Matadors young but athletic at QB position

Matadors young but athletic at QB position

• By Grady Garrett @gradygarrett
 
• Aug 4, 2018 YUMA SUN

Arizona Western freshman QB El Julian Jordan throws a pass during practice Wednesday at AWC. Jordan is one of five quarterbacks on the Matadors’ roster heading into the 2018 season. Though the Matadors don’t plan on declaring a starter any time soon, Jordan and fellow freshman Jacquez Carter have established themselves as the leaders early on.   RANDY HOEF

A year ago, Arizona Western was loaded at the quarterback position.

The Matadors had two signal callers — redshirt sophomore Bryce Perkins and true freshman Jack Colletto — who were Division I-caliber. Perkins, a transfer from Arizona State, won the starting job, and played well enough to garner a scholarship from Virginia. Colletto was used in certain packages, and the hope was that he’d return as the Matadors’ starter in 2018.

But Colletto signed with Oregon State in February, leaving AWC’s 2018 starting job wide open.

The group vying for that job consists of three true freshmen, one Division I transfer who was listed as a wide receiver at Georgia, and just one returner from last year’s Matadors (Bailey Arvizo of Cibola).

“I think what it comes down to is going to be the guy who makes the least mistakes,” Minnick said Friday after AWC’s third official practice of the season.

Through the first half-week of practice, Minnick said two players — freshmen El Julian Jordan and Jacquez Carter — have established themselves as the leaders in the quarterback race, though he acknowledged that the situation remains fluid with the team in no rush to name a starter with the season opener still 19 days away.

Jordan (6-3, 230) comes to Yuma from Detroit Central High School in Michigan, where he was rated as a three-star prospect by 247 Sports. Jordan boasted offers from several Mid-American Conference programs, and verbally committed to Western Michigan last year, but wound up having to go the junior-college route after not qualifying academically.

As a high school senior, Jordan threw for 2,873 yards and 27 touchdowns, to go along with 11 rushing touchdowns.

Carter (6-2, 180), meanwhile, is a one-time University of Massachusetts commit out of Naples, Fla., and finds himself at AWC for a different reason than Jordan. UMass wanted Carter to play cornerback, despite the fact that he never played on the defensive side of the ball in high school. That was a move Carter was unwilling to make, so he re-opened his recruitment and eventually settled on AWC — with the hope of parlaying a successful junior-college season into a Division I quarterback offer.

The other newcomers at quarterback are redshirt sophomore Caleeb Roberson (6-1, 180), the Georgia transfer, and true freshman David McCullum (6-1, 180), out of Waterford, Mich. Those two are dual-threats, as is Carter.

“Three of them are pretty close in what they do; (Carter, Roberson and McCullum) can run,” Minnick said. “(Jordan) can throw it; he reminds me of (former AWC quarterback Emmanuel) Gant — he can throw the ball and he can make all the throws, we’ve just got to make sure he’s accurate.

“Those four kids are dynamic enough that you can get some stuff done.”

Carter, who ran for 1,021 yards and 17 touchdowns as a high school senior, in particular, has turned heads with his playmaking ability.

“Jacquez made a run (Friday night in practice) that you’re going, ‘Wow, go ahead and rush us and if he finds a crease, goodbye,’” Minnick said. “It’s hard to game plan for a kid that can run, so that helps us out, especially when our running back situation is kind of iffy right now.”

As for the plan for the quarterbacks’ roles, Minnick said it’s likely that he will redshirt or grayshirt one, though which one is still to be determined.

Roberson, Minnick said, is likely to play somewhere: “I’ve got him on some special teams already; he’s got to be on the field because he’s such a dynamic athlete.”

And it’s possible that multiple quarterbacks — whether it’s Jordan and Carter, or some other combination — are part of the game plan, with their strengths utilized in different packages as was the case with Perkins and Colletto last year.

Right now, it’s all about helping the group adjust to the college game.

“You saw us out there speeding stuff up, trying to get in their mind and yelling at them and this and that so their minds are flustered, because if they can handle that, they can handle game situations,” Minnick said. “If they can’t handle that, then you know you’ve got to go with somebody else.

“And they’ve been doing a pretty good job. They get frustrated every once in a while, but you know, they’re young. To have a freshman quarterback, it’s tough.”