Reading into Fadule playing RB

Last week BC tried Senior John Fadule at Running Back. It is Spring ball so these sorts of experiments happen each year. Much of it never really impacts anything. However, I think we should take the Fadule move as a good sign. It means the young QBs are coming along.

Even though he didn't play the past two years, Fadule has experience at QB. He was an insurance policy and third stringer. If Perry and McDonald passed him on the roster -- with all presumably behind Brown -- then BC's depth chart is better than it has been in years. All the QBs are young, with good arms and now getting lots of reps. Ideally Brown would be practicing too, but his experience as a starter should also pay dividends soon.

Beyond being a sign, Fadule might help the offense a bit. He is athletic and a good runner. A few packages with him could also add the element of tricks with him throwing.

The season was never going to turn on the play of John Fadule at QB. With BC experimenting, we know that the program has more depth at QB than any other time of his BC tenure. That's another reason to be excited about the Spring and the upcoming Fall season.

QBs are the focus of the media and other links

The QBs said all the right things after the first practice. I still doubt the "wide open" ness of this process. What if Wade is demonstrably better? Will he really start? Based on the lack of quotes, it seems like Fadule is not really in the mix.

Here is Fox Sports' preview of the team. They deal with the typical questions regarding QB and coordinator changes.

After a preseason injury the Redskins decided to waive Stephen Daniels. Supposedly there is still a space waiting for him on their IR once he clears waivers.

Chris Pantale is converting to Fullback with the Philadelphia Eagles.

More frustration in Fenway

Let's run through the 2015 BC Football checklist. QB rotation? Check. Ineffective Offense for long stretches? Check. Clock management issues? Check. Special Teams' mistakes? Check. Wasting a great defensive performance? Check. So, this was a complete copy of most of our loses this year, yet Addazio has the gall to lose it with the refs? This loss was on Addazio and his staff. This season is almost over and they still are just throwing stuff out there hoping it works.

Fortunately for Addazio, he built up plenty of goodwill in his first two seasons, because this is using most of it.

I will have grades and second viewing thoughts late Sunday night.

Addazio sticking with Fadule

John Fadule's story is not over. The walk-on who played most of the game Saturday will be getting the primary practices snaps this week and will play against NC State. This is some of what Addazio said:

"I think we'll keep developing all of our quarterbacks. But as we go into the week, John Fadule will be getting his share of the reps with the ones. That's going to happen. I'm not into just straight anointing people given how quickly this has come about. But certainly his performance is one that we're excited about. Exactly how we'll divvy up [the quarterback reps]? I can't tell you that yet. But we're excited about his performance and looking for him to build on that. What I think he brought into that game was real toughness, real energy and he moved the team. That's really important. There's some stuff that needs to be cleaned up but nothing that you wouldn't expect from someone who hasn't taken too many reps in running the offense."

At this point Addazio has watched back the game film and talked to his coaches. They clearly like what they saw. Addazio spent most of his Monday press conference praising Fadule. While I see the issues going all in on Fadule, I think Addazio is making the right call. We need to win and Fadule provides a more aggressive and crisp option than Flutie. While I still think Smith has more game breaking potential, as long as he is not at 100% and as long as the Offensive Line remains so inconsistent, Fadule seems like the best option.

The issue long-term is what do you do with Fadule and the other QBs. Right now all are young and all are dealing with a limited sample size. Who is going to be the best and how do you tell? In my mind, this comes back to philosophy and what Addazio truly wants to run. Was the Tyler Murphy power game his preference? If so Smith would seem like the guy to get reps. Does he want some sort of prep-school Tebow deal? Then Fadule. If he wants a better passer like Rettig, then you would think Wade would be the guy once he's healthy.

Addazio can buy a little time with Fadule but eventually he will have to pick a direction. Or maybe Fadule will play so well that Addazio lucks into a consistent, effective QB.

Tricks, no treats

The refs screwed BC. There was plenty of bad luck and more injuries. And still too many mistakes and too many questionable coaching decisions in BC's loss to Virginia Tech. The silver lining on the game is also the most damning part of our struggles of late: John Fadule. The walk-on QB came in for Flutie and looked better. He arguably looked better than Flutie and Smith have all year. Why are we just turning to him now? Why have we wasted so much time with Flutie this year if the guys behind him were this much better?

Now if we want to save the season we have to run the table. Good luck with that.

I will have grades and second viewing thoughts up late Sunday.