I've been trying to justify my confidence in Gunner and I think I've found some good logic to justify the optimism. I know Gunner is not as good as Beck and there was a reason Beck was the starter. Beck's the prototype and could have gone round one without the injury. Hard to imagine Gunner getting drafted early. Highly rated guy coming out, but nobody is watching practice and arguing Gunner should roll with the 1s.
But why am I feeling confident in him and am hopeful that he's just the spark we need? His legs help. Determination like he showed on that overtime run will move the chains regularly. He throws with confidence. I like that he's connected to Bobo. The real reason I feel like he's not as good while also possibly better is based on recent history. It's basically been a constant since Kirby came home. Our best quarterback has rarely been our best quarterback.
Eason was better than Fromm in every way, except at actually playing football. Hell, Fields was too but he couldn't move the offense like Fromm.
Then we send out D'wan Mathis and though everybody will deny it now, the vent was excited to see what this strong arm, tall, fast athlete could do. Thankfully a walk on saved the day. Wasn't as talented, but better at college football. Fast forward a season, and I couldn't fathom the justification for playing Stet over JT. He was more polished, more accurate. But somehow not as good. We were even mad Stet started over Beck in that UAB game. Go with the guy with the high ceiling, we all said.
And here's to hoping that we remember Gunner and Beck the same way. I'm a fan of Beck, but it's hard to deny that our offense basically disappears at times. We seem out of sync. I'm not placing all the blame on 15, but our offense is very clearly a sum less than it's parts. I think Gunner may be the ingredient that changes all of that. It feels very similar to the Eason - Fromm transition.
The players have adored him since he stepped on campus. I know no player in the country is working harder to prepare for the playoffs. Ready to roll with him no matter how it goes and I'm excited to watch him lead this team.
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