Chris Laviano and Steve Carlton

[Wild_Knight]

Tim McCarver was Carlton's dedicated catcher, brought from the Cardinals to the Phillies for just that while Bob Boone was the starting catcher for other pitchers.

To me it seems like Laviano and Carroo are a good fit. After all, Carroo may be the very best receiver in the conference if not the country and without Laviano throwing him the ball that wouldn't be the case. They have something working. Flood wants to keep that going, keeping CL the starter to build with the other guys while LC is out and it is fine by me. It makes a lot of sense.

But without Carroo our offense is completely overmatched regardless of QB. That's the problem. Not the QB per se but a unit that isn't P5 caliber. And the D is barely P5 caliber too.

Flood wants to keep his job and I am sure he's going with the players he feels give him the best chance to win. It is a team game and except for a few players it's the whole team that is the issue, not the QB.

Again, CL and LC play well together. The QB choice is not near the top of the list of Flood's failures.

 

[lighty]

"Again, CL and LC play well together. The QB choice is not near the top of the list of Flood's failures."

Except... without LC, CL has been well under average. Plus we have no idea how Rettig and CL would do together, since they've never been on the field at the same time.

 

[RUich]

From what I have seen, Laviano's passes are similar to Carlton's record breaking sliders. Both just seem to drop off the table before they get the hitter/receiver.

 

[Wild_Knight]

Lightly...yes of course not having Carroo hurts but when he is playing, doesn't CL seem to have a great chemistry with him ? That what Flood is preserving, and it makes a lot of sense.

And it's not like we have Elway as the backup.

 

[Caliknight]

How do you know what chemistry Rettig has with Carroo? Maybe it's better.

 

[NickKnight 1]

You won't see this in the paper, or hear Carroo say anything on the subject,
in fear of adding to the problem. But during the summer he stated he
loved playing with Rettig and they had a very special qb to receiver relationship.
Stated this several times. But once Laviano got the job he correctly stays
quiet. So the heck with this special relationship with Laviano, Flood
doesn't speak of this either.

 

[herdof3]

Lightly...yes of course not having Carroo hurts but when he is playing, doesn't CL seem to have a great chemistry with him ? That what Flood is preserving, and it makes a lot of sense.

And it's not like we have Elway as the backup.

quite a stretch. It probably isn't "chemistry" it is Carroo being a really good receiver.

 

[lighty]

"quite a stretch. It probably isn't "chemistry" it is Carroo being a really good receiver."

+1

 

[Wild_Knight]

Cali...yes, maybe. Thanks for proving my point. The overall record and lopsided scores stem from obvious team talent and depth shortcomings, and schemes to a lesser extent.

The QB isn't the problem. Everything else is.

 

[Caliknight]

There are lots of problems. QB is 1A on the list.

 

[RUsSKii]

Cali...yes, maybe. Thanks for proving my point. The overall record and lopsided scores stem from obvious team talent and depth shortcomings, and schemes to a lesser extent.

The QB isn't the problem. Everything else is.

Actually, when a team cannot score an offensive touchdown in three straight games under a starting quarterback, then that quarterback is most certainly part of the problem.

 

[Wild_Knight]

I dont see P5 talent at WR except for LC, no P5 talent at TE, no P5 talent at OL and talented backs who fight extra hard just to get back to the LOS. And Grant plays scared, dropping balls and cutting routes short.

That's why we can't score.

Am 100% for hiring a new coach and staff due to poor coaching and recruiting overall....but no QB, especially a pro-style QB, could be successful with these players.

 

[G- RUnit]

"Again, CL and LC play well together. The QB choice is not near the top of the list of Flood's failures."

Except... without LC, CL has been well under average. Plus we have no idea how Rettig and CL would do together, since they've never been on the field at the same time.

Sorta of like Dodd's senior year.

 

[lighty]

"The QB isn't the problem. Everything else is."


My problem with comments like this is that everyone knows the QB is an extremely important position. Unlike some of the other problems, it would have been extremely easy to kill any QB controversy by having Rettig start the second half of one of the SEVERAL games in which Laviano led Rutgers to 3 or less points in the first half. You can't easily replace the entire defense. You can't easily find 3 new wide receivers. But you can switch the QB.

At best, Rettig would have looked like a star and made the RU offense suddenly effective -- with or without Carroo.

At worst, Rettig would have been as ineffective as Laviano.

The move should have been made imo. It could have been done and should have been done.

 

[Wild_Knight]

So then who are these talented WRs who Laviano isn't connecting with? The announcers see and say it, we see it: no speed and no separation. That's not on Laviano. That's FCS talent. And Grant isn't a worldbeater at receiver either.

If we had a dual-threat QB as the backup maybe it would be worth a shot to mix things up and maybe get some big plays via read option...which would be fun to watch with our good RBs ... But we don't have that QB on the roster.