2009 vs 2012

That season total yardage record thread got me thinking. Obviously it got a little off topic and turned into a JN vs TW comparison. Now that both of their careers are in the books, I thought it might be fun to engage in a little "what if".

What if the senior version of TW was our QB in 2009. What would the results of that season been? TW would have had more weapons to work with at the skill positions than he had in 2012. Despite his limitations with arm strength he was a more accurate passer. Plus, in my opinion, as a senior, he had a better grasp of the offense than JN had as a junior. He had put fewer balls on the ground than his predecessor as well. On the downside, TW would have been working behind a far less accomplished OL. Would this have been his undoing? JN had a better knack for getting the tough yards on his own.

Now, What if JN from 2009 was the QB of the 2012 team? How would the season have played out? Would the record have been any better? JN would not have had a legitimate WR threat to chuck it deep and pray. He also would not have had Dwyer to occupy the middle of the defense and take the heat off of him. But, he would have had a better OL in front of him and would have been pretty hard to stop for less than 3 yards.

What say you?

Oh boy. This should be interesting.

I'll take a whack at it, though it makes my head hurt. I think TW would have been successful in '09 because of Dwyer, Jones, Thomas and Hill. I am not that good a judge of offensive line play, but at least it was good enough to win a title ... maybe because Nesbitt came up big several times, got his shoulders wedged sideways into small gaps and muscled through. TW? Nah, not that, so fewer mid-lines maybe. But he could have been successful in his senior version.

Nesbitt in '12, not so much. Your point about Dwyer and Thomas not being available in '12 is kind of central, I think. It seemed to me that Johnson shortened up some routes and threw more to A backs in '12, and with the exception of some serious disasters with picks -- it is true he is not a playmaker, at least not one to be counted on -- TW's passing improved and even kinda, sorta, reached acceptable level. But Nesbitt throwing to this year's group might have gotten the forward pass outlawed. He could sling it for sure, we just knew not where. I just don't think it would have worked. I still can't figure how he had such good passing numbers in HS, though I remember Johnson saying the game plan in HS was to have Nesbitt "run around back there" until somebody got open.

The issue of leadership is whole other element. Nesbitt had it mostly by doing it himself. TW is just, more of a mechanic. It's good that we had both of them when we did, though, and it is probably true that GT was the only D1 program in the country where they could play QB.

It will be interesting to see the reaction.

If josh was our quarterback this year we beat VT, Miami, MTSU, and possibly florida state, that guy wouldn't let us lose a close game. If you've noticed we lost almost every close game with Tevin under center, he just wasn't a winner. I'll take josh all day, this shouldn't even be a discussion.

Originally Posted by GTmoney

Well if just stuck with Laskey and he didnt get hurt. I think we would have been very productive out of the B-back position. That guy gets at least 4 yards everytime if not more. I'm not sure why Paul pulled him out

Laskey played with a shoulder injury almost the entire season. Here is to Zach 'Warrior' Laskey.

Laskey will be a junior next year

Originally Posted by Lee Reeves

If josh was our quarterback this year we beat VT, Miami, MTSU, and possibly florida state, that guy wouldn't let us lose a close game. If you've noticed we lost almost every close game with Tevin under center, he just wasn't a winner. I'll take josh all day, this shouldn't even be a discussion.

Nesbitt scores the two point try to tie the game 28-28 in Athens 2008. Leaps up and swaggers toward the mouth-breathers in the end zone stands. I never saw that "how do you like me now" attitude from Washington. But JN had some game breakers around him that Tevin didn't.