05-13-2023, 08:04 PM
* As I look at all of this I don't see Lamson being a guy whose very presence ends the competition. Still a competition. But as I said at the outset I do think transferring in suggests something about how he thinks this will go, how Taylor views him, etc. One thing I've noticed is that as a college head coach Taylor has never had a QB1 who wasn't a transfer. Kevin Thomson came from UNLV, Jake Dunniway came from San Diego Mesa JC, and Asher O'Hara came from Middle Tennessee. One could surmise Taylor is more comfortable bringing in his own guy than inheriting somebody else's evaluation. Lamson is particularly interesting in this regard because he comes from Taylor's Sacramento neck of the woods, received his first college offer from Sacramento State (at least according to 247 timeline), and played numerous games his junior year against high schools Taylor heavily recruited (Folsom, Elk Grove, Rocklin, Inderkum, Granite Bay). Obviously Taylor goes back in his evaluation of Lamson and there's a mutual comfort here. All that being said, it's not like Taylor always needs his own guy. As coordinator at Eastern Washington he started Gage Gubrud, who he inherited as a former walk-on and once Taylor came on board he benched the returning starter in favor of Gubrud. As coordinator at Utah, it was all about Tyler Huntley, who Taylor also inherited and also elevated over a returning starter. What this history suggests to me is that being a Taylor guy is an advantage and seniority/past experience really means nothing.
* All of this may be sobering for Patu. In addition to what I've observed in this post, it's been interesting to hear comments from both Taylor and Patu that make clear that their mutual Folsom ties mean nothing. On the other hand, I don't think it's out of the question Patu wins a competition (or is one of the top two in a two QB system). It's easy to forget that he actually had the highest composite recruiting ranking of any QB in our pipeline, even including Jackson. If Patu does stay, I question his commitment to football. To not be a QB1 for five years in today's day and age of QB freedom at the high school and college level would seem to indicate that finding a place where he can be the guy just isn't important to him.
* To that point, it will be interesting to see if Stanford's depth chart remains intact. We would seem to have one of the least settled or exciting QB1 situations in Power Five but arguably one of the deepest, but that could change with one or more outbound transfers. However, if I understand the transfer portal correctly, since none of our QBs are graduates they now have to wait until December to transfer. Consequently, it seems like 2023 will be an open tryout for the Stanford QB of the future and then after the season is when we could see movement. (Of course, we're one of the favorites for whale QB Elijah Brown, so that could dramatically change our sense of QB of the future, especially if nobody plays great this fall)
* The bigger short-term question than transfers seems to be chemistry and morale. Patu and Daniels seemed to be operating from an equal starting point and with obvious mutual expectations of what the new coaching staff meant. A new QB transferring in is a big change to that dynamic. How will Patu and Daniels react? How will teammates partial to one or both of them react? Hard to say. It can't be likely to be any more disruptive than it is at the average school considering virtually all programs have this dynamic, but it's still a variable entering the equation. The way Taylor talked about it a few weeks ago seems like the right move - we're trying to make the team everywhere. Make this about competition and don't apologize for making guys fight for the right to represent Stanford on the field on Saturdays.
* It is probably premature to situate Lamson in historical perspective among Stanford transfers as we don't yet know if he'll start. But if he's QB1 this is one of the biggest transfers in Stanford history. Regardless, this has obviously been a sea change off-season in the number of transfers we've brought in considering we're at five and counting and historically would occasionally have one (though further back in time they were more common, especially considering junior college). There are actually numerous Power Five programs who have brought in fewer or equal number of transfers. If we can make this kind of volume of transfers an annual occurrence and reverse the trend of outward attrition that took hold at the end under Shaw, the transfer portal may not end up being much of a negative for Stanford. We'll see. Early days and I feel like it will adjust/be a bit different every year.
* I will not judge anybody for the sins of the father but if Lamson's dad is who I think he is....yikes. I hope it doesn't lead to bad juju, awkwardness around the football team parents, or anything like that.
* All of this may be sobering for Patu. In addition to what I've observed in this post, it's been interesting to hear comments from both Taylor and Patu that make clear that their mutual Folsom ties mean nothing. On the other hand, I don't think it's out of the question Patu wins a competition (or is one of the top two in a two QB system). It's easy to forget that he actually had the highest composite recruiting ranking of any QB in our pipeline, even including Jackson. If Patu does stay, I question his commitment to football. To not be a QB1 for five years in today's day and age of QB freedom at the high school and college level would seem to indicate that finding a place where he can be the guy just isn't important to him.
* To that point, it will be interesting to see if Stanford's depth chart remains intact. We would seem to have one of the least settled or exciting QB1 situations in Power Five but arguably one of the deepest, but that could change with one or more outbound transfers. However, if I understand the transfer portal correctly, since none of our QBs are graduates they now have to wait until December to transfer. Consequently, it seems like 2023 will be an open tryout for the Stanford QB of the future and then after the season is when we could see movement. (Of course, we're one of the favorites for whale QB Elijah Brown, so that could dramatically change our sense of QB of the future, especially if nobody plays great this fall)
* The bigger short-term question than transfers seems to be chemistry and morale. Patu and Daniels seemed to be operating from an equal starting point and with obvious mutual expectations of what the new coaching staff meant. A new QB transferring in is a big change to that dynamic. How will Patu and Daniels react? How will teammates partial to one or both of them react? Hard to say. It can't be likely to be any more disruptive than it is at the average school considering virtually all programs have this dynamic, but it's still a variable entering the equation. The way Taylor talked about it a few weeks ago seems like the right move - we're trying to make the team everywhere. Make this about competition and don't apologize for making guys fight for the right to represent Stanford on the field on Saturdays.
* It is probably premature to situate Lamson in historical perspective among Stanford transfers as we don't yet know if he'll start. But if he's QB1 this is one of the biggest transfers in Stanford history. Regardless, this has obviously been a sea change off-season in the number of transfers we've brought in considering we're at five and counting and historically would occasionally have one (though further back in time they were more common, especially considering junior college). There are actually numerous Power Five programs who have brought in fewer or equal number of transfers. If we can make this kind of volume of transfers an annual occurrence and reverse the trend of outward attrition that took hold at the end under Shaw, the transfer portal may not end up being much of a negative for Stanford. We'll see. Early days and I feel like it will adjust/be a bit different every year.
* I will not judge anybody for the sins of the father but if Lamson's dad is who I think he is....yikes. I hope it doesn't lead to bad juju, awkwardness around the football team parents, or anything like that.