ADVERTISEMENT

OT: Gavin Wimsatt acclimating well to Kentucky Football

It not that - we’ve already beat a dead horse in disagreement about what ranking criteria should be to assess greatness (all star status - whatever we call it). Nevermind. Your entitled to your opinion. That’s done. I’m giving GW his accolades and whatever that’s worth to you looking forward. He drove a BIG team to a 7-6 record. The other guys did whatever they did each for their respective prior teams. Each retains their resumes - for whatever that’s worth. There is a caveat to fall back on here which is that Gavin is only a redshirt JR so he has 2 more years to become better. We can revisit this if Al’s prophecy for Gavin comes true at UK.

The question again - factoring whatever you
like in from each resume - it’s now your pick in the draft for the last position on our 24-25 roster. The prior starting QBs under Greg are the choices. Whoever you pick will start for RU. Who ya got and in what order?

This question by the way - is aimed at illustrating a point to the “hate Schiano fan club” - who now seem to be focused on how dreadful Greg’s QB history has been (it’s all they have left really with everything else trending up). I’m reflecting here on who the “best” and “worst” choices would be of Schiano QBs looking forward based on their development under him. If the worst choice among a portfolio of starting QB from over a 15 year regime just took us to a bowl in his only year running the show that ain’t half bad…

I’ll add - that we would likely be nationally ranked in the AP poll with some of these choices. With super senior Teel, we might even be close to top 10.
For our 24 roster , I would draft teel first . He played and won some big games and hope we are playing in some big games again
 
  • Like
Reactions: PSAL_Hoops
Sure, if you invent your own definition of QB skills and completely ignore passing that would certainly boost his assessment. But if that’s what you think QB play entails, why wasn’t Sam Brown or Langan QB1 ?


Didn’t he quick punt once or twice ? He hasn’t ever had a punt blocked either so that’s counts for something too, right ?

For starters, because when langan was the starting QB in 2019, he threw a pick more than 100% more often than Gavin (nearly 6% of his pass attempts compared with under 3% for GW - double).
 
For our 24 roster , I would draft teel first . He played and won some big games and hope we are playing in some big games again

For sure. He got us up to 6 in the national rankings. With the hype surrounding our other positions I really do think we would be close to top 10 with a proven QB like that.

But look at the big picture on a guy like Hart. He didn’t get a Covid year, but imagine he did. Over 60% accuracy always. Struggled with picks as a junior but he also threw for over 3,150 yards that season. Fixed the turnover problem the following year and led a bowl team. I think we’d have jumped at a chance to add a guy like that too.
 
Gavin is Rutgers' record holder for rushing yards and TDs in a season.
Gavin also led the B1G QBs in the same
Gavin also had offers from ND, Oregon, Michigan, Michigan St, Nebraska, TCU and other top teams.
He didn't get offers because he was mediocre.

As a dual threat his running is typically better than his passing and his running is quite good.
At Army or Navy he could get 20+ TDs - he just eats yard once over the LOS (defenders often misjudge speed).
Kentucky knows he can run and that's why they talk about the Wild Cat and running packages for him.
UK wants a running QB according to OC.
UK also impressed with long balls (avoided by RU - OL problems on long passing)

"Wimsatt struggled with three-level accuracy last season on tape. Looks like he aims the ball on short passes around the line of scrimmage and misfires on slants. Better at pushing the ball downfield showing some good touch and ball placement on throws up the seam and down the sideline."


I always said GW is a long ball thrower and thats OK because that's harder than the passes Vedral was good at
Kentucky knows they have a good runner in Gavin by the way he played QB at Rutgers.
Rutgers found out Wimsatt wasn't that accuratof a passer but occasionly could throw a good bomb.
When it came to the passing game, Gavin's best move was on ground.
It could be said Wimsatt did help Monangai and the RU D make RU a bowl team, but that was his feet helping not his arm .
What kept him a starter was a combination of the coaching staff's hope he would begin showing the talent he was suppopsed to have when he committed ( flashing occasionaly ) and the lack of a QB on the roster that the staff felt could do better.

Kentucky doesn't have to rely on Gavin being a quality starter, they have one they feel is better.
Wimsatt will be a specility player that the Wildcats will used in short yardage situations based on his running ability but posing a passing threat so the oppisition can't just stack the deck against the run
Wimsatt is being looked at as a back-up now, at Rutgers he was looked on as starting material until Rutgers brought in someone they felt made the passing game better than Gavin had shown as the #1
 
  • Like
Reactions: ashokan
I'd take the veteran Teel or Hart in a heartbeat - just let both run across the line of scrimmage this time when containment breaks down.
 
For starters, because when langan was the starting QB in 2019, he threw a pick more than 100% more often than Gavin (nearly 6% of his pass attempts compared with under 3% for GW - double).
I did say in this thread that Langan was the absolute worst. Worse even than GW, almost an impossible feat. Fact remains, it requires mucho mind twisting and redefining necessary QB talents to claim GW was anything but terrible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WhiteBus
For sure. He got us up to 6 in the national rankings. With the hype surrounding our other positions I really do think we would be close to top 10 with a proven QB like that.

But look at the big picture on a guy like Hart. He didn’t get a Covid year, but imagine he did. Over 60% accuracy always. Struggled with picks as a junior but he also threw for over 3,150 yards that season. Fixed the turnover problem the following year and led a bowl team. I think we’d have jumped at a chance to add a guy like that too.
Cmon man ….hypotheticals and drafting quarterbacks. I get the passion , I really do. But this is debates for another time.
 
Kentucky doesn't have to rely on Gavin being a quality starter, they have one they feel is better.
They like starter a lot but he only has like 24 actual plays in a game.
It will be interesting to see what happens because they do want to run GW.
Last year the RU game announcers were often puzzled why GW wasn't being run more.
Looks like he might get a chance this year
 
They like starter a lot but he only has like 24 actual plays in a game.
It will be interesting to see what happens because they do want to run GW.
Last year the RU game announcers were often puzzled why GW wasn't being run more.
Looks like he might get a chance this year
I could never understand why we only ran GW up the middle. All he could really do was run but was relegated to up the middle. Would have loved to see him run to the outside as well.
 
Cmon man ….hypotheticals and drafting quarterbacks. I get the passion , I really do. But this is debates for another time.

It’s the extremes on both ends with Gavin that are just ridiculous to me.

Gavin IS one of the weaker (least all around ability at the position) QBs to start for any Schiano team. It’s all good for you to rank him among the most accomplished RU QBs in our history and use that as your criteria to call him a RU All Star. But by no definition is he currently an “All Star talent” or a future Heisman candidate - certainly not on a national level and not even relative to Schiano’s other QBs at Rutgers.

On the other end of the spectrum - the talk on the other side that Gavin is the worse QB to even play the sport is just as dumb. Avoiding sacks and successfully throwing the ball away when pressured aren’t “nothing”. Not anyone could just step in and do that. He had a few bad turnovers but overall did a good job of keeping the ball out of harms way. And his handful of explosive rushes were an added bonus.
 
It’s the extremes on both ends with Gavin that are just ridiculous to me.

Gavin IS one of the weaker (least all around ability at the position) QBs to start for any Schiano team. It’s all good for you to rank him among the most accomplished RU QBs in our history and use that as your criteria to call him a RU All Star. But by no definition is he currently an “All Star talent” or a future Heisman candidate - certainly not on a national level and not even relative to Schiano’s other QBs at Rutgers.

On the other end of the spectrum - the talk on the other side that Gavin is the worse QB to even play the sport is just as dumb. Avoiding sacks and successfully throwing the ball away when pressured aren’t “nothing”. Not anyone could just step in and do that. He had a few bad turnovers but overall did a good job of keeping the ball out of harms way. And his handful of explosive rushes were an added bonus.
I agree with that. And do you agree if Gavin had 2 more successful seasons at rutgers he is probably in our hall of fame ?
 
I agree with that. And do you agree if Gavin had 2 more successful seasons at rutgers he is probably in our hall of fame ?
If Rutgers has two successful seasons and he continued to rank dead last or near it, that's still a definite no. Just because he touches the rock on most plays doesnt mean the weakest link should be lauded.
 
I agree with that. And do you agree if Gavin had 2 more successful seasons at rutgers he is probably in our hall of fame ?

2 years is a long time. I prefaced that up front. Gary Nova was a much better player in 2014 than he was earlier in his career. It’s not impossible that this could happen for Gavin. If he ever figures out the short game he would no doubt become a much more valuable player.

Back to your question. The thing is - I’m not sure 2 more 7-6 seasons would meet the definition of successful given where expectations sit regarding all our other units (fair or not). But I think winning more than that, even with a softer overall schedule, would be a long shot with a 47% QB who doesn’t throw for 200+ yards once all season (even with 2 games of explosive QB running factored in). I guess what I’m saying is realistically Gavin would likely have to show improvement like Nova did for the scenerio your painting to be possible.
 
2 years is a long time. I prefaced that up front. Gary Nova was a much better player in 2014 than he was earlier in his career. It’s not impossible that this could happen for Gavin. If he ever figures out the short game he would no doubt become a much more valuable player.

Back to your question. The thing is - I’m not sure 2 more 7-6 seasons would meet the definition of successful given where expectations sit regarding all our other units (fair or not). But I think winning more than that, even with a softer overall schedule, would be a long shot with a 47% QB who doesn’t throw for 200+ yards once all season (even with 2 games of explosive QB running factored in). I guess what I’m saying is realistically Gavin would likely have to show improvement like Nova did for the scenerio your painting to be possible.
That wasn’t what I posted, you are making too much out of it. I am just asking a simple question: if Gavin stayed and had similar seasons in 24 and 25 that he did in 23, do you agree he gets into our hall of fame ?
 
That wasn’t what I posted, you are making too much out of it. I am just asking a simple question: if Gavin stayed and had similar seasons in 24 and 25 that he did in 23, do you agree he gets into our hall of fame ?

When you say “similar” do you mean the team outcome is similar or he produces similar individual stats? If the latter, your likely presenting a hypothetical that Schiano would never allow. He decided those numbers weren’t good enough - brought in someone to compete and announced a replacement starter in spring. Let’s say Gavin stayed as the back up and AK suffered a season ending injury. Gavin starts all of 24. If he were to put up similar numbers to last year again, we would not be rolling with him in 25. He’s not the worst QB in the world, but the staff seem to have higher aspirations from the passing game. So no, I can’t imagine he’d get in the Hall of Fame. Who would nominate him?
 
I did say in this thread that Langan was the absolute worst. Worse even than GW, almost an impossible feat. Fact remains, it requires mucho mind twisting and redefining necessary QB talents to claim GW was anything but terrible.

You did. And Schiano didn’t recruit Langan as a QB - he converted him to a TE. The point I was making is that Gavin was easily the worst starter Greg ever developed at RU outside of Corbin (who he replaced in year 2). Rutgers still managed to win 7 games with Gavin with one of the hardest schedules in the country. And then Greg prioritized replacing him (absent substantial off season development as we saw) because he has higher aspirations. Thats the big picture here.

Poor QB play has become your nucleus argument now on why Greg is a terrible coach (with recruiting and every other position group trending up - your running out of arguments to bash him…) The reality though, is this is Schiano’s weakest area and he has pretty much always had better QBs than Gavin (outside of his very first season of 1.0). That’s good news for our future under him. Not bad.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: LETSGORU91
You did. And Schiano didn’t recruit Langan as a QB - he converted him to a TE. The point I was making is that Gavin was easily the worst starter Greg ever developed at RU outside of Corbin (who he replaced in year 2). Rutgers still managed to win 7 games with Gavin with one of the hardest schedules in the country. And then Greg prioritized replacing him (absent substantial off season development as we saw) because he has higher aspirations. Thats the big picture here.

Poor QB play has become your nucleus argument now on why Greg is a terrible coach (with recruiting and every other position group trending up - your running out of arguments to bash him…) The reality though, is this is Schiano’s weakest area and he has pretty much always had better QBs than Gavin (outside of his very first season of 1.0). That’s good news for our future under him. Not bad.
Almost. Shelby thinks his philosophy severely undermines recruiting and offensive play. He’s a pox on the position and (name your NFL HoF QB) would have been a bust in a Schiano offense.

He’s diesel fuel in a jet engine. Past, present, future. Doesn’t matter when.
 
I agree with that. And do you agree if Gavin had 2 more successful seasons at rutgers he is probably in our hall of fame ?
Only if he improved his accuracy or RU switched the wishbone.
Gavin was on one winning team at Rutgers , thanks to the running game his legs were part of and a RU D
that did the job.
Wimsatt's passing probably cost more games than it won
In the 3 seasons Gavin was on the roster RU FB went 16-22, hardly something that would make
for a great HOF resume
Nor this

Career Stats​

See All
Stats
2023
2022
2021

CMPATTCMP%YDSAVGTDINTLNGRTG
13127447.81,6516.09869103.4
6514544.87575.2575590.4
2540.0153.0011325.2

This would be a plus,
Rushing
seasonTeam
2021
RUTG
RUTG
2022
RUTG
RUTG
2023
RUTG
RUTG

CARYDSAVGTDLNG
5295.8020
40631.6048
1224884.0980

Defensive

but not enough to be considered HOF material as a QB when combined with his passing
 
  • Like
Reactions: PSAL_Hoops
Almost. Shelby thinks his philosophy severely undermines recruiting and offensive play. He’s a pox on the position and (name your NFL HoF QB) would have been a bust in a Schiano offense.

He’s diesel fuel in a jet engine. Past, present, future. Doesn’t matter when.

Ok - so now your take is that Schiano is an awful coach because he recruits good QBs and then makes them play bad?

Let me make sure I have this right. You acknowledge that Schiano and his staff are doing well with recruiting (how could you not?). You don’t deny that every other position group under 2.0 has been coming along well (again - not much to debate here). And you don’t disagree that Greg has an above average history in sending players from other position groups (outside of OL but Pierce is positioned to change that) to the NBA (namely on defense, RBs, wide outs, etc.) So basically - the issue is just that you think his coaching style makes QBs play worse than they otherwise would. Savage would be the only semblance of tangible evidence you have to support this. Of course - lots of guys simply step up in their senior year. Look at Nova. Do I have this right?
 
Only if he improved his accuracy or RU switched the wishbone.
Gavin was on one winning team at Rutgers , thanks to the running game his legs were part of and a RU D
that did the job.
Wimsatt's passing probably cost more games than it won
In the 3 seasons Gavin was on the roster RU FB went 16-22, hardly something that would make
for a great HOF resume
Nor this

Career Stats​

See All
Stats
2023
2022
2021

CMPATTCMP%YDSAVGTDINTLNGRTG
13127447.81,6516.09869103.4
6514544.87575.2575590.4
2540.0153.0011325.2

This would be a plus,
Rushing
seasonTeam
2021
RUTG
RUTG
2022
RUTG
RUTG
2023
RUTG
RUTG

CARYDSAVGTDLNG
5295.8020
40631.6048
1224884.0980

Defensive

but not enough to be considered HOF material as a QB when combined with his passing

Yup. Exactly this. In terms of the TD count metric, I also think it’s unlikely he would get as many opportunities from the one yard line again in another season, and we don’t play any teams like Wagner (Howard is FCS but they have a real defense. NW beat them 23-20. And Akron has a projected top 35ish FBS defense). To get 9 regular season TDs again, he’d likely have to make more bigger rush plays to find the end zone.
 
Ironically, if GW had the exact same stats for two more years he would finish with approx 5,700 yards passing for his career.
That would put him 7th all time - behind Ray Lucas.
 
Ok - so now your take is that Schiano is an awful coach because he recruits good QBs and then makes them play bad?

Let me make sure I have this right. You acknowledge that Schiano and his staff are doing well with recruiting (how could you not?). You don’t deny that every other position group under 2.0 has been coming along well (again - not much to debate here). And you don’t disagree that Greg has an above average history in sending players from other position groups (outside of OL but Pierce is positioned to change that) to the NBA (namely on defense, RBs, wide outs, etc.) So basically - the issue is just that you think his coaching style makes QBs play worse than they otherwise would. Savage would be the only semblance of tangible evidence you have too support this. Of course - lots of guys simply step up in their senior year. Look at Nova. Do I have this right?
No....He has said we're a running game program. The top QBs stay the hell away. He's known as a good defensive coach, and also widely known as a QB killer. Where else was AK going ? Why did Snyder play so well at Buffalo ?
 
Wimsatt fans.. how about waiting until he gets named to start a game at Kentucky before we lament losing him?

People are now saying the Wimsatt doubters are emotional? We have seen STATS quoted. Unemotional NUMBERS.

Methinks the Wimsatt people protest too much.. they are being emotional.

I want Wimsatt to succeed at Kentucky.. to utilize the physical gifts he has finally. But we had to make this change and, hopefully, we also see Athan succeed and lead us to wins by making the passing game more dependable.
 
I agree with that. And do you agree if Gavin had 2 more successful seasons at rutgers he is probably in our hall of fame ?
Within the bounds of your definition of "successful" could mean that RU has two more winning seasons, and Gavin is the weakest link the whole time holding us back from even greater heights.
 
  • Like
Reactions: newell138
Wimsatt fans.. how about waiting until he gets named to start a game at Kentucky before we lament losing him?

People are now saying the Wimsatt doubters are emotional? We have seen STATS quoted. Unemotional NUMBERS.

Methinks the Wimsatt people protest too much.. they are being emotional.

I want Wimsatt to succeed at Kentucky.. to utilize the physical gifts he has finally. But we had to make this change and, hopefully, we also see Athan succeed and lead us to wins by making the passing game more dependable.
I agree with everything you say, but . . . . I'm not going to lament Wimsatt so long as Kaliakmanis is performing better. The test should be, "what helps our team the most?"
 
I could never understand why we only ran GW up the middle. All he could really do was run but was relegated to up the middle. Would have loved to see him run to the outside as well.
Defenses generally played force inside on us. We were not given a lot of outside leverage.

We could have schemed run some sort of option with KM inside and the option to put GW outside, but teams very rarely gave us that edge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B0ski
Ironically, if GW had the exact same stats for two more years he would finish with approx 5,700 yards passing for his career.
That would put him 7th all time - behind Ray Lucas.

Who would you prefer??​

Lucas​


Passing
YearSchoolConfClassPosGCmpAttPctYdsY/AAY/ATDIntRate
1992RutgersBig EastQB106110558.18368.07.443131.8
1993RutgersBig EastQB1110918858.010115.44.776109.1
1994RutgersBig EastQB1015626858.218697.06.51610129.0
1995RutgersBig EastQB1118834754.221806.35.81611115.8
CareerRutgers51490856.658966.56.04330120.2

Wimsatt​

Passing
YearSchoolConfClassPosGCmpAttPctYdsY/AAY/ATDIntRate
*2021RutgersBig TenFRQB492142.9452.1-2.10241.8
2022RutgersBig TenSOQB86514544.87575.23.75790.4
*2023RutgersBig TenJRQB1313828947.817356.05.498102.9
2024KentuckySECJRQB
CareerOverall21245546.625375.64.5141796.1
Rutgers21245546.625375.64.5141796.1
Kentucky
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickRU714
Ironically, if GW had the exact same stats for two more years he would finish with approx 5,700 yards passing for his career.
That would put him 7th all time - behind Ray Lucas.

How many QBs have we actually had through our history who started for 3+ years?
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickRU714
No....He has said we're a running game program. The top QBs stay the hell away. He's known as a good defensive coach, and also widely known as a QB killer. Where else was AK going ? Why did Snyder play so well at Buffalo ?

He’s not saying that. If he wanted a run only offense he’d have stuck with Wimsatt and basically just committed to run option. He specifically said the thing he wants most from his QB is to be able to execute simple passes in stride.
 
When you say “similar” do you mean the team outcome is similar or he produces similar individual stats? If the latter, you’re likely presenting a hypothetical that Schiano would never allow. He decided those numbers weren’t good enough - brought in someone to compete and announced a replacement starter in spring. Let’s say Gavin stayed as the back up and AK suffered a season ending injury. Gavin starts all of 24. If he were to put up similar numbers to last year again, we would not be rolling with him in 25. He’s not the worst QB in the world, but the staff seem to have higher aspirations from the passing game. So no, I can’t imagine he’d get in the Hall of Fame. Who would nominate him?
It’s a simple question, I am asking you .
Yes, If he played here in 24 and 25 and had similar seasons how is he not in our hall of fame ? He would be top 10 in every category and would hold some records . He would also be 3-0 in bowl games , holding the record with teel . How’s he not a Rutgers hall of famer then? That was my original point . If he had 2 more seasons here like his sophomore season, he’s a hall of famer
 
He’s not saying that. If he wanted a run only offense he’d have stuck with Wimsatt and basically just committed to run option. He specifically said the thing he wants most from his QB is to be able to execute simple passes in stride.
You’ll see. If you knew what you were watching, which clearly you don’t, you’d know we didn’t run any run option. AK at best is a minimal upgrade.

Anyhow, talk is cheap. Watch the O and see by the playcalling what he’s really about.
 
Last edited:
You’ll see. If you knew what you were watching, which clearly you don’t, you’d know we didn’t run any run option. AK at best is a minimal upgrade.

Anyhow, talk is cheap. Watch the O and see by the playcalling what he’s really about.
No we didn’t run option. But if we wanted to shift to a pure run system that’s what we would do. Schiano likes safe plays. It’s true he favors shorter throws to speeding receivers in the hope of picking up yards after over long ball 50/60s. He’s risk averse. The trouble was short throws weren’t safe with Gavin. He threw darts that bounced off people and could potentially be picked.
 
It’s a simple question, I am asking you .
Yes, If he played here in 24 and 25 and had similar seasons how is he not in our hall of fame ? He would be top 10 in every category and would hold some records . He would also be 3-0 in bowl games , holding the record with teel . How’s he not a Rutgers hall of famer then? That was my original point . If he had 2 more seasons here like his sophomore season, he’s a hall of famer
But that would never happen. Schiano obviously wasn’t happy with Gavin’s numbers now. He went into the portal and took a guy who started for another BIG team. Another year of 47% and Wimsatt would for sure be replaced by Surace or another QB from in development (or from the portal). To retain his spot he’d have to improve.
 
It’s a simple question, I am asking you .
Yes, If he played here in 24 and 25 and had similar seasons how is he not in our hall of fame ? He would be top 10 in every category and would hold some records . He would also be 3-0 in bowl games , holding the record with teel . How’s he not a Rutgers hall of famer then? That was my original point . If he had 2 more seasons here like his sophomore season, he’s a hall of famer
Excuse me, but . . . so what? If your point is that Wimsatt was not terrible, OK. But all the same a change made sense based on his and Kaliakmanis's spring practices and entire body of work. Do you disagree with that? Should we have stayed with Wimsatt because he eventually would probably have made our Hall of Fame.
 
But that would never happen. Schiano obviously wasn’t happy with Gavin’s numbers now. He went into the portal and took a guy who started for another BIG team. Another year of 47% and Wimsatt would for sure be replaced by Surace or another QB from in development (or from the portal). To retain his spot he’d have to improve.
Again you won’t answer the question. It’s hypothetical just like you drafting teel to start in 24 . I played along and answered your hypothetical . Will you answer mine ?
 
Excuse me, but . . . so what? If your point is that Wimsatt was not terrible, OK. But all the same a change made sense based on his and Kaliakmanis's spring practices and entire body of work. Do you disagree with that? Should we have stayed with Wimsatt because he eventually would probably have made our Hall of Fame.
Yes, the point is wimsatt was pretty good by rutgers standards . But I never said he was good
We needed to upgrade
 
Excuse me, but . . . so what? If your point is that Wimsatt was not terrible, OK. But all the same a change made sense based on his and Kaliakmanis's spring practices and entire body of work. Do you disagree with that? Should we have stayed with Wimsatt because he eventually would probably have made our Hall of Fame.
His convoluted point, I think, is that GW was on a trajectory to be in our Hall and therefore was a perfectly good QB so far by our Rutgers standards and would only get better.

Luckily Schiano finally cut the cord bc he realized GW was holding the team back. AK is only a minor upgrade, but worth a try.
 
Even if GW duplicated it for 2 more years, I would still say no HOF.

I'm not watering down the Rutgers HOF just because we don't have a history of success.

That's like saying "I know the QB had 3 TDs and 100 INT but that's top 10 at Rutgers so he's a Rutgers HOF candidate."

Regardless of any particular schools history, there needs to be a general competence standard.

I don't care if the #1 QB in school history averaged 1,000 yards, 6TDs and 25INT.
No HOF.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT