[gailtate]

Aside from who's ranked and who ain't, my general observation of Tanner McKee is that his destiny seems similar to Trent Edwards. Talented, NFL-caliber but doomed to futility as a collegian due to the paucity of talent around him (players and coaches). Might look forward to respectable Sundays, however -- IF he isn't massacred this season.

I don't see that comparison at all. Davis Mills is the much more obvious comparison.

Trent Edwards came in to a program with an empty cupboard at offensive line and a new head coach with no experience getting players to the NFL. He had some talent around him (Mark Bradford, Evan Moore, Brett Pierce, Alex Smith, JR Lemon) but not nearly enough to overcome the disastrous OL situation, and even if he had better skill position support that doesn't matter much if you're always on your back or in the hospital.

Tanner McKee has no reason to worry about his physical health or ability to stay vertical like Edwards did. Even with the struggles of our OL last year, we gave up 2.67 sacks per game. This year the OL returns everybody. Compare that to what Edwards faced: 3.0 sacks per game in 2003, 3.73 sacks per game in 2004, 3.82 sacks per game in 2005, and 4.17 sacks per game in 2006. McKee is coddled and supported like none other compared to what Edwards faced. Let me put those sack totals in perspective: in the last 13 years of college football there have been 14 Power Five teams that gave up 3.73 sacks per game or worse. In other words, that level of offensive line futility can be reasonably expected to be the worst in America in a given year. And Trent Edwards faced it three years in a row. There is no hyperbole in saying he is the most battered quarterback in the history of major college football. I don't even know how somebody else could be in the conversation. He played four years and in three of them he was getting hit as much as anybody in the country. Crazy.

So really, this is a keep Trent Edwards' name out of your mouth situation. Nobody should ever be compared to him, and certainly not somebody with one of the most experienced and highly-recruited offensive lines in the nation like what McKee gets to play behind this year. For all we know Edwards could have been Elway/Luck if he hadn't been battered to historic proportions. And even after all that battery, Edwards started 33 NFL games, managing to do more at the highest level than Hogan, Costello, Stenstrom, Schonert, Husak, Fasani, Benjamin, Boryla, Hutchinson, Freitas. Incredible.

And while I'm ranting - those who blamed Buddy Teevens for Stanford football's woes were misguided. Teevens had flaws but it was much more Tyrone Willingham's fault. To golf every day and just fail to recruit OL over a multi-year period is the biggest example of fiddling while Rome burned we've ever seen, much worse than anything Shaw has ever done. Over three years we recruited fewer linemen than you need to field a single practice offensive line!

Anyway, the obvious comparison for McKee is Mills. Highly-touted, talented recruits given a good complement of talent compared to most of their peers in the conference, had some good games but generally unspectacular time in college due to a coaching staff that like clockwork can be relied on to get less with more, moved on to an NFL career that will likely make people wonder why he wasn't a bigger deal nationally in college.

Tanner McKee has no reason to worry about his physical health or ability to stay vertical like Edwards did.

I hereby document the quote above to cite at the proper moment this season. Davis Mills is clearly a talent, as was Edwards. In my my view McKee is a click below both and I pray for his health.

[gailtate]

Aside from who's ranked and who ain't, my general observation of Tanner McKee is that his destiny seems similar to Trent Edwards. Talented, NFL-caliber but doomed to futility as a collegian due to the paucity of talent around him (players and coaches). Might look forward to respectable Sundays, however -- IF he isn't massacred this season.

I don't see that comparison at all. Davis Mills is the much more obvious comparison.

Trent Edwards came in to a program with an empty cupboard at offensive line and a new head coach with no experience getting players to the NFL. He had some talent around him (Mark Bradford, Evan Moore, Brett Pierce, Alex Smith, JR Lemon) but not nearly enough to overcome the disastrous OL situation, and even if he had better skill position support that doesn't matter much if you're always on your back or in the hospital.

Tanner McKee has no reason to worry about his physical health or ability to stay vertical like Edwards did. Even with the struggles of our OL last year, we gave up 2.67 sacks per game. This year the OL returns everybody. Compare that to what Edwards faced: 3.0 sacks per game in 2003, 3.73 sacks per game in 2004, 3.82 sacks per game in 2005, and 4.17 sacks per game in 2006. McKee is coddled and supported like none other compared to what Edwards faced. Let me put those sack totals in perspective: in the last 13 years of college football there have been 14 Power Five teams that gave up 3.73 sacks per game or worse. In other words, that level of offensive line futility can be reasonably expected to be the worst in America in a given year. And Trent Edwards faced it three years in a row. There is no hyperbole in saying he is the most battered quarterback in the history of major college football. I don't even know how somebody else could be in the conversation. He played four years and in three of them he was getting hit as much as anybody in the country. Crazy.

So really, this is a keep Trent Edwards' name out of your mouth situation. Nobody should ever be compared to him, and certainly not somebody with one of the most experienced and highly-recruited offensive lines in the nation like what McKee gets to play behind this year. For all we know Edwards could have been Elway/Luck if he hadn't been battered to historic proportions. And even after all that battery, Edwards started 33 NFL games, managing to do more at the highest level than Hogan, Costello, Stenstrom, Schonert, Husak, Fasani, Benjamin, Boryla, Hutchinson, Freitas. Incredible.

And while I'm ranting - those who blamed Buddy Teevens for Stanford football's woes were misguided. Teevens had flaws but it was much more Tyrone Willingham's fault. To golf every day and just fail to recruit OL over a multi-year period is the biggest example of fiddling while Rome burned we've ever seen, much worse than anything Shaw has ever done. Over three years we recruited fewer linemen than you need to field a single practice offensive line!

Anyway, the obvious comparison for McKee is Mills. Highly-touted, talented recruits given a good complement of talent compared to most of their peers in the conference, had some good games but generally unspectacular time in college due to a coaching staff that like clockwork can be relied on to get less with more, moved on to an NFL career that will likely make people wonder why he wasn't a bigger deal nationally in college.

Tanner McKee has no reason to worry about his physical health or ability to stay vertical like Edwards did.

I hereby document the quote above to cite at the proper moment this season. Davis Mills is clearly a talent, as was Edwards. In my my view McKee is a click below both and I pray for his health.