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PROVO — Last week, BYU quarterback Ammon Olsen announced he would be transferring to Southern Utah University to further his collegiate career. On paper, it does not look like a big loss for the BYU program.
Olsen was seldom used in 2013. He attempted only three passes and did not play in any games where the outcome had not long been decided. However, his transfer may actually be a much bigger deal than it might seem. Here’s why:
Starting quarterback Taysom Hill takes too many hits and can be injured at any time
As my colleague, Jarom Moore, points out in a recent article, Hill took an incredible amount of physical abuse last season. He ran the ball 246 times, had another 438 pass attempts, and was sacked 37 times. On many of the runs, Hill refused to slide or get out of bounds and took hard shots from opponents.
Considering all the punishment he endured, it is amazing that Hill did not suffer any serious injuries causing him to miss playing time. Add in the fact that he had major reconstructive knee surgery less than a year earlier, and it is nothing short of a miracle that he played a whole season running this offense. If BYU coach Robert Anae and the offensive line do not do a better job of protecting Hill from himself, the odds are high that Hill will again be seriously injured.
Given the ever-present possibility that Hill may be forced out of the game due to an injury, it is vital for the Cougars to have a viable back-up. While it is unfair to write Christian Stewart and Billy Green off, there has to be a reason why coaches were confident all season that Olsen was their second-best option behind Hill. Considering that Hill will receive almost every meaningful snap in practice, either of these very inexperienced players may be thrown into the lion’s den at some point during a game this season if Hill endures a serious injury.
With Olsen gone, Hill has less competition
While Hill was the presumed starter through all of spring ball and fall practices last season, numerous media members reported that Olsen looked sharp and he was receiving a high volume of snaps while Hill eased back into testing his injured knee. Although Hill was going to be given every chance to win the starting job, he had to prove that he was more capable than Olsen at running Anae’s new offense. With Olsen gone, there is almost no conjecturing about who is BYU's quarterback of the future.
It can be good, particularly for a quarterback, to feel safe in his role and to not play tight worrying that every mistake might cost him the starting job. However, it is also good for every player to have to compete everyday and show that he is the best player at his position.
In particular, one thing that Olsen could contest Hill on was passing accuracy. There is little chance that any quarterback on BYU’s roster can match up with Hill as a pure athlete. If there is one knock on Hill, though, it is that he is still erratic as a passer and has not fully made the evolution from an athlete throwing the ball to a quarterback who happens to be a tremendous athlete.
Having the daily presence of a polished passer behind him would force Hill to continue to focus on his development as a passer rather than relying on his running ability. Green or Stewart might be able to compete with Hill’s passing ability, but again, there is a reason they were not second string last season.
The end of an era?
The jury is still out on whether or not Anae’s “Go Fast, Go Hard” offensive scheme can be consistently successful at BYU. The scheme requires a mobile quarterback who is adept at making correct decisions in the read-option game and having the explosiveness to get to the edge. For his part, Hill was electrifying as a runner in 2013 with 1,344 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry, and 10 touchdowns.
But, the real question is, how often can BYU snag recruits athletic enough to run this scheme? Hill is the most athletic quarterback BYU has had since Steve Young was the starter in 1982-83. While Brandon Doman was a shifty and smart runner, he was nowhere near as big and explosive as Hill or Young. In other words, BYU had not had a quarterback with a similar skill set to Young for 30 years.
Almost all of the quarterback legends in Provo were known nearly exclusively for their passing skills rather than their running ability. If the Cougars stick with their current offensive scheme, it will be interesting to see if Anae and his staff can continue to get similar players to Hill. It appears that they will have to, since guys like Olsen (a more traditional drop-back passer) may no longer be coming to the Y.
Only time will tell how big of an effect Olsen’s transfer has on BYU football. It is not a foregone conclusion that he would have been a successful Div. I Quarterback. However, his departure may not only affect the 2014 season, it may, in fact, be indicative of more widespread change throughout the program. Until history plays out, Cougar fans can only hold their breath every time Hill endures a bone-crushing hit and cross their fingers that more future players like him find their way to Happy Valley. Dylan Cannon is a contributor to KSL.com and can be reached on his Twitter account @DylanCannon11.
