knapplc
International Man of Mystery
Here is where I think the three of us have been yacking about nothing. I agree with both quoted statements. The only thing I would say is that you can't predict injuries, therefore the decision to start Taylor was neither good nor bad based on injuries. He could have gotten hurt on the first play of the first game and we'd have had to go with Green, since Lee (apparently) wasn't available.Oh the decision at the beginning of the year? It worked great, absolutely. But the flaw in that decision was that we didn't have another QB in the program to run that scheme when Taylor got hurt where as Zac and Cody can run a similar offense. I think we would have been just as effective with Cody or Zac with Taylor running out in specific packages and playing slot WR. Can you imagine the threat you would have with Paul, Martinez and Reed on the field in the passing game as WR's? Throw in McNeill and Kinnie working underneath and we would have had a dynamic passing game with Helu and Burkhead running the ball as well.Whether or not injured Taylor should have started is really a different question than what Knapp was getting at which goes back to the decision at the beginning of the year.
In the context of that decision...let's remember what made Taylor an asset despite his deficiencies, was that he forced teams to defend 11-on-11, to recycle a common term used back in those days. Injured Taylor doesn't do that. Take away Taylor's game-breaking ability and he is just a poor QB, unfortunately. Actually, I'd say that Taylor without his big play threat, as poor as that's been, has actually been surprisingly better than I thought. But once he hits a cold spell, it's over. Personally, I thought Taylor's first half (minus the pick) was pretty good.
It's probably been forgotten in all of this, but I was in the "start Zac Lee" camp all offseason, and very much so in the week prior to the W. Kentucky game. His Senior leadership and his poise trumped Taylor's athleticism in my opinion. I was flat wrong about that, and I have no problem admitting my mistake.