Utah State has a familiar face starting at quarterback, but things aren't necessarily going to be the same. A new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach is in town, and that means big things for senior quarterback Kent Myers.
Here's a breakdown of Utah State's quarterback position:
Key losses
Backup quarterback Damion Hobbs. No, Hobbs is not leaving the program, but he is changing positions to tight end. That doesn't mean that Hobbs could step back into the quarterback position should the need arise, but it does mean that the Aggies will need a new primary backup quarterback.
Projected depth chart
Starter: Kent Myers
Key backups: DJ Nelson, Jordan Love
What the national media is saying
Myers is the No. 58 quarterback in Athlon's Sports' ranking of quarterbacks.
Peavler's take
Myers may be the most underrated quarterback in the state headed into the 2017 season. He's moving into his senior year, and he's getting a solid new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in David Yost. Yost was the quarterbacks coach at Oregon last season, and three seasons before that at Washington State. It will be interesting to see how much Myers' game improves under Yost's new offense.
Granted, Myers' last outing wasn't great as he had just 145 yards of total offense, a pick and no touchdowns. But he had his solid games as well, such as his three passing touchdowns performance against Fresno State.
The biggest thing to watch is how Myers' passing game improves under Yost's instruction. He had 2,389 passing yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 58.4 percent of his passes. Expect those numbers to go up significantly if Yost's history is anything to go by.
And Myers' performance in the spring should be encouraging to Aggie fans. He finished a short mid-spring scrimmage by completing 10 of 14 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns. Later during the Blue-White game, Myers completed 10-for-12 passes for 93 yards and one touchdown. While it's unwise to read too much into scrimmage stats, the indications are certainly positive.
While Myers' passing numbers should go up, don't expect Yost to ignore his running capabilities. He's too explosive of a runner to let those talents go to waste.
With Hobbs out of the quarterback mix, we'll see who emerges between Nelson and Love. Nelson threw one pass last season against Air Force last season. And yes, he is the brother of former Utah State and BYU quarterback Riley Nelson. He is another dual-threat quarterback as he tore up the competition at Logan High School with 1,605 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Love is also a dual-threat quarterback who is a redshirt freshman this season. Given that Nelson is a junior this season and Myers is a senior, Love could very well be the future of the program. The former Liberty High star from Bakersfield, California, could push Nelson for the backup spot and is getting snaps in practice.
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