Earlier in the week, we conducted a poll on which quarterback Rutgers fans want to see lead the team going forward, after both had rough first games during the first two games of the season. Well, the people have spoken, and their voice overwhelmingly supports making AJ Surace the starter from here on out.
While not impressing in his first game, throwing three touchdowns and four interceptions against Boston College, there seems to be a belief among the fans who commented on our “On The Banks Reacts
Survey: Who Do Rutgers Fans Want to See at Quarterback Moving Forward?” article that Surace could be the clear-cut best of the two options if there is a change in playcalling.
“With the right play calling, more suited to his skill set and limitations, AJS in a heartbeat.”
“Surace’s interceptions were horrendous and lost a winnable game. Lonergan’s interceptions were equally bad. Bottom line, I believe Surace otherwise passed better. Just get rid of that RPO play where Surace runs with the RB for a long time before deciding to hand it off.”
“If your only choice is between Surace and Lonergan, I guess the choice is Surace, as long as you call T.O.D on the RPO. Lonergan doesn’t seem to have much zip on his passes. Surace has a much better arm, but his decision making greatly needs to improve. Lonergan mostly made the right reads, he was just late getting the ball to the target, which allowed the defenders to make plays on the ball.”
In addition to this, Lonergan’s ceiling is much clearer than Surace’s, considering this is how he played with a year of starting experience under his belt, compared to Surace, who played a comparable game in his first-ever start. At this point in their careers, we have a better idea of Lonergan’s full capabilities, which haven’t impressed, than we do Surace’s, simply because Surace has been on the field all that much. With the season going in the direction it seems to be going, letting Surace start seems to be the better option of the two because he has more room to improve throughout the year. So naturally, if Surace does become the starter, the playcalling should be adjusted to suit his strengths.
We just wanted to take a second to appreciate our fans who commented on the first post and voted in the poll. Your contributions in our first poll this year allowed us to do our second poll and ultimately get a graphic made for it. Thank you for helping make our community what it is, and we hope that we can continue to have participation-based stuff like this going forward.
