because this offense is too young to run one scheme well, let alone two. With all of the youth on offense, I suspect the emphasis will be on building some basic competence and allowing the players to develop. Although the spread offenses of Michigan and Appalachian State exploited Michigan, those were good spread offenses - probably not a version we could transform ND's offense into since last Sunday.
And where does Demetrius Jones go from here? If we are going to run a passing offense, it seems that Sharpley is more suited to the backup role based on his performance from Georgia Tech. However, Jones showed flashes of playmaking ability that can't be wasted on the bench. How will Charlie get him on the field? Will he play at all this weekend or is he destined to be a third string QB and future transfer?
I wouldn't mind seeing us take another stab at the spread against a defense like Michigan to see if it could be effective and give DJ a shot at redemption. If not that (and I would understand the reasons from a preparation standpoint not to get fancy), I would at least like to see some creativity in trying to get a playmaker on the field. Would DJ accept a role as a receiver / running back in certain packages? Let's hope that the two fumbles are not the last we hear of a very talented player.
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2 comments:
Agreed. DJ is one of the top 5 athletes on this team and it would be a complete waste to see him standing on the sidelines all year, only to transfer at years end. I do feel, as you stated, that Charlie is not really in a position right now to get too cute with the offense. They need to learn basic run and pass blocking before they get into anything too complex. Let's get a couple offensive TDs under our belt first and maybe a couple of wins.
two words: arnaz battle
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