Harrison Beck to switch from QB to OL

Or it appears he's well on his way (courtesy www.accfootballphotos.com)

Dude...mix in a salad.


H/T to the folks over at SFN

View the complete entry of "Harrison Beck to switch from QB to OL"

...and then there were three.

QB battle trimmed to Evans, Wilson and Glennon.

You could almost see this coming, given how few reps Harrison Beck and Justin Burke were getting in the scrimmages. Glennon was getting the lion's share of reps and Wilson must've shown the coaches something that keeps him in the race. Evans, by no surprise, is still in it, but it appears that he's no longer a lock to be the starter for the South Carolina game based on TOB's language:

"I don't have anything to say about them individually," said O'Brien. "The idea is to find a guy who we think we can win with. We made that decision [to cut it to three]. Those three guys all have something we like about them, and it's all down to how they perform in these next two scrimmages."

A part of me keeps rooting for Burke to do something to get on the field, but it's clear at this point that he lacks some key ability to do it, be it accuracy, strength or leadership. I thought he looked the best out of the bunch at the Spring Game, but perhaps that was simply an anomaly. He seems content at this point to serve in a backup capacity and earn a degree for free, which I certainly can't begrudge (especially after dealing with that beech Sallie Mae this morning).

As I wrote yesterday, I would like to see Glennon redshirt this season, get more comfortable with the team, the playbook and build some size to increase his durability. But it looks like TOB is open to the idea of him playing season, perhaps from day one. If Glennon is to play this year, I would like him to play the first game. The worst case scenario, in my mind, is to sit him the first half of the year and then bring him in mid-season if we stuggle. At that point you've burned a full year's eligibility for 5-6 games of experience as a true freshman. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to a player, though, and preserving eligibility doesn't seem high up on the list of factors for O'Brien as to who plays and who doesn't.

I still think Evans starts the South Carolina game, but at this point Glennon and Wilson seem to be closing the gap...stay tuned.

View the complete entry of "...and then there were three."

Glennon: QB, or not QB...that is the question.

We're two weeks and two days away from the first game of the season and State's no closer today than they were two months ago to knowing who the starting quarterback will be.

The big cry from the internets these days is anointing freshman Mike Glennon the starter against South Carolina, bypassing incumbents Daniel Evans, Justin Burke and Harrison Beck and newcomer Russell Wilson.

Here's two reasons why these State fans think it will work, and why I think it is a bad idea.

1. The Unknown is better than The Known. It's the classic scenario...the backup QB is always the most popular player on a football team. The reason being he hasn't done anything wrong to that point in his career. It's much easier to point to all the mistakes of the starting college QB and say he sucks while simultaneously touting all the accolades an incoming freshman received in high school as evidence that he's a better option. Comparing one's high school performance to another's at the college level isn't a fair comparison, by a long shot. Yes, Glennon was rated as one of the top two or three QBs in the nation as a high school senior. But how do you extrapolate that into what he'll do at the next level? You can't. But it hasn't stopped folks from making that argument.

2. Philip Rivers. While he will likely remain the greatest QB in school history for decades to come, Philip's legacy for the near future is that no QB to don the Wolfpack red will ever be comparable. Some folks lose sight of this, however, in wanting to thrust Glennon into the first game of the year, citing how well Philip did as a true freshman. They say he has all the tools Philip had, can make all the throws and has all the mental aspects in place to succeed as a true freshman, just like Philip did. If it worked then, it can work now. They may be right.

Here's why I think they're wrong.

First off, there were three things about Rivers' situation in 2000 that made his immediate success possible: his size and strength as a freshman, his offensive coordinator (Norm Chow) and his early enrollment. Glennon has none of these three things working in his favor. While I don't mean to shortchange Dana Bible, he's no Chow (no one else is). Glennon's thin as a rail (6'6"-195), and he didn't join the team until the summer, missing out on all of the spring workouts and practices.

Glennon needs two things right now: time and size. Missing out on spring practice cannot be diminished, in my mind, because those hours spent in the weight room and on the practice field are crucial team-building opportunities. The recurring theme coming out of Rivers' first spring in camp was how strong his leadership skills were at an early age. He worked harder than any of the returning players and incoming freshmen, and it helped build the kind of rapport a QB needs heading into fall camp and the first game of the year. Glennon hasn't had that time, and while I'm sure he's making the most of his time with the team now, he missed out on almost four months of time he could've spent in playbook memorization and team building.

His size is also a concern. While Glennon will never fill out into a 265-lb monster, he does need every pound of muscle he can add to his frame to ensure he'll survive the pounding he'd surely take in 2008. State's OL isn't exactly where it needs to be -- witness the moving of two defensive linemen over to the OL in the spring to fill in gaps -- and it would be risky, in my mind, to put a thin QB who hasn't physically matured back there with inadequate protection. Rivers stepped of the plane at RDU weighing a good 220. That's a full 25 pounds ahead of Glennon at this point, and Glennon is about an inch taller.

Couple the time in the weight room with a year of college-level film study and you'll set the groundwork for Glennon to maximize his output over four years of eligibility. If you need a good example of what holding a clipboard in your first year can do for a QB, look no further than Rivers, who sat his first two years in the NFL. It gave him plenty of time to learn the playbook, continue to workout and gain more strength and to build a rapport with his pro teammates. Glennon, in my mind, needs that time in moving from the high school to college level.

Some other factors:

• State's picked to finish last in the Atlantic Division.
• State faces one of the toughest schedules in the league this year. The Pack could be 100% better as a team than they were last year and still finish with the same record.
• You run the risk of damaging Glennon's confidence if you start him too early in a situation where he fails often. A QB is measured between the ears, and if his confidence gets damaged early, it may take a lot of time to get it back, if ever.
• Tom O'Brien is in no danger of losing his job if he struggles this season. Is it better to use a year of Glennon's eligibility now, in a year that won't amount to much more than a rebuilding season where Glennon will get pounded, or to have for a fifth year in 2012 with (hopefully) a much better OL and better surrounding talent?

Redshirt Glennon this season and let the quartet of other contenders duke it out for the honor to captain rebuilding season #2 of the TOB era. Evans has experience and a repaired shoulder that he claims is stronger than ever. If that's the case, I say give it to the senior and let the other three vie for the job. Because if Glennon is the truth, let's focus on the future with him at the helm and give him the best chance to succeed.

That means sitting him in 2008.

Edit to update Rivers' weight as a freshman...good catch.

View the complete entry of "Glennon: QB, or not QB...that is the question."

Triangle Pigskin Preview...interesting QB comments from TOB

PP link.

"Daniel was not able to participate in spring practice," O'Brien stated. "He has a lot of experience under his belt, and we have to give him every opportunity to do what he can do and be the quarterback.

"One of the things that the injury allowed us to do in the spring was take a long, hard look at Russell Wilson who is a pretty talented freshman. He did an excellent job this spring."

"We had a great performance out of Justin Burke in the spring game... the second half of the spring game," added O'Brien. "We will look at Mike Glennon, the freshman coming in, who is certainly a talented individual."

A decision from O'Brien on his starting quarterback will likely not come until the week of the South Carolina opener. Naming the starter is a big decision, and O'Brien feels you shouldn't do so until the choice is obvious.

Now, it's interesting to note not so much what he said but whom he didn't mention: Harrison Beck.

It's risky reading too much into a name omission in a collection of quotes like this. It could be he mentioned Beck in passing, or in a quote that was tough to make out on tape (I've been there before). And I'm sure if you asked why he didn't mention Beck, O'Brien would quickly tell you that it means nothing.

But Beck is not a name you just gloss over, like a walk on or fifth-year senior that was lucky to get a spot on the squad.

No, Beck was the high-profile transfer from Nebraska with a ton of stars on his recruiting profile and a cannon for an arm. There were plenty of folks that felt like he was going to instantly lock up the starting spot from the minute he became eligible to play.

It hasn't worked out that way, though. Turns out Beck cannon's about as accurate as one pulled from a shipwreck, and he sports a brash attitude that apparently rubbed folks the wrong way in Lincoln. And when the starting QB job was there for the taking, he couldn't supplant an undersized, underpowered Daniel Evans.

Fast forward to today. In response to a direct question regarding all of the possible options at QB, O'Brien takes time to break down the incumbent, the two players that turned heads in the spring and the incoming freshman...but not Beck.

Again, it's tough reading too much into something not said...but it's an interesting omission nevertheless.

View the complete entry of "Triangle Pigskin Preview...interesting QB comments from TOB"