I love summer, the warm weather, fun weekends, late nights. And for many of us Griz fans it begins the count-down until we see the Griz back on the field. Just like I’ve done in the last few years I figured on a weekly basis we’ll start a discussion on each position in the team. The positions would go QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DBs, ST. Basically starting one new one per week will lead us right into fall camp – so I figure this is a good way to continue our Griz-fix though the summer.
First up, QB: Jordan Johnson, Trent McKinney, Shay Smithwick-Hann, Brady Gustafson, Makena Simis
Projected Depth
Starter: Jordan Johnson (Junior)
Backup: Trent McKinney (Sophomore)
Depth: Shay Smithwick-Hann (Junior), Brady Gustafson (RS Frosh)
Red-Shirt: Makena Simis (True Frosh)
Strengths/Weaknesses
Jordan Johnson – Griz Nation rejoiced shortly after justice prevailed when a jury of Jordan’s peers acquitted him of his sexual assault charges. The next announcement was that he was cleared to return to the team and took part in spring camp. What’s clear of the group is that Jordan is the most well-rounded QB for the system. He can make most all of the throws, has probably the strongest arm, is the most accurate, and a leader on the team. Jordan is an excellent distributor when the offense is running the spread or pistol and he has shown excellent ability to read defenses. Jordan’s return does come with some questions though, can he adapt quickly enough to his new OCs in time for the start of the season? Also will he be in better shape for fall camp? His strength (as I’m told) is at an all-time high, but you could see in the scrimmages that Jordy was still ramping back up to the pace of this offense. Also come August he’ll not have taken part in a live-action game for almost 18 months. What kind of process will be needed to get back into that groove? Jordy’s the clear-cut starter, I just hope this off-season he’s dedicating it to working with his WRs/TEs and conditioning.
Trent McKinney – This spring Trent showed some good improvement, he did have one real rough scrimmage though. If you’re looking for possibly the fastest QB in the group and the most athletic all-around, I think Trent is your guy. He’s a QB that the coaches will be able to work in and out of games to run a faster-paced offense that might feature more zone-read. We’ve seen that Trent is pretty durable and is accurate in the short game. That segways into the challenge, Trent’s longer-range passing game. It’s still coming along. He needs to improve recognizing defensive schemes and coverage and not throw into as much coverage. Also he needs to dramatically improve his long range accuracy. We saw big issues in the season, they were still there in the spring but not as much. Trent has a lot of upside if you ask me, he was thrust into starting with about 30 days’ notice last year. And while the mistakes were plenty he had the Griz in position to win games against App and EWU early on. I hope this season the coaches give him some reps and opportunities to improve his passing. We’ve seen that Jordy gets banged up, so we’ll need a 2nd QB to be ready on a minutes notice.
Shay Smithwick-Hann – Shay showcased his ability to be a little more dialed-in that our other QBs in the passing game last year, especially against UND. However he also showed that he just doesn’t have the quick feet and speed to run any sort of zone offense. Shay is a good passer and a smart player. He’s got better size that Trent and Jordy and is probably more familiar with passing to all of the WRs/TEs/RBs on this team than anyone else. I’m trying to figure where Gragg and Kfense will plug Shay in, if at all, at QB. His release is slower than the rest of the QBs and he’s more of a pocket-passer than anyone else. If there were one QB I’d think could drop the perfect fade pass for a TD, I’d say it was Shay. I guess we’ll have to see where he ends up, I’ve not heard any more chatter on the prior “convert to TE” rumor. Shay might be our next Jeff Larson, a multi-purpose guy that sees ST reps and offense reps not as a QB.
Brady Gustafson – Brady is an intriguing QB, he’s very tall and has a strong arm. He’s familiar with the pistol and spread. He runs it pretty well but we still see that he’s adapting to the speed of the FCS. I’ve heard continual high praise for him as he develops. Some might even say he has the potential to become the FCS version of Brock Osweilier. A tall QB that can move and make plays with his feet in a quick-run offense. Brady will probably be the guy sending in plays with the head-set on this year, which will be good for him to just work and understand the offense and play calling of his new OCs. Brady this spring hasn’t had the reps that others have had so his time is yet to come. I’ve seen him make a few great throws and plays, I have high hopes for him in a few years.
Makena Simis – His highlight reels are impressive and there’s been a lot of talk how he was quickly offered in the camps the Griz run and he accepted right away. Simis committed last summer, so think of all things he’s observed that have happened to the program – and he’s stuck by his commitment. Even if Shay changes positions on offense I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t red-shirt Makena. Obviously we’ll see soon enough in fall camp, however if he’s the future you’d want to red-shirt the guy so when 2015 rolls around you’ve got him as a red-shirt sophomore and Gustafson as a junior.
First up, QB: Jordan Johnson, Trent McKinney, Shay Smithwick-Hann, Brady Gustafson, Makena Simis
Projected Depth
Starter: Jordan Johnson (Junior)
Backup: Trent McKinney (Sophomore)
Depth: Shay Smithwick-Hann (Junior), Brady Gustafson (RS Frosh)
Red-Shirt: Makena Simis (True Frosh)
Strengths/Weaknesses
Jordan Johnson – Griz Nation rejoiced shortly after justice prevailed when a jury of Jordan’s peers acquitted him of his sexual assault charges. The next announcement was that he was cleared to return to the team and took part in spring camp. What’s clear of the group is that Jordan is the most well-rounded QB for the system. He can make most all of the throws, has probably the strongest arm, is the most accurate, and a leader on the team. Jordan is an excellent distributor when the offense is running the spread or pistol and he has shown excellent ability to read defenses. Jordan’s return does come with some questions though, can he adapt quickly enough to his new OCs in time for the start of the season? Also will he be in better shape for fall camp? His strength (as I’m told) is at an all-time high, but you could see in the scrimmages that Jordy was still ramping back up to the pace of this offense. Also come August he’ll not have taken part in a live-action game for almost 18 months. What kind of process will be needed to get back into that groove? Jordy’s the clear-cut starter, I just hope this off-season he’s dedicating it to working with his WRs/TEs and conditioning.
Trent McKinney – This spring Trent showed some good improvement, he did have one real rough scrimmage though. If you’re looking for possibly the fastest QB in the group and the most athletic all-around, I think Trent is your guy. He’s a QB that the coaches will be able to work in and out of games to run a faster-paced offense that might feature more zone-read. We’ve seen that Trent is pretty durable and is accurate in the short game. That segways into the challenge, Trent’s longer-range passing game. It’s still coming along. He needs to improve recognizing defensive schemes and coverage and not throw into as much coverage. Also he needs to dramatically improve his long range accuracy. We saw big issues in the season, they were still there in the spring but not as much. Trent has a lot of upside if you ask me, he was thrust into starting with about 30 days’ notice last year. And while the mistakes were plenty he had the Griz in position to win games against App and EWU early on. I hope this season the coaches give him some reps and opportunities to improve his passing. We’ve seen that Jordy gets banged up, so we’ll need a 2nd QB to be ready on a minutes notice.
Shay Smithwick-Hann – Shay showcased his ability to be a little more dialed-in that our other QBs in the passing game last year, especially against UND. However he also showed that he just doesn’t have the quick feet and speed to run any sort of zone offense. Shay is a good passer and a smart player. He’s got better size that Trent and Jordy and is probably more familiar with passing to all of the WRs/TEs/RBs on this team than anyone else. I’m trying to figure where Gragg and Kfense will plug Shay in, if at all, at QB. His release is slower than the rest of the QBs and he’s more of a pocket-passer than anyone else. If there were one QB I’d think could drop the perfect fade pass for a TD, I’d say it was Shay. I guess we’ll have to see where he ends up, I’ve not heard any more chatter on the prior “convert to TE” rumor. Shay might be our next Jeff Larson, a multi-purpose guy that sees ST reps and offense reps not as a QB.
Brady Gustafson – Brady is an intriguing QB, he’s very tall and has a strong arm. He’s familiar with the pistol and spread. He runs it pretty well but we still see that he’s adapting to the speed of the FCS. I’ve heard continual high praise for him as he develops. Some might even say he has the potential to become the FCS version of Brock Osweilier. A tall QB that can move and make plays with his feet in a quick-run offense. Brady will probably be the guy sending in plays with the head-set on this year, which will be good for him to just work and understand the offense and play calling of his new OCs. Brady this spring hasn’t had the reps that others have had so his time is yet to come. I’ve seen him make a few great throws and plays, I have high hopes for him in a few years.
Makena Simis – His highlight reels are impressive and there’s been a lot of talk how he was quickly offered in the camps the Griz run and he accepted right away. Simis committed last summer, so think of all things he’s observed that have happened to the program – and he’s stuck by his commitment. Even if Shay changes positions on offense I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t red-shirt Makena. Obviously we’ll see soon enough in fall camp, however if he’s the future you’d want to red-shirt the guy so when 2015 rolls around you’ve got him as a red-shirt sophomore and Gustafson as a junior.
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