[Row80Critic]

1758494773[/url]']

1758489311[/url]']
Moreover, Gulbranson has been really average two weeks in a row now against solid competition, which is a level of play it would be surprising to see Brown be able to match based on everything we know about him - how he played last year, how he has fared in QB competitions at Stanford with two different head coaches, what his recruiting profile was, how QBs usually do when they play with terrible supporting casts in terms of OL protection....I mean, literally everything. There is no reason to think he'd be better. If Gulbranson were shitting the bed like he did the first two games I'd say, sure, try something else. But we now have games against Boston College and Virginia that are better than what any reasonable person could expect Brown to be able to do. The calls for Gulbranson to sit strike me as petulant.

Wow, I never expected you to be fully in support of a player who has been consistently below average at his best. This is what you want to settle for?  "He was 64th of 112 QBs nationally in Total QBR this week. That accounts for him having been terrible at avoiding pressure, as he was 101st of 112 in the sacks dimension. He also was poor in the running dimension (82nd). "

You've made it clear from the get go your disdain for Brown. How about Rizk? The kid can scramble, right? And can pass, too. Why not give him a shot. Makes sense with our line and our QB1's inability to run or to escape. . . .

“Consistently below average at his best” is a misleading if not disingenuous way to put it. As I said in the original post, Gulbranson’s last two games have been right on his career median. That means half of his career games, even including these four that have you up in arms, have been better than anything we have seen from him at Stanford. The 2022 Las Vegas Bowl against Florida, 2022 against Arizona State, 2020 vs. Arizona State, and 2024 against Washington State were much better, 87.8 Total QBR or higher. In all the years post pandemic Stanford had one QB reach that level in 2021 (McKee against USC), one in 2022 (McKee against Colgate), none in 2023, and none in 2024. Three times for Gulbranson vs. two for all Stanford QBs combined. The triumph against Florida was the tenth best performance of 100 bowl QBs in 2022. His best is better than we’ve seen.

I think that has something to do with rust, new surroundings, small sample, and our terrible supporting cast. I bet we see games ahead of Competent Gulbranson, Abysmal Gulbranson, and Better than Stanford Has Seen in Years Gulbranson. Based on the signals the coaches have sent about our QB room I have lesser confidence in Brown or Rizk rising to competence or better. I don’t rule it out and certainly don’t have disdain for any of our players, but it’s clear who our coaches think gives us the best chance to win and I think you are misreading the dynamics because you always prefer the backup QB.

[rantfont]If you compare him to himself and Daniels, maybe you can squint just right to say he's ok.  But he's not.  The unavoidable fact is he is 126 out of 135 quarterbacks, per ESPN's ratings.  The team overall is not great, but he's not as good as the team -- by a long shot.  He fails on paper, and he fails the eye test.  Time after time, whatever the opposite of extending a play is, that's what he does. When pressure comes, he starts looking for an empty spot to ground the ball. Jack West II.  I don't care how bad they think the other QB's are, it's pig-headed and absurd not to give them a try.  Luck was a great QB, but I'm not seeing anything yet that suggests he's able to coach, or coach the coach, successfully.   Luck is calling season ticket holders to say thank you.  If they want fans, they have to win them on the field not on the phone.  Unless they've got Jimmy Chitwood waiting to play if they stay the course, the current Hoosiers approach is losing both games and fans.   [/rantfont]

The unavoidable fact is that overall Gulbranson has been terrible but the trend is positive. His season so far has been two abysmal games and two competent ones, in that order. The order matters. You are posting as if the Boston College and Virginia games didn’t happen, but what’s actually happened is that in both of our conference games Gulbranson has been exactly who we thought he was coming into the season and the things torpedoing the team have been things everywhere but QB. At the most scrutinized position in the sport every week is a cornucopia of takes and that will continue. From how he’s played over the last four years I think next week could be Abysmal Ben, Competent Ben, or the best Ben we’ve seen. We should evaluate constantly. But the best passing game of the season, the second best of our last 37, and the best any of Virginia’s four opponents have done is not a good time for your argument.

We'll have to agree to disagree.  I hope he lights it up going forward, but from my seats, after 56 seasons, he just doesn't look good -- on paper or on the field. Of course, I'm a critic and would say Stanford hasn't had a 'good' qb for several seasons now.

[Row80Critic]

1758494773[/url]']

1758489311[/url]']
Moreover, Gulbranson has been really average two weeks in a row now against solid competition, which is a level of play it would be surprising to see Brown be able to match based on everything we know about him - how he played last year, how he has fared in QB competitions at Stanford with two different head coaches, what his recruiting profile was, how QBs usually do when they play with terrible supporting casts in terms of OL protection....I mean, literally everything. There is no reason to think he'd be better. If Gulbranson were shitting the bed like he did the first two games I'd say, sure, try something else. But we now have games against Boston College and Virginia that are better than what any reasonable person could expect Brown to be able to do. The calls for Gulbranson to sit strike me as petulant.

Wow, I never expected you to be fully in support of a player who has been consistently below average at his best. This is what you want to settle for?  "He was 64th of 112 QBs nationally in Total QBR this week. That accounts for him having been terrible at avoiding pressure, as he was 101st of 112 in the sacks dimension. He also was poor in the running dimension (82nd). "

You've made it clear from the get go your disdain for Brown. How about Rizk? The kid can scramble, right? And can pass, too. Why not give him a shot. Makes sense with our line and our QB1's inability to run or to escape. . . .

“Consistently below average at his best” is a misleading if not disingenuous way to put it. As I said in the original post, Gulbranson’s last two games have been right on his career median. That means half of his career games, even including these four that have you up in arms, have been better than anything we have seen from him at Stanford. The 2022 Las Vegas Bowl against Florida, 2022 against Arizona State, 2020 vs. Arizona State, and 2024 against Washington State were much better, 87.8 Total QBR or higher. In all the years post pandemic Stanford had one QB reach that level in 2021 (McKee against USC), one in 2022 (McKee against Colgate), none in 2023, and none in 2024. Three times for Gulbranson vs. two for all Stanford QBs combined. The triumph against Florida was the tenth best performance of 100 bowl QBs in 2022. His best is better than we’ve seen.

I think that has something to do with rust, new surroundings, small sample, and our terrible supporting cast. I bet we see games ahead of Competent Gulbranson, Abysmal Gulbranson, and Better than Stanford Has Seen in Years Gulbranson. Based on the signals the coaches have sent about our QB room I have lesser confidence in Brown or Rizk rising to competence or better. I don’t rule it out and certainly don’t have disdain for any of our players, but it’s clear who our coaches think gives us the best chance to win and I think you are misreading the dynamics because you always prefer the backup QB.

[rantfont]If you compare him to himself and Daniels, maybe you can squint just right to say he's ok.  But he's not.  The unavoidable fact is he is 126 out of 135 quarterbacks, per ESPN's ratings.  The team overall is not great, but he's not as good as the team -- by a long shot.  He fails on paper, and he fails the eye test.  Time after time, whatever the opposite of extending a play is, that's what he does. When pressure comes, he starts looking for an empty spot to ground the ball. Jack West II.  I don't care how bad they think the other QB's are, it's pig-headed and absurd not to give them a try.  Luck was a great QB, but I'm not seeing anything yet that suggests he's able to coach, or coach the coach, successfully.   Luck is calling season ticket holders to say thank you.  If they want fans, they have to win them on the field not on the phone.  Unless they've got Jimmy Chitwood waiting to play if they stay the course, the current Hoosiers approach is losing both games and fans.   [/rantfont]

The unavoidable fact is that overall Gulbranson has been terrible but the trend is positive. His season so far has been two abysmal games and two competent ones, in that order. The order matters. You are posting as if the Boston College and Virginia games didn’t happen, but what’s actually happened is that in both of our conference games Gulbranson has been exactly who we thought he was coming into the season and the things torpedoing the team have been things everywhere but QB. At the most scrutinized position in the sport every week is a cornucopia of takes and that will continue. From how he’s played over the last four years I think next week could be Abysmal Ben, Competent Ben, or the best Ben we’ve seen. We should evaluate constantly. But the best passing game of the season, the second best of our last 37, and the best any of Virginia’s four opponents have done is not a good time for your argument.

We'll have to agree to disagree.  I hope he lights it up going forward, but from my seats, after 56 seasons, he just doesn't look good -- on paper or on the field. Of course, I'm a critic and would say Stanford hasn't had a 'good' qb for several seasons now.