I'm a big fan of Scipio so I'll definitely check it out.
For me I'm measuring development by what I'm seeing more by what the numbers are. His progress won't be linear, so it will be more of a thing where you look at the season on the whole and evaluate where he improved. Right now he's going through something that I think David Ash went through early in his development. That game against WVU reminded me of the game at Missouri in which Ash just kept launching deep passes with no idea where they were going. Swoopes is doing the same thing right now, and if he can get back to eating up those routes he's getting at 7 and 8 yards he will improve. It's just really impossible to evaluate him right now because he's been all over the place. His deep accuracy is so hit or miss that it skews his completion percentage. I believe he could really beef those numbers up but he's got it in his head to throw it deep every time. He also has happy feet like crazy. Despite the low completion numbers I thought he played well against Tech.
Scouts always say you just have to see it once and you know it's there. There are a lot of things I've seen from him that make me know they are there but he hasn't harnassed the ability to consistently execute them. These are the struggles of a young quarterback, especially one that wasn't ready for this season. As an aside, I think the whole discussion about "it" factor is bogus. It can't be quantified and is used to generalize as a statement. Vince Young and Colt McCoy were guys who people said "Just had 'it'", but I feel like I could write a book on why each was so good and expand on those reasons. From what I see Swoopes is slow footed when running outside, struggles with deep accuracy, has difficulties reading coverage, holds on to the ball too long, hears footsteps in the pocket, and forces throws downfield instead of checking down when the defense is giving him yards. Now that is 6 reasons that can be quantified as reasons he is struggling this year. I'm sorry to rant a bit, I just have a pet peeve about the whole "It factor" thing.
Lastly, I agree that the comments in the media are a bit disturbing and show a young man who is struggling with the speed of the game and is starting to see ghosts out there. That said I wouldn't be so hard on him. More players than you think experience the same things, but Swoopes has an unfiltered honesty that you'd almost expect out of a small town 19 year old kid. If proper quarterback management was seen to under Mack this kid would have had a redshirt and probably 2 years as a backup before being thrust into this position. He's carrying the weight of a blue blood program and all of the expectations that go with it on his back and I think he's reacting honestly to it. He's also learning in a trial by extreme fire environment. A lot of the things I listed above can be erased with time and reps, even if it isn't on our timeline.
I say all this to say, that while I'm not sure anyone has the answer to if Swoopes is the future or not, he has to be considered on a different grading scale. He's shown things over the course of the season that shows growth in some areas and potential for greatness in others. He's also shown the potential for meltdown. If Jerrod Heard is what everyone (including me) thinks he is, then he will get the chance to show that in the bowl practices and spring. The bottom line is, a Swoopes led has had them in every single game except for BYU, Kansas State, and to an extent Baylor. I don't believe he is hurting the team right now, I just believe he's not helping it greatly. It's kind of a crappy situation for the University of Texas to be in, but that is the reality at this time. Two or possibly three more games for now we will be able to look back and get an accurate picture that isn't colored by the ups and downs of the week to week emotional swing. If he's not the answer, the coaching staff will turn to the next option for next season. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
#TL
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