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SALT LAKE CITY — Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown needed a quarterback to work out with in the offseason for a summer camp he was hosting.
Through some connections back home in Florida, Brown learned about Utah’s Tyler Huntley and requested the junior signal caller join him on the field. The two connected and Huntley flew back to his home state of Florida to work out with one of the best receivers currently playing in the NFL.
“It was good,” Huntley says of the experience. “He trains hard and it was great to be with a great receiver, throwing to a great receiver.”
Huntley gained some perspective from a skills player who is playing at the highest level. He said the experience with Brown was all about learning — learning his role in the larger system, learning how to tap into his ability, learning how to improve upon previous mistakes.
That learning experience served Huntley well over the offseason as he spent more time in the film room studying the offense and getting stronger. His coaches say he’s improved upon “everything” and is making better decisions throughout fall camp.
Even with four-star quarterback Jack Tuttle coming into the program to push for the No. 1 job, Huntley has been the standout player and is poised to have an improved season.
“Last year at this time he was just battling, trying to establish himself, trying to win a job,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said of his starting quarterback. “This year he's the established guy. He is the guy. There is no doubt that he’s who everybody looks to on the offense.”
And with the confidence of being the “established guy,” Huntley has excelled in the offense in the offseason. He’s composed in the pocket as he reads what the defense is giving him, but remains the true dual-threat quarterback that is able to extend the play by rolling out and dishing the ball off to a scrambling receiver or tuck the ball and pick up some yards on his own.
“He's made great decisions,” offensive coordinator Troy Taylor says of Huntley. “I track all the decision making. He's like 95 percent (correct) in his decision making, which is extremely good. So yeah, he's done a great job of that.”
As an example of one area in which Huntley has improved, Taylor talks about a busted play in practice where Huntley had the opportunity to throw the ball to an open receiver, but a lineman was downfield. Last year, Huntley would have just thrown the ball because there was an open receiver, not minding the lineman downfield. As a result, Utah was penalized several times for an ineligible receiver downfield.
Instead, Huntley recognized the situation in practice and ran the ball to avoid getting the penalty. It’s this type of play that keeps Utah’s drive alive and gives the offense every opportunity to move the chains, or at least a better chance.
“Plays like that are really big plays,” Taylor said, noticeably impressed by his quarterback’s decision making. “You don't necessarily notice them, but they're big plays.”
Most importantly for Taylor, Huntley is avoiding “negative plays,” or downs that result in a sack or a forced pass.
“Tyler has been outstanding all camp,” Taylor said. “He's composed; he knows where to go with the ball; his mechanics are great; he's using very little space in the pocket; he's incredibly accurate.” Whittingham simply added that the junior is “better in all areas.”
Although Huntley has been making the right decisions in practice, his health remains the No. 1 priority for Whittingham. No play is worth the health of his starting quarterback, particularly one that will factor in large part to the run game in Utah’s diverse offensive scheme.
“The decisions on the hits he took was the big deal with me,” Whittingham said of Huntley’s decisions last season. “Tyler Huntley is going to be a part of our run game, that’s a fact. We’re never going to stop running him because he’s so valuable in that regard. But he’s got to do a much better job of getting out of harm’s way. That’s what he’s going to do this year.”
It’s an aspect of his game that everyone in the athletic department repeatedly reminds Huntley about, as if he doesn’t know that taking hits could injure him.
“Everybody in this facility talks to me every day telling me not to get hit, we need you for the whole season and everything like that,” Huntley said. “So I'll take that into consideration when I'm playing and just apply that into my game.”
Huntley loves to run, but said “I want to play a whole season,” so he’ll do “what I gotta do to play a whole season and win us some games.” To Huntley’s credit, he said he’ll continue to be a pass-first guy and spread the ball around to his receivers.
“I’ve always felt like I was always a pass-first guy,” he said. “But I feel like I'm more settled in the pocket, and it continues to get better as I grow in the offense and I feel comfortable.”
The improved quarterback will get his first opportunity to showcase his offseason work against a formidable FCS program in Weber State on Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
