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Are we talking enough about Shapen?

1,845 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by boognish_bear
Big_Pumpin
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I was finally able to watch the game last night. This dude is crazy accurate on short to intermediate throws. I'm not talking about stats. I'm talking about placing the ball perfectly for his receiver to maximize yards after catch. So many times you see a QB throw a little low or behind in a receiver in the flat and it disrupts the momentum. Blake hits them perfectly every time. A good example was the hurdle play. If the the tight end has to adjust at all to catch the ball, he probably gets his legs cut before he can time his hurdle.

It's fun to watch.
alanmarmstrong
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The Monoray Baldwin drop that would've been a TD as he was running away from the defender was another great example. That's hard throw to make accurately, and they did everything right on that play other than catch the ball. Like where we are headed. I think we are the best team in the Big 12 right now and have the highest ceiling based on our overall talent, depth, schemes, etc.
IowaBear
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Really looking forward to Saturday as OSUs D line will likely be a big test for Blake. Hoping he continues to be poised in the pocket. Watched some of the Pokes last night. We can expose their secondary if we give Blake time in the pocket
boognish_bear
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It really seemed like Shapen took a big step forward in growth during the ISU game. Where he often looked shell shocked in the BYU game....in this game he had a very calm and poised presence in the pocket. I think the OL giving him more time was probably part of that too.

His accuracy is his greatest strength to me. If we can just continue to give him time to set his feet in the pocket he will inflict some damage in the passing game.
parch
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His ceiling is so high, but you can really tell how mentally conflicted he is about risk vs. reward management in the pocket. His mentality has and will continue to keep us in every game he plays, because he so rarely accounts for turnovers. He will tuck it and take the sack every time if the only other option is a chancy heave. He's the opposite of a gunslinger.

From a coaching perspective, Grimes/SB never have to coach him toward taking what the defense gives you. He does that phenomenally already. You can tell, however, that they're trying to push his risk-taking a bit more. Trust your baseball arm into tighter windows. Try the long ball and trust the receiver's step.

That said, it's much easier to coach risk into a young QB than it is to coach risk out. Shapen is by no means the finished article, but I'm pretty pleased with the steps he's taken so far this year.
boognish_bear
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Also....I'm glad to see he's learned the value of sliding and not giving up his body to try and squeeze out extra yards.
JP1037
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parch said:

His ceiling is so high, but you can really tell how mentally conflicted he is about risk vs. reward management in the pocket. His mentality has and will continue to keep us in every game he plays, because he so rarely accounts for turnovers. He will tuck it and take the sack every time if the only other option is a chancy heave. He's the opposite of a gunslinger.

From a coaching perspective, Grimes/SB never have to coach him toward taking what the defense gives you. He does that phenomenally already. You can tell, however, that they're trying to push his risk-taking a bit more. Trust your baseball arm into tighter windows. Try the long ball and trust the receiver's step.

That said, it's much easier to coach risk into a young QB than it is to coach risk out. Shapen is by no means the finished article, but I'm pretty pleased with the steps he's taken so far this year.


Smart post. On 4th down for example. Throwing a pick downfield is better than a sack.
vanillabryce
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Shapen will continue to get better as the season goes on. Experience and wisdom will be a multiplier.

Chamberman
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boognish_bear said:

It really seemed like Shapen took a big step forward in growth during the ISU game.
No, Jeff Grimes finally opened the playbook up, as he's auditioning for the ASU spot.
parch
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Chamberman said:

boognish_bear said:

It really seemed like Shapen took a big step forward in growth during the ISU game.
No, Jeff Grimes finally opened the playbook up, as he's auditioning for the ASU spot.
This is stupid. Every coordinator is always auditioning for the next spot, and there's almost always a P5 job open somewhere. The openness, or perception thereof, of the playbook has everything to do with how Grimes perceives the matchups and Shapen's maturation in progressing through reads faster and taking more chances.
Big_Pumpin
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parch said:

His ceiling is so high, but you can really tell how mentally conflicted he is about risk vs. reward management in the pocket. His mentality has and will continue to keep us in every game he plays, because he so rarely accounts for turnovers. He will tuck it and take the sack every time if the only other option is a chancy heave. He's the opposite of a gunslinger.

From a coaching perspective, Grimes/SB never have to coach him toward taking what the defense gives you. He does that phenomenally already. You can tell, however, that they're trying to push his risk-taking a bit more. Trust your baseball arm into tighter windows. Try the long ball and trust the receiver's step.

That said, it's much easier to coach risk into a young QB than it is to coach risk out. Shapen is by no means the finished article, but I'm pretty pleased with the steps he's taken so far this year.


Good post.

There were a couple of plays where maybe he's getting batter at that. The jump ball down field where Hal mad a great catch. And then another play where he kept the play alive by scrambling to his left and threw a side arm strike to a receiver that found a soft spot on the free for all
boognish_bear
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Big_Pumpin said:

parch said:

His ceiling is so high, but you can really tell how mentally conflicted he is about risk vs. reward management in the pocket. His mentality has and will continue to keep us in every game he plays, because he so rarely accounts for turnovers. He will tuck it and take the sack every time if the only other option is a chancy heave. He's the opposite of a gunslinger.

From a coaching perspective, Grimes/SB never have to coach him toward taking what the defense gives you. He does that phenomenally already. You can tell, however, that they're trying to push his risk-taking a bit more. Trust your baseball arm into tighter windows. Try the long ball and trust the receiver's step.

That said, it's much easier to coach risk into a young QB than it is to coach risk out. Shapen is by no means the finished article, but I'm pretty pleased with the steps he's taken so far this year.


another play where he kept the play alive by scrambling to his left and threw a side arm strike to a receiver that found a soft spot on the free for all
That was a damn good play
bear2be2
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I thought this was the best game of Blake's young career. He's always going to take care of the ball, so you never have to worry about him playing you out of a game. But I was pleased with the way he went out and made plays Saturday. We're going to need more of that to reach our full potential this season.
DanaDane
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The exciting thing to think about is that he's barely played a half season of football as the QB (legitimately 3 games last year and now 4 this year). He has the opportunity to get even better as he experiences all the various teams and road game atmospheres.
parch
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I do think he's improving. Even some of the crossing routes he hit with defenders under and over the receiver were pull-backs against BYU.

With him I think it's a self-trust issue, which is very common among young/inexperienced QBs. The ones who have no self-doubts about their throws as freshmen/sophomores tend to either be amazing or terrible because they don't regulate their instincts well. And it's pretty rare to find true 5-star instincts, even among 5-star recruits.

This is just my read, but I think Grimes is adept enough to know that if Shapen doesn't fully trust his decision-making to meet the routes yet, and he starts dialing up high-risk aerial gameplans early that lead to continual bad consequences, he's going to shatter a developing ego.

I think that approach might've cost us the BYU game (it could've just as easily led to a larger loss, but that's conjecture). But if slow boiling his confidence until he's to a point where the foundation is poured gets him into a flow that carries him through his last snap, then damn, good job Jeff.

So far so good.
Stefano DiMera
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I'm still worried about our WR group and their ability to get seperation..not sure how you can improve that during season except exploiting mismatches but that's difficult.

Pleased with the Gavin Holmes sighting. Maybe he can be that guy . Our TE room is a beast .

All good points above by everybody.
parch
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I also agree with you here on the WRs. It's not a bad group, but it's not very dynamic either. Nobody is scared of these guys, and that just puts even more pressure on a similarly developing group of RBs. As much as I want Monaray to be the x-factor, he's either been injured or underwhelming so far. Can't be dropping TDs when you're trying to establish a defined role.

Shapen's two most dependable targets so far are Ben Sims and Gavin Holmes. They were catching passes from Charlie Brewer the last time we lacked any pop in the WR group in 2020. Unfortunate not to have recruited or developed a true #1 since then to replace Thornton.
Golden Helmet
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Their defense sucks.
IowaBear
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Maybe the back 7, front 4 definitely doesn't suck
McCavebear
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boognish_bear said:

It really seemed like Shapen took a big step forward in growth during the ISU game. Where he often looked shell shocked in the BYU game....in this game he had a very calm and poised presence in the pocket. I think the OL giving him more time was probably part of that too.

His accuracy is his greatest strength to me. If we can just continue to give him time to set his feet in the pocket he will inflict some damage in the passing game.
YEP!

https://wacotrib.com/sports/college/baylor/shapens-road-performance-a-big-step-forward-for-baylor-qb/article_1bcda93c-3cd8-11ed-9087-ff44d6d13601.html
McCavebear Lives!
boognish_bear
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