Sunday, February 21, 2010

The Last Time Around

3 years ago, BYU entered spring practice after losing John Beck to graduation with a lot of question marks, and a lot of potential, at the QB position.  There were four QBs battling for the starting job.  3 sophomores and 1 freshman.  Ultimately, Max Hall won out and he turned out to have the winningest career of any BYU QB.  But what happened to the other 3 QBs?

Brenden Gaskins was Hall's backup for 3 years (I know he was technically 3rd string this year after giving up his backup job to Riley Nelson: but if Hall had been hurt, I guarantee you Gaskins would have come in, not Nelson!).

Cade Cooper broke his leg in the spring game and transferred to Oregon (but never enrolled) and finally ended up at Southern Utah where he started this past season as a senior.  The team went 5-6, while he passed for nearly 3,000 yards and completed 65% of his passes.  He was a southpaw who had a tendency to force some throws (kind of like the guy who won the job at BYU...).  He would have been a great scout team QB for BYU, nothing more, nothing less.  His career was better for having left BYU and BYU didn't really miss him, in the end.

Jacob Bower transferred to Tulsa, where he currently serves as the backup QB to G.J. Kinne.  Since Kinne is one year behind Bower in school, it is unlikely he will ever start, barring injury.  If he were at BYU still, he would very likely be in line to start at BYU next year.  Oops.  That's OK for BYU, he is the backup at Tulsa with a 50% career completion percentage!  His presence may have scared Jake Heaps off, which means Ross Apo and possibly Zac Stout (3 of BYU's 4 most prized recruits) might not have signed with BYU.  So I think Bower's transfer was a good thing for BYU, but probably a bad thing for him.

So now it comes again, Max Hall is gone and BYU has 4 guys who COULD compete for the starting spot (though really only 3 since Jason Munns arrives next fall so I have to assume he won't win the job in fall camp).  My guess is that at least one of them will transfer out of the program.  Time will tell how it all works out.  I think with 3 or 4 guys who should be good, at least one of them actually will be, and that's the good news for BYU fans.  Here are my thoughts on the 4 QBs competing for the job this time around:

Riley Nelson was the heir apparent after serving last year in the backup QB roll.  He has had time to be coached by the BYU staff and learn the BYU offense.  He has had a year to get his pre-mission legs back.  His greatest asset is his running ability.  However, I would be surprised if he ultimately wins the starting job because he is not what you would call a precision passer, which is absolutely vital to a BYU QB's success.  I think he would be best utilized with some Wild Cougar sets and BYU will definitely need to mix it up a bit on O next year because they will be breaking new TEs and a new QB.  Plus, I think that is the best chance he has to see action on the field.  He won't transfer if he isn't the starting QB, but I just don't see him on the field as a BYU quarterback.  He is built somewhat like Tebow as a player, but he's certainly not Tebow.  And this is Florida's offense either...

James Lark, I believe, has a leg up on the potential competitors.  He redshirted a year prior to his mission, where he learned the offense, which puts him ahead of Jake Heaps.  He has the arm strength and precision (or at least he did in high school) that a BYU QB needs to succeed, which puts him ahead of Riley Nelson.  He returned from his mission in time to participate in spring drills, which puts him ahead of Jason Munns.  It's quite likely, however, that he'll be the Brenden Gaskins in the group: a career backup who is a solid QB in his own right and would do great if called upon.  I'm not sure he would transfer out if he wasn't named the starter.

Jake Heaps is the pure passer.  He is "the hype."  He is one of the greatest QBs coming out of high school this year, if not THE greatest (of course the experts say this is a particularly weak class for QBs, maybe that's because the best of the bunch didn't go to a BCS school...just saying, it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy).  The experts also say his ability to read defenses is beyond his years.  His accuracy, timing, and footwork are all supposedly flawless.  However, that was in high school.  This is Division I football, baby!  How would he handle a Nick Holt-coached Washington defense?  Or a Florida State defense on the road led by one of the Stoops brothers?  Or TCU or Utah's always nasty and stingy defenses?  That's a lot different than what he was seeing at the high school level.  However, the kid started 3 years in high school and only lost 2 games and won 3 state championships.  He was Washington State player of the year.  He was first team All-American.  He was the MVP of the Elite 8 camp (meaning he was the best of the 8 best high school QBs in the region).  He was the starting QB for the West in the High School All-American Bowl.  The kid is as good, as prepared, and as equipped to succeed on the big stage as any QB to set foot on BYU campus possibly ever, or certainly since Ty Detmer stepped onto campus.  If you had an experienced senior moving in to take the starting job, I could see you making this kid wait a year to play.  But given what you have in the system, how could you not give this kid the reigns from Day One?  I imagine he will either be the starter or the backup as a true freshman, so he will stay put regardless (maybe if he drops to 3rd or 4th, however...).

Jason Munns has the size, arm strength, pocket presence, etc. to succeed as a QB.  However, he won't get home from his mission this summer and there's no way he can break into the top 3 with that kind of a disadvantage.  The guy was hyped coming out of high school like crazy.  But if you can't put in the time, you aren't going to see the field.  I would be shocked if this kid ends up staying at BYU for longer than a semester, if he even shows up at all!  He's probably going to be a very successful QB, but he's 4th in line with no guarantees he'll ever get higher than that.  BYU already has another QB committed for the 2011 recruiting class.  I just don't think he's going to survive at BYU.  He will probably be the Cade Cooper or Jacob Bower of the group (a starter at a crappy I-AA school or a solid backup at a decent I-A school).

2 comments:

  1. So you think the qb will be Lark. If Heaps is as good as they say he will be the starting qb, if not I would also go with Lark. If it is Nelson, we are all in trouble.

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  2. I think it will certainly be Lark or Heaps as the starting QB, but that is entirely based on what "experts" have said and what I have seen from Nelson. I have seen a little more of Heaps than of Lark (part of two games vs. part of one game), but certainly not enough to make my own judgement on who is the better QB (factor in the mission as well).

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