Georgia Tech Football: Quarterback Mid-Season Report Card

How would you grade Jeff Sims at the midway point of the season?

As hard as it might be to believe, we are halfway through this Georgia Tech football season. It has been full of ups and downs, including wins and losses and of course, the firing of former head coach Geoff Collins. 

With the team on a bye week this week and no game on Saturday, it is time to look and see how each unit is performing so far this season. Let's start with the most important position on the field: quarterback. 

Mid Season Grade: C

Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims has been efficient on the ground this season.  / Georgia Tech Athletics

Sims came into the season being praised by the coaching staff for his leadership developments and how much he had grown in that area. With a new offensive coordinator in Chip Long and Chris Weinke as the quarterback's coach, Sims was going to have to learn a brand new offense and be ready for a tough schedule right out of the gate. 

So how has Sims performed this season? Like most of Sim's time in Atlanta, it has been a mixed bag. He has shown how talented and athletic he is in games like the victory over Duke and then in other games, he has been inefficient and not a playmaker. 

At this point in the season, Sims is currently ranked last in the ACC in passing yards per game and has thrown for only five touchdowns, which is the second-lowest in the ACC behind only Malik Cunningham at Louisville. His 58.8% completion percentage is tied for the second-lowest in the ACC. The best thing I can say about Sims and his passing this year is that he has only thrown two interceptions, which is an improvement from the last two seasons. Now with that being said, there have been games where he has been careless with the ball. He threw around three or four passes against Pitt that easily could have been picked off. 

Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

In terms of rushing, Sims has been effective in most games, but not all. His best games have been the two wins against Pitt and Duke, where he totaled at least 80 yards in both games. Sims has always been talented at running the ball and will certainly get more looks as the season goes on if the last two games are any indication. 

At the start of the season, Sims had about the kind of performance I expected him to have against one of the best defenses in the country in the game against Clemson. It was going to be a tough game for the Yellow Jackets' offense, especially their offensive line, but Sims made plays through the air and looked in rhythm at different points in the game and threw a nice touchdown to wide receiver E.J. Jenkins. He threw for 164 yards in that game and had 41 yards rushing. 

In what was supposed to be the easiest game of the season, Sims did not play well against Western Carolina. He did not attempt many passes and barely threw for over 100 yards and made little impact rushing. Sims also did not have a good effort against Ole Miss, who has a really good defense. 

Jeff Sims threw for over 300 yards in the game against UCF / Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Sims had his best game through the air against UCF, throwing for over 300 yards, completing 65% of his passes and one touchdown. He did not do much on the ground and he struggled in the red zone and those two things were costly. 

His best games rushing the football came in the last two games and that is encouraging. If Georgia Tech hopes to surprise and challenge for a bowl game, those numbers are going to have to increase. 

So has Sims improved from recent seasons? That is tough to say His turnovers are down right now, which is a good thing, but his accuracy is still not where you want it. The passing game has been one of the worst in the ACC and some of that blame does fall on the quarterback. 

I will say that I have been encouraged by Sims play in the last two weeks and if he can be efficient through the air and the ground, Georgia Tech is going to win more games this season. 

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