D.J. Uiagalelei and Preston Stone had VERY different 2024 debuts in Week 0 | Evaluating CFB QBs

DJ o young wasn't the problem at Florida State but our concerns are forward-looking in terms of what it looks like in the NFL so what were your thoughts on the way he played in his first game for Florida State over in Dublin Ireland the game they ultimately lost in that last second field goal by George Tech yeah I I do love his size um what I don't like is is I don't think he's a great athlete I don't think he can make plays with his legs uh he does have enough arm talent but it seems like he has to put his body into the throws to make throws I thought his accuracy that times flashes other times it was inconsistent I do respect him taking him down in the fourth quarter to tie the game at the end he let him on a drive down down there but I just can't get excited every time I've watched this kid at clums in everywhere he's been we've watched him for talk about last two years and still see the same holes and weaknesses in his game especially the mobility especially the processing especially the long release where I see NFL DBS are going to get a jump on these routes just because it takes him so long to get the ball out of his hands and the accuracy issues I just don't know when you watch some of these quarterbacks and we watched all these rookie quarterbacks this year in the preseason it looks like they have that it thing to them or they're on time they're in Rhythm I just don't know if this kid's footwork or anything else will ever get into that uh mode that we're seeing even your Spencer Rattler who actually looked halfway decent uh over through the preseason C let me ask you this because I basically scribbled most of the notes that Rick's talking about there it said I felt like he struggled to see the whole field and he's felt like he predetermined his throws and Rick's talked about this last year he plays two robotic at times correct me if I'm wrong was he number one to CJ stra number two when they were coming out of high school does that sound I believe I believe so I still wouldn't with the network yeah but yes I I think somebody screenshotted that uh the other day you know that that obviously always gets thrown back in your face but um no I mean I I I would agree with Rick I actually I I give Georgia Tech a ton of credit I thought they had an awesome game plan just in terms of the Interior pressure that he felt throughout the game but you know I think dju for uh a long time since his time in Clemson out Oregon State I think Jonathan Smith did actually a pretty good job with him he's been that same guy um but I do think you have to take in into the fact in consideration that right side of the offensive line really struggled and then losing Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson obviously not having those two guys on the perimeter uh it's not like Florida state has backfilled that position relatively well you know they bring over Malik Benson from Alabama they have guys like Jaylen Brown a young red red shirt freshman they brought over from LSU outside of Lawrence TOA uh they were missing some really kind of multi-dimensional pass catchers out there but yeah in terms of uh dju and FSU I mean I I put it on our our show last week is he a guy you win with or because of I think he kind of Falls uh into that win with category and if you're Florida State going into the off season I thought it was pretty interesting if you're trying to get back to the point where you're 13-0 competing for a college football playoff title then the environment around him in terms of the protection and The Playmakers uh had to be exactly right I don't think that's the case so it only kind of magnifies a lot of the weaknesses that we saw in week zero you make a good point uh and Rick I'm guessing you would agree but you can certainly speak for yourself guys weren't getting open um when you watch the the guys at the top of the route when he's at the top of his drop and I I look this up DJ was blitzed 12 times 41% of his dropbacks he was seven- 10 for 87 yards only took one sack but only three of his 27 attempts were more than 20 air yards down the field I think part of that was where he was looking and part of that was he didn't have a ton of time he can improve but but Rick right now he feels like a if we're just being asked to be pinned down on this like a day three guy yeah oh God yeah if a day three guy maybe late because even Joe Milton where'd he go sixth round this guy has nowhere near the physical ability that like a Joe Milton has out of Tennessee so I just know for the guy that has played this much college football um Clemson Oregon State now Florida State it's not the same trajectory we've seen Michael penck Jr or the same trajectory we've seen uh bone Knicks those guys contined to elevate their game even when they went on but I still see the same guy that I saw at Clemson three years ago do you remember who our comp was former year ago uh I think I told him to move to tight end stop it all right I'll give you the comp Coupe and you tell us what you think about it uh because I actually agree with you and this is goingon to make Rick angry because he doesn't like it when I agree with him about things and he steals my comps uh Felipe Frankish that was me wasn't it it was both of us but yes you yeah when if you ever came up with a comp that good what well let's see we'll see what do you think of the Felipe Frank area comp yeah I don't know if that's a compliment right Filipe Franks ended up uh moving to tight end obviously with the Falcons go uh yeah there there there you have it and look man dju and C you would know better than us it's supposed to be a great dude and he he's saying all the right things but just in terms of what it looks like for him at the next level there's some some progress that needs to be made I think is what we're saying all right so he's not the reason they lost that game let's be clear about that and credit to Georgia Tech as CP noted because they they came ready to play uh let's turn our attention to presson Stone and I actually reached out to Amanda Gara our colleague uh CBS Sports because she was working sideline that game because uh and C I'll come to you first I didn't know Preston Stone's back story just because I didn't I wasn't watching him because he wasn't coming out uh he he broke his fibula in November I believe and I when I was watching the game Came live I was like why in the world is he coming off each and every series but but coach Lashley made it clear that that was the plan uh he is their starter and my overall take on his game was he looked Rusty he looked a little I don't want to say nervous but but trying to find himself after not playing for a long time and and then he turned it on at the end there and he made some big boy throws down the field even that first interception the very first throw you could question whether the wide receiver did his best to to be in position to either uh knock the pass down or catch it I came away pretty impressed with way Preston Stone played in his first game back in in months yeah it was pretty interesting going back and and watching I watched the game live and you know 17 of 30 254 yards one touchdown one int um you know first uh passing attempt of the game ends up getting intercepted but yeah you you go back you look at the story breaks his fibula in November third to last game of the season and this looked like a guy trying to figure it out he also looked like a quarterback that knew that they were favored by 24 points they were struggling against Nevada I think in the second half uh he started to really kind of trust his legs a little bit more especially coming off that injury I like the way that he moved around the ball came out quicker I didn't really think he was anticipating well in the first half he threw four or five balls that you could argue should have been intercepted as well so the stat line comes out a little bit more unscathed uh than it was but the thing that really kind of stood out to me watching him is when they needed him he turned it on I thought the the Deep ball throw to RJ Mary in the back of the end zone uh late in the second half of that game and then also the Deep shot with the go-ahead touchdown that kind of showed a little bit about what he's about his Moxy his ability to extend play so I thought he did some good things he's a really good athlete uh that's the first time I've really gotten to seen him play but a little bit uh fast is kind of what I thought about him from the way he moves around the pocket extend plays uh to his eyes everything felt a little bit quick but uh certainly a fun game and an intriguing one he's going to be a guy that I'm I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how NFL evaluators kind of see him long term Rick you want to hear my comp now or after you talk uh God no wait till after I talk because I don't want to lose my concentration all right what do you got so I'll just be honest with you oh boy oh boy at first quarter I'm like why what am I doing with my life right now watching this guy because he's absolutely horrendous stop it I don't think he completed a pack in the first quarter the very first throw with the interception who do you blame on the interception I I'm gonna blame him so okay because I didn't like him in the first quarter so okay all right then what happened then he got better I'll agree with that I still think he is whether he's a good athlete or not that's yet to be determined maybe I didn't know he is coming off a broken leg Yeah he do did move a lot better in a second half I do question his arm strength looked better in the second half but I was always trying to see does he throw any throws like outside the numbers from the opposite hash and I understand the Collegiate hashes are wider but every one of his throws outside the numbers were to the same side hash which means it was on the same size so it was a lot shorter throw his accuracy did get better I thought his deep balls floated on him but then in the fourth quarter it looked like he knew what the hell he was doing to be honest with you so I give him credit for going into Nevada uh and it is a higher elevation so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not but when he was down when they were down in the fourth quarter and he brought them back from behind and then threw that touchdown pass with I think a minute some left in the fourth quarter uh to go up um I gave him credit for The Moxy and you can see that he has a little bit of good um stuff in his neck can't say the sww on error but he does have some of that little bit of a jake haer type to me in the second half is what you know if I'm going to make a pro comp something similar to that first half I wouldn't even put him in as a draftable guy the way he played so maybe you didn't know he had broken his leg either though right no I didn't know that either so well I think it's a kid worth monitoring I think the best he's a day three guy um on depending if he plays like he did in the second half if he's in the first half he's just a a a ble free agent to me yeah well hopefully he doesn't break his leg again so we don't worry about that by the way you've now stolen Felipe Franks and J Kaner oh God come on please C grade the grade the Jay Kaner comp what do you think about that I like it I had I had two guys in my mind uh because I figured this would come up in conversation Hanner was one of them who we had at Washington before he uh transferred to Fresno State and then the other one was kind of you know there's two in is a part here but a little bit of STS and benett but not as poised uh but just in terms of being able to extend the play um you know guy that you have to respect in terms of the legs maybe you don't have the game plan around him but you know he was he was active moving around um extending plays out there so those two kind of came up I I think you guys would both agree that sets and Bennett has some stuff in his neck yeah very much he just has to remember that the defense wears the opposite color jersey that the offs stop it all right I'm sorry scoop I'm supposed to be the smart ARS on the uh on the podcast oh I think he got that I'm picking that up