11-20-2023, 10:43 AM
Needle is too harsh on Taylor’s offensive coaching. We didn’t have a prayer this year and frankly the season didn’t matter and was just about turning pages on the calendar so we can get better players, culture, strength and conditioning, etc. Some things for your consideration on the no hope offense:
Worst QB room in Stanford history by recruiting rankings (as an example, our median QB historically is a top 15 QB nationally whereas this year we don’t have a single guy on the roster that level and our QB1 was the #65 QB in the nation in his recruiting class)
RB room with dismal depth and two lead guys with a four year history of constant injury and, when healthy, record-breaking amounts of fumbles
Unproven WR room replacing three NFL WRs
A very good TE (who ended up missing much of the year)
Losing five transfer OL, including one of the best linemen in the country and a very good left tackle
According to SP+ returning the dead last amount of production in Power Five football
Inheriting an offense that even with all that talent was FEI #91 last year and #87 the year before
A gigantic amount of injuries this fall (we are in the bottom 14 percent of Pac-12 injury luck historically, but on offense it’s even worse than that as 76 percent of our absences were on offense)
In light of all that, according to PFF an OL #118 in pass blocking and #109 in run blocking. I can’t readily calculate where that would put our OL nationally but it’s certainly among the worst in the nation. In the Pac-12 the next worst blocking unit is Cal at #112 and #106.
So what were you expecting? Taylor has not run anything remotely resembling his offense this year because to do so would be to invite trauma for Daniels and an OL that should be coddled to build confidence rather than hung out to dry. As a result the two main staples of a Taylor offense - tons of spacing/WRs out in the pattern and very heavy use of RBs (including two on the field simultaneously to help with that spacing) - didn’t even make an appearance this year. We had the worst situation in Power Five football and acted accordingly. Fans should too n evaluating. Heck, we’re managing to score more than Pitt, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, and Arizona State. If anything, Taylor gets solid marks for that. We are battling despite an abysmal situation. The best example of Taylor squeezing more out of offense than the talent would warrant, a stark change from Shaw, is that despite all of the above we are #80 in first downs. That is impressive given this roster and injury situation and is a testament to how Taylor is managing Daniels and Lamson to get third and fourth down conversions.
Taylor isn’t working miracles but he is doing at least what should be expected given this hand. You are not being reasonable if you think this roster playing against the #5 schedule in America should be anything but one of the worst offenses in the country.
Worst QB room in Stanford history by recruiting rankings (as an example, our median QB historically is a top 15 QB nationally whereas this year we don’t have a single guy on the roster that level and our QB1 was the #65 QB in the nation in his recruiting class)
RB room with dismal depth and two lead guys with a four year history of constant injury and, when healthy, record-breaking amounts of fumbles
Unproven WR room replacing three NFL WRs
A very good TE (who ended up missing much of the year)
Losing five transfer OL, including one of the best linemen in the country and a very good left tackle
According to SP+ returning the dead last amount of production in Power Five football
Inheriting an offense that even with all that talent was FEI #91 last year and #87 the year before
A gigantic amount of injuries this fall (we are in the bottom 14 percent of Pac-12 injury luck historically, but on offense it’s even worse than that as 76 percent of our absences were on offense)
In light of all that, according to PFF an OL #118 in pass blocking and #109 in run blocking. I can’t readily calculate where that would put our OL nationally but it’s certainly among the worst in the nation. In the Pac-12 the next worst blocking unit is Cal at #112 and #106.
So what were you expecting? Taylor has not run anything remotely resembling his offense this year because to do so would be to invite trauma for Daniels and an OL that should be coddled to build confidence rather than hung out to dry. As a result the two main staples of a Taylor offense - tons of spacing/WRs out in the pattern and very heavy use of RBs (including two on the field simultaneously to help with that spacing) - didn’t even make an appearance this year. We had the worst situation in Power Five football and acted accordingly. Fans should too n evaluating. Heck, we’re managing to score more than Pitt, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, and Arizona State. If anything, Taylor gets solid marks for that. We are battling despite an abysmal situation. The best example of Taylor squeezing more out of offense than the talent would warrant, a stark change from Shaw, is that despite all of the above we are #80 in first downs. That is impressive given this roster and injury situation and is a testament to how Taylor is managing Daniels and Lamson to get third and fourth down conversions.
Taylor isn’t working miracles but he is doing at least what should be expected given this hand. You are not being reasonable if you think this roster playing against the #5 schedule in America should be anything but one of the worst offenses in the country.
