Today, we’re starting a new series here at Cougs Daily: the monthly mailbag. Our readers asked questions on social media and we answered. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions! As of right now, our site can only embed tweets, so any questions submitted on Facebook or Instagram will not be embedded. Let’s dive right in.
1. Update on BYU quarterback recruiting?
BYU’s quarterback recruiting plans took a turn when Grady Adamson committed to Georgia Tech. Adamson had been on BYU’s campus twice and there were many reasons to believe that he was BYU bound. Then his recruitment suddenly shifted when he got an offer from Georgia Tech. Just over a week later, Adamson shut down his recruitment and committed to Georgia Tech. BYU was locked in on Adamson, and up to that point, Adamson appeared to be a part of BYU’s future plans.
Now, BYU has offered just two quarterbacks that aren’t committed to other schools: Leo Hannan and JP Mialovski. Hannan doesn’t appear to be particularly interested in BYU and Mialovski doesn’t seem like the guy that BYU will take in 2025.
That’s why we believe that quarterback that BYU will sign in 2025 still hasn’t been offered yet. BYU will start from scratch during the Spring evaluation period to identify its new top targets. There are a few names to watch during the Spring and Nolan Keeney is at the top of that list. Keeney is a quarterback from Portland who is a member of the church. He holds offers from Boise State, Houston, Nevada, Utah State, and San Diego State.
The 2025 class needs not only a quarterback, but a quarterback that can become a starter over the next few years at BYU. If BYU offers Keeney but he plans to serve a mission, they will need to sign another quarterback that can play right away.
Going back to Grady Adamson. Adamson was firmly part of BYU’s future plans. Now that he’s no longer an option for BYU, the Cougars could take a quarterback from the transfer portal if it’s the right fit. I know, Aaron Roderick said BYU wouldn’t add another transfer quarterback. But things change. Additionally, BYU already has too many quarterbacks. A quarterback or two would need to leave to make room for another quarterback.
2. BYU QB Battle
Question: Thoughts on who will be our QB this Fall? – Isaac, X
Aaron Roderick announced that BYU’s quarterback battle will extend into Fall camp. If the season started today, we believe Jake Retzlaff would be the starting quarterback. He had a head start already with his knowledge of the playbook and the continuity with the wide receivers, and he has maintained that lead throughout Spring camp.
Retzlaff needs to clean up the catastrophic turnovers to win the job. If he does that, suddenly BYU’s offense will be much improved vs last season. If he wants to take BYU’s offense to the next level, he needs to make the easy throws consistently. Retzlaff will make high-level throws. He did last year. His touchdown to Chase Roberts against Oklahoma, his deep throw to Kody Epps against Iowa State, or his deep post to Keanu Hill against Oklahoma State are good examples. If he can consistently make the layups, then the floor will be raised and he can still access his high ceiling.
Could Gerry Bohanon change that with a full Summer in the program? Certainly. But first and foremost, he needs to have complete control and knowledge of the offense. Until he does, beating out Retzlaff will be an uphill battle.
An underrated storyline in this quarterback battle: Retzlaff has two years left and Bohanon only has one. There’s a substantial risk to having a revolving door at quarterback. If Retzlaff becomes a serviceable starter, he answers BYU’s questions at quarterback for two years. If Bohanon wins the job, BYU is once again scrambling to find a quarterback for 2025. Bohanon needs to be heads and shoulders better than Retzlaff to justify giving him the starting job. If it’s close, it makes more sense to let Retzlaff take the reins.
Leave a Reply