Should BYU Fans Start To Worry?

Yesterday I was listen to the radio much of the day and was able to hear a lot of the Mountain West Conference Media day. There was one aspect of an interview with Bronco Mendenhall that stood out to me. He was asked by Jan Jorgensen what is the plan for selecting a starting QB for this upcoming season and also when would he attempt to make that call. Bronco replied that he normally likes to have a starter picked prior to summer camps even starting but that will not be the case this year. He went on to say that this year they have 4 QBs that are competing for the starting job and that each of them will get reps when fall camp starts. The last thing he said that was interesting was that he is ok with having 2 QBs play in week 1 and if there is not a clear starter he will continue to play 2 QBs until someone plays well enough to take claim. He refuses to have a deadline to making this decision.

Now is the time to start worrying! There have not been many teams that have been successful with a 2 QBs system. The main argument that goes against a 2 QBs system is that it does not allow for the offense to get in a rhythm because you are always changing the most important position on the field. In addition to that each QB is playing in fear of making a mistake that will get him pulled from the game.

In a conversation I had with a current college player that plays WRs (he asked me not to use his name in this post) he added an interesting point that I had not considered. He told me that he has gone through a very similar QBs battle, like what BYU is going through right now. He told me from his point of view that the biggest concern is not anything that I have just stated but rather that you have 1 right handed QB (Jake Heaps) and 1 left handed QB (Riley Nelson). INTERESTING POINT! He said for most of his life he has played with a right handed QB and that was what felt natural and was the easiest to do. He also said that playing with a left handed QB requires him to concentrate a lot hard on just making the catch. The reason for the he had to concentrate more is because instead of the ball going from right to left like it does with a right hand QB, it is now going left to right which is opposite of what he is used to. Also the balls spirals in the opposite directions.

Now to me as a fan I am thinking that surely cannot be that big of deal right!? Consider if you were the WR on the receiving end of those passes. I think it would be fair to say that you would need to have a lot of practice in order to get comfortable with the QB. No? That should alarm BYU fans even more in my opinion.

Just picture it from the players point of view if you were a WR and you just barely started the game with a right handed QB (Jake Heaps). You play two offensive position and do not score any points but you did improve on your second possession. Now your third offensive positions comes up and you are going on the field with a left handed QB (Riley Nelson). Forget chemistry and getting a rhythm, now you have to get use to the ball coming out at a different angle when thrown. And you have to get used to making the adjustments to the throw when it is fading the opposite direction to what you have just barely gotten use to with the other QB (Jake Heaps). Before my conversation with this player I would have said big deal the players are talented and they can make the adjustments but now I having heard his opinion I would be very concerned.

The sooner Bronco names a starting QB the better it will be for the Cougars. BYU has the talent to be very good this year but if they use a 2 QB system I think will be lucky to make it to a bowl game this season.