The A&M game made me sit back and think about the process of going from HS football to D-1

It has been hard for me understand the struggles that Taylor has had this year, he was a stellar QB on a great Abilene High Football team. I then came to this realization; the AHS team was one of the top 4 teams in Texas 5A football while Taylor was leading the team. He had an OL that averaged 275 and were multiyear starters. AHS also had a very good D. AHS is storied program with a rich history. You will note that being an elite 5A program limits their ability to play quality opponents during predistrict games.

 

2004
	Season (12-1) District (5-0) Coach: Steve Warren
ABI		OPP
56	Lubbock Monterey	0
59	San Angelo Central	6
63	Brownwood	14
44	Belton	0
19	Shreveport (LA) Evangel	14
59	Odessa*	14
52	Midland*	14
35	Odessa Permian*	7
35	Abilene Cooper*	14
20	Midland Lee*	17
45	North Crowley - Bi District 5A-II	21
35	EP Montwood - Area 5A-II	18
30	Southlake Carroll - Regional 5A-II	35
552	TOTALS	174

 

	2005
	Season (12-1) District (5-0) Coach: Steve Warren
ABI		OPP
37	Lubbock Monterey	14
48	San Angelo Central	7
17	Brownwood	15
24	Belton	17
33	Kansas City (MO) Rockhurst	14
28	Odessa*	7
31	Midland*	20
45	Odessa Permian*	21
40	Abilene Cooper*	0
49	Midland Lee*	27
49	Weatherford - Bi-District 5A-II	14
28	Lub Monterey - Area 5A-II	21
0	Southlake Carroll - Reg 5A-II	52
430	TOTALS	229

 

You can see that he faced very little adversity until running into Southlake Carroll. There is no doubt that Taylor has the physical gifts and the intelligence to be a D-1 QB but his HS experience did not give him the chance to develop the mental skills needed to make something out of a bad situation.

 

Case Keenum Played at 3A Abilene Wylie. Once again a storied program that is always a playoff contender. The difference here is that Wylie almost always plays 4A schools in predistrict, if not, then it is a 3A school of equal or better talent. They never schedule an opponent from 2A . They will face Adversity and some times lose. The year that Case lead Wylie to a state championship they lost to an outstanding Decatur team in predistrict and then beat them in the playoffs. At Houston Case has been forced to face adversity from the start, high levels of competition with in the program, coaching changes, ect....

Adversity must be experience to be over come, and having the confidence to overcome it on a regular basis can only come from repeated failure.

"Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called failure"  Soichiro Honda.

Unfortunately for Taylor this year is his time to face adversity and the unforgiving nature of D1 will not allow a long learning curve. None of us know if he has the mental skills to read Ds faster and see where openings are about to happen instead of seeing what is happening right now.  I would not bet against him.
This also brings into question the way D1 teams recruit. Case was over looked due to his size and the fact that he played 3A. I have no doubt that of the three Taylor County D1 QB's (Potts, McCoy, Keenum) Keenum is the best. Texas's struggles on offence this year are largely rooted in McCoy's inability to deal  with pressure well.
So what qualities should be most valued in a D1 QB?
Does a Tech QB need different talents than QBs at other programs?
Does a QB of equal physical talent but who played at a less successful program have a advantage?