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We've talked about this before, but the reality is QBs can be difficult to evaluate in practice because they can't be pressured like in real games.
I'll re-visit the Spring practice I went to in March 2016. Burns and Chryst both looked good, and Burns seemed to be decisive escaping pressure. But in retrospect, the OL turned out to be really bad. Given QBs can't be hit, and real pressure he would face couldn't be simulated, practices masked this reality the offense would face in 2016, preventing the QBs from being evaluated accurately. My conclusion is what I saw from the QBs running well was more a function of the defense letting up a bit and allowing the QBs to escape like they wouldn't in game situations. Frankly, Burns looked more decisive in the practice I saw than Chryst, so if that carried through to all practices, I could see why he would have been named the starter.
Chryst, OTOH, was not quite as reactive as Burns, which maybe suggested he was slow to react. But it very well may be that what was being seeing as slow reaction time by Chryst, was actually him being a bit more poised and willing to stand in a second or two longer to go through his progressions than Burns. I don't think anyone would argue that Chryst looked more comfortable and more poised than Burns when they actually played in games.Â
It's possible the game might slow down for Burns, but given the younger talent on the roster, and the fact Burns is a Senior, I just don't know how it makes any sense at all for him to be the starter, unless he is an order of magnitude better than all other options. At least with Chryst and Costello, you have the chance to bring them back in 2018, so you get some sort of upside as they gain experience in 2017. Maybe Burns can be #2 in the event of in-game injury, but even if Chryst or Costello went down, my new starter would the healthy one between the two.
