[msqueri]

* The answer on how the OL is doing seemed like a good example of words that will read very positively on paper but based on body language it seemed like a safe, political answer without much conviction. Did not make me feel better that OL is in good shape. The part that seems noteworthy is "it's all about Levi Rogers, man, I think he's doing a great job of stepping up and just being a leader in that group." Reading between the lines, I think there have been a fair number of permutations on the line, not a lot of stability, and a lot of guys going through ups and downs trying to get settled, but Rogers is the constant. He is our only returning starter and has moved inside to anchor the line and follow in the footsteps of our sublime recent centers. Based on Rogers' performance last year at guard I will be shocked if he is anywhere near as good as Dalman and Nugent were, but I think the real point of Lamson's comment is Rogers is the leader and the stabilizing presence. Always nice to hear about guys who are stepping up.

* Smith, Filkins, Butler, and Barrow got shout outs at RB, which is interesting because the guys not mentioned were the freshmen.....yet we're picking up buzz from Taylor about Irvin. I keep wondering where Butler (I think missed time with injury) and Barrow are so was pleasantly surprised to hear them mentioned. I am finding it utterly fascinating that after a 2022 in which everybody was way-over-the-top in touting Smith as a potentially elite guy we are now having a 2023 in which he can't buy a compliment. Even here, with a question explicitly asking for praise of Smith and Filkins, Lamson turned it into a generic shout out to basically the whole room. Part of me wonders if Smith has not bounced back from injury well or if Lamson is taking cues from the coaches in not being impressed/overly effusive about Smith (as I've posted several times, Taylor strikes me as somebody who quite sensibly wants Smith to prove his reliability). Also interesting that Lamson says the backs "playing really physical" is what he's seen the most from them this season. That's nice (and maybe especially important with a line where they'll be fighting for yards), but physical isn't explosive. Just in general this has been an extremely quiet off-season for our RBs. Really quite interesting. One thing that occurs to me is that RB was the marquee position for Taylor at Sacramento State, the heart of his offense. Maybe we're making guys earn it or maybe the RB room is just not great.

* Lamson said "obviously it's tough" to be in a QB competition and balance the competitiveness with being supportive of everybody (the balancing part Ben's framing, Lamson just said "it's tough" and there are "ups and downs"). Lamson indicated he just focuses on himself, improving, and being a great teammate rather than what other guys are doing and who's doing better or worse than him. Reading between the lines this seems like an awkward dynamic. I bet Daniels and Patu (maybe particularly Daniels given indications of fieriness we've gotten about both Lamson and Daniels) might not be his best friends.....but who else is going to be a new QB's best friend other than the guys in his room?

* Lamson gave the typical answer about what he most enjoys at Stanford: the people. This is what almost everybody says, to the point it's odd when they don't, but it took on some poignancy for me for Lamson to say it just because we do have all these indications of his transition and being welcomed as the newcomer (if you're part of the family like an incoming recruit you don't have to be "welcomed"). "We have one of the best locker rooms in the nation" is a fantastic thing to hear in this context.

* Lamson mentioned they just finished camp and it's that time when it's exciting but they don't want to look too far ahead. Kind of endearing to hear him say he doesn't want to look too far ahead but they know the season is 10 days away (when this interview happened) and they'll be in Hawaii in 8 days. Easy for me as a fan to think of a game as just another game but to the players a Hawaii road trip is pretty cool. By the way, the anecdote about seeing a countdown that it was 10 days away was in the context of a special teams meeting. Lamson is playing special teams? Holder I assume?

* His favorite meal back home is his mom's tacos. As a taco lover myself, I was wondering if we're talking about the ubiquitous white person ground beef in a hard corn shell taco or something else? I'm not judging either way, lots of delicious ways to eat tacos. Hmmmm, I'm hungry.

* Ok, having watched the whole interview and some others with Lamson I'm going to say it: I keep looking for hints of where the QB competition stands and, with the camp portion of the summer now fully in the books I thought Stanford might have an announcement by now. I previously thought Taylor was waiting until the end of camp to crown Lamson just so it could be as earned as possible in the eyes of teammates, but if there hasn't been an announcement I am now wondering if insufficient separation happened to make an announcement. But if we're going to be in Hawaii in four days, something has to be conveyed to the team and, ideally fans. Even if it's Lamson and Daniels alternating series or splitting time in some way, we'll get some sort of announcement, no? All that said, I think there's also a possibility Lamson has won the job (or won the opportunity to be the main QB to start against Hawaii and go from there) and Taylor is just waiting for the right opportunity to announce it. Lamson was noticeably more comfortable and forthcoming in this interview than in some others I've seen. Maybe that's just experience giving interviews, but maybe with camp closing he got the nod he was looking for and Taylor just hasn't announced it yet. I haven't watched the latest Taylor availability yet and imagine that will further influence my picture.

[msqueri]

* The answer on how the OL is doing seemed like a good example of words that will read very positively on paper but based on body language it seemed like a safe, political answer without much conviction. Did not make me feel better that OL is in good shape. The part that seems noteworthy is "it's all about Levi Rogers, man, I think he's doing a great job of stepping up and just being a leader in that group." Reading between the lines, I think there have been a fair number of permutations on the line, not a lot of stability, and a lot of guys going through ups and downs trying to get settled, but Rogers is the constant. He is our only returning starter and has moved inside to anchor the line and follow in the footsteps of our sublime recent centers. Based on Rogers' performance last year at guard I will be shocked if he is anywhere near as good as Dalman and Nugent were, but I think the real point of Lamson's comment is Rogers is the leader and the stabilizing presence. Always nice to hear about guys who are stepping up.

* Smith, Filkins, Butler, and Barrow got shout outs at RB, which is interesting because the guys not mentioned were the freshmen.....yet we're picking up buzz from Taylor about Irvin. I keep wondering where Butler (I think missed time with injury) and Barrow are so was pleasantly surprised to hear them mentioned. I am finding it utterly fascinating that after a 2022 in which everybody was way-over-the-top in touting Smith as a potentially elite guy we are now having a 2023 in which he can't buy a compliment. Even here, with a question explicitly asking for praise of Smith and Filkins, Lamson turned it into a generic shout out to basically the whole room. Part of me wonders if Smith has not bounced back from injury well or if Lamson is taking cues from the coaches in not being impressed/overly effusive about Smith (as I've posted several times, Taylor strikes me as somebody who quite sensibly wants Smith to prove his reliability). Also interesting that Lamson says the backs "playing really physical" is what he's seen the most from them this season. That's nice (and maybe especially important with a line where they'll be fighting for yards), but physical isn't explosive. Just in general this has been an extremely quiet off-season for our RBs. Really quite interesting. One thing that occurs to me is that RB was the marquee position for Taylor at Sacramento State, the heart of his offense. Maybe we're making guys earn it or maybe the RB room is just not great.

* Lamson said "obviously it's tough" to be in a QB competition and balance the competitiveness with being supportive of everybody (the balancing part Ben's framing, Lamson just said "it's tough" and there are "ups and downs"). Lamson indicated he just focuses on himself, improving, and being a great teammate rather than what other guys are doing and who's doing better or worse than him. Reading between the lines this seems like an awkward dynamic. I bet Daniels and Patu (maybe particularly Daniels given indications of fieriness we've gotten about both Lamson and Daniels) might not be his best friends.....but who else is going to be a new QB's best friend other than the guys in his room?

* Lamson gave the typical answer about what he most enjoys at Stanford: the people. This is what almost everybody says, to the point it's odd when they don't, but it took on some poignancy for me for Lamson to say it just because we do have all these indications of his transition and being welcomed as the newcomer (if you're part of the family like an incoming recruit you don't have to be "welcomed"). "We have one of the best locker rooms in the nation" is a fantastic thing to hear in this context.

* Lamson mentioned they just finished camp and it's that time when it's exciting but they don't want to look too far ahead. Kind of endearing to hear him say he doesn't want to look too far ahead but they know the season is 10 days away (when this interview happened) and they'll be in Hawaii in 8 days. Easy for me as a fan to think of a game as just another game but to the players a Hawaii road trip is pretty cool. By the way, the anecdote about seeing a countdown that it was 10 days away was in the context of a special teams meeting. Lamson is playing special teams? Holder I assume?

* His favorite meal back home is his mom's tacos. As a taco lover myself, I was wondering if we're talking about the ubiquitous white person ground beef in a hard corn shell taco or something else? I'm not judging either way, lots of delicious ways to eat tacos. Hmmmm, I'm hungry.

* Ok, having watched the whole interview and some others with Lamson I'm going to say it: I keep looking for hints of where the QB competition stands and, with the camp portion of the summer now fully in the books I thought Stanford might have an announcement by now. I previously thought Taylor was waiting until the end of camp to crown Lamson just so it could be as earned as possible in the eyes of teammates, but if there hasn't been an announcement I am now wondering if insufficient separation happened to make an announcement. But if we're going to be in Hawaii in four days, something has to be conveyed to the team and, ideally fans. Even if it's Lamson and Daniels alternating series or splitting time in some way, we'll get some sort of announcement, no? All that said, I think there's also a possibility Lamson has won the job (or won the opportunity to be the main QB to start against Hawaii and go from there) and Taylor is just waiting for the right opportunity to announce it. Lamson was noticeably more comfortable and forthcoming in this interview than in some others I've seen. Maybe that's just experience giving interviews, but maybe with camp closing he got the nod he was looking for and Taylor just hasn't announced it yet. I haven't watched the latest Taylor availability yet and imagine that will further influence my picture.