The Curious Case Of A.J. Derby

We haven’t been blowing people out and playing a second/third team qb in some time, at least not for significant minutes.
That is the only type of action im hoping for, but if injury/performance issues occur at least we have options on the roster.

but this is a relatively good problem to have.

Hopefully we can do what’s best for both. He’s talented and wants to play. They know he’s talented and wants to play. I’d love for him to stay at quarterback and gain experience over the years. Lord knows if Vandy ever went down we’d need a reliable guy who knows the system/is ready. Then again, regardless of if he did stay at QB a true backup may never be named and we’d have a 2009 Northwestern type debacle (grrrr pessimistic).

But that’s being selfish because I think that’s what’s best for the program. He’s probably willing to play anywhere ASAP and we don’t have a spot. I guess this is the result of the dreaded ATH label. Keeping him at QB is the smartest move but it just sucks when you can’t get him out there.

But that fortuitous history simply means Iowa’s been lucky in the past — it says nothing about their potential luck going forward

I would also argue that Iowa’s consistently good-to-great offensive line has had a lot to do with our QB’s staying healthy, especially considering that Stanzi was injured when a DE who shall remain nameless was left unblocked on purpose.

Iowa has never been known to produce great quarterbacks (although when we go back in history, Chuck Long, Brad Banks, Drew Tate and Ricky Stanzi make that claim hard to make), so having a year where we have an Iowa-bred experienced star expected to be #1, an all-around giant 4* athlete at #2, a Wienke, who has waited so long to play that he might as well start, and the quarterback of the nation’s best high school team who chose Iowa over Miami. How?

And the worst part is that we might not ever find out who our best quarterback is. I’m all for Vandenberg. I go to Fairfield High School, where Keokuk is one of OMHR. Vandenberg played a game against us his junior(?) year and put up potentially the best numbers a quarterback has ever thrown in Trojan Stadium.

But then I wonder, what about Derby? He seems like he could do possibly just as much. And Ruddock? I won’t care about him until maybe next year when he gets some clean-up duty in the first few games, but he’s still an interesting prospect.

I hope Derby gets some good playing time in the 4th, hopefully even 3rd quarters of some games this season.

Imagine how this article would read a year ago. Here’s last summer’s ATP: Linebackers. It’s loaded with upperclassmen (Hunter, Tarp, Johnson) who could have provided tutelage to Derby. And as far as those in the same cohort, hell, James Morris garners only a passing mention in one of the comments (hello, RossWB!).

In hindsight, methinks, Derby should have switched to LB last summer. Thoughts?

But doesn’t Derby seem like the kind of QB that fits well into a Wildcat-esque package?

I know, I know…KOK. I get it.

I thought that condition was fictional!

/only reads the headlines of articles.

I just really hope he gets some game snaps this year (not from injuries knock on wood) because the hype machine’s been running on this kid for a while. This is like waiting for an awesome slow-cooked pork shoulder to come out of the oven.

Strong safety lined up on either Prater’s side of the ball or the short side of the field would mask any speed issues. When you are playing 4 deep you don’t have to cover a lot of ground. Sash and Greenwood never struck me as overall fast, just quick with great instincts to the ball. If Derby could emulate that I think he could be awesome back there. Then if Vande does go down you still have Weinke and possibly Rudock for number 2 duty and if the situation gets truly ugly you could always switch him back.

but why has no one mentioned Wide Reciever?

Because if Mandenberg sucks or goes down, we’ve got an athletic option to go to. Watching his games in 2009, great arm – much better than Stanzis – but he seems about as mobile as an arthritic turtle. Ricky could seem to run away from trouble most of the time – I’m not sure VM has that escapability, and the way you shut down Iowa’s pro-set is to kill the pocket QB. I think the days of pure pocket QBs in major college football are coming to end with the speed of defenses these days. You just don’t have time to take 5 step drop and read War and Peace while waiting for someone to get open.

I’m okay with Derby being good enough that:
A) Vandenberg starts two years
B) Derby starts two years
C1) Rudock starts 1 year.
or
C2) Rudock sees this and transfers, giving Iowa a better chance to land another top recruit.

Further, from what I can tell, none of this discussion is generated by either Derby’s play or his comments. I remember Derby chose Iowa in large part because of them giving him a legitimate chance to play QB. It’s extremely likely (certain – I haven’t read all the quotes) that he came to Iowa knowing there was a good chance he’d have to wait to play QB and he chose that over more immediate playing time at a “better” school at a different position. It would be extremely weird if he came here knowing about Vandenberg and Weinke but now NEEDED playing time.

Is this even an issue if Rudock breaks his commitment after Miami’s coaching change? Do we even discuss this if it’s just Weinke, Vandenberg and Derby and no one locked in for 2012?* I would think not. So,as much as we all love Rudock, should anyone really make this decision based on a “3-star” QB who weighs a buck 75 and projecting that he’d be a B1G starting-caliber in 2 years? Over a guy already in the system? Not for me. (same thing if Weinke had decided to transfer)

If Derby’s the best guy to be the back-up, he should be it. If he’s the best to start in 2013 & 2014, he should. If Rudock doesn’t like that, so be it. Be better and/or get over it.

What’s the worst-case (likely)+ scenario of him staying at QB? Vandenberg starts the next two years. Derby is better as a junior than Rudock as a sophomore. He starts. But then Rudock improves more and he’s better as a junior Derby as a senior, and the coaches have to make a choice: either start the lesser Derby for a year or start Rudock and “waste” Derby as a back-up QB. That sucks, but it’s not horrible?

*aside: shouldn’t it be at least somewhat telling that the coaches haven’t offered a different 2012 QB at this point?
+the “worst-case” scenario, that I find extremely unlikely, is that two years from now, spring of 2013. RS sophomore Rudock sees that RS junior Derby is going to start for two years, and he transfers. And then Derby ends up sucking at QB as a full-time starter. AND Iowa hadn’t got a capable QB recruit in the meantime. If one of those is different – Rudock doesn’t transfer, Derby doesn’t suck or they get a good recruit in in the meantime – it’s not that bad of a situation.

If he had the same skill set but had gone to a school in suburban Chicago instead of City High and wasn’t the son of an All-Big Ten LB and team captain, would we be wringing our hands at the “dilemma”?* I’m sure we would still be talking about the QB situation, but I think you missed an important psychological side to the Curious Case of AJ Derby.

*Granted, the pedigree still requires talent to cause the dilemma, case in point, his older brother.

From recruiting rumblings this year, it appears as though the hawks will likely not sign a quarterback.* That means, even if we sign two quarterbacks next year, the depth chart will look like this in 2013:

QB: Derby (RS Jr), Ruddock (RS So), Jailbait#1 (True Fr), Jailbait#2 (True Fr)

That is TERRIFYING enough in terms of depth. But holy shit, what does it look like without Derby’s name in there?!?! I don’t think the coaches sacrifice a year of QB study to have him learn a new position. I would love to see him ready to go for some situational work (won’t happen) or if Vandy falters (also won’t happen). I think his solid performance pseudospringishgame proved he’s a QB4LYFE – but damn speculation is fun, ain’t it?

*At least not a heralded, true-blue quarterback-only recruit

If they move Derby and Vandenburg fails, then this year you would have Weinke being the starter and Ruddock 3rd string. Then in 2012, you’d had Ruddock and Vendenburg as his backup assuming he stucj around after getting bench. After that you’d have a bag of balls as your 3rd stringer.

Derby is not moving. If things go right, he will be the starting QB for 2 years. If things go wrong, he might end up beating out Vandenburg and starting 3+ years.

My vote is for Spinning Fullback.

Shit, I really wanted to use him as a Linebacker or something. Damn it.

until and unless Ruddock shows he is a legitimate back-up, ready to start at a moments notice I do not want Derby going to any other position. I was always taught the most important position on any good football team is the quarterback and the second most important position is the back-up quarterback. VDB proved the importance of this notion. Besides, I have not heard or read anything from anyone in a coaching capacity that suggests that Derby can be a effective at anything other than QB.

Mark Vlasic quietly sat behind Chuck Long for four years and didn’t play anything more than insignificant mop-up and then when his time came he shined brightly (before getting injured and missing games and then later returning to finish the season) and went on to a 6-year pro career.