Stanley is a tough one to pigeonhole. He has high highs and really low lows.
I guess my first reaction would be to lean harder on the run game and if that doesn’t work, make a change.
Whether you want to or not you have to keep in mind that benching a P5 quarterback is a majorly public deal. It’s not just a personnel decision, you can lose a team in a hurry, and it’s a huge distraction to the program no matter what. It can also have the opposite effect which is good, but there’s no going back. It’s basically telling the rest of the conference that your team is a wounded duck and that you’ve lost some confidence in your ability to win games.
No matter how many TDs Stanley ends up throwing in his career, he’s not the obvious team leader that Beathard, Tate, and Stanzi were. He’s had some pretty visible meltdowns and shown that he’s able to be rattled pretty bad. Guys like Beathard were the opposite. When he looked like he was done for he hopped back in and made plays. If we get to the point where winning the division is a little iffy I’d say you have no choice. There’s no more “development time” excuse for Stanley (or any other senior QB. This is where they’re supposed to take the bull by the horns.
