Heinicke Hive: The LEGEND of Taylor Heinicke Thread

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Commander -JB-]

15 minutes ago, Darrell Green Fan said:

 

We all know fans overreact to a good game or 2.  While all you say is accurate the response we are seeing after one game and a quarter at garbage time is over the top, but I expected that.  

 

No doubt he has earned a spot on the roster, but that's as far as I can go right now. But how great would it be if he turned into Tony Romo?  

There is no such thing as an overreaction to balling out in a playoff game.  He wasn’t so great that he carried us to a win.  However, he looked extremely good in spots.  He was good in a playoff game.  You can’t overreact to a playoff game! Not a regular season game but Playoffs!  Playoffs?  Playoffs!

[Skinsinparadise]

This wasn't Colt Brennan killing it against third stringers in a preseason game.  This was a dude playing in a high stakes game and killing it against one of the best defenses in the league, head to heat against the GOAT, with no running game and mediocre weapons.

 

My gut is this wasn't some wild anamoly.   His old coach basically in two radio segments I listened to was basically guaranteeing that the dude would kill it -- saying he's the smartest QB by far that he's coached and is a gamer. 

 

I have durability concerns.  But my gut is this dude is really good versus that meaning a mirage.

 

https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/college/old-dominion/vp-sp-taylor-heinicke-our-greatest-hits-20200717-jigrfcp3cfaxpfzilmbkwxgium-story.html

 

He usually wears glasses to class - the Clark Kent, mild-mannered-reporter kind. But on this day, Taylor Heinicke left his specs at home.

No matter. With or without them, he’s an anonymous face among the hundreds of students hurrying along Kaufman Mall. No one recognizes him, and he likes it that way.

He turns into Old Dominion University’s engineering building and settles in a back corner of a classroom. He and 20 other students listen as Arthur Taylor begins to lecture on statics - in essence, how to build structures so they won’t collapse.

 

Heinicke jots down occasional notes, but doesn’t ask questions or mingle with students.

After class, he walks to his car and drives home, like he’s just another of the 25,000 millennials on campus.

He is anything but.

Heinicke is the most decorated player in ODU’s recent football history. The senior quarterback has passed for more yards (11,483) than any college quarterback ever in Virginia. He is on pace to finish among college football’s top five passers all-time, regardless of division.

With boyish good looks and a charming personality, he has all the makings of the proverbial big man on campus.

Instead, he’s a simple guy, preferring to play video games and hang out at home. When he wins awards, he gives credit to teammates, coaches and family.

Call him ODU’s reluctant superstar. And for that, Heinicke has his late father, Brett Heinicke, to thank.

 

Brett Heinicke was just 50 when he died of a massive heart attack in December 2011, not long after his son had finished his freshman season at ODU. Taylor Heinicke, still 18 at the time, was heartbroken. He still is.

Yet, his death strengthened Heinicke’s determination to live by the lessons learned from his dad.

Brett Heinicke taught his son, overtly and by example, that there is nothing more important in athletics than modesty.

The elder Heinicke won a state golf championship in high school and starred at the University of Hawaii. Yet, Heinicke said, he only learned of his dad’s athletic prowess from an aunt.

“He was such a humble guy,” Heinicke said.

Ron Whitcomb, ODU’s quarterbacks coach, said of Brett and Taylor Heinicke: "You couldn’t get closer than they were.

“When we were recruiting him, it was almost to the point where we worried, ‘Is he going to be OK away from his dad?’ ... They were inseparable. Brett was going to put Taylor ahead of everything.”

Yet, Brett was also stern when he needed to be.

“My dad would never let him gloat about anything,” said Lauren Heinicke, Taylor’s older sister. "If Taylor’s team would win a game, my dad’s message was always the same: ‘It’s over. Focus on the next game.’ "

Heinicke, whose Monarchs open the season Saturday at home against Hampton, is an honor student in mechanical engineering - an unusually challenging major for a football player - and it’s his intellect and work ethic that make him so good, coaches say. He analyzes things on the field the way an engineer views a building.

He finds pass receivers just as they break open, feels the pressure coming from rushing defenders even as he's looking downfield, and routinely checks down to new plays at the line to give his offense a tactical advantage.

"He has the ability to process a lot of information in a short period of time," said Brian Scott, ODU's associate head coach. "Even in the NFL, a lot of quarterbacks look to their first receiver and their second receiver, then panic and run.

"He doesn't panic. His eyes move from one receiver to the other until he's seen them all, and then he eyeballs them all again. If he gets in trouble, he's sneaky athletic.

"He's got it. I don't know what it is, but he's got the gift that great players always seem to have."

Heinicke leads ODU into Conference USA and the Football Bowl Subdivision - college football's highest level - this season. A new 30,000-seat stadium is on the drawing board. None of that would have been possible without Heinicke, ODU officials say.

"Taylor Heinicke is what I call a program-changer," coach Bobby Wilder said. "Without Taylor Heinicke, we don't have the success that we had, and we don't look as attractive to Conference USA."

Heinicke wants ODU to have a winning season in its first year in FBS, a tall order. He hopes to end his career in a bowl game - a longshot.

"We'd like to make some history here," he said.

He says it as if he doesn't realize he's already made history at ODU.

Heinicke holds more than a dozen NCAA records and in 2012 won the Walter Payton Award, presented to the nation's best player in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Two years ago, in a 64-61 victory over New Hampshire, he piled up a combined 791 yards passing and running. He amassed more total yards by a player than anyone since college football began in 1869.

Yet, Heinicke refuses to dwell on his success.

Mike Dodsworth, his stepfather, and his mother, Diane Dodsworth, noticed last year that all of his awards were gathering dust in a corner of his dorm room.

“We take his awards home now and display them in our house,” Mike Dodsworth said. “Those kinds of things don’t mean a lot to him. He understands, at the core, there’s always someone who’s better.”

Coaches say he's also a role model off the field.

"He doesn't like to go out and get crazy," said Casey Fehrle, his girlfriend. "The thing he appreciates most is a home-cooked meal and a quiet night.

"He really doesn't like all of the attention. He's shy. He's like a hermit. He doesn't want people to recognize him."

Edited January 10, 2021 by Skinsinparadise

[Recovering_Spaz]

At worst, Heinicke proved he belongs on next year's roster as the third string QB because he knows the offense, the team plays well for him, and he can execute in a pinch. Assuming Kyle returns and is healthy, the staff would be crazy not to have a competition between the two for 2nd string.

 

Where this gets interesting is what happens if Alex retires, we can't draft a day one starting QB, and we can't land a FA QB 1. 

 

 

 

[Peregrine]

We all know the stat line doesnt do true justice to how well he played, so I thought Id clean it up a little bit.  Unfortunately his receivers had a whole bunch of drops, and there were a number of plays he very smartly threw it away.  If you take away the throwaways hes probably 26-40 for 306 yards.  If you have half decent receivers who have a normal night and dont drop so many balls, you probably end up with about 30-40 for 350.  Take into account that his 1 turnover was a random deflection, and it was a fantastic performance.

[Warhead36]

Just now, Recovering_Spaz said:

At worst, Heinicke proved he belongs on next year's roster as the third string QB because he knows the offense, the team plays well for him, and he can execute in a pinch. Assuming Kyle returns and is healthy, the staff would be crazy not to have a competition between the two for 2nd string.

 

Where this gets interesting is what happens if Alex retires, we can't draft a day one starting QB, and we can't land a FA QB 1. 

 

 

 

I'm fine with starting either Heinecke or Allen next year, whoever wins the camp competition. Use our resources to stock up the rest of the roster. We have significant holes at WR, LB and DB.

[Bacon]

Heineken put up 791 yards in a game?! That's more than we had in all of 2019! 

[LetThePointsSoar]

33 minutes ago, -JB- said:

During the game I kept thinking back.  I was like man he reminds me of Brady back in the day.  Guy comes out of nowhere but can straight up BALL.  And then this...

 

On 1/6/2021 at 6:25 PM, LetThePointsSoar said:

 

Lest we forget, Thomas Brady was a little known 6th round pick with very little expectation starting for the injured incumbent Drew Bledsoe. 

 

And before people lose their minds, no I'm not saying TH will be the next Tom Brady, so cool the jets.... 

 

....but how fitting if he does go on to have some success that his very first start will be under similar circumstances and going against THE Tom Brady? 

 

Here's to Heinicke pulling off the dream run of 4 straight wins powered by the defense. 

 

Hail. 

 

To point out, that NFL Research needs to credit me for the first to make the comparison, here. 😂😂😂

[Recovering_Spaz]

3 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

I'm fine with starting either Heinecke or Allen next year, whoever wins the camp competition. Use our resources to stock up the rest of the roster. We have significant holes at WR, LB and DB.

 

The Oline needs work too, imo

[bearrock]

1 minute ago, Recovering_Spaz said:

 

The Oline needs work too, imo

 

As a group this Oline was one of the best in football.  They have more pressing needs.

[KillBill26]

After seeing his performance last night, how did this guy not win his xfl qb competition?!?  

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Warhead36]

3 minutes ago, bearrock said:

 

As a group this Oline was one of the best in football.  They have more pressing needs.

I know the PFF ratings were high but I still think we could use upgrades at LT and LG. And we have to keep Scherff.

[Thinking Skins]

 

[bearrock]

1 minute ago, Warhead36 said:

I know the PFF ratings were high but I still think we could use upgrades at LT and LG. And we have to keep Scherff.

 

We obviously have to keep Scherff to keep the oline moving in the right direction. 

 

It's not that left side is some kind of world beaters who can't be improved upon.  But at what cost?  The chances of us drafting someone who's gonna perform better than Lucas and Schweitzer this year?  Extremely unlikely unless we invest round 1 or 2 picks (even than a question mark).  Pay an elite LT or LG free agent arm and a leg?  With three of our oline (assuming Scherff resigns) on pricey contracts?  The cap and draft resources have to be better allocated than that.

[Recovering_Spaz]

2 minutes ago, bearrock said:

 

As a group this Oline was one of the best in football.  They have more pressing needs.

 

I disagree with your first sentence. They pass protected very well but didn't run block consistently against a weak schedule.  I'm not dogging them, but instead of saying they are "one of the best in football" I'd say they overachieved expectations.

 

As far as your more pressing needs comment, I'd certainly draft LB, CB, and WR before the Oline.

 

[method man]

5 minutes ago, bearrock said:

 

We obviously have to keep Scherff to keep the oline moving in the right direction. 

 

It's not that left side is some kind of world beaters who can't be improved upon.  But at what cost?  The chances of us drafting someone who's gonna perform better than Lucas and Schweitzer this year?  Extremely unlikely unless we invest round 1 or 2 picks (even than a question mark).  Pay an elite LT or LG free agent arm and a leg?  With three of our oline (assuming Scherff resigns) on pricey contracts?  The cap and draft resources have to be better allocated than that.

Let Charles beat Schweitzer out in camp. Lucas gives us above average pass pro and below average run blocking on a peanuts contract next year. I’m fine drafting or grooming a replacement if one is there but it is not the best use of resources to go sign someone for 15m/yr

[Warhead36]

I think QB and scheme have as much to do with pass protection as anything else. The pass pro was significantly worse with Haskins in because not only was he immobile, he couldn't audible or set protections at all.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Koolblue13]

If anything, he saves us from having to over react to getting a QB and allows us to allocate those resources to other areas, even if it means moving up in the draft.

[Warhead36]

1 minute ago, Koolblue13 said:

If anything, he saves us from having to over react to getting a QB and allows us to allocate those resources to other areas, even if it means moving up in the draft.

That's how I see it as well. I think  if we shore up on our weaknesses and get improvements from our young players going from year 1 to 2 or 2 to 3(or even 3 to 4), and have Heinecke start, we could win 10 ish games and get a more legit sample size.

 

Perfect bridge QB at worst and maybe he does end up turning into Romo 2.0 and we have our guy for the next 5+ years on a reasonable deal to give us a shot at a Lombardi.

[CommanderDOOM]

9 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

I think QB and scheme have as much to do with pass protection as anything else. The pass pro was significantly worse with Haskins in because not only was he immobile, he couldn't audible or set protections at all.

Heinike looked to have total command of that and the offense in general.....in so little time on the field. If he can get a little stronger...but as in his whole career he seems a bit fragile(unfortunately ala Romo)

The "it" was strong with Heinike

Chase no doubt seemed to sponsor

'Thats my qb'

[ananoman]

1 hour ago, RedskinsLegacy said:

They have to give this kid a shot, he can ball. Honestly Warhead, I don't see another QB on this team that could have out played him last night.

Not too many QB's in the entire league could have outplayed him last night.  He basically went toe to toe with Brady and played him to a draw.  If you took Brady and Heinicke and swapped the rest of the teams around them,  Brady probably would have lost.

[NoVaSkins21]

As others have already said, if I were the FO, I would make re-signing Heinicke a top priority, then keep Kyle Allen , and draft a QB if they want.  It may have been a small sample size vs Carolina, and Tampa Bay, but this guy has IT.  This team and fan base starving for stability at the QB for the last 25+ years.  They need to build around him with a legit #2 to go with Terry.  They already have Gibson.  Re-signing Schereff is another priority.   The pieces are there and they just need to be put together.

[JiggingMaster]

OMG!!! Did yall see what TH did last night? It was absolutely amazing!  I have been a Skins Fan for over 40 years and I will remember this courageous performance on my dying bed!  For yall nick picking TH flaws, stop being whacked!  The dude balled out on one one the brightest spotlight and earned tons of respect!   If a couple of balls not dropped, a tipped pass INT,  a few bad calls from refs, we may had won that game!  He is a recipe for success!  Stop over analyzing and over thinking.  Barring  health issues he will be our starter next season in 2021! 

Edited January 10, 2021 by JiggingMaster