A few months ago it was hard to miss the emergence of local college quarterbacks across your television and mobile device screens in what came to be termed the “Year of the Hawaii quarterback.”
This summer, they are back — and dropping back in passing poses from preseason magazine editions on racks scattered around the country.
There are already sightings across multiple Street & Smith, Lindy’s and Athlon covers for Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) and McKenzie Milton (Central Florida), whose teams staked claims to national championships.
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PICKING THE MOUNTAIN WEST
How the preseason magazines see UH in the MWC
STREET & SMITH
WEST
1. San Diego State
2. Fresno State
3. UNLV
4. Nevada
5. Hawaii
6. San Jose State
MOUNTAIN
1. Boise State
2. Colorado State
3. Wyoming
4. Utah State
5. Air Force
6. New Mexico
ATHLON
WEST
1. San Diego State
2. Fresno State
3. UNLV
4. Nevada
5. Hawaii
6. San Jose State
MOUNTAIN
1. Boise State
2. Utah State
3. Wyoming
4. Colorado State
5. Air Force
6. New Mexico
LINDY’S
WEST
1. Fresno State
2. San Diego State
3. Nevada
4. UNLV
5. Hawaii
6. San Jose State
MOUNTAIN
1. Boise State
2. Wyoming
3. Utah State
4. Colorado State
5. Air Force
6. New Mexico
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Hawaii quarterbacks not only win, apparently they also sell. At $8.99 to $9.99 per magazine, too.
And, to think that it wasn’t until 2013, when Marcus Mariota was going deep for Oregon, that a locally produced quarterback was deemed cover material outside his immediate region.
These are, indeed, buoyant times with the long-running Street & Smith’s magazine declaring Milton, a junior by way of Mililani, its preseason first team All-America pick. Athlon has Tagovailoa, a sophomore via Saint Louis School, its second-team pick. Both are among its projected Heisman Trophy contenders.
“With a big-time arm and lethal accuracy, Tagovailoa can develop into the best quarterback of Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama,” Athlon declares.
Street & Smith’s says, “Milton will try to build off of a huge 2017 to set the foundation for his draft stock. The quarterback’s improvement as a passer and elusiveness as a runner could make him an intriguing pick for teams. He’s looking to follow the path of former UCF quarterback Blake Bortles, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.”
Not to forget Ole Miss’ Jordan Ta‘amu, a senior out of Pearl City High and New Mexico Military Institute, who also receives prominent mention in the Southeastern Conference after taking over as a midseason starter.
Their emergence takes some of the edge off the magazines’ unanimous projections of a fifth place finish in the six-team Mountain West Conference Western Division for the University of Hawaii.
San Jose State, UH’s last victim of a 3-9 campaign in 2017, is the hands-down pick for the cellar in a division where San Diego State and Fresno State, champions over the last five seasons, are expected to duel it out.
Of course, last year the projection was for a second-place UH to nip at the Aztecs’ heels, too.
This season, Lindy’s lists UH at 118th in the 130-team Football Bowl Subdivision while Athlon sees them at 121st.
Under the heading of “Good news” Lindy’s says, “Hawaii has a nice cast of wide receivers and, perhaps, the MW’s best linebackers.” Under “Bad News” it notes, “Defense will be an issue as will depth, thanks to graduation and transfers.”
In summation, the magazine predicts, “Given the transfers, Nick Rolovich’s team will look closer to the 2017 team (bad) than the 2016 team (good).”
To change the ’Bows’ luck, Lindy’s touts another local quarterback. It cites incoming freshman Chevan Cordeiro from Saint Louis as UH’s perfectly timed “top newcomer” in the wake of Dru Brown’s abrupt departure and the return of the run-and-shoot offense.
His role in an expanded, “Year of the Hawaii quarterback 2.0” couldn’t come too soon for UH.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
