[washingtonismoney]

In other words, even when Stanford goes to the "we're going to run it down your throat formation," defenses still feel threatened by the pass because they know the TEs are a threat.  I would argue as long as Fleener or Toilolo is on the field, the Safeties have to respect the over the top passing threat.  This makes me believe not having Ertz realy isn't as big a deal as people are thinking.  Would it be better to have him?  Sure, but not having him isn't going to make the offense very much less potent.

I guess I would quibble with this a bit--Ertz's routes (which are usually intermediate-type stuff) force the defensive backs and linebackers to pay attention to him, often allowing for a better/quicker release for Fleener. So I do think Ertz is the more important of the two injured players, though I think Stanford can score either way.

[washingtonismoney]

In other words, even when Stanford goes to the "we're going to run it down your throat formation," defenses still feel threatened by the pass because they know the TEs are a threat.  I would argue as long as Fleener or Toilolo is on the field, the Safeties have to respect the over the top passing threat.  This makes me believe not having Ertz realy isn't as big a deal as people are thinking.  Would it be better to have him?  Sure, but not having him isn't going to make the offense very much less potent.

I guess I would quibble with this a bit--Ertz's routes (which are usually intermediate-type stuff) force the defensive backs and linebackers to pay attention to him, often allowing for a better/quicker release for Fleener. So I do think Ertz is the more important of the two injured players, though I think Stanford can score either way.