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It's the same thing I said about Ian Book.

He has the skills and ability to get us to a top 10 finish. He can make short and some medium range throws decently with good pass protection, and has reasonably good mobility. Thus about 75% of the playbook is available with his being at the helm.

I have yet to see his true downfield passing abilities, though. Being able to run 75% of the playbook will beat the lesser teams, and occasionally let you beat the top teams, but to beat the top teams on a regular basis, you need to be able to run the whole playbook.

With ian Book at the helm, this was a recurring problem against teams like Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama. Short and medium range throws were the limit to what he could do, so they would squat in a medium zone, and with that kind of defensive talent, were able to shut down our offense.

It was even worse with Tommy Rees at the helm, where about 1/3rd of the playbook was available, since he couldn't make a medium range throw with any kind of zip or reliability. Teams simply squatted in a short zone, and took away the short passing game.

It's basically the same offensive system as it has been for the last dozen years, where to be optimally run, your QB has to be able to stretch the field vertically. Golson and Kizer were able to do that, but nobody else has proven that they can. Crist might have been able to, but Brian Kelly kept insisting on turning him into a dink 'n dunk QB.