Team Jake or Team Riley?

Basically the worst movie ever

For those of you that have a female to impress you might understand the title "Team Jake or Team Riley". I have to admit that I fell victim to watching the third Twilight movie last week with my wife... although if I am ever confronted I will probably just deny it, or if I am really pressed I will just say that I saw it on an airplane.

As it relates to BYU football there is a real-life battle going on between Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson. This battle has a little less to do with who gets to fight vampires (at least I think that is what was going on in the movie) and more to do with who gets to lead the BYU football team this fall. This feature, "Team Jake or Team Riley", will be a three part series. After I wrap it up I will announce my own starter. Today we will look at Jake Heaps AKA "Team Jake".

Team Jake

Pros:

The kid was legit in high school. His senior year at Skyline high Heaps:
 -Averaged 227 yds a game
 -Threw 45 TD's and only 7 INT's
 -Threw for over 3,000 yds
 -Led his team to a state Championship
 (click here to see his 2009 highlights)

-Heaps is a known competitor and a much like his quarterback coach Brandon Doman, he is a gamer. All he did in high school was win games going 40-2 as a starter and leading Skyline to three consecutive state titles in his tenure. 
-He was listed among the top five Q.B's in most high school scouting lists and some scouts had Heaps listed as the number one overall recruit coming out of high school.
-Scouts have noted that Jake's strengths are that he has an above average arm and has excellent footwork.
-At 6'2 225 lbs Heaps has the quintessential BYU quarterback body... and I say that in a completely heterosexual way.

Cons:

-As a true freshman Heaps has NO college game-time experience, and has not played a single down in the NCAA.
-Heaps is not as mobile as Riley Nelson and without a proven running game the Cougars will certainly struggle on the ground.
-While it is true that Heaps was named as one of the best QB's coming out of high school, 2009 was known as a fairly weak QB class.
-BYU has never had a true freshman do exceedingly well in his first year.




Summary:

Looking at Cougar history, BYU has never handed the season-opening signal-calling reins to a freshman--whether a true freshman straight out of high school, a redshirt freshman, or a return missionary (with or without a redshirt season).
In fact, since 1972 (when freshman eligibility was restored by the NCAA), only four BYU rookies have ever started a game for the Cougars (year, first start, freshman eligibility):

Ty Detmer (1988, 8th game of the season, RS)
Drew Miller (1997, 8th game of the season, HS)
Matt Berry (2002, 7th game of the season, RS/RM)
John Beck (2003, 4th game of the season, RM)

Of the four QB's listed above, only Ty Detmer and John Beck ended their careers as starters. It could be said that obviously Miller and Berry just didn't have what it takes to play College football... or another way to look at it is they were rushed into playing. Both Miller and Berry were very highly recruited out of high school. Heaps might be a little more hyped, but not by much. One could argue that had Miller and Berry been given more time to learn the system and grow up a little that they could have had great careers as a Cougar.

Ty Detmer was arguably the best true freshman to ever start at BYU and even he didn't get the nod until 8 games in

Overall Heaps is going to be a player, I'm just not sure if it will be this year. Let me state that I really believe that Heaps will be special, maybe even a Heisman contender by his senior year. That being said, Heaps is a TRUE FRESHMAN and he might just need some time to cultivate his skills. If BYU does start Heaps they are not necessarily waving the white flag for 2010 but history would suggest that the Cougars would certainly experience some growing pains this year. So, would it be worth it for Bronco to start the kid knowing that he will have his struggles this year but that it might pay off in the long run?