Alabama’s QB will benefit from limited view

By Robert Rousseau  |   Sunday, May 18, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Alabama Crimson Tide
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When Major Applewhite left his job as Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to go back to his roots as an assistant for the Texas Longhorns, some Crimson Tide fans probably weren’t terribly upset. After all, quarterback John Parker Wilson completed 55 percent of his passes for 2,846 yards and 18 touchdowns (12 interceptions) in Applewhite’s offense last season. Those numbers are OK, but they're certainly not what Wilson had hoped for after completing 57 percent of his passes the season previous for 2,707 yards and 17 touchdowns (10 interceptions).

In other words, you can actually make an argument that Wilson regressed last season.

Applewhite was a very smart quarterback back when he played for the Longhorns. He was someone who used his brain more than his brawn when manning the offensive helm, making split-second decisions and tending to use the whole field when making decisions. That said, not everyone does better when handed the whole field to utilize as a quarterback. In fact, some would crave to have a much smaller surface to scan: Less thinking and more playing, so to speak.

Well, if that’s the case for Wilson, then he’s going to perform much better in new coordinator Jim McElwain’s scheme, one that was labeled "quarterback friendly" by head coach Nick Saban.

Backup quarterback Greg McElroy seemed to say it best.

"Quarterbacks really needed to see the whole field in last year's offense," he commented. "This year, everything is isolated. You know where you're going to look each play. It makes our progressions just a little bit easier."

During Alabama’s annual A-Day spring game, Wilson looked strong in completing 17-of-34 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. What’s more, he seemed comfortable with the new offense, something that his head coach verbally confirmed afterward.

Te bottom line is that the new offense Wilson is learning is more suited to his style. Therefore, you’ve got to think that everything will continue in an onward and upward fashion for the senior signal-caller.

And that’s bad news for SEC foes.






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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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