Quarterbacks

I love to watch Max Hall play. I honestly think he is the funnest guy to watch play the position at BYU since Jim McMahon played. That is saying a lot since great ones like Young, Detmer, Bosco, Beck, Sarkisian and Doman have lit up the scoreboard in that timeframe. The reason why I love to watch him is the tremendous competitive fire he brings. It often comes across as being very cocky and I love my QB to be that way. When you combine great confidence and competitive fire with talent and ability, you get a great QB with the intangibles to carry a team to greatness and tick off all the opponents in the process.

Max has really improved his accuracy since he started his first game 13 months ago. He is also much improved in his ability to read defenses both before the snap and during the play. I do think he can improve his timing on some of the sideline passes and deeper passes still. Some of this is probably due to watching Beck fire those passes with his cannon. I realize Hall will never be able to nail the deep comebacks like Beck because of arm strength but he needs to deliver thoses passes a little quicker at times. That said, I think Beck would be experiencing a lot more success in the NFL if he had Hall's fire. I truly hope Max gets a chance to play in the NFL. I know his size and arm strength will limit his opportunities but he has the intangibles to be very successful if someone will just give him a chance.

Brendan Gaskins is a big step down from Hall but I do think Gaskins would start for several MWC teams. I think he throws a very good ball and seems to have good poise in the pocket. I'm very glad he has gotten a few reps in games with the 1st string offense. That could be very big if he ever has to step in due to injury. If Hall goes down, I don't think BYU can run the table but I do think Gaskins would lead them to another 10 win season.

Kurt McKuen didn't impress me a lot in his brief time against Wyoming but I really don't think it is fair to offer much analysis on him due to some very limited mop-up duty.