DaMarcus Smith

[HarringtonFishSmeller]

What we need is a coaching staff that knows what an FBS quarterback looks like coming out of high school.  We've gambled a ton on "overlooked" QBs.  We know why they were "overlooked" now. 

Like I said a couple of weeks ago - McNulty, Smith, Greer, Means:  It's all the same animal.  They should be FCS or lower.  They are extremely fortunate to have been given scholarships to an FBS.

Not one of them has the talent or drive to succeed at this level.

The next head coach has got to bring in some hard working kids who have the tools to do it.  Otherwise, we are spinning our wheels for another half decade or more.

[Got5onIt]

He's been thrown in midway through a season against 2 of the best teams in CUSA.  What did you expect? Like others have said, the UTSA game will give us the best idea of where he sits.  I'm definitely looking forward to this game and will be there to see NT get their 1st win.

[Mike Jackson]

Arguing about D. Smith?  This is more arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.  The captain of this ship might as well be high on crack hanging out in a luxury sweet with Kanye West comparing bling with him.  And we the passengers are picking  fight with the cruise director after the ship has hit an iceberg.  Bottom line I think Canales and D. Smith are a little better than what the opportunities they have be given allowed them.   I think Canales should have been the hire instead of Mac.  However it is not the right time for Canales here anymore.  And it sure as hell going to be extremely difficult for any coach coming here with an athletic department that can't even get ticketing right more than 80% or the time or what TV channel away games are on.

[greenit]

It didn't stop Smith from running his mouth about how much better he could be if he only got the chance. 

Time to put up or shut up. He is a 4th year junior. The coaches are calling his plays from the sideline.  All he has to do is throw the ball with some accuracy  

I am patient, but so far the results are very mixed with Smith.  I do believe he has talent.  Unless he steps up dramatically, we are probably looking at signing another Juco QB or graduate transfer this year.

[pastorgrant]

Aren't many QBs who wouldn't be 0-2 in the same situation.

[aztecskin]

 

Come on guys I don't care how good their secondary is and it's not a matter of how many reps he's had. He's been playing the position long enough to complete a non-contested five yard out.  Make better throws. 

He completed a couple of those. He also completed a couple of contested ones. He also dropped in some great tosses into tiny windows that hit our guys in the hands. 

 

You should criticize him for believing in his arm too much to always try to throw on the run and not set his feet. Maybe you can say he is trying to make the biggest play and not just a good play. Like Greg said, he has FBS tools, but we are asking a bit too much from him. No matter the QB, we should be a run-first team. 

[greenit]

Agree with the above. Play action should be Demarcus' best friend right now because we should be wearing out Wilson and Ivery right now with runs and quick outs. 

[Mean_Green09]

Agree with the above. Play action should be Demarcus' best friend right now because we should be wearing out Wilson and Ivery right now with runs and quick outs. 

I'd like to see some play action max protect with 2 guys running routes down field. I know he made a lot of plays outside of the pocket at Butler CC, but I really like to see him try to work more from the pocket and scramble to extend plays. No more designed rollouts. Focus on fundamentals

[GMG24]

I'll give you the same tap the brakes I did on Dajon. 

Until I see this kid complete 60% of his passes without an interception in a game, my opinion won't change, and I have zero faith in Chico to develop what he does have. 

He has a strong arm, but is inaccurate and doesn't make the best decisions. 

Decision making could improve. I don't think accuracy will under Chico. 

But lije I said, he is the best we have, so along with you, I hope for the best. 

DAJONs offer list out of HS http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Dajon-Williams-13408/RecruitInterests

 

Damarcus list http://sports.yahoo.com/ccc/football/recruiting/player-DaMarcus-Smith-94229

 

he obviously looked an FBS QB to some people in America unlike Dajon, who I think had the talent to be an FBS QB, and I don't care about stats. I'm talking about ability. 

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

I think a better stat than 0-2 is a sub 50 completion percentage and 128 passing yards against Marshall this last week. Upgrade from McNulty for sure, but I'm with UNT90 that we probably don't have a decent FBS QB on the roster. 

[GM1998]

I think this week against UTSA will be a better barometer of how good he is.......hopefully.

The pillow fight of the year!!!!!

But seriously, this will be a good test of Smith. I think the kid has potential. Just needs to get the reps at game speed.

[Army of Dad]

I am patient, but so far the results are very mixed with Smith.  I do believe he has talent.  Unless he steps up dramatically, we are probably looking at signing another Juco QB or graduate transfer this year.

No, he will work for one more year. He will improve. I think he will max out around 55% completion percentage and stay positive TD-INT. Go HS QB, redshirt him and then let him take is lumps in new coach's 2nd year. By his RS soph year he will be ready to successfully lead or get passed by RS freshman quoted after him.

[greenit]

I agree that A new coach does increase the likelihood of signing a HS QB.

[Got5onIt]

I don't think DaMarcus is a pure passing spread QB. He's got a rocket arm that could kill defenses on playaction. Cut out the empty backfield plays, focus on running Wilson, Spread Option runs, zone read plays, and lots of playaction. Utilize the bootleg/waggle and grant him the option to tuck it and run if his primary receiver isn't open. 

[HarringtonFishSmeller]

People keep talking about his "rocket arm."  Who cares?  He isn't accurate.  He underthrows.  He overthrows.  He can't read defenses worth a crap - which is Job #2 of a Quarterback, right after Job #1:  Knowing Your Own Playbook. 

Having a "rocket arm" doesn't enable you to know your own playbook or read opposing defenses.  That comes from sitting on your ass for hours and hours, watching film and studying diagrammed plays.    

"Rocket arm" means nothing without being able to play the position.  It's the same with speed.  I don't care about your 40 time if you can't catch, tackle, run through a line of scrimmage, or make defenders miss.

Football isn't a contest to see who can run the faster or throw the farthest/hardest.  It's not a skills test.  It's a game where you have to figure out - within a 20 to 30 second time span - what you should do based on what the opposing team is showing you on the field.

If you can't figure out what the other team is doing, you are going to fail at this level.  If you want to just screw around at the dorm between practices, eating the free food, chasing p*ssy, and hitting up old friend on social media, play D-II ball. 

 

Edited October 26, 2015 by HarringtonFishSmeller

[HarringtonFishSmeller]

DAJONs offer list out of HS http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Dajon-Williams-13408/RecruitInterests

 

Damarcus list http://sports.yahoo.com/ccc/football/recruiting/player-DaMarcus-Smith-94229

 

he obviously looked an FBS QB to some people in America unlike Dajon, who I think had the talent to be an FBS QB, and I don't care about stats. I'm talking about ability. 

Yes, well, where were all those offers the second time around after his season at Butler CC?  Once coaches saw a little game film of him against JUCO competition, the offers dried up to the extent that he ended up here. 

[UNT90]

DAJONs offer list out of HS http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Dajon-Williams-13408/RecruitInterests

 

Damarcus list http://sports.yahoo.com/ccc/football/recruiting/player-DaMarcus-Smith-94229

 

he obviously looked an FBS QB to some people in America unlike Dajon, who I think had the talent to be an FBS QB, and I don't care about stats. I'm talking about ability. 

There are a lot of guys with the physical ability to be good FBS QB's that never became one. It could be their decision making was bad or their work ethic was lacking. 

Yes, Smith had a ton of offers. He has a cannon when he sets his feet and a lot of people probably thought they could fix the accuracy problem (no faith in Chico to do this). Smith committed to a school, never went, went to another school and was beaten out by a 3 star (since we are talking recruiting rankings here), and transferred to a JUCO, where he didn't take care of business in order to be eligible for Spring practice (like his new team desperately needed him to be.

Again, I think he is our very best option, I just don't think we have any good options right now. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

He's been thrown in midway through a season against 2 of the best teams in CUSA.  What did you expect? Like others have said, the UTSA game will give us the best idea of where he sits.  I'm definitely looking forward to this game and will be there to see NT get their 1st win.

This right 'chere.

Only a handful of you have mentioned the level of competition we've been up against over the last 2 games.   Now, I expect to see much better results (possibly a win?!) next weekend.  And from here on out, the only team that is anywhere near WKU or Marshall's level is LATech.  

Let's face it guys, this is a bad team this year.  Let's judge him when he plays teams on our level before we start judging him 2 weeks into starting when WKU & Marshall are killing us.

[UNT90]

This right 'chere.

Only a handful of you have mentioned the level of competition we've been up against over the last 2 games.   Now, I expect to see much better results (possibly a win?!) next weekend.  And from here on out, the only team that is anywhere near WKU or Marshall's level is LATech.  

Let's face it guys, this is a bad team this year.  Let's judge him when he plays teams on our level before we start judging him 2 weeks into starting when WKU & Marshall are killing us.

Fair enough. But some will still defend him if he completes 45% of his passes and throws 3 ints against UTSA.

The first thing the new staff needs to do is go out and find a grad transfer QB who was at least 2nd team at a P5. And playing behind a good P5 QB. 

That position has zero depth at the moment, and several scholarship QBs should "decide" to transfer to an FCS in the off season. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

Fair enough. But some will still defend him if he completes 45% of his passes and throws 3 ints against UTSA.

The first thing the new staff needs to do is go out and find a grad transfer QB who was at least 2nd team at a P5. And playing behind a good P5 QB. 

That position has zero depth at the moment, and several scholarship QBs should "decide" to transfer to an FCS in the off season. 

It wont be me anymore (unless there are some killer positive stats to go along with them, like at least 4 TDs). That'll be about the same sample size we saw from Dajon.

[VideoEagle]

By his own admission in a newspaper article, Smith has only been doing the things needed to be successful as a D1 QB just over two weeks. Many seem to laugh at the idea Canales has tests to see if a QB is correctly reading a defense, but now many don't like the results of a QB who can't do it. I believe he will improve, but it's going to be very, very painful to watch and there will be a lot of mistakes along the way. I think the jury is still out on if he's got what it takes to be a true D1 QB, but at least he is now trying. 

[aztecskin]

Fair enough. But some will still defend him if he completes 45% of his passes and throws 3 ints against UTSA.

The first thing the new staff needs to do is go out and find a grad transfer QB who was at least 2nd team at a P5. And playing behind a good P5 QB. 

That position has zero depth at the moment, and several scholarship QBs should "decide" to transfer to an FCS in the off season. 

1 crazy person defending means what, exactly? 

"that's a fair point, *but* someone will defend him so . . . 

... it invalidates it?

... I [meaning you] will not rest until they are convinced, even if it requires bible-thumpin' preachin' in the streets!'

... we still need to bring it up? 

I'm genuinely curious, here.

 

For what it's worth, GMG-Kanye, and anyone else who is interested, here is my scale of judgement:

1. Qualified good play. For me, McNulty lost more good will points every time he stared down a WR and threw a pick. Those are first and second year mistakes so for a fifth-year guy to make them is nigh unforgivable. I can't yell at D. Smith for the same type of mistakes because he is in his 1st year with the offense. We can complain that he should be farther along in his first year and that his actions contributed to his slowness in grasping it. Those are valid criticisms. 

McNulty should have been a lot better against worse teams -- PSU, SMU, Rice (he was very good here), and okay against good teams (So. Miss, Iowa). Smith should have been better in his relief appearances. Marshall and WKU are good defenses and so outside of missing (badly) on some throws, how bad was he? Don't the defenses get credit? 

2. Relative improvement. For McNulty, there was little upside. He should have been putting up 200-250 yards, 1TD a game with 60% completion at min given his time and abilities. Nothing amazing, but decent. For Smith, he should be higher than 50%. Where McNulty should be expected to make better decisions pre-snap, DaMarcus has no excuse to not make better decisions post-snap. That said, "Should I try to make a play here, or just take a two-yard run out of bounds?" is easy after the play is decided but we all know that his dynamism is a good majority of the reason he's been recruited, and starting right? Can't praise him for swinging for the fences when he hits a HR (Kidsy throw, scramble and throw both vs WKU), and then condemn him for the same method when he gets a 20-yard sack. 

 

Again, I'm content with what I've seen from D. Smith considering the circumstances. Against UTSA we should expect improvement in these areas. 

[adman]

What's your point?  He's getting his chance midway through a winless season, many players on the team have lost their enthusiasm, and he is learning on the fly.  Do you think Mini Mac would be better?  Or maybe Greer?

 

Im not championing one player over another. Just pointing out that our OC/QB coach now HC is free to call whatever plays he wishes and, while the sample size is small, you may be witnessing why old Rocket Arm wasn't starting all along. (Hint: poor touch and serious accuracy issues.) Many on this board got what they wanted. Chico unleashed and DaMarcus at QB and yet the results, so far, are the same.

I really, really, hope that everything clicks this week and DaMarcus lights it up. That he has much improved accuracy and throws for a high percentage of completions. However, starter or no, he's been at QB practice from summer to now and his accuracy and touch have not improved. So Im not terribly optimistic that one more week of practice is going get him over the hump. 

This is not me bashing the kid for any shortcomings - I blame the QB coach. 

 

[GMG24]

Yes, well, where were all those offers the second time around after his season at Butler CC?  Once coaches saw a little game film of him against JUCO competition, the offers dried up to the extent that he ended up here. 

Did they dry up or did those teams actually go out and recruit a competent QB between then and now? Thats what successful programs do, they try to get guys with his talent, when they don't work then they get another one of equal talent the following year. 

[HarringtonFishSmeller]

By his own admission in a newspaper article, Smith has only been doing the things needed to be successful as a D1 QB just over two weeks. Many seem to laugh at the idea Canales has tests to see if a QB is correctly reading a defense, but now many don't like the results of a QB who can't do it. I believe he will improve, but it's going to be very, very painful to watch and there will be a lot of mistakes along the way. I think the jury is still out on if he's got what it takes to be a true D1 QB, but at least he is now trying. 

And, therein lies the problem:  Smith decided to work only when things started going his way.

So, let's get real here:  Mike Canales has not been the only coach he's had for the past four seasons.  He began with Willie Taggart in 2012, when WKU went 7-5.  He was hired away and WKU for Bobby Petrino, a pretty good offensive-minded head coach in his own right.  WKU went 8-4. 

Are we really pretending that DaMarcus Smith, four years out of high, is not up to par solely because of Mike Canales?  Come on.  He's been with Canales for just a couple months.  He's had three years, at least two under coaching staffs with demonstrably successful track records at the FBS level, to learn how to play QB at this level.  He's at Year Four and still doesn't play well.

Canales, for sure, is to blame for much of the QB predicament we are in.  But, be honest - you cannot force a kid to learn.  Taggart and Petrino weren't able to do so. 

And, JUCO is what it is - a ton of guys who will never touch an FBS field playing out the "I'm a college football player" string for as long as they can.  Greer posted some good number in JUCO.  What did it mean?  In the end, nothing.

I think most would argue Taggart and Petrino are better coaches than Canales.  Why, for some of you, is Canales the only one to blame for Smith's lack of development?

Smith, from what it looks like, did not ever put in the work necessary to compete at this level.  And, you know what?  Fine.  But, why blame a coach who's only had him for a couple of months out of the four years he's been bouncing around college programs?

Smith is much more to blame for his lack of development than any coach.  If you aren't willing to work for it, it ain't going to just happen because you yell at your coaches that you are a "gamer" or "think you can win every game" or some other horsesh*t baloney.