opinion, the best overall athlete and QB that has ever played for BYU to date, and really IMO, the best all round player I've ever seen on any team. What he did on the field was truly amazing to behold! He still has more more leadership, tenacity, determination, and drive in his pinky finger than most people have in their whole body. And who can fault his will to win, which I think is now just as strong as it ever was in the past.

However, it's truly sad to see that he is just not the same player after the injuries, and perhaps since getting married. It almost makes one want to cry. What I keep thinking as I watch him is that his mind is writing checks that his body can no longer cover. I think part of the problem may be that he still feels like the same guy that ran over and through Texas, Houston, USU, and a bunch of other past victims. He still has flashes of greatness, but when he tries to elude people like he used to be able to do with ease, he simply does not seem like he can do it anymore, and his whole game suffers as a result. Not just the running ability suffering, but also the passing, being unable to escape rushers to square up and deliver a strike, throwing off of awkward positions, and even the decision making suffers, trying in frustration / desperation to do what he can to help the team, but being unable to do so. I so much wanted him to do well this year, and finally show the world a full season of Taysom the magnificent!

Besides the injures, however, I also think a big part of the problem may be the weight he has put on, that is clearly not being his friend. Seeing him greeting the USU coach (now at Wisconsin) in this clip (?3 yrs ago) shows that he just has a lot more weight in his face now, and those clips also show that he has considerably more weight in his hips and torso now than he did in his stellar Soph season, and against Nebraska last year, so I'm not sure that it's all just the injuries. Perhaps he should have stopped trying to beat the lineman on squats in the offseason, because he was plenty strong before, like a piece of sinew, and very tough to bring down the last 3 years without all the bulk. I was hoping that as the season wore on that his weight may drop and his speed / quickness come back, but this Boise game was not an indication that my hope is being realized. This was clearly an ugh game for him as far as escapeability, decision making, and accuracy, even though a ton of dropped passes and inconsistent protection played a big part as well. But, many of his decisions to tuck and run (not called by Detmer), simply were bad ones, especially on that last drive.

I never thought I'd ever say it, but I no longer think Taysom's going to make it into the NFL, even though he still has a strong arm. Although I always thought the critics were wrong about his passing accuracy, and that he would tear the NFL up some day, and prove then all wrong, I now have to concede that if I were an NFL scout, I would not likely take him. With the injuries, if he had had a stellar senior year, it may have somewhat erased the concerns about the past injuries, but that has not been the case. So, at this point, although I'll always pull for Taysom as a person, I have to start to wonder why not just put Tanner in, and let's try Taysom as a tandem with Jamaal, or a slot receiver or TE. He would have plenty of speed and toughness for those positions, and would have a hard time dropping as many balls as our current receivers seem to do. Although I expressly disagreed with those calling for him to change positions to make room for Tanner prior to the start of the season, I have to concede that if he's clearly not going to make the NFL as a QB, why not see what he can do at another position, just for fun. It could possibly make for a very memorable and fun season to see Taysom, Tanner, and Jamaal, all on the field at the same time, giving defenses fits!