I'm Missouri on this team until I see what they produce on the field.
1). Unless Stidham can run circles around White, I don't see the upside. White is a very accurate passer and his record as a starter was good. Most people seem to forget that most of our losses came when someone else was starting at QB. Secondly, White was put into terrible situations at QB where it'd be hard for anyone to succeed. I don't know if that was Rhett, Gus, or both. We would trot in QB for two running plays and then insert White on 3rd and long when everyone in the stadium knew a pass play was coming. Defenses teed off on him. I think White would be the starter at more than 50% of other SEC schools.
2). I lost confidence in the offensive coaches. Again, I don't know if it was Rhett or Gus. The most frustrating part to me was that 2 years in a row they didn't seem to know who their best players were. It seemed obvious to me that White was the better QB 2 years ago but he started the year on the bench. Last year Pettway was clearly the best running back but he started the year on the bench. This makes me question all of our preparation. We're not running a Pee Wee league where every kid gets to play. A coach has to identify the best players and use them. We have been really bad at doing that.
I agree with most of this, but the upside to Stidham is the long ball. Sean White was a great passer up to about 25 yards but after that he was awful. Nobody respected the pass and stacked the box to prevent the run. Imagine what Auburn would look like if defenses started respecting the pass again. I do think we will compete with Bama this year in the Iron Bowl, something we haven't been able to do in a while.
Note: Watch Stidham drop bombs in the Spring Game. I know its just a spring game, but that boy looks accurate. I've got my fingers crossed that Malzahn somehow puts this one together.
