[Bruce Wang]

Here's my speculation as to what happened.  I haven't seen enough of either Burns or Chryst to have an opinion on their relative merits.  I base these suppositions on what I've read as an obsessive Stanford fan.  Burns is the more athletic of the two and has a better throwing motion.  During Elite11, I recall Trent Dilfer admiring Burns's compact and quick motion.  The concern about Burns coming out of high school is that he played in a simple single wing offense.  Chryst, on the other hand, has an NFL QB coach as a father so he understood more of the playbook last year than Burns even though he is a class behind. Burns faced such a steep learning curve that a one year head start was not enough to stay ahead.

The conventional wisdom is if two QBs are truly equal, you play the younger player.  I interpret the decision as that Burns has made a clear separation.  Here's why I'm excited about this choice: a) Burns is smart enough to catch up at the beginning of the Spring and now pull ahead and b) he's determined enough that he was not discouraged by getting passed by a younger teammate on the depth chart last season.

[Bruce Wang]

Here's my speculation as to what happened.  I haven't seen enough of either Burns or Chryst to have an opinion on their relative merits.  I base these suppositions on what I've read as an obsessive Stanford fan.  Burns is the more athletic of the two and has a better throwing motion.  During Elite11, I recall Trent Dilfer admiring Burns's compact and quick motion.  The concern about Burns coming out of high school is that he played in a simple single wing offense.  Chryst, on the other hand, has an NFL QB coach as a father so he understood more of the playbook last year than Burns even though he is a class behind. Burns faced such a steep learning curve that a one year head start was not enough to stay ahead.

The conventional wisdom is if two QBs are truly equal, you play the younger player.  I interpret the decision as that Burns has made a clear separation.  Here's why I'm excited about this choice: a) Burns is smart enough to catch up at the beginning of the Spring and now pull ahead and b) he's determined enough that he was not discouraged by getting passed by a younger teammate on the depth chart last season.