How Good is A J McCarron?

[Jamos]

This morning as I sat and watched all of the highlights from yesterday's games and the usual Heisman talk among the sports analysts, only one of them said what I thought everyone should be saying about A J.

There were many players with exciting plays and stats that usually crank up the talk of who should be considered for the Heisman this year and arguably, they make some good points. Some of them passed or ran for large amounts of yardage and some passed and ran for large amounts of yardage. This is the usual formula for those that are considered for the award each year.

Alabama is a football program with a style of play that that doesn't help a player toward winning that trophy by only havong one player to ever win it. Most of the voters are looking for the razzle dazzle style of player that makes all of the Sunday morning highlight reels. Alabama's style of play usually doesn't have a lot of that because of the "team" concept that they endorse and playing time is shared by many, except for one.

A J McCarron is the one player on the team that sees the most action and yes, he does make the hight light reels but his name just doesn't excite the Heisman voters for whatever reason. Why?

What has McCarron done that should or should not qualify him for the Heisman? He hasn't passed for 400 yards and rushed for 100 more in any game like so many of the other quarterbacks. He has had a couple of scrambles after being flushed out of the pocket for good gainers and completed some big passes on the run, but  not many. This isn't what makes McCarron what he is today, the best quarterback in college football.

Winning is what makes McCarron  the best quarterback in college football. Isn't that the bottom line in this game? What is the goal of every team each year, to win the BCS National Championship. How many times has he led his team away from the jaws of defeat with his leadership? How many National Championships has he led his team to? He is not just a quarterback on this team, he is the leader on and off the field and isn't that part of the criteria for being selected for the Heisman? How much more can be asked of him? The difference between McCarron and the rest of the field is that he is both, a leader and a winner and I'm talking national championships.

The one person that endorsed McCarron this morning for the Heisman was Lou Holtz and as he described him as "nothing but a winner" . It seems like I've heard that description before and the man that said it is labeled as the greatest college football ever, Bear Bryant.

Does Bama have to win another championship in order for McCarron to win the Heisman, probably so, but it shouldn't be that way. McCarron has more than earned the right to hold that trophy, because he is the best football player in college football, just check his record. I rest my case.

[Catch Prothro]

 

Great write up.  AJ is a great leader.  He never loses his cool, and he motivates the team to play up to their best.  The game was put on him -- he made the checks after reading the defense.  "Alabama would not have won the game without AJ McCarron.  They wouldn't have won the national championship.  He is nothing but a winner."  Lou Holtz.  For once, I agree with him.

[McBaman]

Well said Jamos.  And let us all pray that AJ stays healthy.

[2Stater]

Great post, J. You are absolutely correct. AJ reminds me of Tom Brady so much. Never flashy, but always solid. I would take AJ over JF any day of the week. If he leads Bama to another NC this year, how could he ever go down as anything other than the best college QB who ever played? He may be that already. No matter whether Bama goes all the way again this year, time will always be kind to AJ McCarron.

[KoKoPuf]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

[2Stater]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

I respectfully disagree. 49-42. AJ won the game yesterday.

[pmull]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

I respectfully disagree. 49-42. AJ won the game yesterday.

Two very good QB's in the game yesterday. They play in two different offenses and their coaches ask them to do different things. Both played very well and are Heisman candidates IMO. Even as good as JF played it is not CLEAR he was the best QB on the field. He made two critical errors. AJ was not perfect but he did not make any critical errors. AJ also gets credit for winning the game.

[KoKoPuf]

AJ and JF are 1-1 in head to head match ups. I love AJ, he is the perfect QB for BAMA, and I still believe we would be going for 5 NC in a row if Saban had gone with AJ after the SC game in 2010. Not sure the year maybe 1968, Archie Manning put up 600 or so yards on BAMA in a losing shoot out with Scott Hunter. Helluva stretch to say Scott was a better QB than Archie.

[N.AL-Tider]

I have to agree with KoKoPuf.  I don't think the "best qb" won the game yesterday.  Yes, A.J. was almost flawless mistake-wise and he threw for more yards than should be necessary to win most games.  However, JM threw for 464 yards for a 11.9 yard average per completion with 5 TD's and 2 INTS.  A.J. threw for 334 yards for a 11.5 yard average with 4 TD's and 0 INTS.  Statistically speaking, JM was the best.  He also has tools at his disposal that A.J. doesn't, specifically, the ability to make things happen with his feet.  Yes, A.J. can scramble for a first down on occasion but JM can do it on almost every play.

Now, I do believe that A.J. will likely have a longer NFL career than JM.  That is because the kind of qb he is he likely won't get hit as often as JM will. 

[hscoach]

Both Qb's are good.  They run different systems. Could AJ run A&M's or could JM run Bama's?  I don't think CNS would allow JM to freelance like he does.  Can you imagine he meeting coming off the field with CNS if AJ threw the ball up for grab like JM does at times. 

[hscoach]

One thing I forgot, I think AJ would rather have Crystal instead of the Heisman, it would be the icing on the cake.

[Marshal Dillon]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

Wrong! Who threw 2 interceptions, including a pick 6, and lost the game and has never won an SEC or National Championship? Just wondering.


 

[N.AL-Tider]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

Wrong! Who threw 2 interceptions, including a pick 6, and lost the game and has never won an SEC or National Championship? Just wondering.


 

I hear what you are saying MD but, JM threw for 130 yards more than A.J.  Take the pick 6 away and the difference is even more drastic.  Of course you can't take away something that did happen.  Still, with the two ints JF threw 5 TD's to A.J.'s 4.  JF was better...

[SUPERCOACH]

AJ will be considered Bama's best ever QB, but he was clearly the second best on the field yesterday.

Wrong! Who threw 2 interceptions, including a pick 6, and lost the game and has never won an SEC or National Championship? Just wondering.


 

I hear what you are saying MD but, JM threw for 130 yards more than A.J.  Take the pick 6 away and the difference is even more drastic.  Of course you can't take away something that did happen.  Still, with the two ints JF threw 5 TD's to A.J.'s 4.  JF was better...

AJ's stats are skewed because we wanted to run the clock and ran for 234 yards on them.  We could have easily passed for more yards if we had wanted to.  JF had more yards because he had more attempts since they were playing from behind.  Going by yards per pass, they were pretty close.  Then factor in the 4 TDs and 0 interceptions, while JF had 5 TDs with 2 interceptions, one of which was a pick 6.  Again, we had a couple of rushing TDs that came at the end of long drives where we ran at will.  We could have easily thrown the ball for the score on those drives, just like we did on the last TD.  One thing I will say for JF is that our defense was much tougher than the one AJ faced.

JF is a very talented QB and can literally run circles around AJ when it comes to scrambling.  However, when it comes to making decisions, getting your team into the right play, checking down to the open receiver, leadership, and just playing winning football, AJ is far better IMO.  Take the highlight reel play where JF got away from Pagan after running backwards for 30 yards.  He threw that ball up for grabs.  It was a completion, but that is because his receiver went up and made a play.  It was a horrible throw, a horrible decision, and 90% of the time that ends up being an interception.

JF is very talented, but raw.  He needs a couple of more years of experience to learn to make better decisions.  When a national championship is on the line, I want AJ flying the plane over JF every time.  Just my 2 cents.

[Jamos]

Manzeil plays football like he lives, totally out of control. The sad part about this is they are both high risk and the odds are they both have sad endings.

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