"...(Omar) chance to play a lot..." ~ Cowher

[hammb]

http://mboard.steelers.com/fanzone/mboard/news

The Steeler fans are singing the praises of Omar! Hopefully he got the doubters to shut up so they can all pick on Boyd for being a turnover machine.

Omar's QB rating was 137.5 going 5 for 7 with a TD.

Roethlisberger had a 94.8, Batch had a 92.7 and Boyd had a 35.2

I gave the previous "reports" of him not knowing what he's doing .001 percent credibility, and now it's officially at 0.

Thanks for proving them wrong on the field yet again, Omar.

One series with the 2 minute drill is not a definitive answer to whether or not he is ready for the NFL. I didn't get to see the game, but from what I gather reading through this thread Omar struggled in his first series (nerves?), but came out rocking in the second series. Maybe it just took him a series to settle in, that's certainly possible. However, the second series he also came in and was rolling from the shotgun, correct?

There is a big difference between the shotgun & dropping back. Having success running the 2 minute drill from the shotgun, is great, but it doesn't mean that he's comfortable making his reads while he drops back to pass. I need only point to Tim Couch (or Harris for that matter) that struggled to get a grasp on the drop back. For years Couch was VERY good running the 2 minute drill offense. A good deal of the few wins he produced were come from behind victories late in the game. He was always comfortable taking the snap that way and firing away. He never got the grasp of making his reads while he drops back, so he's ready to throw as soon as he's set. That is a major transition for these QBs who play their entire collegiate careers in shotgun, and still is something that Omar needs to prove.

I think we'll really get an idea of where Omar stands in the next preseason game. If he's still #4 on the depth chart that would show that he's still not displaying enough recognition to earn the #3 spot, despite outplaying Boyd in the game that we saw. Hopefully Cowher will at least move him up to #3 so he can get as much time in the next game as Boyd got. If he gets that opportunity hopefully he'll play well and run with it.

[fulch]

I'd like to see Omar's td. Is it available anywhere online?

[Nati Hutch]

However, the second series he also came in and was rolling from the shotgun, correct?

He played under center almost the entire second series. He did take a shotgun snap on a third down, but for the most part he was under center. The one huge play the Steelers made was a screen pass that went for about 20 yards or so.

[Rollo83]

Omar's last drive was a combination of shotgun and under center. He was in the shotgun on third downs during the drive and some in the red zone. His two biggest plays, the TD and the 33-yard screen pass, both came while he was under center. The TD came off a great play-action ball fake to the running back.

I agree, Omar has a long way to go before he's comfortable under center. On a couple of the running plays he didn't seem to have his footwork down and almost missed getting to the handoff on an off-tackle play. The running back seemed to take a steep route to get the ball to compensate for Omar not being where he was suppose to be.

Omar's first series was a total nerves thing. They called two quick outs to help him get his feet wet. But, he missed the first receiver by five yards. We all know that is not Omar. The second series he seemed to settle down some. He made a nice play on a roll out and found an open receiver for about 15 yards. He also looked off the defense on the screen pass and threaded the ball through some heavy traffic and found the running back on the screen play.

I think this was just what Omar needed in terms of confidence. He'll be even better this weekend. I believe Cowher said that Omar and Boyd would flip flop in the rotation this week. Cowher said he didn't consider either one of them the #3...rather he said they were even.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Give Omar Willie Ried and Santonio Holmes to play with instead of Sean Morey and freaking Walter Young and I think you'll see him do well. There was also a big dropoff from the starting OL to the second teamers, save Philip. If Omar can get a couple of series with the big boys, he'll have the time and confidence he needs.

The Steelers have to realize that Omar has the potential to be a QB and Boyd doesn't. Boyd may know the playbook better now because of experience, but he's nothing more than a less talented Kordell Stewart. I know Pittsburgh doesn't want to go in that direction again.

I think if Omar gets to play almost 2 quarters against the Vikings' second team D, he'll impress enough to lock down the number 3 and make the roster. I know for a fact that he's shown enough to not last on a PS. Some team out there would take him about 5 minutes after the Steelers PS him (GB, Balt, Cinci, Oakland, NO, etc.)


My prediction is he'll be third string this year, and improve his footwork and knowledge enough over the next year to be a solid backup in year two. Batch will either get cut, traded, or have both his legs fall off.

[MACMAN]

http://mboard.steelers.com/fanzone/mboard/news

The Steeler fans are singing the praises of Omar! Hopefully he got the doubters to shut up so they can all pick on Boyd for being a turnover machine.

Omar's QB rating was 137.5 going 5 for 7 with a TD.

Roethlisberger had a 94.8, Batch had a 92.7 and Boyd had a 35.2

I gave the previous "reports" of him not knowing what he's doing .001 percent credibility, and now it's officially at 0.

Thanks for proving them wrong on the field yet again, Omar.

One series with the 2 minute drill is not a definitive answer to whether or not he is ready for the NFL. I didn't get to see the game, but from what I gather reading through this thread Omar struggled in his first series (nerves?), but came out rocking in the second series. Maybe it just took him a series to settle in, that's certainly possible. However, the second series he also came in and was rolling from the shotgun, correct?

There is a big difference between the shotgun & dropping back. Having success running the 2 minute drill from the shotgun, is great, but it doesn't mean that he's comfortable making his reads while he drops back to pass. I need only point to Tim Couch (or Harris for that matter) that struggled to get a grasp on the drop back. For years Couch was VERY good running the 2 minute drill offense. A good deal of the few wins he produced were come from behind victories late in the game. He was always comfortable taking the snap that way and firing away. He never got the grasp of making his reads while he drops back, so he's ready to throw as soon as he's set. That is a major transition for these QBs who play their entire collegiate careers in shotgun, and still is something that Omar needs to prove.

I think we'll really get an idea of where Omar stands in the next preseason game. If he's still #4 on the depth chart that would show that he's still not displaying enough recognition to earn the #3 spot, despite outplaying Boyd in the game that we saw. Hopefully Cowher will at least move him up to #3 so he can get as much time in the next game as Boyd got. If he gets that opportunity hopefully he'll play well and run with it.

His spot on the "depth Chart" has nothing to do with anything at this point, sice it was said early on that boyd and jacobs would each get lions shares in different games. i would be in the game when omar is 3rd in the rotation he is listed as 3rd on the depth chrart, pit works that way every year in early games its more of a schedual of events than positional rankings, bout game 3 it starts to get important with Pit.

[hammb]

Some team out there would take him about 5 minutes after the Steelers PS him (GB, Balt, Cinci, Oakland, NO, etc.)

I would like to think Cleveland would scoop him as well. They've got nothing, but young unproven guys on their depth chart. Only Frye has a legit shot at ever becoming a decent NFL QB, and Omar probably has a higher upside than him, even.

[Rollo83]

Give Omar Willie Ried and Santonio Holmes to play with instead of Sean Morey and freaking Walter Young and I think you'll see him do well. There was also a big dropoff from the starting OL to the second teamers, save Philip. If Omar can get a couple of series with the big boys, he'll have the time and confidence he needs.

Consequently, if you give him the "big boys" on offense, he'll have to face the "big boys" on defense. Omar had the luxury of playing against the Cardinals fourth team defense. He had pretty good protection as a whole. The price of poker goes up if he gets a series in the first half this coming week.

[JoeFalcon]

http://mboard.steelers.com/fanzone/mboard/news

The Steeler fans are singing the praises of Omar! Hopefully he got the doubters to shut up so they can all pick on Boyd for being a turnover machine.

Omar's QB rating was 137.5 going 5 for 7 with a TD.

Roethlisberger had a 94.8, Batch had a 92.7 and Boyd had a 35.2

I gave the previous "reports" of him not knowing what he's doing .001 percent credibility, and now it's officially at 0.

Thanks for proving them wrong on the field yet again, Omar.

One series with the 2 minute drill is not a definitive answer to whether or not he is ready for the NFL. I didn't get to see the game, but from what I gather reading through this thread Omar struggled in his first series (nerves?), but came out rocking in the second series. Maybe it just took him a series to settle in, that's certainly possible. However, the second series he also came in and was rolling from the shotgun, correct?

There is a big difference between the shotgun & dropping back. Having success running the 2 minute drill from the shotgun, is great, but it doesn't mean that he's comfortable making his reads while he drops back to pass. I need only point to Tim Couch (or Harris for that matter) that struggled to get a grasp on the drop back. For years Couch was VERY good running the 2 minute drill offense. A good deal of the few wins he produced were come from behind victories late in the game. He was always comfortable taking the snap that way and firing away. He never got the grasp of making his reads while he drops back, so he's ready to throw as soon as he's set. That is a major transition for these QBs who play their entire collegiate careers in shotgun, and still is something that Omar needs to prove.

I think we'll really get an idea of where Omar stands in the next preseason game. If he's still #4 on the depth chart that would show that he's still not displaying enough recognition to earn the #3 spot, despite outplaying Boyd in the game that we saw. Hopefully Cowher will at least move him up to #3 so he can get as much time in the next game as Boyd got. If he gets that opportunity hopefully he'll play well and run with it.

I'm not putting him in the Pro Bowl, the starting lineup or even the backup position based on this performance. The issue in question raised by the now discredited "reports" was that he was utterly incompetent running the offense. That has now proven to be false. (Other posts confirmed his work under center)

Reading defenses while dropping back is indeed a process, but this performance demonstrated he wasn't nearly as green as the phony rumors made him out to be and might have even shown him to be ahead of schedule. Whether or not he's ready for the rigors of an NFL season is another question not likely to be answered by any player at this stage of their career, although Omar has earned the benefit of the doubt from me based on his spectacular work here at BG.

[mmisbg]

There are some good points out there, but I think we just need to have patience. Personally, I think Boyd will be on their practice squad. I stole this quote from the Steelers' message board:

It's no contest as to who stays, IMHO. And you have to keep Jacobs on the active roster, since if we put him on the practice squad, he'll be gone in less than 2 weeks. Somebody will snatch him up.

We just need to give it more time. A lot of people hate the 4 game schedule for NFL preseason. But, I think it will work to Omar's advantage.

Patience. That is all we need. Remember, during Big Ben's winning streak he averaged an interception within the first four plays he ran in 60% of the games they played. It is expected for first year QB's. He has some learning to do, but so does every 1st year QB. Give it some time.

I do think he'll see a lot more game time this weekend. They don't want to push Big Ben too much just yet, and Batch is an injury waiting to happen. Furthermore, the showing by Boyd was not very good. Omar had some rough edges shadowed by strokes of brilliance. They will want know what he is all about before preseason is over.

Go Falcons!