Your evaluation of Austin Burton is not correct. At every practice the last 3 years, I was there during the Spring Practices except for 2 when I was sick. All the Security Guards near parking lot 8 on the roof all knew my name (Warner Anderson) including their Supervisor, I was on the wall next to the Offensive Line Coach in my Gold UCLA Sweatshirt or Letterman Jacket. Clearly, Austin Burton out performed All the QBs in both 7 on 7 and 11 on 11. The proof was in the last two Final Spring Practice Gemes. Look at the statistics for facts and proofs. Austin out performed All other QBs combine in - Scoring, Total Passing Yards, Total Yards Running, the Most Number of 1st Downs. Every Saturday during the Spring, there were 4 or more newspapers reporters next to me, and they said Austin Burton was the Best Performimg QB too. At almost every practice, DTR would throw an interception during the 11 on 11. After Autin lead the team to a touchdown, the 11 on 11 scrimmage could NEVER END until DTR could lead the team dowfield to a touchdown. I pointed this Chip Kelly 's Flaw out to Austin 's Dad on many of his trips to view the practices. Chip Kelly let DTR go more times to score than Austin because
DTR kept screwing up the plays - interceptions, dropping the ball from Center Snap, and Constantly Forgetting the plays he is calling. Then, he starts slapping the ball in Frustration due to his countless mistakes. Chip Kelly didn't play Austin because Chip did not want to WIN any games. If he loses, he would be fired so he can go home. DTR ensures a losing season year after year until someone tells Chip to Leave.
Before anyone says anything negative about Austin Burton performances I suggest you attend every practice and consult the 5 or more newspaper reporters covering UCLA 's practices and last 2 Final Spring Games.
I for one was a Burton fan and was really bummed to see him go. There was tons of debate on this subject last year at the old site with most people feeling that Burton was the more consistent QB while DTR was more athletic and had a higher potential ceiling. It seemed Kelly was gambling on DTR getting it figured out and playing at his top level on a regular basis, though that didn't happen for a lot of reasons. I'll fall back on my mantra by saying that I feel confident that both QBs were held back by the onrushing challenges (see what I did there) from a porous offensive line. It's hard for any QB to play his best when he can't consistently drop back, set, read, step up and throw with trust he won't get a face full of an angry 300 lb DE.
I do find it hard to believe that Kelly actively wanted to lose games. He may not have the fire or drive of some coaches we know, but simply to live the long hours of work necessary to be a college head coaches shows he wants to be there. Plus, he was working under our apathetic AD Guerrero who wasn't remotely going to pull the plug on him last year. He would have had to have started me if he really wanted to get ushered out.
Great preview, DD, and I need to go back and post a thank you to everyone for the position previews. Strong work by everyone.
U.C.L.A. QB depth chart is an oxymoron. Hopefully DTR finds some confidence and consistency this season. We have seen that his highs can be great and his lows can be abysmal. As I alluded to earlier (above? below? can Substack please get that fixed for us??), a QB's happiness is directly proportional to the competence of the offensive line. A clean pocket and a productive running game makes passing really pretty easy, but no Bruin QB has been able to really enjoy that opportunity in years. Rosen, Hundley, Craft, Cowan, etc. spent way too much of their careers running for their lives. It worries me though that with an essentially new OL that DTR is in for another season of pressure and punishment and subsequent erratic play (a lot like the last 2 years) and that the backups will be pressed into service (a lot like the last 2 years) and we'll be in a world of hurt (a lot like the last, oh, 20 years). I'd be willing to bet that Yankoff is wearing a different jersey the first Monday after DTR has to sit out (and hopefully that's never) but that's going to be a bandaid on an amputation if we get there.
Ultimately this falls back on Chip and his staff and their failure to reload with high end talent on a consistent basis. And that's not the only failure the Chip is carrying around.
One of the updates Substack just did was to allow you to set comments chronologically. That feels a bit closer to what people are used to. Thing I just noticed, try it out and let me know if it works better!
Your evaluation of Austin Burton is not correct. At every practice the last 3 years, I was there during the Spring Practices except for 2 when I was sick. All the Security Guards near parking lot 8 on the roof all knew my name (Warner Anderson) including their Supervisor, I was on the wall next to the Offensive Line Coach in my Gold UCLA Sweatshirt or Letterman Jacket. Clearly, Austin Burton out performed All the QBs in both 7 on 7 and 11 on 11. The proof was in the last two Final Spring Practice Gemes. Look at the statistics for facts and proofs. Austin out performed All other QBs combine in - Scoring, Total Passing Yards, Total Yards Running, the Most Number of 1st Downs. Every Saturday during the Spring, there were 4 or more newspapers reporters next to me, and they said Austin Burton was the Best Performimg QB too. At almost every practice, DTR would throw an interception during the 11 on 11. After Autin lead the team to a touchdown, the 11 on 11 scrimmage could NEVER END until DTR could lead the team dowfield to a touchdown. I pointed this Chip Kelly 's Flaw out to Austin 's Dad on many of his trips to view the practices. Chip Kelly let DTR go more times to score than Austin because
DTR kept screwing up the plays - interceptions, dropping the ball from Center Snap, and Constantly Forgetting the plays he is calling. Then, he starts slapping the ball in Frustration due to his countless mistakes. Chip Kelly didn't play Austin because Chip did not want to WIN any games. If he loses, he would be fired so he can go home. DTR ensures a losing season year after year until someone tells Chip to Leave.
Before anyone says anything negative about Austin Burton performances I suggest you attend every practice and consult the 5 or more newspaper reporters covering UCLA 's practices and last 2 Final Spring Games.
Oh, Evan is gonna a want a piece of you...
I for one was a Burton fan and was really bummed to see him go. There was tons of debate on this subject last year at the old site with most people feeling that Burton was the more consistent QB while DTR was more athletic and had a higher potential ceiling. It seemed Kelly was gambling on DTR getting it figured out and playing at his top level on a regular basis, though that didn't happen for a lot of reasons. I'll fall back on my mantra by saying that I feel confident that both QBs were held back by the onrushing challenges (see what I did there) from a porous offensive line. It's hard for any QB to play his best when he can't consistently drop back, set, read, step up and throw with trust he won't get a face full of an angry 300 lb DE.
I do find it hard to believe that Kelly actively wanted to lose games. He may not have the fire or drive of some coaches we know, but simply to live the long hours of work necessary to be a college head coaches shows he wants to be there. Plus, he was working under our apathetic AD Guerrero who wasn't remotely going to pull the plug on him last year. He would have had to have started me if he really wanted to get ushered out.
Argh, not Evan. I meant ASDK. He is DTRs biggest supporter around here.
Great preview, DD, and I need to go back and post a thank you to everyone for the position previews. Strong work by everyone.
U.C.L.A. QB depth chart is an oxymoron. Hopefully DTR finds some confidence and consistency this season. We have seen that his highs can be great and his lows can be abysmal. As I alluded to earlier (above? below? can Substack please get that fixed for us??), a QB's happiness is directly proportional to the competence of the offensive line. A clean pocket and a productive running game makes passing really pretty easy, but no Bruin QB has been able to really enjoy that opportunity in years. Rosen, Hundley, Craft, Cowan, etc. spent way too much of their careers running for their lives. It worries me though that with an essentially new OL that DTR is in for another season of pressure and punishment and subsequent erratic play (a lot like the last 2 years) and that the backups will be pressed into service (a lot like the last 2 years) and we'll be in a world of hurt (a lot like the last, oh, 20 years). I'd be willing to bet that Yankoff is wearing a different jersey the first Monday after DTR has to sit out (and hopefully that's never) but that's going to be a bandaid on an amputation if we get there.
Ultimately this falls back on Chip and his staff and their failure to reload with high end talent on a consistent basis. And that's not the only failure the Chip is carrying around.
One of the updates Substack just did was to allow you to set comments chronologically. That feels a bit closer to what people are used to. Thing I just noticed, try it out and let me know if it works better!
Yes!! You're right. The new option is there! (In the drop down menu just above the top comment on the left hand side, for anyone looking).
Let's play a game this weekend and see how the game thread looks!