Another Riley Nelson?

[Cougarbib]

Nobody seemed excited about getting another QB like Riley Nelson back when - too small - unathletic - not your typical BYU QB - Alex Kuresa came along. I can remember some saying he didn't deserve a D1 schollie and others say he would not contribute anytime soon if ever.

Ok - he hasn't done anything yet. He needs to show it on the field of play. He may or may not ever play QB, but sounds like the kind of player that as soon as you tell him he can't, he proves he can.

Any now that Taysom Hill has us all giddy building upon what Riley started about a QB not having to be a "BYU" QB to be successful and appreciated, who knows what the future brings.

Deseret news talked about Kuresa not only returning punts or kicks when he isn't catching passes, but maybe even running down like Riley Nelson on kick coverage. Special teams guys love him.

And he caught a 60 yard TD pass from Nelson today.

Nelson, Falslev, and now Kuresa. The words "making up for it with grit" keep coming up. Infectious. Guys love them. Perhaps a result of Leadership and being told they "can't".

I hope Kuresa finds a role alongside Nelson, Falslev, and all of the others to make a contribution. Maybe he will play everything but QB.

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[byucougar1]

Kuresa is an athlete and will see the playing field this year. QB position was stacked so the coaches put him where he can use his speed and elusiveness to the best of his ability. Remember he was one of the top players on the scout team last year and rivaled what Max brought to the table when he played on the scout team.

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[Cougs_Rule]

Great story, but, "man [nor a football team] cannot live by [Rudy] alone." Bronco loves a feel good, blue collar, story, but I have to wonder if Kuresa is one of his Thursday's Heroes kids? In the famous words of my Irish-friend who coaches the rugby team, "the dude's a wee man."
He better have Nate Mickle-like metal to take hits, because his "speed" is sooner or later going to write checks his body can't cash at the D1 level. Dont forget that Heaps also thrived in a non-hitting environment. Throw in an angry Manti Teo and this kid might just end up not only with some broken bones, but in a wheel chair too. "go on [Jake], be a Tiger." keep going for it!!

[Cougarfan87]

Great story, but, "man [nor a football team] cannot live by [Rudy] alone." Bronco loves a feel good, blue collar, story, but I have to wonder if Kuresa is one of his Thursday's Heroes kids? In the famous words of my Irish-friend who coaches the rugby team, "the dude's a wee man."
He better have Nate Mickle-like metal to take hits, because his "speed" is sooner or later going to write checks his body can't cash at the D1 level. Dont forget that The last guy named Jake also thrived in a non-hitting environment. Throw in an angry Manti Teo and this kid might just end up not only with some broken bones, but in a wheel chair too. "go on [Jake], be a Tiger." keep going for it!!

Rudy's problem was he had a lot of heart and no athletic talent. This kid is an athlete. I like to think that maybe we are learning from Patterson that you can build a great team if you can coach up athletes and not get too stuck on what position the athlete has to play--use them where they can be the most effective. Patterson was great at taking speed guys and turning them into great defenders.

[byucougar1]

As a former QB, he can read defenses quickly, understand their scheme, and find the open spot. Alex is bigger than former standout WRs of similar stature: Reno Mahe, Nate Mickle, Ben Cahoon, JD Falslev, etc. read up on what BC expects from WR and you will see smaller WR are more adept at getting into their routes quicker, can make very precise cuts (on the dime), and can have little man syndrome which means they will not back down from anyone and play with a chip on their shoulder. I don't care about size, I want a talented winner that won't back down and gives me everything on every down. Team recognizes this and has rallied around him

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[Cougs_Rule]

As a former QB, he can read defenses quickly, understand their scheme, and find the open spot. Alex is bigger than former standout WRs of similar stature: Reno Mahe, Nate Mickle, Ben Cahoon, JD Falslev, etc. read up on what BC expects from WR and you will see smaller WR are more adept at getting into their routes quicker, can make very precise cuts (on the dime), and can have little man syndrome which means they will not back down from anyone and play with a chip on their shoulder. I don't care about size, I want a talented winner that won't back down and gives me everything on every down. Team recognizes this and has rallied around him

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You must be cut from the same cloth. I like it.
Taller isn't bigger. I look forward to seeing him today.

[redneckjedi]

You know what I love about this? The fact that he has the skills to be a WR and a QB. That makes him perfect as a wildcat QB - way better than someone like Eric Weddle, who wasn't a threat to throw most of the time*. You can have him in the formation at any position without giving away the play AND without him being a liability when outside his normal position. You can line him up at WR and throw to him. You can give it to him on the fly sweep. You can have him throw out of the same fly sweep play. Or you can line up normal, then shift him into the QB spot and split out the normal QB - textbook wildcat offense.

If you want to win a national championship with recruiting classes in the 20's and 30's, you have to outsmart your opponents in addition to out executing them, and this kind of versatility is what you need to do it.

* Yeah, he completed a TD pass against us in 2006. If he were to have thrown 20 passes that game, though, his QB rating would have been terrible.

[Wickchad84087]

Didn't we recently have an athlete/QB from Timpview that couldn't crack the QB rotation but you heard about them playing all over as a WR or Safety etc. in practice. But he never saw the field and I think eventually disappeared. I forgot what his name is. Maybe he was a Covey.

Hopefully Kuresa doesn't suffer the same fate.

[redneckjedi]

Didn't we recently have an athlete/QB from Timpview that couldn't crack the QB rotation but you heard about them playing all over as a WR or Safety etc. in practice. But he never saw the field and I think eventually disappeared. I forgot what his name is. Maybe he was a Covey.

Hopefully Kuresa doesn't suffer the same fate.

True - and you're right, it was a Covey. But it sounds like Kuresa is going to see the field as a WR because he's just that talented. That's what gets me excited.

[jonnylingo]

hello.