'15 TX QB Steven Montez (Signed to COLORADO)

[MtnBuff]

Maybe. I don't think Sefo showed enough last year to believe that he is the definite starter for the rest of his career.

Well considering Montez won't play this year due to redshirt, and Sefo will be a senior next year, Montez will need to be very very good to unseat a 4 year starter next season.

We have seen and paid plenty of attention to Sefo's weaknesses here. That's what you do when you are losing games.

I would make an argument though that if he can significantly reduce the number and impact of his turnovers Sefo becomes one of the better QBs in college football. Yes he still isn't a big threat to run but he does some things very well.

We get influenced in our opinions because the PAC has had some of the best QBs in the country every year. Sefo has also played with limited talent around him and a lousy defense that has forced him to take bad chances to try to keep the Buffs in games.

Montez could very well turn into one of the best QBs in CU history before he is done but to think that he is going to beat out a Sr. Sefo as a RS Fr. is a little ridiculous. If he does it either means the Sefo has fallen apart or we have the second coming of Andrew Luck on our hands.

 

[Daaah]

Sefo was a big reason CU was even in position to "choke away a bunch of games last year".

I won't argue that, but you have to finish.

 

[MtnBuff]

I won't argue that, but you have to finish.

He doesn't play defense.

He had us in position to win more than once only to have the defense fail to hold it.

If Leavitt can make a reasonable improvement in the defense this year we won't be having this discussion in the future.

 

[Uncle Ken]

Montez physically looks the part. He is very tall, of course, and moves athletically. I heard a lot about his arm and frankly didn't see it in Saturday's practice.

Qualifiers. I'm not an expert on talent, so take my analysis with a grain of salt. He hasn't stepped foot in his first college class yet. He is being developed by one of the better QB coaches in the game, in my opinion.

So I'm not writing this to question his talent at all. I just want to say that the backup QB is always the salvation of the team in the fans' minds. CU fans were pissed when Hawkins wouldn't pull Cody's redshirt his first year.

I would caution against getting caught in that trap. Montez will be a great QB for us. But I hope the staff holds him out for a redshirt and develops his talent before he gets thrown out there.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I won't argue that, but you have to finish.

Agreed. Montez being as good as we think he can be will breed competition at the QB position that we haven't seen around here in a long time.

This is a big year for the coaching staff and program, but 2016 is the make or break season, IMO. Having the luxury of choosing between a solid, 4 year starter or an extremely talented RS Frosh will go a long way.

 

[MtnBuff]

Montez physically looks the part. He is very tall, of course, and moves athletically. I heard a lot about his arm and frankly didn't see it in Saturday's practice.

Qualifiers. I'm not an expert on talent, so take my analysis with a grain of salt. He hasn't stepped foot in his first college class yet. He is being developed by one of the better QB coaches in the game, in my opinion.

So I'm not writing this to question his talent at all. I just want to say that the backup QB is always the salvation of the team in the fans' minds. CU fans were pissed when Hawkins wouldn't pull Cody's redshirt his first year.

I would caution against getting caught in that trap. Montez will be a great QB for us. But I hope the staff holds him out for a redshirt and develops his talent before he gets thrown out there.

Good post.

People seem to forget that we all knew that Montez was going to be a developmental project when we recruited him. This is part of the reason he didn't have a lot of attention from other P5 programs. If he were a guy who was likely to be ready to start as a RS Fr. we likely wouldn't have him, he'd be at a school that has been winning more and recruiting higher profile kids.

 

[Quattro]

Not if Sefo chokes away a bunch of games again this year.

Montez won't play this year and that's not fair to Sefo.

He he obviously had turnover issues last year, but when you compare his stats to other sophomore QB's, Sean Mannion for example when he was that age, his stats don't look bad. Plus, and this is something that Lindgren said recently, he had way too much pressure on him with the running game not picking up until later in the year and no defense.

 

[Bufffan68]

I liked what I saw from Montez at practice...but he will be redshirted since we have JG and CA who have been in the system longer. From what I saw and my limited knowledge and experience, I could see CA taking the #2 position from JG.

And people dump on Sefo...but considering he was a sophomore and had to score a ton of points due to one of the worst (if not the worst) P5 defenses and an O line that put too much pressure on him, I think Sefo is pretty good. If the D and protection improve this year and he still throws 15 INTs, then I will agree with people's negative assessments.

 

[Dahunted1]

The reason Montez was lightly recruited was because he played in El Paso, TX. If he played down the road at say Midland Lee, or Odessa Perimian, he would have been Mr Football in Texas instead of just a Finalist. I saw Steven play live last year, and he is a special player. El Paso has some good players, but they are scattered around town at a bunch of small schools. As for his arm, I think the coaches need to have him learn to throw with a little taken off. The kid can spin it like nobody's business, but needs master throwing with touch. He can flick the ball 50+ yards on the run without setting his feet going to his left as a right handed QB, but sometimes throws it hard when it's uncalled for.

 

[DBT]

Listen, if this program was running like a machine, a quarterback wouldn't take on the starting role until his junior year. Montez, if he takes the job, which isn't a guarantee, would start as a red shirt sophomore assuming Sefo stays healthy. I think one thing people don't mention is that, yeah, Sefo committed some heinous turnovers, but he did so either under duress or while trying to make something happen because our defense kept putting us in holes.

 

[DBT]

The reason Montez was lightly recruited was because he played in El Paso, TX. If he played down the road at say Midland Lee, or Odessa Perimian, he would have been Mr Football in Texas instead of just a Finalist. I saw Steven play live last year, and he is a special player. El Paso has some good players, but they are scattered around town at a bunch of small schools. As for his arm, I think the coaches need to have him learn to throw with a little taken off. The kid can spin it like nobody's business, but needs master throwing with touch. He can flick the ball 50+ yards on the run without setting his feet going to his left as a right handed QB, but sometimes throws it hard when it's uncalled for.

Odessa Permian? Pshaw! They suck!!

 

[Duff Man]

Listen, if this program was running like a machine, a quarterback wouldn't take on the starting role until his junior year. Montez, if he takes the job, which isn't a guarantee, would start as a red shirt sophomore assuming Sefo stays healthy. I think one thing people don't mention is that, yeah, Sefo committed some heinous turnovers, but he did so either under duress or while trying to make something happen because our defense kept putting us in holes.

Good to great QBs play early. I have no idea why people act like the best players on a team need to wait until they are upperclassmen to show out.

 

[SINKRATZ]

Montez is wearing a good jersey in practice, right? Means he hasn't taken live shots from a Dlineman at this level, so I'm going to hold off on the freshman QB hype. Cody Hawkins, Clark Evans, Matt Ballenger, Connor Wood, Shane Dillon...these guys were all superstars until they stepped on the field.

That said, the best guy should start regardless of age. Preserving a redshirt doesn't make sense to me if your best QB is on the bench. If you can continue to bring in talented QBs, then you shouldn't have to worry about preserving that 5th year at all costs.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

There is probably a 50/50 chance that HCMM and Lindgren won't even be at CU for Montez's 5th year, so I think we should all rest assured that they will not be saving a year of his eligibility, if he gives the team a better chance to win this year than Sefo.

 

[BuffsNYC]

There's only a very slim chance that a true freshman, even a very talented one, can beat out a QB who's been the starter in the system for almost 2 years. Yeah, Sefo beat out Wood, but they had equal time to learn the offense.

 

[dply]

Most of us beat wood in college.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

There's only a very slim chance that a true freshman, even a very talented one, can beat out a QB who's been the starter in the system for almost 2 years. Yeah, Sefo beat out Wood, but they had equal time to learn the offense.

Sefo only beat out wood after he proved to be supremely ineffective during the season.

 

[onealcd]

Some of the best quarterbacks in college football the last couple years still needed a year to get used to the college level and especially the new offensive system. If Montez pushes Sefo next year there is nothing wrong with that but that will be tough to do. Montez looks like he has one of the best and more accurate arms to come through Colorado in a while but there is a lot that goes into determining how successful he is going to be beyond that. As noted above can he take a hit? Can he process in real game situations? Is he a leader on and off the field (Sefo clearly is)? We will see this weekend at the scrimmage but just because he doesn't start this year or next doesn't mean he isn't going to be a good QB. Everyone on this board has talked about how young the teams have been over the last 5 years and how problematic that is and then when we get to the point where that isn't the case anymore people get concerned with the talent coming in. This is all part of the program building taking place.

 

[Duff Man]

Some of the best quarterbacks in college football the last couple years still needed a year to get used to the college level and especially the new offensive system. If Montez pushes Sefo next year there is nothing wrong with that but that will be tough to do. Montez looks like he has one of the best and more accurate arms to come through Colorado in a while but there is a lot that goes into determining how successful he is going to be beyond that. As noted above can he take a hit? Can he process in real game situations? Is he a leader on and off the field (Sefo clearly is)? We will see this weekend at the scrimmage but just because he doesn't start this year or next doesn't mean he isn't going to be a good QB. Everyone on this board has talked about how young the teams have been over the last 5 years and how problematic that is and then when we get to the point where that isn't the case anymore people get concerned with the talent coming in. This is all part of the program building taking place.

I am just saying the idea there is no way any QB should start before their junior/senior is some sort of weird conventional wisdom that does not really ring true in college football. I also firmly believe Montez can be used next year in addition to Sefo.

 

[onealcd]

I am just saying the idea there is no way any QB should start before their junior/senior is some sort of weird conventional wisdom that does not really ring true in college football. I also firmly believe Montez can be used next year in addition to Sefo.

No I agree with you there, most great QB's are redshirt freshman, true sophomore, redshirt sophomores.

 

[slider]

Montez and/or Apsay need to get PT in garbage time. Minimum

 

[Quattro]

Early reports on his leadership are good, agree with the rest.

 

[onealcd]

Montez and/or Apsay need to get PT in garbage time. Minimum

Gehrke and Cade will get all the garbage time snaps, I don't think there is much use of burning a red shirt on garbage time. If he is a consistent running threat to sub in at certain points during critical games then yeah.

 

[MtnBuff]

I am just saying the idea there is no way any QB should start before their junior/senior is some sort of weird conventional wisdom that does not really ring true in college football. I also firmly believe Montez can be used next year in addition to Sefo.

I agree that best man should play regardless of years in the system.

Most of the time though it is either a case where you don't have a decent starter ahead of them (Why Sefo got his shot,) or that they are really special players.

I think that with time to develop Montez can be a very good QB for us but El Paso or not, if he was that special guy teams would have found him and recruited him against us.

Any idea that Montez or most 18-20 year old kids are ready to be a starting P5 QB and better than a guy who has been a solid multi year starter looks to be a pretty dramatic jump until he proves differently.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

[tweet]630830009507147776[/tweet]

 

[buffaholic]

I agree that best man should play regardless of years in the system.

Most of the time though it is either a case where you don't have a decent starter ahead of them (Why Sefo got his shot,) or that they are really special players.

I think that with time to develop Montez can be a very good QB for us but El Paso or not, if he was that special guy teams would have found him and recruited him against us.

Any idea that Montez or most 18-20 year old kids are ready to be a starting P5 QB and better than a guy who has been a solid multi year starter looks to be a pretty dramatic jump until he proves differently.

All those NFL QBs in the NFL who didn't get P5 offers at all would serve to disprove that statement. And not all were developed, they were just overlooked.

 

[SECOBuffsFan]

Unless he is the next Andrew Luck, CU doesn't achieve its goal of a bowl game with a true freshman at the helm.

Its also a nice thought that maybe CU will be as good or better at quarterback when Sefo graduates with Montez.....would make us feel like a program again

 

[Bufffan68]

Unless he is the next Andrew Luck, CU doesn't achieve its goal of a bowl game with a true freshman at the helm.

Its also a nice thought that maybe CU will be as good or better at quarterback when Sefo graduates with Montez.....would make us feel like a program again

That would be awesome, cuz odds are Sefo will own a big chunk of the records at QB when he's done.

 

[Colobuffs21]

i think we all need to lay off the koolaid for a moment.

 

[MtnBuff]

i think we all need to lay off the koolaid for a moment.

Amazing how fast Montez has gone from a good prospect to the next Manning or Elway before he ever takes a single snap in a scrimmage much less a game.