Does Kendrick start or Bender
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Miles Kendrick played the majority of the snaps in the second half, pretty much the snaps that mattered. Bender played most of the first and has started all 3 games thus far. So the question is who starts Saturday at Baylor? I can see pro and con to both players, it could even be situational from the stand point if the run game is working you go with Kendrick, Baylor has struggled to stop the run so far this season. So that could bode well for him this weekend. I don’t think Bender has a crazy good arm but he hasn’t thrown a pick yet this season and is completing just over 60% of his passes. We all saw to the two open receivers that he missed in the end zone against Rutgers but Kendrick hasnt really thrown the ball enough yet to get a good read on his arm. He got away with some risky throws Saturday that had pick 6 writen all over them in this conference. Obviously Kendrick gives you a better RPO game and can run the ball effectively at times, tho to me he try’s to run laterally way too much and he doesn’t have the speed to get to the edge against D1 guys. I personally believe Bender to be the safest option at this point, most of the long runs in the second half didn’t even look like a zone read, they were simple hand offs outside of Kendrick’s TD run. Bender also has started the last 2 wins so you have if it’s not broke don’t fix it type deal, you don’t see a QB benched after 2 wins and no interceptions very often. I’m a little worried that if Kendrick is given the nod we could see several INTs and that’s not abnormal for a first year guy but I also think that Baylor is a winnable game for us so if he does end up being more turnover prone, it could prove very costly. That being said I don’t think I’ll complain regardless whomever starts, I’m just hoping we can keep it rolling.
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If Beaty can’t see that Kendrick opens things up for KU’s RBs with his own running ability then he should accept his fate.
Kendrick gives KU the best opportunity to hang with the better teams in the Big 12, and maybe beat some of the lower ranking teams. KU’s offensive line just can’t give Bender the time he needs to make plays, and their WR corps is not as strong as the RB corps. Putting things in Kendrick’s hands gives KU a chance at 4+ wins. Bender may be where KU wants to go, but Kendrick is where KU is right now.
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@justanotherfan I agree tho there are some teams that are really good against the run and may warrant Bender going in for a few series if Kendrick isn’t successful.
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Neither guy has stood out too much to definitively win the job so it really comes down to the match ups as too which QB is the better option.
Against Baylor, I think Kendrick is the better play because Baylor is really bad against the run this year.
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Start Bender. Put in Kendrick ASAP.
Nothing against Bender except my own low-ish expectations (and he’s slightly exceeded those in the past couple games). I don’t think it would be good to throw Kendrick into the fire immediately with a start.
Monday night coaching is fun!
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Start Kendrick from here on out. He can extend plays with his feet and keep teams from blitzing so much. Bender is just a sitting duck. Kendrick will also save a few drives with 3rd down scrambles for a first down. Bender won’t.
It really isn’t even close to a hard decision in my mind. If Bender could actually hit a receiver on more than a screen play, this MIGHT be a different story. But he’s go no chance at creating an upset. The Air Raid is ineffective. We need a guy who can put together long, clock-dwindling drives and grinds out first downs. Put pressure on every possession. The fewer there are, the more likely we can pull off an upset.
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My whole idea of favoring Kendrick over Bender is that KU’s best offensive players are the running backs. Not just Williams (although he is the best of the group), but the overall strength of the unit. That’s the most talent on the KU roster.
As a result, you want a QB (since neither Kendrick or Bender is a star) that gets the most out of the most talented players on the offense. Bender is not a threat to run, so you don’t have to spy him. Kendrick is. Since KU doesn’t have a group of game breaking receivers to take advantage of Bender’s passing, Kendrick is the right choice because he can open up a lane for the backs to take advantage of.
If KU had a receiving corps like they did in 2007, Bender would be the right choice. Since they don’t, Kendrick is the guy.
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Benders poor accuracy is the main problem with his game. In my opinion, the placement of his throws is not good enough to keep him in the game getting snaps. If you look closely at the Rutgers game, his throws, even if they were caught, were off target causing the receivers to lose the opportunity for YAK when they did catch the ball.
Kendrick is the way to go moving forward.
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Wouldn’t it make KU a one dimensional team and by extension predictable and easier to defend? Wouldn’t playing Bender give the team an added dimension and thus preventing opponents to concentrate on the run? I know the running game is at this stage better than the passing game but considering how many good to vey good runners KU has, does it need to add a running QB? Just playing devil’s advocate.
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Kendrick can throw. He’s not as good a passer as Bender, but he can throw. What separates him is that because he is mobile, he can be more effective as a passer because defenses have to keep a guy spying on him, which means one fewer guy in coverage.
Basically, Kendrick’s running ability opens up the run for our backs and also opens up the pass by keeping an additional guy out of coverage. You can safely drop 7 (or 8 ) against Bender.
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Add in that the O-line sucks so bad that we can’t stretch the field too much as is. Safeties are going to be in the box regardless of who is QB.
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Going to be interesting Saturday . Even though I much prefer Kendrick over Bender Saturday might lead to at least starting Bender once again. At the present Baylor is 9th in the league against the run giving up an average of 181 yards per. - - -Ku is 2nd in the league in rushing averaging 225.7.
Anyone can see course we know this is coming anyways but you can take it to the bank Baylor is going to load the box for sure to make us throw and try and stop the run. Were going to have to be able to keep them honest. Not saying I don’t want Kendrick to play but I think we have to start Bender for this one at least see how it goes. - Hell who knows Baylor might be so committed to stop the run that Bender maybe just maybe might be able to complete some passes - -then when they adjust - - we bring in Kendrick. - - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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I hope Baylor does load up a bit. It will give KU’s receivers some favorable matchups to exploit one on one. Do that a couple times, then hit them with Williams once they back out of the box.
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@jayballer73 9th against the run, that means they can’t defend the run. Use Kendrick and exploit that weakness. Make Baylor prove they can stop the run before going to the passing game. If Baylor proves they can defend the run, then you can bring in Bender and try to pass against Baylor, but KU’s initial gameplan against Baylor should be run, run, and run some more.
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Beaty announced this morning that Bender will start but Kendrick will play. Nothing has changed.
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Good write up about the coverage that led to Lee’s Pick Six.
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article218593490.html
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justanotherfan said:
I hope Baylor does load up a bit. It will give KU’s receivers some favorable matchups to exploit one on one. Do that a couple times, then hit them with Williams once they back out of the box.
See this is what I’m hoping for also.- That’s why I thought and just read that yes - -Bender will start , hopefully he can hit enough to make them respect the passing game to a degree. - get them to back off and then bring in Kendrick. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Texas Hawk 10 said:
@jayballer73 9th against the run, that means they can’t defend the run. Use Kendrick and exploit that weakness. Make Baylor prove they can stop the run before going to the passing game. If Baylor proves they can defend the run, then you can bring in Bender and try to pass against Baylor, but KU’s initial gameplan against Baylor should be run, run, and run some more.
Oh I understand what your saying buddy - and I don’t disagree necessarily it’s just that if they load the box it’s hard - Hell it’s hard for a lot of teams not just KU to run when they load the box - and you know dam well they gonna target Pooka. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Maybe Beaty is playing mind games, Start Bender for one series then boom Kendrick lol
