THAT IS THE QUESTION…

Note: This is a follow up article to the one posted here on March 17^th talking about the four QBs on the roster…

We love our Quarterbacks in Western Pennsylvania. We love them in high school ball, we love them on the Steelers and we love them at PITT.  We also love to throw them aside the second they make mistakes or when a contender is on the horizon.  The battle cry for PITT fans is “Bring on the Backup!”  We hear it every single year and while it is frustrating to some – it is what football is all about to others.

This year is no different than any of the last few years when we had heated arguments about Stull and Bostick in 2008, Stull and Sunseri in 2009, Bostick, Myers and Sunseri last season, etc.  From the last snap of the 2010 bowl game PITT fans started speculating on just how well our starting QB Sunseri did and started discussing how Bostick and/or Myers could do much better in 2011.

Pat Bostick simplified this question for us a bit by removing himself to the greener pastures of Graduate School and professional internships leaving the crux of the argument to revolve around the incumbent starter, rsJR Tino Sunseri and the newcomer and gunslinger rsFR Mark Myers.

There are valid points, both pro and con, that can be offered on each player.  Let me make a personal note here – I was vehemently opposed to how Dave Wannstedt handled the QB situation from the end of the 2009 season until the opening game at Utah in declaring Sunseri the starter way before the spring practices for the 2010 even started.  There was never a valid or open competition conducted and IMO it hurt the team and the anointed Sunseri.  I do not think Coach Graham is doing that this season at all. But I was very critically outspoken of how Sunseri got the job then.

After watching Sunseri play every meaningful snap in 2010 fans now have a basis for compliment or complain… and they are strong and varied.  The most common ones I’ve noticed are that “Sunseri did well for a first year starter” and “He did as well as Stull did his first year” or conversely “Sunseri was too nervous out there and can’t throw the deep ball at all” and “He’s hit his ceiling with the talents he has”.  But one thing that has been shown, no one comes out and says “Sunseri did a great job at QB last season“.  The remarks are always qualified somehow.

Obviously I’m paraphrasing here and simplifying, but let’s go on anyway.

Sunseri’s situation is indeed eerily like Bill Stull’s after his 2008 season.  We won games but had the distinct feel that those games were won ‘in spite’ of the QB’s play, not because of them.  It isn’t too far off to say the same thing about Sunseri’s results in 2010.  Then, Stull made a great jump in progress and production from Year 1 to Year 2 and we all were satisfied with his play.

So, then this begs the question of “Will we see the same progress from Sunseri this season and if not, then why not play Myers?”  It is a large and looming topic at this point in the preseason.

I think we all, save a few hard core Sunseri critics, want Tino Sunseri to be able to improve from one year to the next if he starts again.  Coaches talk about the fact that having that first year of experience helps greatly towards the year after.  We did see how Bill Stull progressed from 2008 to 2009 as it was rather dramatic.

Back in the summer training camp days of 2009, before Stull’s good senior season, I wondered about how Mike Teel, the productive Rutgers QB, did in the beginning of his career… I picked Teel because IMO he was physically pretty much like Stull and had the same type of team surrounding him – especially in the years I am discussing here.  Teel’s first year of starting was in 2006 where he had almost identical numbers to Bill Stull’s 2008 production.

So let’s look at that comparison and throw Sunseri’s first year of starting up against those two past All-Big East QBs also:

Here are all three players’ starting seasons and the second years for Teel and Stull’s statistics. Note: This is between Stull’s JR & SR years, Teel went on to have a third, SR, year where he did very well: (Edit Note: I screwed with the tables for an hour… live with it.)

MIKE TEEL:

YEAR          CMP   ATT     YDS    CMP% YPA  LNG   TD      INT    SACK    RAT

2006               164      296      2135    55.4       7.21   74       12        13          7          120.59

2007               203      349      3162    58.2       9.06   69       20        13          7          145.73

BILL STULL:

YEAR            CMP   ATT    YDS    CMP% YPA   LNG  TD     INT     SACK   RAT

2008              188      330      2356    57.0       7.14   64       9          10          25        119.88

2009              209      321      2633    65.1       8.20   79       21          8          15        150.60

Remembering what kind of pushback PITT fans were giving Stull after his poor 2008 season, now we wonder if Sunseri could make the same type of improvement himself… You can see from the above that both Teel and Stull made pretty dramatic improvements from their 1^st year starting to their 2^nd.  Sunseri’s first year was statistically better than Stull’s was no doubt.

TINO SUNSERI:

YEAR            CMP   ATT    YDS    CMP% YPA LNG   TD      INT     SACK     RAT

2010               223      346      2572    64.5       7.43     79        16         9        23          137.0

I don’t know the answer here regarding Sunseri’s chances at improvement and a wildcard is that Sunseri has to deal with a whole different offense between his first two seasons.  But it is too broad to dismiss him out of hand when thinking ahead for his second season either.  It is very possible that this High Octane offense can play into his strengths as his accuracy was based on short, quick passes – on which the new offense thrives.  However,  his deep ball HAS to improve to be the well-rounded QB Graham wants, as does his field ‘generalship’ IMO.

Now, throw in the large and valid potential we have in Mark Myers and the QB race gets very interesting.  There are some tangible aspects to this kid that just flat out jump out at you.  His size for one; 6’4” and 235 pounds is prototype for a QB; his arm strength is the talk of the town with a very accurate deep pass and we are finding out in dribs and drabs that his mobility is impressive for a guy his size also.

I had a conversation with a long time PITT fan who attended many PITT practices last season and he couldn’t stop praising this kid, going so far as to say “PITT hasn’t had a QB with tools like this since Dan Marino.”   Take that for what it’s worth as third hand info, but it is high praise indeed.

But what we don’t know about Myers is valid also and that are the intangibles such as grasp of the offense (important!)  and his poise under pressure during game time situations.  Granted he hasn’t had a chance to show us that either so the jury has to be out with that. Let’s hope that Graham is holding true to his word and will ensure that Myers get a chance to show what he’s got with the 1^st string offense and under playing pressure.  This kid may be too good to not give him every chance possible.

Both QBs have impressive HS pedigrees in playing for state championship teams and both look to have competitive fire in their approach to the job at hand.  What may be the determining factor for the OC and Coach Graham could be the ‘intangible’ aspects of the players. How well the kids handle the mental and emotional aspects of quarterbacking in his offense for instance.  This can’t be overstated especially given that every other player on offense will be experiencing growing pains with the offensive changes and there will naturally be confusion and doubt in the huddle at times. The QB will have to be a firm hand of guidance out there.

I don’t know what the future holds.  I have to think that it is proper for the HC to give Sunseri every opportunity to hold onto that starter’s position.  At the same time I personally hope that Graham doesn’t shy away from the risk of making a change if he sees grand rewards in doing so.