Week 8: UC Davis @ Cal Poly Technically yeah, I think it's fair to defend Hastings there because his incompletions and pick were situations where he wasn't in a position to succeed with his skillset. But I think you touched on a bigger problem that Hastings, while good, is not a modern college QB and he's sharing snaps with 2-3 guys who are (since Faulk is mobile as I recall).
He can make it work like Maier did but he'll have to put up 2018-Maier kind of stats (throwing to pretty much the same receiver corps + Tompkins) to do so. So I guess I'm saying that it's not unreasonable to have higher expectations for him in terms of his passing stats and how he handles pressure in the pocket, because that's simply what's necessary for him to remain the starter in this offense