I still believe that having an injured foot and not being able to practice throwing - or worse, not being able to throw OR practice the drops and plays in a new offense - makes a difference. You laughed it off. If anything, it was MORE relevant since it was a new offense he was learning.
You compared it to him as a freshman. As a freshman, Taysom wasn't coming off injury and played spring ball. He had a LOT of experience in the offense he was going to play prior to starting. He played in 4 games in that offense before starting. (He wasn't great in those 4 games. Only 42% passing, 1 TD, but no int's.) . But at least he had time with the offense.