Posts: 1,065
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Joined: Aug 2017
5. It's not been as interesting as I would have anticipated to get weekly data points on the QB competition. Each week just makes it seem increasingly likely that the QB of the future has yet to play yet and reinforces the main impressions I have, which are that given the current personnel Taylor's two-headed QB system is probably our best move for now, Daniels gives us more as a passer but has decision-making issues (and I'm starting to wonder about injury susceptibility), Lamson is a super game and competitive runner with ball security issues, neither is good, and I don't know what needs to happen to give Patu a chance. The Oregon game was actually one of Lamson's better performances, #92 of 112 QBs nationally this week in Total QBR, but if we're talking about somebody competing with Cal's Sam Jackson for worst QB in the conference (and we are) I feel like we need to give Patu a look at some point. One thing I will say about Lamson is I like how he plays, especially given the adversity and low prospects for success, and in the post-game interview I liked his vibe (seemed to embody the Taylor line that it means so much to him....Lamson's not the body language of somebody who doesn't care that we're losing).
6. As others have rightly pointed out all season, it's so hard to disentangle all the factors leading to crappy offense. While QB play hasn't been good, it's hard when the team is #121 in sacks allowed and doesn't have weapons. On the pass protection, I'd be curious what Borghi and other experts observe but my sense the last few weeks is that the line may be making some strides and that a fair amount of the blame falls on the QBs for the sacks. It feels like we're developing some stability in the starting five though if Pale's injury isn't serious that's an interesting variable going forward. Leyrer was benched in this one and Anderson took over at left tackle, having a bad game but a big step for him to play an entire game and win some reps. On the lack of weapons, it's dire. Nobody is in the top 30 in the Pac-12 in yards from scrimmage (Yurosek is #34). The lowest Stanford's top weapon registered in the conference under Shaw was Higgins at #21 last year and Montgomery at #20 in 2014. I figured maybe some years under Teevens or Harris we might have had a top weapon as non-standout as what we're now experiencing but nope. I just checked and it turns out that you have to go all the way back to J.D. Lodato in 1962 to find a top weapon with as few yards per game as what we're now seeing, and football was a different sport back then so it's probably fair to say we've never had our weapons be quite this irrelevant. There's still time this season for Yurosek to gain his way out of this ignominious distinction and at least be comparable to Teevens era Kerry Carter and Mark Bradford and Harris era Anthony Kimble, but I think it's increasingly clear 2023 is about as bad as Stanford's offensive weapons have ever been. That makes it all the stranger that we're not playing one of our 2-3 best weapons in EJ Smith. There are a few cases where playing time decisions don't appear to be based on game performance, which is a potential red flag. I wonder if Irvin is doing better in practice or if there's something else going on here. It was interesting that Taylor turned the post-game question on RB competition into a compliment on Smith's fourth quarter runs; he probably knows that playing our most productive back 25 snaps in two weeks will court controversy. Given the dearth of weapons, it was disappointing to see nobody build on their earlier breakouts, with Bachmeier in particular following up his breakout with a real stinker. [This week's moving the chains (first down) leader board: Lamson (5), Ayomanor (3, plus drew a pass interference), Daniels (2), Reuben (2), Smith, Yurosek, Filkins]
7. Not much to say positive about defensive performances yesterday either. Manley and Sinclair were the only defenders to have three positive plays show up in the box score. Manley's game was particularly interesting, looking like a weak link on numerous of Oregon's biggest plays but, as I said, making more positive plays than his peers, which contributed to him having the highest PFF grade on the defense. This is one of those games where any game balls I give out on either side of the field will feel very unsatisfactory. A game to forget basically across the board. I'll be interested to keep an eye on whether Frausto-Ramos and Thompson finally getting worked in a bit may portend some threats to playing time for Manley or, more likely, Slocum. It's been troubling to see how little non-Wright or Edwards underclassmen have been playing at DB. Speaking of Edwards, it was a rough game for him but if we had any depth that was maybe a case where he could have gotten rest heading into a bye after getting dinged against Arizona. The biggest personnel story on our defense is that the OLBs are giving us nothing. Nothing. At this point I'm with those who really want to see Cooper freed. Regardless, that room needs to have a gut check over this bye and get their heads out of their butts. It doesn't get any easier to rush the passer than playing Colorado, which has given up an insane 5.2 sacks and 46.6 sack yards allowed per game. There is something terribly wrong with this defense if we can't get 3+ sacks against Colorado.
8. It was big for Karty's Groza campaign that he bounced back with a 53 yarder. He's now tied for the national lead in made field goals, though he still has work to do to make up for missing two field goals. I've seen enough from the punter competition to view that as, unfortunately, an area where we are demonstrably making playing time decisions inconsistent with on-field performance. As I've chronicled earlier, Flintoft has been better than Weselman this season and has higher upside. Yet in this game we gave the two alternating opportunities in very similar situations, Flintoft did better, and then Weselman got the remaining opportunities. I don't think it's good if we play our worst players when better performing players are available. In total, Weselman ended up with a net punt of 42 to the Oregon 31, a net punt of 42 to the Oregon 25, and a net punt of 33 to the Oregon 36 whereas Flintoft's one opportunity was a net of 47 to the Oregon 24. This is consistent with what's happened in other games too, and it served us right to keep giving Weselman chances and therefore be bit by a 33 yard net giving Oregon good field position. Farrell had a moderately positive kick return but nothing to write home about.
9. Game balls: Connor McLaughlin, Zahran Manley, Josh Karty, Al Netter
10. Now we head into a bye that is about as well-timed as a team could possibly hope for. It's close to midway through the season, comes at a time when we have several key contributor injuries that could be cleared up in a few weeks, and heads into a game against arguably the worst team remaining on our schedule. Colorado and Cal are the obviously winnable games (though neither will happen unless we play better than we have so far this season) and it matters for morale and avoiding backsliding even further as a program that we not go winless the rest of the way. The Colorado game is a big one and this bye gives Stanford a big leg up. Whether it's the Colorado game or otherwise, I hope we can have multiple games the rest of the way that are clearly better than anything we've seen so far. I'm bringing a ton of patience and perspective to this season but to be honest the season so far has been disappointing even for those with patience and perspective. Five games without a single good game (one mediocre performance, adjusted for opponent) is troubling. We knew this would be tough but it would be nice to start seeing some reasons for optimism. Nonetheless, the big picture remains unchanged and will all season: this is the beginning of a rebuild and fundamentally the team will require multiple years of new culture, processes, and players to turn it around, if it is going to turn around.
