:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11749025/20130413_kkt_st3_011.0.jpg)
Kevin Hogan, who still has yet to lose a game as a starter and more Rose Bowl wins as a Stanford QB than anyone in the last 40 years, still can get so much better.
His athleticism and ability to throw on the run makes him incredibly dangerous as defenses have to constantly worry about keeping him contained, but benefitted as much as anyone from the strong run game. That let him get outside on keepers and defenses were playing 8 and 9 in the box to stop Taylor. Until Stanford can show it is still able to put up 200+ yards on the ground, he will be the focus of defenses and the pressure will be on to do more from the pocket.
He has good vision and his understanding of the offense improved over the course of last season, but he went through bouts of inconsistency (usually just a series or two) and hopefully experience and some work on his mechanics will help eliminate that.
He needs to continue to be accurate and have good timing on the underneath routes like hitches and flat routes (missed a couple in the spring game) and allow the playmakers to get maximum yards after the catch. He made one bad decision early in the spring game when he threw it into triple coverage, but the timing was off and he forced it late. More reps will help, and he is going against an incredible defense.
If Stanford can show it is still dangerous on the ground, the deep play action game should be good because the Card has the playmakers on the outside in Rector and Montgomery to make the plays down the field. Simple formula: make all the underneath throws, hit one or two deeps ones a game, limit mistakes, and make a couple plays with the legs. Stanford should be able to put up numbers on offense like they did down the stretch of last season.
For the backups, Evan Crower was the surprise of the spring game. Great accuracy and timing, made the right reads, threw his receivers away from coverage, and looked comfortable in the pocket. He seemed to struggle to spin the ball and get tight spirals last season and early in camp which makes accuracy difficult and for a less catchable ball, but he spun it very well in the spring game.