wow.....Where did you come up with that conclusion? He's a great athlete n all, but...wow. I can see him switching to WR
Who will be our QB?
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wow.....Where did you come up with that conclusion? He's a great athlete n all, but...wow. I can see him switching to WR
In camp Kavika go alot of work in red zone and short yardage situations. He also worked as the qb in the wild cat formation. For a true freshman he got alot of run with the ones. I think he is the reason the wildcat formation was implemented. He needs to work on his pocket presense, making his progressions and footwork in the passing game. Once he gets comfortable wth the mental part of qb there will be no keeping him off the field. I think the plan was to redshirt him but his talent is too much for kugler to shelve. I expect he will get around eight snaps a game in the first couple of games. If he starts making big plays and burns a few secondarys with deep shots out of the wild cat i think it will be hard to keep him off the field. I think by spring he will be the starter.
Competition for spots can be a good thing. If the QBs are feeling the stress of constantly playing for their position, they can acclimate to that and perform better in real game situations. I think we can all see these three qbs getting lots of reps this season.
I went to the scrimmage on Sunday, and didn't see anything that showed Leftwich as a starter, I hope I'm wrong.
MINER63
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That was a dumb article title. It doesn't appear to be a major injury and shouldn't have anything to do with the decision. Simpson had a great drive and if he's ready to go by Ark, should be the started in my opinion. I've yet to see Leftwhich be over 50% in camp
Agreed! If it was a major issue, I understand , but you see the girls and then read the article and its conflicting EP Times its time for Fresh Blood, that can produce better and more accurately researched Utep Pieces
If they had said it was a high ankle sprain, I'd probably be a little concerned. But it wasn't. I still believe Simpson is named the starter. I haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise. The only problem now is if politics takes over. I hope not.
I also agree Kavika will eventually be eased into the starting qb position. He is a better fit for the offense. His passing and running skills will help him in the long run. I saw him play a couple of times in high school and he does not buckle under pressure. He flat out refuses to lose and is an excellent field general. He has a linebackers frame and has a very good touch on his passing. People will be shocked on how talented this guy is. He will have the same success as Aaron Jones did as a Freshman.
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You know what scares me with leftwich???look at his completion percentage!!! It's been AWFUL!! That scares the heck outta me
M
Maybe his hand off game is on point lol I guess its more than just percentages, but not sure how he is still being considered as a starter, but I guess the coaches see something
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I think Kavika's passing needs work and that work is enough that he won't be eased into the starting spot this season. Maybe next season he'll be better with his accuracy. I'm not dismissing his ability but playing QB in high school is not the same as playing QB in college. A HS QB can get away with being fundamentally flawed, but college is less tolerant and the NFL is even more.
Kavika Johnson threw for more than 2,000 yards his senior year. He only threw 3 interceptions. He rushed for more than 1,500 yards. He is the only Qb. that was recruited in his class at Utep. I guess you do have to be an "athlete" to have that passing/ interception ratio while raking up all those yards. That in itself should speak volumes on his passing ability and accuracy.
Actually it doesn't. Again, HS isn't college. Not that I know, nor do I care, but my first question regarding his stats was his level of competition. My second was not the yards he threw for, but his completion ratio and just for sh*ts and giggles, how many TDs as well? Don't get me wrong, any HS QB throwing 2k yards is impressive, but really not huge considering how many schools run the spread. Which leads me to my last question, what offense did they run at his HS?
And here's my question for you. If he was "all that" as a QB, how did he end up at UTEP and not a bigger school?
Before you go postal in your next post, no one is dissing Kavika. Injuries aside, he'll end up being the QB at some point, it just won't be this season.
He had six d-1 offers at qb: UTEP, NMSU,UNM,ARMY,BYU and UCONN, plus an offer from fcs powerhouse eastern washington. He's a qb like i said he has to get the mental part down checks progressions etc., buts he's not that far away.
I hear you and that probably wasn't a fair question. Just a little salty. Monday's.
I agree with most of what you are saying. But my opinion is simply that his game will transition well into the system that Utep has right now. He has the best tools of all the qbs that Utep has at this time. His competition in high school has nothing to do with how he stood out as a football recruit. If that was the case all coaches would be recruiting JC players not high school players. How did Aaron Jones end up at Utep? He was an impact player as a freshman with proven upper classmen obove him . I believe Jones had only one offer besides Utep coming out of high school. Does that mean he was an ok running back in high school and Utep turned him into a great running back?
Honestly guys, how many high school football players from ANYWHERE in NM get recruited? Didn't I read about an Alb kid with double the numbers and awards than Kavita with zero D1 offers?
Get off his jock. He's a kid with zero experience in D1 football. Who are you guys to say he is our next starter/savior? Right now, its Letfwich or Simpson and they BOTH have a few years ahead of them. They would lose the job to him this year or even next year.
I will stick by my comment....he will switch positions so he can play. Just watch....
Get off his jock. He's a kid with zero experience in D1 football. Who are you guys to say he is our next starter/savior? Right now, its Letfwich or Simpson and they BOTH have a few years ahead of them. They would lose the job to him this year or even next year.
I will stick by my comment....he will switch positions so he can play. Just watch....
Honestly guys, how many high school football players from ANYWHERE in NM get recruited? Didn't I read about an Alb kid with double the numbers and awards than Kavita with zero D1 offers?
Get off his jock. He's a kid with zero experience in D1 football. Who are you guys to say he is our next starter/savior? Right now, its Letfwich or Simpson and they BOTH have a few years ahead of them. They would lose the job to him this year or even next year.
I will stick by my comment....he will switch positions so he can play. Just watch....
I have to agree with Mextex, I was surprised he didn't get any more offers than he did and when we landed him I was shocked, he's a gamer. I'll go as far as saying he gets the QB job outright next year. I was hoping they would redshirt him this year to give him to time to learn the offense and grow some more, if that's possible. This guy reminds me a lot of Russel Wilson, his feet and arm, you watch, he's gonna open some eyes this year...just watch.Honestly guys, how many high school football players from ANYWHERE in NM get recruited? Didn't I read about an Alb kid with double the numbers and awards than Kavita with zero D1 offers?
Get off his jock. He's a kid with zero experience in D1 football. Who are you guys to say he is our next starter/savior? Right now, its Letfwich or Simpson and they BOTH have a few years ahead of them. They would lose the job to him this year or even next year.
I will stick by my comment....he will switch positions so he can play. Just watch....
@TortugaEP ..I respect your opinion. My opinion is just based on what I saw last year from our back up Qb's and what potential I see in this kid. Let's put a case of your favorite bevarege on the line on his change of position to my opinion that he will be Utep's next qb.
I like it. Putting your money where your mouth is. I haven't seen the kid play but from most of what I hear about him, he sounds like an upgraded version of Showers.
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Tortuga hasn't been paying attention.
There is a qb who has changed posistions to get on the field its ryan metz, who has been playing receiver. Kugler is tipping his hand as to who the future qb is.
There is a qb who has changed posistions to get on the field its ryan metz, who has been playing receiver. Kugler is tipping his hand as to who the future qb is.
Now see....THIS is how a difference of opinion thread should look.
I'll take the bet as its for fun....none of us have seen the kid play in college yet. I may be a little bit biased as i HATE scrambling QBs.
I did see Metz play a few times at Andress. I knew he had a strong arm, but was never really impressed with accuracy.
Ehh....I just want to win dammit.....
I'll take the bet as its for fun....none of us have seen the kid play in college yet. I may be a little bit biased as i HATE scrambling QBs.
I did see Metz play a few times at Andress. I knew he had a strong arm, but was never really impressed with accuracy.
Ehh....I just want to win dammit.....
We all have our preferences. I've certainly made mine known. At the end of the day, just win. That's all I need for them to do.
I favor an Icy cold 24 pack of Sierra Nevada LOL. I dont care who plays as long as they put up a fight and dont buckle under pressure. I saw Metz play once in high school and Kavika twice. Kavika takes care of the ball and doesent make too many mistakes. His passing is underrated and he has a really nice touch on his passing. He really throws well on the run.
I sat through all of last year's home games in anguish seeing how one dimensional we where. I don't think we will be airing out the ball too much this year again. I believe that we will be seeing alot of the "Wild Miner Offense" and not just on the red zone. I think the offense will feed off that. If we have success, that will be Kavika's shoe in the door. I dont think they will pull him out if he adds that other dimension to our offense. The kid who also looks really good is Freytag. He got lost last year as just a blocker. I think he will stand out more in the offense this year.
I have a really hard time believing with the integrity that Coach Kuglar has showed so far in building this team his way, that he would "play politics" (terrible term, as bad as homer) with this important position. There's too much at stake here in this third year of his tenure. Just my two cents.
No one is punching holes in Kugler's integrity. I said there are always politics in sports and especially in college athletics. There is no reason to think it doesn't exist at UTEP or on Kugler's staff.
Heard so much about this kid and that he is the real deal. My question is, why is he then not in the mix for starting qb?
The qb from Del Valle who went to CU is having a great fall camp. They don't think he will start, but coaches have high, high hopes for their rebuilding effort and they say he is one of the main components.
Aaron Jones averaged about 22 touches per game last season. He's a running back. Kavika is the only Qb. on scholarship from last years batch of recruits. He was not recruited to be a running back. As far as Montez he is about 4th in the depth chart. In my opinion Baylor Romney and Kavika where two best prospects coming out of this area last year and will have more success in the schools they chose. Coach Kuglrer was quoted in saying yesterday that Kavika will have about 20 touches per game. I don't think he will be taking any playing time from Aaron Jones. He is going to be used in the wild cat offense for a major part of the game. I think they will hand him the reigns as soon as he is familiarized with the playbook. Saw Sean Kugler's quote on the touches per game on a Miner Illustrated tweet.
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What I've seen from Kavika in my opinion is that he is ready to play at this level, no doubt. As a starter? No, not right off the bat. But he's gifted enough to make things happen. It's hard to keep an athlete like that off the field. If Kuglar and staff are working on schemes to get him on the field without overwhelming him or asking him to do more than what he's ready for, I say great. That will be enough.
