More on Jamarr Robinson, Danny O'Brien, and Maryland's Passing Predicament
by Ben Broman on Sep 7, 2010 2:00 PM EDT
in Football
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PrintAnytime you have 11 yards passing, something went wrong somewhere. I don't really care if Maryland only attempted five passes in the first place; nor do I care that, for the most part, Maryland was still able to run the ball effectively. Because that's what happened in yesterday's Maryland-Navy game, and it's fairly obvious that the Terps aren't up to snuff in their passing game.
Just a few examples from yesterday's game: Jamarr Robinson's first attempted pass came in the middle of the second quarter; it was an interception. On third and ten, up by only seven and without any offensive spark in two quarters, James Franklin calls a QB draw; Maryland doesn't convert. In desperate need of points in a tie game with the ball on the Navy 16 in the fourth quarter, Ralph Friedgen sent in redshirt freshman Danny O'Brien instead of Robinson.
It's clear that Robinson, Maryland's starter, isn't quite confident with his passing ability; the interception and his shakiness in the pocket made that clear. It's also clear that Maryland's coaching staff concurs; after all, they called a QB draw on 3rd and ten, and there's that whole Danny O'Brien thing, too.
And the stats back all that up. Remember: 11 passing yards. Even Navy, who runs more than anyone else in the country, passed more than Maryland. The Terps had more points than passing yards.
You can maybe get away with that type of performance against a Navy-type of defense, which is undersized and out-classed athletically. Maryland did this time, but not by a lot. The thing is, that won't fly against West Virginia, Clemson, or even Duke. When the defense is good enough to stop the run at least some of the time and won't fumble in the red zone, as most will be in the ACC, Maryland's going to need something better than what they had yesterday.
And they may get something better, for one of two reasons. The first is that maybe, just maybe, it's unfair to go judging Jamarr Robinson and Maryland's passing attack after just five attempts. Now, the fact that they only took five attempts is a bit of an indictment in and of itself, but they could just be keeping vanilla. Or, of course, it could be a fluke.
The other option is that maybe Jamarr Robinson won't be the starter come ACC play. Here's where the whole Danny O'Brien thing comes in. Maryland's offense was just about as dead as it could get when O'Brien entered the game. Entering in the fourth quarter in a tie game with the ball on the Navy 16 in need of points probably wasn't a great idea, but the fact that Ralph Friedgen put him in there says something. If you listen to Friedgen and Robinson, the move was determined in advance, probably in order to get O'Brien some game experience.
If you listen to Friedgen and Robinson, you're also probably wrong.
Friedgen makes some dumb decisions, no doubt about it, but the man himself isn't dumb. And that type of decision - throwing in a player to get game experience in a crucial situation - is beyond him. It's beyond anyone, really. I don't care if you have a three year-old as coach, they know not to do that. It's akin to putting in the backup kicker for a game-winning 30-yard field goal.
No, there's really only one plausible reason this happened: Friedgen and Franklin wanted someone else in at QB. Robinson had been might unimpressive up to that point, and O'Brien was a different option. I absolutely refuse to believe that this was anything other than a replacement decision, even if only in testing the waters. They wanted to see what O'Brien did, and he fumbled. After that, they decided he might not be the guy for this type of situation.
But those types of feelings die hard. O'Brien will be looming large the rest of the season unless Robinson can prove his arm, both in the fans' and coaches' minds. After all, Friedgen and Franklin have no margin for error. And if Robinson doesn't, O'Brien will probably get his shot before the season's halfway-done.
It's not a prediction, nor a request. But watch out; the first move has been made already, and that's usually the hardest one.
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Let Robinson throw the ball against Morgan State...
And regardless of what happens Danny OBrien should get some significant time. Give both guys a fair look.
Robinson has the feet of a Tyrod Taylor and his arm is good but no awareness whatsoever.
Im guessing Danny is the better passer but not good enough to usurp Robinson…whether it’s his decision making or he cant make enough plays.
From what I’ve seen from Terrapins Rising…Jamarr is supported by his teammates. They are behind him as the starting QB. In the end we won the game…jamarr nearly had 100 yards rushing…
If Jamarr goes out against Morgan State and throws for 200 yards, I think the doubters will quiet down.
the feet of Tyrod Taylor? and the field awareness of a one eye donkey
He also lacks speed and decision making.
I’m a doubter of his passing game, and if he throws for 200 yards against Morgan, I won’t be quieted. I will judge him on the fluidity of the offense and his third down conversion ratio. If it’s less than 75% against Morgan state, I will think that to be time to call O’Brien.
You TOTALLY stole my thunder Ben, I was planning on doing a fanpost on this very subject today. Really good piece.
Anyway, on the INT play, there were some disturbing things going on. First, the receiver was coming open as he threw it, which was encouraging. Unfortunately, Jamar threw it about five feet behind the receiver and right into the hands of the Navy defender. That isn’t just a lack of confidence. That is a lack of accuracy and a lack of understanding of how to anticipate a receiver coming open.
On another crucial third down play, a pass was called. I watched Torrey Smith during the entire play and he was WIDE open over the middle. He was open for a very long time as well, yet, for whatever reason Jamar Robinson did not see him at all. I don’t know about you, but if I was Jamar Robinson, I would look for my All-ACC receiver on pretty much every play. Yet he totally missed all the receivers, hung on to the ball WAY to long and got himself sacked.
I would prepare Danny O’Brien to start this week against Morgan State. He’ll be able to get into a rhythm against a porous defense and will gain confidence. Hopefully he can get another start under his belt against Florida International and have some momentum going into WVU. I am done with Robinson. I have never had confidence in his ability to throw the ball, even through the end of last season. He doesn’t make quick decisions and he can’t read defenses. Sure, his mobility is nice, but against better defenses than Navy, the offense will be stifled. If MD wants to beat good teams, they have to pass, and Jamar can’t do it.
When you're rich you don't write checks - Randy Moss
Friedgen and dumb decisions...
Was anyone else SCREAMING for a time out right before Navy’s final fourth down play? I know we called one eventually, but it took WAY too long for the coaches to call it and we wasted entirely too much time in the process.
I know—in retrospect—that, based on the final outcome of the play, calling a timeout might have meant having to run one more play from the one yard line at the very end. But you have to assume the worst case scenario in that situation: Dobbs puts it in from one yard out. If this had happened, we MIGHT have had an opportunity to drive down the field (although I do realize this would have been unlikely based on our passing abilities). So WHY did it take so long to call the timeout??
These types of things should be second nature for Friedgen by now. This particular one was for the ten students (including me) SCREAMING our lungs off for a TO….
WRONG WRONG WRONG
How about waiting until after the next few games before making proclamations and predictions.
Jamarr threw rather well last year from what I remember.
I think coaches hand-cuffed the offense because of the unique opponent.
The bais of the post wasn't that Jamarr CAN'T run the offense
But instead that the coaches think that he can’t. And unless they’re just playing mindgames with West Virginia, it’s obvious that’s the case.
Five throws is way too few to make a judgement on. But the fact that the coaching staff only wanted him to take five throws, even after the offense stagnated and Maryland found themselves in a few third and longs, is really telling. So is the Danny O’Brien substitution; whether or not Jamarr can throw, the fact that DOB got in there shows that the staff has very little confidence in Robinson.
Now, he may be fine. But the staff doesn’t have a long leash, and they’ve shown that they’re ready to make a change if they need to.
Right, Right, Right,
You hit the nail on the head. Navy is unique.
I wouldn’t care if we ran 100% of the time if it resulted in W’s.
Gurudude
Random sidenote here
Maryland had 3 votes in the Coach’s poll. Feels good to win again. I’m putting my money on DOB.
Coaching
It’s hard to believe that Ralph was once an offensive coordinator. In fact his play calling has been just plain offensive. His clock management has been embarrassing and his appearance on camera are downright humiliating. Let’s not even talk about recruiting. His first three years here he won with Vandy’s recruits and from there it has been all down hill. The fact that he has been unable to capitalize on the first three years success is very telling. His days should be numbered and the coach in waiting should be shown the same door. With the offensive weapons this team has they should have scored 45 points no less on Navy. Watch what happens when we play decent competition, we may just lose by 45. It’s time to get rid of a real nice guy (from all reports) and bring in someone that can recruit and coach.
How are you gonna score 45 points on a team that had the ball 75% of the time of possession?
I agree that Fridge/Franklin are rightly on the hot seat, with the smart money betting on “see ya”, but we DID win after all, against a team that was supposed to beat us. I’ll reserve full judgement until after the WVA game. If we somehow win that game, I think most of the Fire Ralph talk will go away…and rightly so.
Geesh, terps fans are like this when we win? wow
WRONG WRONG WRONG AGAIN
“Our plan was if we could run the ball and try to hang onto the ball, that’s what we were going to do.” – Ralph
Don’t tell me that the other teams offense does not dictate your own offense. It does when you do not know when you will get the ball back
Also, according to the broadcast, Jamarr threw 88 passes without an interception last year. Don’t tell me he cannot pass the ball.
“One game a season does not make.” – Yoda
Jamarr would be a great...
triple option QB. But F&F don’t want that. They want O’Brien in so bad they can taste it. He even LOOKS like a pro QB. I don’t think they’re gonna give Jamarr any leeway. First bad series and he’ll be out. Too bad. I like him. He went to the same HS as my kids, Myers Park in Charlotte.
Anyway, mark my words. O’Brien will be 1st string QB by the end of the season. Now, if JR has any sense, during the off-season he’ll ask to be switched to RB to replace Scott. That’s the only way he’ll get playing time. Besides, even if he stays first string QB, no pro team’s gonna draft him as a QB. He’s better off trying to get some credibility as a running back. Maybe one who can run the Wildcat.
McBrien didn't start out on fire either...
McBrien had a really bad day passing against Notre Dame in his first start. (something like 30% passing? (Although they at least let him attempt more than 5 passes). But it was so bad that Chris Kelley replaced him, wasn’t it?
And it ended up working out pretty well for Scotty.
I’m not happy with the passing game, obviously…but not ready to send up the SOS yet either.
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