Cody Kessler

Let me start by saying, he is a good QB, and definitely not the reason we have 2 losses (defense) He does have a good QB rating, a high completion percentage, and no INTs, but I would argue most of those numbers are like that because all he really completes are short, 5-10 yard passes. He rarely throws down field, and most big plays are short passes where the reciever/rb takes a short pass a long way. I don't know if the short/intermediate passing game is CK or Sark's doing. Is Cody just not a risk taker? We can definitely win with Cody, I just don't think he is as good as most make him out to be, I don't care what the numbers say. His offense stalls at times. Good QB, but he is no Winston or Marriotta or Hundley.

 

Let me add, with the playmakers we got we should be putting up 40-50 points a game!

 

40-50 points a game? You think this offense is Matt Leinart and company good? :yield:

 

Is it Cody or conservative play calling. Then of course the one time they dialed up a long pass, Rogers dropped it.

 

When Helton let Cody play last year, he did very well. Kiffin and now Sarkisian have consistently stiffled him.

 

I keep hearing that there are no deep plays.
Maybe I am wrong, but I see plenty of receivers running deep routs and some of them are wide open. But if they don't get the ball....

 

Cody did seem a bit off on Saturday, many of his throws were high, BUT there were those catcheable throws that were dropped that gave me concern. When I saw the first couple of drops, I realized that our receivers had a case of the dropsies and it was going to be a long night. If they had made those catches, the tenor of the game would have been different, and SC quite possibly would have won that game comfortably. But, with the drops, it killed some drives, and kept ASU in the game - gave their suspect D confidence, and the rest is history.

I cannot imagine that the drops did not affect Kessler at least a little bit. He's human.

 

Kessler is a fine QB. He's got enough range to go 20-40 yards up field. He doesn't have the drill that Wittek had, but at least he's more accurate. But he's going to do what the coaches teach him to do. Just because a guy is running a fade and is open doesn't mean that's the target. A QB has his progressions. You don't read all your receivers and then go to the best option like you do at the park. You follow your progression and hit the first guy open.

The problem I have with Kessler is that he's generally pretty easy to read and locks onto a receiver and watches him through his entire route. When I played at the D1 level our QB coach always had the preferred route 3rd on mid and long pass plays to force the QB to not attract attention. But again, that is a coaching issue first and foremost.

 

The problem with this team is not Cody Kessler. Not even in the top 25 problems with this team. Cody's play on Saturday was exceptional. It really was.

Of all his throws, Cody only had 3 balls that were thrown high or off the mark. That is excellent. What is not acceptable is Rodgers dropping numerous balls, one of which was a gimmy touchdown. Numerous times, Cody hit guys between the numbers (Buck, Ajene, Nelson) and they dropped the ball. He throws a very catchable ball -- our receivers are the ones who are letting him down.

The thing Cody does so well is not turn the ball over and put the team in terrible field position. He executes what is called for him, and when the play isn't there, he either throws it away, or he scrambles and makes something with his feet.

 

I wouldn't say Cody played a great game Saturday with a few bad passes, but he did enough to win. His defense really let him down. That was just a pathetic excuse for .....

 

While I agree Kessler is a good QB, I am concerned about the wide open receivers I see that he does not. I am concerned when I see those same wide receivers throw up their hands in frustration after the play.

There were 3-4 plays where the receiver was open by 10 yards.

 

I love Kessler-- hes a gamer. I jumped out of my chair when he got that rushing TD vs ASU. But with that said I am concerned about his accuracy and risk taking down field. He doesn't throw picks but was aren't as explosive on O either

 

I like Kessler's play a great deal and think he is doing a fine job and is just hampered by horrible play calling, constant confusion on the sidelines in calling those horrible plays and lack of support from the HC. If they would just turn this kid loose instead of playing scared all the time he is capable of great things. Sark just plays not to lose, he doesn't play to win and in addition to calling a horrible game, he doesn't know how to make adjustments. Sark is simply the 2nd coming of Kiff. Barkley never improved and they are throwing that same wet blanket on Kessler. And don't forget 3 or 4 balls at least were dropped by receivers killing drives.

 

Cody is a great QB.... he would be perfect for a team with a great Defense... he does'nt turn the ball over.... he is accurate and makes great decisions...for his talent level... he is maxing out on what he is capable of.... as a team we are underachieving..... defense and wr play big time.... with Kessler we are getting more juice out of him than anyone else.... all grit and competitiveness... he is not a 5 star arm or anything like that... but man this reaching far more than the potential talent he has.... hard working... quiet leadership... love the kid.

 

Where were all of these comments a week ago when I made this very same statement, I got killed for it. Not a Cody hater just wondering if there might be a better option to try to win the most games or get someone some experience (Max Browne). Nice to see some people coming out of the woodwork after a loss to give an opinion on our qb. What a difference a week makes. One conference loss and everyone grows a pair.

 

Or they get the ball deep, and drop it.

We're damned lucky Cody is at the helm, or else we'd have more losses.

He's in a ball control offense, not a running read offense, not a big play offense. Simple as that.

 

One conference loss and everyone makes ridiculous statements like Max Browne should be in the thick of games. Sorry, Max will have his time, but he's not even close to Cody right now. Not in practice, and certainly not in a game.

And when he does take the field in a year or two, people here will nitpick his game because he can't run.

 

The two biggest problems with Kessler's play are the play calling, and the line not giving him time. Correct those two and you'd have your down field passing game. In other words, it isn't Kessler that's the problem!

 

A little high..a little low...a little behind...

Lots of the drops hit the receivers hands, but, try to make it a little easier for them. get them a chance to run after the catch.

 

Going to preface my comments on Cody by saying he is our best option at the moment and he's a good college qb but he's a game manger with an average arm whose best attribute is his short game accuracy. He's not very mobile though he does have good pocket presence. He'll make the easy reads/throws but doesn't have the athleticism to extend plays with his legs and then find the streaking/open receiver when line protection breaks down which unfortunately has happened a lot.

But I don't fault or blame Cody its not his fault he just committed to an 'Sc that was more pro style (under center/west coast). He's doing a good job everything considered yet at the same time he's been outplayed by a backup asu qb, a dual threat at bc, and only outperformed a mountain west qb and a similar one dimensional osu pocket passer. (consider Stanford a qb push) I am in no way calling for anyone but Kessler to start or take snaps in anything other than a blow out but I am excited for the future potential of guys like Greene and Darnold running (literally and figuratively) coach Sarkisian's offense.

 

I don't think anyone is bashing Cody's performance to this point and no one is calling for his head. He is a good quarterback who makes good, safe decisions. He's like AJ McCarron was for Alabama, except we don't play in a below average offensive conference and we don't have an above average defense. Max can sling it and he can definitely throw it deep, according to coaches and the results from spring and summer workouts. Greene is super athletic and would bring a wrinkle that Cody can't provide. The thought is that a "game manager", non risk taking Qb might not be the best option to win the most games. This team seems to lose games they should win by playing conservatively, what if we played very aggressively?? Just a thought, not a criticism on Codys play to this point.

 

I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face. USC will take the next step when we have a smart/accurate QB with running ability. The offense will average 40+ with that type of player. Based on his recruiting (Greene, Darnold, Henry, Patterson, Martell), I think Sark agrees.

 

Might as well go to Max Browne so we can stop all this losing the line has done a great job but Cody does not see the field that good or its too late.

 

Agree. I don't understand why people are satisfied with game-managers, and I'm not saying Cody is one, but what brought USC to immediate prominence was not game-managers, it was Heisman-winning game-changers. In 10 years that has changed quite a bit, and Cody is not one of those. Browne isn't either. We need to regain prominence with a Heisman-caliber game-changing running qb, then take our pick of the nation's elite, like we do with pro-style passers to this day.

 

Another ridiculous Raider D, err Trojan G thread.

 

G, Kessler is doing exactly what he is told to be doing by the coaching staff. In both losses we've score 30+ points what we have to fix is the Defense or like someone mention the efense because so far we've had no D.