We had a comment yesterday about Fromm being boring. I get where the commenter is coming from, when I read stuff like this:
Overall, the junior signal caller completed 15 of 23 attempts for 156 yards and a touchdown. That stat line isn’t going to blow anyone away but according to Kirby Smart, Fromm is asked to do much more than just distribute the football via the forward pass. The UGA staff puts a lot on his plate when it comes to managing the game and he has a big role in the success of the rushing attack, too.
Ultimately, his job is to make the offense as right as possible, the defense as wrong as possible, and Smart, who is on the other side of things during practice, feels the pain of opposing defensive coordinators.
“…He does a nice job of making sure we’re in successful plays,” Smart said. ” As a defensive coordinator, I can tell you, going against him every day is frustrating because it’s hard to be right a lot of times.”
Fromm’s ability to run the offense has been his calling card since arriving in Athens. The third-year starter is adept at anticipating his throws, delivering the ball with accuracy, and taking advantage of his downfield opportunities, but seeing what the defense is trying to accomplishing and countering that is one of his greatest strengths.
He put that on display against Vanderbilt maybe more so than any other game in his career. Fromm was consistently walking up to the line of scrimmage and making adjustments before the snap. Georgia rarely huddles so as to give Fromm time to get the lay of the land and then its up to him to make sure everything is right. He changes protections, flips plays, and even changes plays altogether. He’ll change routes, check to certain plays depending on whether a team is bringing pressure, and, sometimes, he may be playing mind games with the defense and going with what Smart calls “window dressing.”
Three-dimensional chess ain’t sexy, but it is effective in the right hands. I’m good with that. So is Kirby.
Get The Picture 
Sounds like a system a “read one guy and take off or chunk it” QB wouldn’t thrive in, doesn’t it?
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An example of that “read one guy and take off or chunk it” guy would be …..
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Justin Fields.
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Ultimately it would take a QB who’s not concerned with pretty stats and making great throws all the time to hand off out of passing formations not just once, but several times per game. Fromm’s mentality is that of a system QB. I know that’s not a compliment for most, but it’s why he’s a winner versus a great talent/great arm guy.
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Fromm isn’t a system QB. He played in an Air Raid, spread passing system in high school (I believe breaking Deshaun Watson’s records). He came to UGA fully expecting to play in a pro-style multiple offense … completely different than anything he had done.
Jake Fromm is a quarterback. He would be successful in an Oklahoma type of system. He is successful in Georgia’s system.
I think this is the main reason the NFL draft watchers seem to be so high on him.
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I guess what I meant by that is he’s going to run the system as intended rather than improvise with his feet or throw because he’s confident in his throwing. I’m not quite sure what to call that type of QB.
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A winner
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Still he seems to run hot and cold. He was hot in the first half but cooled down in the second. If I was defending him I’d stunt him on every play. LSU showed how to beat us last year. I’m a glass half empty kind of guy I guess.
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As I mentioned yesterday, Georgia’s issues with stunting were largely on Hill, certainly not Fromm. I’ve got to believe some of that gets cleaned up as Hill gains more experience and continues to be coached up by Pittman.
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I’ve been saying since January that I was more concerned about losing Lamont Gailliard than anyone else on the team.
Hill is a stud, but he’s going to have to learn on the job.
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….and that’s a tough learning crucible.
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I seem to recall Hill getting his lunch taken on Saturday on one of those short yardage plays.
I hope Kirby et al have seen enough of the short yardage disasters to begin coaching around it.
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Fromm is like an extra coach on the field. It’s between the ears that makes him stand out above the rest.
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Sounds like Drew Brees. Not that Jake is him but Drew isn’t a big guy and and doesn’t possess an extraordinary arm at this point in his career. Yet at 40 he’s still running one of the most effective offenses in the NFL because of his ability to read the game.
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I’m good with that too. So is the NFL.
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And this more than any other reason is why Fields didn’t see the field. He lacks this ability.
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The sample size was small (especially for Fields), but it sure looked like both Eason and Fields had trouble making pre-snap reads, and post-snap reads for that matter. Time will tell if that’s true, as they face the stronger teams on their respective schedules.
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Game 1 stats for Jake Fromm:
15-23 156 yds / 1 TD / 0 INT / 70.7 QBR
Game 1 stats for Clemson’s Golden God Trevor Lawrence:
13-23 168 yds / 1 TD / 2 INT / 70.6 QBR
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And Fromm had a long pass called back on a penalty.
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Eye opening. Just goes to show that Dabo should have recruited Fields harder. 🙂
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I’ve thought more than once about who I think would win a game between Tech and Vandy right now.
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Vandy would take tech to the cleaners. Against the vols? Take Vandy and the points.
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You don’t need top-shelf arm strength or athleticism to be an effective quarterback and a glance at the 32 starting Qb’s in the NFL can show you that. Tom Brady has never had elite arm strength, but he runs that offense with authority. Same goes for guys like Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. They’ve outlasted a bunch of guys who were taller, faster, and had more throwing power who’ve entered the league over the many years they’ve been playing.
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I’m glad Jake has a great understanding of the game. That’s good. You know what’s better? Scoring touchdowns in the second half against Vandy and not folding up like a cheap tent against Alabama, LSU, and Texas. My skepticism of Jake (and Kirby’s faith in him) will continue until he proves he can rally the troops with his playmaking instead of just managing a conservative offense.
I also find it ironic that Kirby places so much value on X’s and O’s at the QB position when he’s clearly demonstrated a belief in Jimmie’s and Joe’s as the path to success. Maybe we should simplify and adapt our offense to allow talented QB’s like Fields and Eason to thrive instead of insisting they learn a complicated pro-style system that no high school uses anymore. Saban doesn’t even use that system anymore and Dabo didn’t need to be the most physical team on the field to whoop Bama.
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Other than your personal gratification, what exactly is better about that? Georgia covered the spread and leads the East. What would a second half touchdown have changed?
As far as rallying the troops goes, were you asleep when Georgia won the Rose Bowl?
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Now Jake’s second half play is the reason for the changing scores and push from the opposing team? I don’t see this as falling on one man’s head nor do I see a falling off of his talents.
CCC, you keep on being skeptical while the rest of us will enjoy every game and move that this TEAM does. You are going to miss the cherry on top of this sundae when you keep looking underneath for it.
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Like Hayes, this post goes right over his head. (No one should bother forwarding it to Hayes. waste of band width.) Good to know ccc is on top of this while KS remains in the dark.
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Great response Cojones
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I’m very pleased with Jake Fromm as the QB at my alma mater.
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It’s a great story and you gotta love Fromm. But that ability to change plays needs to show better results in the redzone, and to a lesser extent in short yardage situations. Until those numbers improve, I’m a bit skeptical whether Jake is just taking what the D is giving him.
And if I’m a QB calling my own number I’m gonna chuck it long more often. So Kirby & Co. still seem to have Jake on a short leash in that regard.
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Regarding the short yardage question, I bet Jake has a lot less flexibility to change the call on 3rd/4th & short. Sometimes your offensive line just has to get the push to allow a player to get a yard or 2. Not sure that happened on the failed 4th down with Swift, but it was clear that’s what happened on the dive to Herrien on 3rd & short. As Georgia fans, we’re spoiled with seeing Herschel and others jump over the pile.
Swift series:
1st and 10 at VANDY26 [SH], Brian Herrien rush for 8 yards to the VANDY18
2nd and 2 at VANDY18 Brian Herrien rush for 1 yard to the VANDY17
3rd and 1 at VANDY17 [SH], Jake Fromm pass incomplete to D. Robertson.
4th and 1 at VANDY17 D’Andre Swift rush for loss of 3 yards to the VANDY20
After passing on 3rd & 1 (I believe D-Rob must have run the wrong route because the ball seemed to be going to Pickens), Mason gambled that no way would we throw on 4th down, and he got it right.
Herrien series:
1st and 10 at VANDY28 D’Andre Swift rush for 8 yards to the VANDY20, out-of-bounds
2nd and 2 at VANDY20 [SH], Jake Fromm pass complete to Charlie Woerner for 1 yard to the VANDY19
3rd and 1 at VANDY19 Timeout Vanderbilt, clock 08:11.
3rd and 1 at VANDY19 Brian Herrien rush for no gain to the VANDY19
Woerner didn’t run his pattern past the sticks as the check down to put us in 3rd & 1. When we lined up on 3rd down, I knew what the call was, so I’m sure Mason knew as well and told his guys what to expect in 3rd & 1.
He didn’t give Pickens a chance to make a play on either jump ball in the red zone. The first was short armed a little to give the corner the chance to knock the ball away. The second was thrown where Pickens would get it or no one would get it. There’s a reason they are called 50/50 passes.
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Funny how the commenter who called Fromm “boring” didn’t bother to comment on this post.
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Who would you rather have as QB – Jake Fromm or Aaron Murray? To be fair in the comparison, let’s say they are both playing behind the 2019 O line.
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