Rod Smith’s room is practically overflowing these days.
The Arizona Wildcats assistant has four scholarship quarterbacks to work with, plus ballyhooed walk-on Donavan Tate. They ask so many questions, Smith sometimes doesn’t have time to catch his breath.
“But that’s how eager they are,” Smith said. “It’s a good thing. It’s a good problem to have.”
Smith spoke to reporters Wednesday night for the first time since training camp opened. Here’s some of what he had to say about Arizona’s multitude of quarterbacks:
(on returning starter Brandon Dawkins’ progress)
“He’s got a better grasp of what we’re doing offensively. He looks more comfortable. We’ve tried to tighten his motion down a little bit; that’s helped. There’s (still) some more work that needs to be done. At the same time, he’s kind of an elongated kid naturally. So you try to work the kinks out without screwing him up.
“I think he’s a lot more comfortable offensively as far as knowing where guys are at, knowing where to go with the football. But we’ve got to keep getting better at being more instinctive in terms of anticipating throws, anticipating windows, things like that. That’s the next phase we’ve got to get to.”
(on sophomore Khalil Tate’s development)
“Khalil’s gotten better mentally as well. He’s not ready, but he’s a lot further along than what he was. He’s throwing the ball much better. He’s throwing with velocity, throwing with touch. He’s always had touch, but he’s throwing the ball with a lot more accuracy this fall.
“I’m excited about him. The kid’s got a world of talent. We’ve just got to keep progressing mentally. The lights will kick on here sometime real soon, hopefully.”
(on Donavan Tate through nine days of training camp)
“Very talented kid. He’s not a kid; he’s a man. Very talented guy. He’s into it. He’s trying to grasp everything. When you’re away from football as long as he was, obviously there’s going to be some rustiness, some kinks you’ve got to get worked out. He’s in the process of doing that.
“But the kid is very conscientious. Comes to work every day. Has a great attitude towards it in terms of trying to learn this thing. He’s going to be good by the time he’s sharpened up and ready to go.”
(on freshman K’Hari Lane’s skill set)
“He can throw the ball, man. He’s got a live arm. He’s gotta get in better shape, obviously. He knows that. He’s still learning, still trying to grasp the offense.”
(on the freshman QBs as a whole)
“When it’s your first time, it can be overwhelming. The good part is, those guys haven’t let it overwhelm them mentally. I’m not saying they’re ready to play, but you can tell they’ve got a grasp of what we’re trying to do. They’re not lost. It’s a developmental phase they’ll go through, but they’re all working at it.”
