Mullen is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. If he were in a traditional offense with a better OL, he could do what he does best, which is take his time reading a defense, then throw a strike to a WR after 3 or 4 seconds. He's not a QB that can make quick decisions and adjust away from what he's practiced. He's below average at reading defenses which is why he needs time. That doesn't work in our offense and it's why Mullen has to make the change.

I'm not sure how bad the concussion is for Russell, but now Dak has to seize the opportunity because Tyler finally gave Mullen reason to seriously question keeping him as the starter. You could attribute last year to first time in big moments, still not fully developed as a QB, playing some of the top caliber teams in the country, but tonight we played the 117th passing defense from last year and scored 3 total points. He would have been criticized for benching Tyler, who had arguably the best season any QB ever had for us, and it would have been used against him on the recruiting trail with other QBs. But now he has the chance to do this and not take heat. Tyler has a concussion, he played poorly against a bad defense, and we have a viable replacement that fits his style better.