It was an opportunity to give Taylor — a player with excellent potential — three years to be the sole signal-caller of the team.
While this choice should have positive effects in 2009 and beyond, it will also be beneficial to this year's team — if all goes as planned.
As a fifth-year senior, Glennon has established himself as a pocket passer who needs a stable offensive line.
That wasn't the case last year. Glennon was sacked four times in last year's opener against East Carolina and three more times in the Hokies' 24-21 Orange Bowl loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.
Glennon didn't have the time to look around the field and find the open receiver, sometimes forcing him into mistakes.
Part of the reason was the shaky offensive line, which struggled mainly because of injuries — with Ed Wang — and because of the fact that many blockers were out of their normal positions — such as Nick Marshman having to play both right tackle and left guard.
Things are much different heading into this year, having only lost one starter — Duane Brown. Health and an extra year of experience could mean better protection for Glennon to throw to his untested receivers.
Speaking of those wide outs, there are a bevy of them. Most of them are young and some of them will be getting their feet wet come tomorrow afternoon in Charlotte. In order to get accustomed to an offense in live game action, a receiver needs an accurate quarterback that can throw the ball on target. Although Taylor was a speedster and made big plays with his feet, Glennon has proven to be more precise with his throws, completing 61 percent of his passes in 2007, compared to Taylor's 54 percent rating.
The receivers aren't the only youthful athletes on the Tech team, as 41 percent of the players that will dress for Beamer's club on Saturday will be freshmen.
That means that the Hokies need a senior leader, especially on offense, that will be the voice of reason. Someone that will keep the team focused in a situation that might rattle a freshman. What's more, a two-quarterback system may further confuse them, especially when the two players have polar opposite playing personalities.
That isn't to say that Taylor couldn't lead this team. He's shown that he's wise beyond his years, especially with a solid performance in Death Valley as the Hokies beat Clemson.
But for all the hype and hope echoed from Tech fans over the course of a year, Taylor's mechanics — such as his accuracy — still haven't been fully developed.
One year of work behind the scenes in practices, along with tutelage and guidance from Beamer and quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain can only help him for the three years ahead.
Taylor gained a lot of experience playing last season. And for a teenage, true freshman playing in the ACC, No. 5 was solid.
But now, as he's a season away from the playing field, he now he gets a full year to step back and learn from a different perspective — all while not losing eligibility. It may be the best thing for him.
This isn't a rookie who waits a year, watches what happens, then gets put into the real thing. This is a guy who played in ACC games, played at Lane Stadium when it counted, played against their in-state rival, played in the conference championship and played in the Orange Bowl.
There are obvious and apparent questions that immediately pop up after thinking about this plan — all plagued by negativity.
What if Glennon struggles mightily? Much worse, what if Glennon is out for a significant amount of time? Even worse, what if Glennon is out for the season? And at what point in the season would coaches consider nixing Taylor's redshirt status?
That's obviously too many questions to answer right now, but there's no doubt that these are queries that Beamer, O'Cain and Stinespring pondered over when deciding what to do.
If Glennon does miss time — heaven forbid — keeping Taylor on the pine and using unproven backup Cory Holt would not be throwing away the season.
Instead, they would be ruining the maximum amount of time that Taylor could play and be effective for the Orange and Maroon.
An exception might be if the Hokies are competing for a major bowl game, but that is a bridge the team will cross when and if it comes to it.
This is a plan that seems well thought out by the Hokies coaching staff and could reap major rewards down the line — especially for Taylor.
For now, it's wait in '08, and it'll be time to shine in '09.
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