justin zwick

Or shot by a Bengal.

 

Your friend has no idea what he's talking about. Smith has a much better arm and better accuracy than Zwick, so unless being taller makes you "more of a natural passer," that's crap. It's fine to bring him in and give him a chance, but I don't see the difference here between Zwick and Craig Krenzel.

 

I don't know that I agree with his opinion, but I can vouch that this fellow's football knowledge is on par with anyone's.

As to Justin Zwick and Troy Smith, we've been watching them since they first stepped on the field in Columbus, and it's been an interesting contrast. Zwick was a "natural passer" because he didn't need much coaching in that area. He got national attention for his passing ability. It didn't translate into success at the next level though, as much out of bad luck and bad timing as anything else.

By contrast, Troy Smith wasn't that good a passer when he first got to Columbus. He was pretty much an option style QB, and a lot of folks thought that was all he'd ever be. But the coaching staff went to the effort to teach him, and he went to the effort to learn. In other words, Smith became a good passer largely because he worked his brain and his arm off to become one.

So who succeeds at the pro level? Don't know, and neither do you. We can make educated guesses, but that's all they'd be at this point. Most of the educated guess a few years ago had Zwick as a full time starter and Smith needing to learn another position if he wanted to play inthe pros. Logical conclusions at the time, but you never know what might happen.

 

is Zwick a better QB than Basanez in your opinion? I haven't seen enough of him to know...

 

I saw him in high school and he was a world beater....but so was Chris Leak. Man, what could have been with that Ohio State No. 1 ranked recruiting class (Zwick, the top quarterback, Clarett, the top running back and Derek Morris, Mr. North Meck, now at NC State after he did not qualify). They won a national championship, but only Clarett contributed.

 

"On par with anyone's"? Come on, you know that's not even close to true. It obviously isn't, because anyone who thinks that "natural passing ability" is determined by someone's height doesn't have all that much football knowledge. Maybe you meant that he knows a lot of football trivia, like who the losing quarterback was in the first Super Bowl, but that's not the same thing as being able to evaluate players.

Huh? Maybe he got local attention, but no one around here ever heard about Zwick being a good passer for the Buckeyes. While watching OSU I was certainly never impressed by him in that respect, and his statistics were mediocre as well. Even in 2004, when Smith was admittedly raw as a quarterback, he had a better completion percentage (55.7% to 52.4%) for more yards per attempt (7.34 to 6.47) than Zwick. And Smith only got better from there, while Zwick failed to progress.

See the stats above.

Just a guess, but I'd say the guy with actual talent. As I said, Zwick isn't fundamentally different from Craig Krenzel. Both had the body type, the intelligence, and the desire, but not the arm or the natural feel for the position. Maybe he can do like Major Applewhite and transition into coaching.

Sure, since it's not like I've correctly pegged every major QB to enter the NFL over the last six years in a national publication or anything. Now obviously I'm going to get some wrong sooner or later, but I think I have established some credibility in that area, and I'm always willing to explain why I think what I do. I've shown why I believe it's ridiculous to think that Zwick is a better pro prospect than Troy Smith, but did your friend?

Of fans, chief. Educated guesses of fans. I remember people with knowledge saying in '04 and the first two games of '05 that Ohio State was costing themselves wins by sticking with Zwick over Smith. The guy looked the part because of his height, but he never played like a natural quarterback.


solarte:
Doubtful, but I have no problem with them giving him a shot.

 

my money is on Zwick to be with the team longer than Basanez and Bell, and still be in the league after Smith is all washed up

 

a USA Today article


07/18/2001 - Updated 06:31 PM ET





A midsummer look: A dandy dozen quarterbacks



Many of our early top-rated quarterbacks have continued to establish themselves as the top quarterback that we originally thought they were, but some others have been highly impressive at recent camps and they need to be updated. The Student Sports Super Elite 12 quarterbacks camp will be later this month and this camp will be a lot of fun to watch to see who can be the most impressive. I'm sure that there will be a surprise or two.

Justin Zwick (6-4, 210, 4.67) of Washington in Massillion, Ohio, is still my No. 1 rated dropback passing quarterback. In what looks like a sensational quarterback class, Zwick is still considered to be one of the best, if not the best dropback quarterback in the country.

His three-year career stats are very impressive as he has 7,209 passing yards and 75 touchdowns. As a junior, Zwick passed for 2,460 yards and 24 scores as he was selected as the All-Ohio quarterback.

On film, he demonstrates a strong arm and field presence. He is also a tremendous leader who brings his teammates to a different level around him. He is tough and polished at the same time. I believe that Zwick, along with Tyler Palko, will be two of my favorite players in this recruiting class.

I recently conducted a quarterback poll on my Web site message board to see who most everyone thought was the No. 1 quarterback in this recruiting class.

In the first 24 hours of the poll, Zwick had 80% of over 600 votes that were cast, indicating that 80% of the voters agreed with my assessment that he is the best in the country. Either that or there were a whole lot of Buckeye fans that took part in the poll. At any rate, he is still perceived to be the best.

 

another article

QB plot only thickens after solid showing from Zwick
Sunday, September 04, 2005
BOB HUNTER


Justin Zwick sure looks like a starting quarterback. With Troy Smith serving a two-game suspension, Zwick led Ohio State to a 33-7 win over Oklahoma State last December in the Alamo Bowl while hobbling around on a pulled hamstring. Then he carved up Miami University like a roast duck yesterday in the season opener.

So it’s not a whodunit, but a whois-it? Who’s da man vs. Texas, Ag?

"I want you guys to have a mysterious weekend," Tressel said, "so when we get together again, we’ll talk about it."

Then again, maybe we’d better talk about it now. Five years of trying to interpret Tresselese may have added to my skepticism, but "we’ll talk about it" isn’t exactly the same as "I’ll tell you who’s starting." There’s a good chance the answers the Ohio State coach offers this week will be similar to what one could expect to learn at a CIA briefing.

But then, why shouldn’t they be? Zwick’s emergence has given Ohio State what every football coach in America would like to have: two capable, experienced quarterbacks who can be entrusted with the controls in the biggest home nonconference game in 10 years.

So why not make the Longhorns ask the same questions Saturday night that the rest of us are asking now?

Zwick or Smith? Smith or Zwick?

"I thought (Zwick) definitely made progress," Tressel said. "When you come and do what you’re supposed to do and show the efficiency that he did — I haven’t seen his numbers, I haven’t graded his film, I haven’t studied his footwork, you know, those kind of things — but from where I stood . . . I thought he did well, and that’s great for Ohio State."

Get that? Probably not. What I hear is a coach who doesn’t want to make his quarterback sound too good, because he doesn’t want to make anything too clear for Texas.

This isn’t exactly a quarterback controversy, because that’s usually a bad thing. A controversy usually involves an entrenched starter who hasn’t been producing and a sub who suddenly is a candidate for his job. Having two quarterbacks who have both played well is a different animal, particularly because the previous starter, Smith, doesn’t really have clear title to the job because of offthe-field mistakes he made.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s my theory:

Good as Smith is — and he was better than Zwick late last season — he’s the one who earned himself a two-game suspension. Smith thereby gave Zwick a chance to shine with the spread offense, an opportunity Zwick didn’t get last season because the Buckeyes went to the spread after Zwick lost the starting job to Smith.

Yesterday, Zwick completed 17 of 23 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown — all right, there was an interception in there — and the Buckeyes won 34-14.

But seriously, what does he have to do to earn the start, complete 18 of 23? How do you bench a quarterback who has been impressive for two straight games, in favor of one who wasn’t even allowed in the stadium yesterday?

Zwick, for one, isn’t saying.

"I’m not going to worry about it," he said. "I did enough to get a win today. We all did enough to get a win today, and that’s all I can really worry about."

There also is another factor that we haven’t discussed, namely that there can be a difference between who starts and who plays most of the game. If Tressel and his coaches think Smith gives the team the best chance to win, there’s nothing to stop them from starting the QB who earned the start (Zwick) and switching to Smith at the first sign of trouble.

But that might never happen. This doesn’t look like the same Zwick who lost out to Smith last season, which is why Tressel is able to sell a mystery that didn’t seem all that puzzling before yesterday. Most of us assumed that Smith would take most of the snaps against Texas.

"I can’t really worry about what’s going to happen on Saturday night, being the starter or whatever," Zwick said. "I just have to be prepared because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t spend a lot of time thinking about it."

Hmmm. Sounds like someone who isn’t saying what he’s thinking.

"When you’re around coach Tressel," Zwick said, "you learn how to do it."

 

from another article

Buckeye Primer: The Offense

Justin Zwick is a pure drop back passer and won the job last season to begin the year. He has a penchant to throw off his back foot, even without pressure. He sandwiched in one amazing game v. Marshall with mediocre results in others.