Unconquered

I would love for E.J. to finally put it together, but i'd mostly just like him to stay healthy for a full year. I hope this takes him to the next level of his game. With the WRs we have, there is no excuse not to have a really good year as a 5th year SR.

It was as much a mental thing as anything else, so even if he had time, he might have felt rushed or uncomfortable. I'm glad he is working to improve his apparent weakness (I'm sure 120 other starters were too), but I don't think it will make a difference if the line isn't improved. That's what is going to take us to the next level, not EJ.

EJ gets too much criticism on this board. We had one of the worst OL, if not the worst, in the ACC last year. EJ was still a top QB in the conference under those circumstances. If our line is better this year he will be in the talk for the Heisman. Regardless, he will be a first round pick. 100%

This times a million

I'm not saying it'll happen but its quite possible. Players with much leaner resumes than EJ have gone in the first round (Jamarcus Russell had a one game resume, Kyle Boller had a few nice workouts). Some teams only value measurables. EJ has that in abundance. Factor in that he'll undoubtedly knock it out of the park in interviews (the kid is smart and personable) and he very well could be our second 1st round QB.

Teams fall all over themselves for QBs and passrushers in today's passing league. Ponder, while a great kid who I think will be very good, went much higher than anyone but the most ardent FSU fans thought.

Russell was more than a one game resume in college. He threw for 3,129 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his final season at LSU. The Notre Dame game was the icing on the cake, because it had a national audience, instead of just a south eastern audience.

Kyle Boller threw for 2,815 yards, 28 touchdowns, and ten interceptions in his final season at Cal. I do remember his workout catapulting him into the 1st round though, when he was thought to be a 2nd to 3rd round pick. They were amazed with him doing an Xavier Lee, and throwing 65 yards from one knee on the ground

EJ's issue isn't his physical tools, because he has that, despite his 'meh' mechanics and motion. His issue is durability and his inability to not be able to read the middle of the field for whatever reasons. He's money when he rolls out of the pocket to throw, or goes hash to hash with his throws.

Love him though, want him to ball out this season, and lead us to the promise land.

I mean, if you believe that a good OL helps a quarterback AT ALL, you cannot really expect FSU's quarterback to have looked good last year, because I guarantee you everyone on this board will die before we see OL play that bad at FSU again, and it doesn't matter who's the coach. That was a freak occurrence, no matter what you attribute it to--whether injuries, poor coaching, or whatever.

I promise that every last aspect of EJ's game will get better with a decent OL. If he was bad at reading the middle of the field last year, he'll at least be adequate at it this year. If he was good at something last year, it'll be like Superman doing it this year.

I'm no football expert, but I know blocking matters a lot in football, and last year, we didn't.

He completed 65+% at 8.6 ypa last year behind a decimated line and no running game. If healthy this year, he will throw for 3,000 and 25 touchdowns. If he's at 65-68% at around 8.6 again, he could go round 1. QBs are always a premium.