There is much chatter, both in my blog and other media outlets, about whether or not Sean Canfield is the man to lead this team. The people who like Canfield talk about his arm strength and NFL frame. Detractors are quick to note his slow release, poor decision making in the pocket, and passive leadership. Recently, a reader of my blog said that Canfield isn’t a Division I quarterback. I find that opinion insulting to my intelligence, given that there are 121 DI programs, including the likes of New Mexico State, North Texas, Temple, Utah State, and Western Kentucky. To suggest Canfield shouldn’t make any of those rosters is a ludicrous argument. However, to say Canfield shouldn’t be a PAC-10 quarterback has merit.
All that being said, I’m not as down on the guy as many. I do think Lyle Moevao makes quicker decisions in the pocket, but if you remember back, many of those decisions were wrong. He’s also not throwing at 100%. So, I say let’s give Canfield these first two PAC-10 games. By the end of that stretch, all issues on the OL should be ironed out and the team as a whole should be more settled. If Sean isn’t performing well at that point in the season, it would be time to make a switch.
What I find interesting about the whole Canfield situation is how the Oregon media portrayed Sean during spring and fall camp. They gushed over how lean he looked, raved about his arm and efficiency, and got Beaver fans riled up, truly believing they had a quarterback who could lead them to a Rose Bowl. The most guilty of this hard sales pitch were Angie and Eric Machado over at beaverblitz. That’s right, the same husband-wife due who wrote that Ryan McCant’s looks like Steven Jackson. It’s clear now that Canfield had a great spring and fall camp because, frankly, we don’t have a very good offensive or defensive line. The ends couldn’t get to Canfield, and if they did blow by (*cough* Remmers), they weren’t able to tackle him (camp rules). I’ve got a decent arm and can sling the thing around a bit…pretty confident I could complete 75% of my passes under those circumstances.
So what we have here is the OSU media unjustly hyping Canfield in order to keep hopes “rosy”, and a fan-base getting upset when Sean doesn’t live up to those overinflated expectations. As average as Canfield has played, I actually have more of an issue with the Machados, “Shoveller”, and other “experts” who are privy to practices, see the team on a daily basis, and yet still refuse to report reality.