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Rob Staton
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I would say that Geno Smith has a way higher ceiling than Matt Barkely. Barkely’s a less athletic Matt Schaub at best, I think. Geno Smith is almost as impressive as RGIII. Almost. He doesn’t have the deep arm or accuracy or agility or really top end speed of RGIII, but few do. What he does have are a quick release, good read progressions, some bad habits (Like drifting back when there’s pressure. Eyeballing his receiver etc.), good-great athleticism, strong understanding of the game. I can’t recall the performances of his teammates from other games, but in this one. It just seemed like the rest of the offense just wasn’t ready for the Red Raiders. They ran a ton of stunts and totally schooled the OL, giving him tons of pressure, which he, for the most part handled beautifully (escaped a lot that he wouldn’t in the NFL). They also had great coverage on the wideouts. The WR corps let balls be knocked away (mostly due to great defensive awareness by the corners.). The team didn’t really adjust at halftime either. I would, at this point, definitely take Geno Smith over Matt Barkley.
Easily has a higher roof than Barkley and a strong case could be made that his floor is higher, too. A lot of Barkley’s deficiencies are masked by his phenomenal supporting cast.
I mean, you’ve got RBs going for 200 yards every game. That stops, Barkley’s exposed. They don’t need to worry about the run as much. The Trojans have consistently struggled in the games that their RB corps has struggled.