Dave Doeren: Talks QB’s

ESPN’s Andrea Adelson recently interviewed Dave Doeren to talk about the Quarterback position and how the competition is shaping up. In all it is a great piece that focuses on both Jakobi Meyers and Jalan McClendon, and what both could bring to the table for the Wolfpack. Doeren seems really optimistic about both guys, but something tells me that Jakobi may just shock a lot of people coming out of Spring practices. The 6-1 195 lbs red-shirt freshman has similar escape skills as Russell Wilson, except more top end speed. Don’t mix my words, I am not saying he is the second coming of Russell Wilson. Doeren goes on talk about how your gut would say you go with the older guy (Jalan) but with neither guy having any playing time and a new system he felt like a competition would be good for both players.

Here are some excerpts from Adelson’s article:

What is your take on the quarterback competition between Jalan McClendon and Jakobi Meyers this spring?

Dave Doeren: The natural inclination would be the older guy wins, and Jalan may win. But with this being a new system and both these kids not having a game as a starter, we feel having a little competition in the spring is a good thing, so we’ll see where it takes us. ESPN

What are their strengths?

DD: Jalan can throw the ball as good as any quarterback I’ve ever seen. Can he make the decisions a starting quarterback has to make? That’s what this spring has to be about for him. He’s not a 4.5 (40-yard dash) guy, but he does run pretty good, probably a 4.7 guy. Jakobi Meyers is 6-1, about 195 and he can run like a receiver. He’s really fast. Was a high school baseball player until his junior year. A little green, only playing two years of high school football. Big developmental year for him. He was one of our scout-teams guys that really showed up and gave us fits on defense every day. ESPN

What does new offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz bring to the table that is different?

DD: Our quarterbacks are being coached by an extremely positive, fun guy right now, and I think that’s great for them. They need to be around football a lot right now. They’re young guys. They’re going into their biggest year as a player, so with a coach like him that I think really inspires them not from just a football standpoint but the way he walks and talks, he’s got great bounce to him. He comes from a background of learning from coach (Gus) Malzahn, coach (Bryan) Harsin and Mike Sanford Jr. Those three offenses blended together are pretty fun. They’re physical, but there’s great down-the-field play-action. They use tempo, they change formations and challenge defensive systems, and they’re creative. For us to have a chance with Florida State and Clemson, we’re going to have to be unique, and the system gives us a chance to be a little more change-of-pace with some things. ESPN

How about defensively — where are you looking for improvement this spring?

DD: We gave up too many big plays. We played 75 to 80 percent of the game really well. Some plays we were in position and didn’t make the plays. That happened more in the second half of the season. What we’ve done is studied the reasons why it happened. … We had some injuries that hurt us, but I feel good about the changes we made and some of the things we’re asking guys to do, and there’s going to be a little more competition. Statistically we have gotten better on defense; what happened was we gave up too many big plays and that’s what people remember. We’ve got to do a better job there. ESPN

It should be fun keeping tabs on the QB competition and seeing both guys in the Red&White game in the coming weeks. If you want to read Andrea’s entire article you can find it in the link here.