Similar to the story at the wide receiver position, we lost a Yale legend in Kurt Rawlings, but have enough firepower returning at the quarterback position to make opposing secondaries pay the price if they decide to stack the box against Dudek. Griffin O’Connor enters preseason as the clear favorite to lead the offense. After Rawlings was injured in 2018, O’Connor set the league on fire with 1,229 yards passing and 8 touchdowns en route to becoming the 2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He was thrown into tough situations in 2019 when Rawlings went down with minor injuries and was never able to get into the same rhythm as we had seen from him in games such as the Princeton contest in 2018. O’Connor is more of a traditional pocket-passer than Rawlings possessing more pure throwing power, yet needs to work on his accuracy, decision making and pocket presence to make the leap into becoming an All-Ivy caliber player. If O’Connor is indeed named the starter, much of his success will rely on the offensive line giving him a clean pocket. If Reno opts for a dual-threat quarterback to start, Nolan Grooms would be the natural selection. Grooms had an efficient 2019 campaign completing all 5 of his passes for 44 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 6 rushes. Jimmy Check saw substantial action in 2018 before the emergence of O’Connor and could challenge for the starting role if he’s made significant strides in his mechanics and fundamentals over the last two years. Reno is never afraid to throw Freshmen into the mix and Austin Tutas or Devin Suggs could see action in 2021. Tutas was a 3 star recruit out of high school, while Suggs has the prototypical development frame at 6’4”.
Projected Starter:
Griffin O’Connor
Challengers:
Nolan Grooms, Austin Tutas and Jimmy Check
QB Roster:
Austin Tutas-Freshman
Grant Jordan-Freshman
Devin Suggs-Freshman
Nolan Grooms-Sophomore
Griffin O’Connor-Junior
Jimmy Check-Senior
20 replies on “QB Preview”
Cole Hagen won’t be playing until next season
WHY IS THAT ?
He is currently serving two years as a missionary for his church. Will be back next year.
What about Ben Finkle from White Plains, NY.?
THANKS FOR THE INFO RE COLE HAGEN .
With the single back spread offense Yale uses it’s important to have a dual threat QB to stop the defense from keying in on the RB. Although Rawlings was never technically considered a “dual threat” QB he was very mobile and running was a big part of his game. If the defense went to a nickel or dime package he was likely to take off and scramble. His read option run threat also contributed to Dudek’s success.
Nolan Grooms really impressed me in 2019 in the way he ran the offense. He didn’t look like a freshman back-up out there at all. He is also definitely more of a running threat than O’Connor.
Having said that the O’Connors stellar performance in 2018, which led him to receive the Ivy League’s rookie of the year award, makes him the presumptive starter. But he won’t be able to rest on his laurels for long. If the offense falters I expect that we’ll quickly begin seeing Grooms splitting series with O’Connor. If Grooms outperforms O’Connor he will then quickly be given the opportunity to start. In short it’s O’Connors job to lose but he will be given a short leash.
New Yale commit: Micaiah Shaber, DL/OT, 6’6”, 255lbs, All State. Offers from Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Columbia.
Thank you SOE
JH: I was going to mention that I thought Conte had transitioned to TE, but then I thought what do I know? BYW there are multiple season ticket packages available
for sale to see?
Sorry. To see what players/team?
Sorry to report the passing of Richie Pont , the offensive Backfield coach from 1968 to 1995. He was truly one of the good guys. Down to earth and extremely cordial. Even to a 9 year old boy.
I remember going into the field house. Tyrell Hennings, brought my father and I in. After a Colgate game, Coach Pont , slapped me on the back and said Great Game Kid.!! Made me laugh and blush at the same time. That was over 50 years ago. Thank you for that precious memory.
Delaney Kipputh, was talking to my father and I about the game. This is why it hurts so much to see all the changes . That have been put in place. Because that would never happen with this Athletic Director . In there now.
2021 YALE FOOTBALL ROSTER HAS BEEN POSTED. IT IS LOCATED ON THE YALE FOOTBALL PAGE.
YALE FOOTBALL COMMIT
EZEKIEL LARRY EDGE RUSHER, 6 ‘ 2 “‘ , 2 3 0 LBS. SIERRA CANYON H.S., CHATSWORTH , CA. 3 *** ; OFFERED BY :
COLORADO , FLORIDA , FRESNO STATE , SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI .
EZEKIEL LARRY ALSO RECENTLY LISTED AT : 6 ‘ 3 ” , 240 LBS.
What a great get. This kid will be a great addition to the program.
122 men on this Yale Football Roster, any chance of a JV . Schedule materializing.?
I would think all the Ivies have expanded rosters and they all should be looking for ways to get the younger players some playing time.
We will see.
A good write-up on the UConn blog about the upcoming game with Yale. Think they got the predicted winner wrong though. But I agree it will be close.
https://www.theuconnblog.com/2021/8/25/22640530/uconn-huskies-football-opponent-preview-yale-bulldogs
Thank you SOE,
Another Yale 3 Star Commit. This makes four!
Jayden Hodge, Safety, 5’11”, Trinity Catholic,Ocala Fl.
Offers from:
Kentucky
Buffalo
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Hawaii
Kansas
Liberty
Maryland
Michigan State
Mississippi
NC State
Southern Mississippi
Vanderbilt
And the school up north.