I really just wish we couldve seen that Tommy the media says is unquestionably the starter. Because he looked more like he was nervous and indecissive.
That is interesting, I would have used those words to describe Taylor over Tommy. I can't recall ever seeing Tommy appear nervous or indecisive, quite the opposite, he always was calm and decisive.
A big reason I'm so high on Tommy's upside is that the interceptions he threw appeared to be the result of incorrect reads not nerves/indecisiveness or bonehead decisions once the play broke down.The former is much more fixable than the latter. He threw most of his picks with little pressure in his face and within the first few seconds of the play. Incorrect reads are to be expected from a freshman quarterback in his first few starts. Taylor's improvement in that area and command of the offense showed around 2012 and cut down on his nerves much more (2012 MSU was a near flawless performance), but he still had occasional lapses of nerves/indecisiveness once the play and/or pocket broke down (portions of OSU, CCG Wisco and Georgia come to mind). And before you jump on me, I realize that he had pressure in his face constantly. Sirles and Qvale would get beat on the first two steps by any pass rusher worth a lick.
The reason in my mind why Tommy is more advanced than Taylor was at the same point of his career is that Tommy has a much easier learning curve than Taylor did. It's the most noticeable when you look at what each did when the play broke down, it came down to instincts. All Taylor ever knew was that he had to make a play, sometimes it resulted in ridiculous highlight reel runs, but more often it ended in a turnover or a extra yards lost on a sack that otherwise wouldn't have happened had he ate the ball when he knew he was cornered. He's been accurately described as high-risk/high-reward style of player, but more often than not, we ate the risk and not the reward. I've heard complaints about tommy's propensity to float the ball well over the receiver's head but that is smart football, it negates the opportunity for a pick. "Live to fight another down" is something that Taylor never mastered, but it's not all his fault, he was playing against a stacked deck.
He had no help from the defense, shoddy pass protection, and above all he only started playing QB his senior year of HS and never played in the same offense for consecutive years until 2012. That would explain why Tommy appears to be a more natural QB with better instincts and feel for the position, having had more experience playing QB Taylor did at that point. It's not bashing Taylor, it's just reality.
