As somebody who’s pulled his hair out repeatedly watching Stetson Bennett succumb to the occasional “gotta make a play here” instinct that’s repeatedly led to less than optimal results, it’s weird to see people insist the label applies, like here:
I can’t think of two recent Georgia quarterbacks who differ more in their approach to the game than Fromm and Bennett. Larry’s right — the label is a lazy way of analyzing a quarterback without an elite arm.
I assume some of this thinking also derives from Bennett only averaging about 20 pass attempts per game. Funny thing, though: three of the SEC’s four top quarterbacks in passer rating average less than 24 attempts per game. I don’t hear Hooker or Jefferson referred to as game managers, at least not as frequently as Bennett is.
All of which makes me wonder as I continue to reflect upon game prep for the national championship if the most subversive coaching move of the season for Georgia was Monken’s game plan against Michigan, letting Bennett come out throwing early and often and finishing with 30 attempts.
Get The Picture 
Question: Have we ever seen Monken employ HUNH with either Bennett or JT? Is Bama even remotely vulnerable to that strategy?
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They’ve gone fast in small spurts, yes, though I can’t remember the specific games off the top of my head.
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A few plays on the opening drive vs UM in the Red Zone I believe. Really should do it more.
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I remember them doing it a few times here and there throughout the season, too. But they tend to play to the defense, so hurry-up doesn’t typically make a lot of sense. It could be something they’ll use more for this rematch, though.
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It is infuriating – we have the offensive horses to go fast and keep the defense on their heels when they are reeling!
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I read somewhere where the answer was ‘yes’ to giving the AL defense fits with speed.
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Yeah what I thought too……..Remember how good Fromm was at it? He did in HS and was, in my view, really comfortable with it at Georgia, and I always thought, ‘Man, we should let him roll with this set, it just fits his decision making like a glove and he is super good at it.” But we didn’t see it all that much….
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The problem is we do a ton of substituting. Therefore, you can’t go HUNH.
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We don’t need to substitute as much on offense with Bowers playing multiple roles. We could go hurry up for an entire drive and not substitute, especially if we had the Big 0 in there as well.
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Russ, I agree with you, but it definitely seems that outside the 2 minute period, we don’t keep the same personnel on the field for an entire possession. It seems to be a position coach thing. McGee seems to give the running backs the ability to call for a sub at any time. Same for Hankton at wide receiver.
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#3 don’t enjoy coming off the field of play, going fast has seemed to be very useful way of calling plays…(tv timeouts suck when the “O” is moving)…GO DAWGS!
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FWIW, Kirby has commented on this and said that our offensive execution suffers when we go HUNH.
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It was the same thing under Fromm when it seemed our execution would improve. I just think we substitute so often that you can’t really go tempo due to the enforcement of the rules.
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Totally understand your point. Thanks.
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Game manager has long been the label applied to white, marginal quarterbacks. If Stetson was black nobody would ever call him a “game manager” and his proclivity for throwing pics would be discussed ad nauseam.
Side note: if a white qb has a live arm and throws lots of pics he is a “gunslinger” while a similarly situated black quarterback would also have their decisions questioned as nauseam. See Farve, Brett.
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Thanks for the race comments because this world isn’t full of enough of that.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jameis-winston-prepared-to-give-up-gunslinger-mentality-embrace-game-manager-role/
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Right. Patrick Mahomes isn’t a gunslinger? He’s the ultimate gunslinger.
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He (Mahomes) apparently can make any throw, at any time, from anywhere, for any reason. Definition of a gunslinger. I think he is an alien life form.
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And his attitude has been to never accept the checkdown (which he finally had to modify this year after defenses finally found an adjustment to him per last year’s Super Bowl).
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Oh no someone talked about race in football!
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I heard someone say imagine the attention Russell Wilson would get if he was white. I was like, what????? Is there anyone more highly thought of than Russell Wilson? For his football skills, of course, which are absurdly high plane, but also his general demeanor and off field life which is emblematic of a pretty normal, well adjusted person. I can’t think of any quarterback I respect more than him. So, it gets a little wearying where people have to trot that meme out and continue
condemn the world…….that really gets old.
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SMFH
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Fromm wasn’t part of a “modern era” That moment began the day Tua broke our backs. Before Tua it was running QBs, hurry up, spread, RPOs, Package plays, etc…Malzahn style football which dies once downfield passing rules targeting, 3 yards downfield limit to oline, etc.. which basically killed the programs with 70% run. Bama adopted mega spread with QBs having extreme field awareness similar to a basketball Point guard breaking full court presses every single possession. Bennett is a 3 point shooter who gets mostly assists to his centers, forwards & guards.
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You picked a bad day to stop sniffing hardwood floor finish, UGA97.
😉
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Ill be inhaling everything once clock hits zero and we have a ring hoisting a crystal trophy monday night lol. Prostlyle pocket guys can be serviceable but need the wide outs & the great wall of China to protect them for success to get to the CFP. Play action football is not modern enough to win shootouts against the elite offenses & defenses once cfp begins, there has to be enough qb intelligence presnap & post snap down to down. In other words, “hurry up brain” in addition to the physical skills are now part of the modern cerebral game of football.
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None of those QB’s other than Bennett had the luxury of just running out the clock in a large part of the second half every game.
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Yeah, this is a vastly under-recognized aspect of Georgia’s offense this year.
Was listening to a podcast of “experts” where one of the (I’d thought more enlightened) commenters noted that the pass to Burton in the Orange Bowl was “the best pass” SB “has thrown this year.” Me: So, you’ve watched one game, then?
A lot of people have been judging Bennett on the walk-on story and his mediocre performances against Alabama only. Considered in depth, the guy has clearly improved and has the tools. But it’s that gunslinger mentality that gets him into trouble, as WE all know. Wish the rest of the CFB “experts” would f’ing pay attention.
(Andy Staples, for the record, is one who does. That guy is good.)
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Exactly. He’s been dropping dimes all season. I still wish the receiver had simply looked up for that last pass in the Auburn game. Ball nearly hit him in the chest yet he didn’t catch it.
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“Throwing early and often” is what teams that have beaten or at least played with alabama in championship games have done. Trying to establish the run against a fresh talented and well coached alabama front generally doesn’t work out too well. You have to throw it well vs. Alabama early and then you’d better the running game will follow later when you need that clock to run.
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Agree. Throw early and get it out quickly. Now, of course, I’m sure Saban is thinking the same thing.
I’d like to see us run a pseudo play-action pass play where we fake the quick out and then hit someone streaking down the field.
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Short passes won’t get it done. Deep passes in one on one situations or finding space under the safeties and behind the LBs has been the kryptonite to bama. The problem with all of those is that they are hard to be efficient with. Which is why so few take advantage of them.
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Fromm or Murray would LIGHT it up in this offense.
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I’m so mad at Fromm for leaving. And mad at Kirby for not working a bit harder to make him stay. I mean, I guess he’s getting paid, but if you’re comfortable in life already it seems like playing would be more fun.
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Fromm left at the worst possible time for him. He had not played his best for many reasons for the 2nd half of 2019. He wasn’t ready for the pros and didn’t work out well in the lead up to the draft. It was a mistake for so many reasons. It seemed he was tired of being the one blamed for Fields’s departure.
I have no idea if Kirby tried hard to keep him or if he had decided to let Fromm do his thing.
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Fromm or Murray? Zeier would rewrite the record book.
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I always thought “game manager” was code for “undersized white kid,” but “without an elite arm” works, too.
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Baker Mayfield isn’t a game manager.
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Correct. He’s a goober. I do like those commercials he’s in though…. although I can never remember what products he’s selling in them…. so I guess they’re not that effective….
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It’s Progressive Insurance.
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I guess they shoulda stuck Flo in there with him, then I would’ve remembered. lol
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Drew Brees isn’t a game manager.
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Bennett deserves some credit for actually being a good player at this point. He played a nearly flawless game against Michigan (that stupid heave over the middle being the one truly bad play), delivering some very good throws, hanging in the pocket, and picking up some good yards with his feet when protection broke down. Maybe, just maybe, he really did earn the starting spot throughout the season. It’d be nice if they had a Bryce Young on the roster, but they don’t.
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The Split Zone Duo crew, who are usually anti-Stetson, made the good point that if he were QB for a great G5 team, he’d be super hyped in the twittosphere as a folk hero, “send Stetson to New York, cowards!” and all that.
There are many things you can say about Stetson, but a Fromm-level obsession with risk mitigation isn’t one of them. Stetson’s not settling for 4-yard checkdowns toward the sideline. For better or for worse.
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not sure I buy that.
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It all derives from Stet’s recruiting ranking. All of it.
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Recruiting rankings cost this guy the Heisman and being the number 1 pick:
https://247sports.com/Player/Baker-Mayfield-20771/high-school-33131/
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Well, you have to give some credit to throwing pick-sixes against Alabama, man. There are high-profile results that lead to conclusions, fair or not.
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Stet’s not a game manager, but he is still the QB of an offense that is tasked with playing a safe do-no-harm supporting role for this team. That’s probably where the game manager moniker comes from IMO.
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Should UGA football win the title Monday night, the new nerd, FU, bammer, tigle fan narrative will be, “well UGA ain’t won the seccg in 4 years and got lucky in the title game”…GO DAWGS!
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This whole concept of a “game manager” is ridiculous. What is a QB who can’t manage the game? A bench warmer.
Bryce Young does a damn good job of managing the game. I don’t know what flexibility he is given to make sight checks and changes or if all of that stuff comes from O’Brien in the box, but he is generally in control of the game.
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Game Manager, see A.J. McCarron
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Game Manager doesn’t have the nuts to step on the gas with 1:20 left in the first half of Orange Bowl to sink the dagger regardless of what coach might or might not say/do! Game Manager doesn’t have killer instinct.
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