[cardcrimson]

Aside #1 - almost nobody was calling for Hogan before he became the starter in 2012 (though on either this board or the bootleg there was one poster who appeared to be either a relative or HS friend who was pushing for him rather vociferously - even during his redshirt season). Most fans were calling for Brett Nottingham, who left Stanford after losing out to Hogan and proceeded to have a not very strong career at Columbia.

Aside #2 - fans are always calling for backup quarterbacks who have yet to appear in a game and disappoint them. Occasionally they eventually appear and do well. More often not and the calls are forgotten.

Aside #3 (from another post in this thread) - almost no teams play backup QBs in any significant way to "get them ready" - though sometimes QBs split time while a QB competition is still active. I don't quite know why this belief persists among fan bases everywhere.

My take is that (until a bench player actually gets significant playing time) no one really knows how that player will perform. So why not give bench players an opportunity to play ?
If a guys plays half a game then everybody (coaches, spectators etc...)will gain some knowledge about that player's strengths and weaknesses.

Everybody was stunned when Saban pulled Hurts in the 2017 championship game for the inexperienced freshman Tua. Tua had previously appeared in only 7 games, only completed 35 out of 53 for 470 yards and 8 TDs.

Stanford backups last season, all season, went 2 for 8 and 10 yards and no TDs.

[cardcrimson]

Aside #1 - almost nobody was calling for Hogan before he became the starter in 2012 (though on either this board or the bootleg there was one poster who appeared to be either a relative or HS friend who was pushing for him rather vociferously - even during his redshirt season). Most fans were calling for Brett Nottingham, who left Stanford after losing out to Hogan and proceeded to have a not very strong career at Columbia.

Aside #2 - fans are always calling for backup quarterbacks who have yet to appear in a game and disappoint them. Occasionally they eventually appear and do well. More often not and the calls are forgotten.

Aside #3 (from another post in this thread) - almost no teams play backup QBs in any significant way to "get them ready" - though sometimes QBs split time while a QB competition is still active. I don't quite know why this belief persists among fan bases everywhere.

My take is that (until a bench player actually gets significant playing time) no one really knows how that player will perform. So why not give bench players an opportunity to play ?
If a guys plays half a game then everybody (coaches, spectators etc...)will gain some knowledge about that player's strengths and weaknesses.

Everybody was stunned when Saban pulled Hurts in the 2017 championship game for the inexperienced freshman Tua. Tua had previously appeared in only 7 games, only completed 35 out of 53 for 470 yards and 8 TDs.

Stanford backups last season, all season, went 2 for 8 and 10 yards and no TDs.