[msqueri]

* Taylor talked about mixing up the QB reps to see QBs with different groups the second week after having pretty even reps the first week. He also opted not to give any clarity on individual places in the competition. However, the headline for me is Taylor saying "they're all a little bit different but I feel like they can all play. Typically what happens is somebody emerges and I would anticipate that happening, it always does, most of the time." To me this reinforces my sense we have a room with plenty of QB2s and Taylor has fairly high confidence in the depth. More interesting, though, is the totally unsolicited opinion that the competition will likely have a definitive winner. I feel like Taylor is preparing us and I think it's possible that by the time of this interview (one week into camp) the separation was starting to happen in his mind. Notably, there was none of his usual talk about how most of what you need to evaluate can't happen until games. It sounds like somebody warming up to make a definitive call. Coupling this with some depth chart reporting on TOS and a number of recent Taylor comments, I think signs are increasingly pointing to Lamson as QB1. Taylor answered very clearly that accuracy is the number one criterion in this offense, followed by decisiveness, taking care of the football, and being able to play at a fast tempo. Later in the interview when asked about Lamson, "very accurate" was one of the first things out of Taylor's mouth, though not the very first - "really competitive, knew he was tough" are the first mental associations that come to Taylor. Taylor's been asked about Lamson each of the first two weeks of camp and both times the first things are about toughness and competitiveness and then the next thing are about being very accurate. This time he also added having great anticipation and being athletic. Taylor has a picture in his mind of Lamson's attributes for sure, and it's notable that the physical attribute of note is the one Taylor prioritizes. We do have to acknowledge that part of the reason Taylor talks about Lamson is because reporters are asking specifically about Lamson, but I think signs are mounting.



* Taylor's reflection on it not being hard to tune out the conference realignment chatter was nice to hear and I believe him, but I do think the honest truth may be that it's different for a 55 year old man who literally practices and preaches mindfulness than it is for 20 year old college students. Taylor is focused on practices, film review, and the planned out schedule and we can hope the players are too. I think it's encouraging that Taylor says he hasn't sensed distraction from the players. But I don't view that as dispositive that this isn't or won't be an issue. We'll see what the situation looks like in the coming weeks but I think it's legitimate to wonder about a potential cloud hanging over the program. I think we have the right guy to navigate through this but the degree of difficulty could be high if limbo continues, we prepare for independence in 2024, or we bite the bullet and get relegated to a lower level. Any of those three are big distractions.



* The comments on Roush, Reuben, and Ayomanor were solicited so I don't put much, if any, stock into them. I'm sure if somebody asked about Hawkins, Humphreys, and Bachmeier the coach would say nice things too. Taylor said nothing specifically about Roush whatsoever. For Reuben it was heavily about progression and growth and I got the impression Reuben has a ways to grow. I am trying to get a mental model of what I'd expect from these guys going forward. A year ago this time Roush and Reuben were all the rage on this board, in large part due to the spring/spring game showing (which I perennially caution means almost nothing), and then had freshmen years that were notable for burning their redshirts and having a few catches but hardly eye-opening. One of my projects is to track the percentage of Stanford's passing offense every freshman WR and TE has had since 2002. Reuben's freshman year was in the 17-19 range among 42 WRs, most comparable to Francis Owusu and Silas Starr. To me he profiles as a fine second string guy on a roster that may not have enough better guys to keep him out of the lineup. Roush and Hawkins were in the 11-13 range among 26 TEs, most comparable to Erik Lorig. TEs quite often taking longer to make impact than WRs so I view their getting their feet wet as a bit more encouraging than Reuben's. I do not think Taylor's evasion/lukewarm response to the solicited question gives any sort of arrow up from my mental model.



* The Ayomanor answer was at least a little bit interesting because he spoke to a specific injury rehab and how it's going. Sounds like progress but a ways to go....similar in a sense to the mentality on Reuben for different reasons. On paper I don't think our WR room looks particularly good and so far my sense is Taylor is approaching it developmentally rather than any sort of sense that he hit the mother lode with his inheritance. I can't begrudge Mike Wilson heading off to the NFL, though wish he were still at Stanford, but Elijah Higgins is one where it's really too bad we didn't get to see a year of him with Taylor's offense.

[msqueri]

* Taylor talked about mixing up the QB reps to see QBs with different groups the second week after having pretty even reps the first week. He also opted not to give any clarity on individual places in the competition. However, the headline for me is Taylor saying "they're all a little bit different but I feel like they can all play. Typically what happens is somebody emerges and I would anticipate that happening, it always does, most of the time." To me this reinforces my sense we have a room with plenty of QB2s and Taylor has fairly high confidence in the depth. More interesting, though, is the totally unsolicited opinion that the competition will likely have a definitive winner. I feel like Taylor is preparing us and I think it's possible that by the time of this interview (one week into camp) the separation was starting to happen in his mind. Notably, there was none of his usual talk about how most of what you need to evaluate can't happen until games. It sounds like somebody warming up to make a definitive call. Coupling this with some depth chart reporting on TOS and a number of recent Taylor comments, I think signs are increasingly pointing to Lamson as QB1. Taylor answered very clearly that accuracy is the number one criterion in this offense, followed by decisiveness, taking care of the football, and being able to play at a fast tempo. Later in the interview when asked about Lamson, "very accurate" was one of the first things out of Taylor's mouth, though not the very first - "really competitive, knew he was tough" are the first mental associations that come to Taylor. Taylor's been asked about Lamson each of the first two weeks of camp and both times the first things are about toughness and competitiveness and then the next thing are about being very accurate. This time he also added having great anticipation and being athletic. Taylor has a picture in his mind of Lamson's attributes for sure, and it's notable that the physical attribute of note is the one Taylor prioritizes. We do have to acknowledge that part of the reason Taylor talks about Lamson is because reporters are asking specifically about Lamson, but I think signs are mounting.



* Taylor's reflection on it not being hard to tune out the conference realignment chatter was nice to hear and I believe him, but I do think the honest truth may be that it's different for a 55 year old man who literally practices and preaches mindfulness than it is for 20 year old college students. Taylor is focused on practices, film review, and the planned out schedule and we can hope the players are too. I think it's encouraging that Taylor says he hasn't sensed distraction from the players. But I don't view that as dispositive that this isn't or won't be an issue. We'll see what the situation looks like in the coming weeks but I think it's legitimate to wonder about a potential cloud hanging over the program. I think we have the right guy to navigate through this but the degree of difficulty could be high if limbo continues, we prepare for independence in 2024, or we bite the bullet and get relegated to a lower level. Any of those three are big distractions.



* The comments on Roush, Reuben, and Ayomanor were solicited so I don't put much, if any, stock into them. I'm sure if somebody asked about Hawkins, Humphreys, and Bachmeier the coach would say nice things too. Taylor said nothing specifically about Roush whatsoever. For Reuben it was heavily about progression and growth and I got the impression Reuben has a ways to grow. I am trying to get a mental model of what I'd expect from these guys going forward. A year ago this time Roush and Reuben were all the rage on this board, in large part due to the spring/spring game showing (which I perennially caution means almost nothing), and then had freshmen years that were notable for burning their redshirts and having a few catches but hardly eye-opening. One of my projects is to track the percentage of Stanford's passing offense every freshman WR and TE has had since 2002. Reuben's freshman year was in the 17-19 range among 42 WRs, most comparable to Francis Owusu and Silas Starr. To me he profiles as a fine second string guy on a roster that may not have enough better guys to keep him out of the lineup. Roush and Hawkins were in the 11-13 range among 26 TEs, most comparable to Erik Lorig. TEs quite often taking longer to make impact than WRs so I view their getting their feet wet as a bit more encouraging than Reuben's. I do not think Taylor's evasion/lukewarm response to the solicited question gives any sort of arrow up from my mental model.



* The Ayomanor answer was at least a little bit interesting because he spoke to a specific injury rehab and how it's going. Sounds like progress but a ways to go....similar in a sense to the mentality on Reuben for different reasons. On paper I don't think our WR room looks particularly good and so far my sense is Taylor is approaching it developmentally rather than any sort of sense that he hit the mother lode with his inheritance. I can't begrudge Mike Wilson heading off to the NFL, though wish he were still at Stanford, but Elijah Higgins is one where it's really too bad we didn't get to see a year of him with Taylor's offense.