In this series, Go Joe Bruin will highlight one player who is overlooked, buried on the depth chart or just doesn’t receive the hype of other players on the UCLA Football team get but is key to the success of the 2016 season.
Each positional unit has guys that are highly recruited, played well the previous year or are just plain studs. While every team wishes those kinds of guys made up their whole team, you cannot ignore that some guys bring their lunch pail to work everyday no matter how many stars they had or how many starts they had last year.
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Those are the kinds of guys you want on the team and the kind that can help you eventually win a championship. Every program has them and the UCLA Football team is no exception.
Here we start our ‘Most Underrated Player by Position’ series looking at the quarterbacks and a player that has meant a lot to the progress of the passing game over the last few seasons.
Quarterbacks
Mike Fafaul probably isn’t at the top of the list for many who follow the UCLA program when it comes to quarterbacks. He probably isn’t even second on that list.
Let me explain to you why he’s starts off this series. Fafaul came to UCLA knowing he was going to have to beat out the “savior” Brett Hundley and the steady but unspectacular Jerry Neuheisel in order to ever see the field.
While he never did beat out those two, Fafaul improved enough to be in the conversation for the potential starting job for the 2015 season even if no one in the media gave him much of a chance to win it.
Here’s why Fafaul is the most underrated quarterback on the roster. Despite the freshmen coming in this year, it seems as though there are even fewer quarterback questions this time around. Is that because they’re college football ready?
No, it’s because I believe there’s a steady but silent confidence in a guy like him. Blessed with a high football I.Q. and a strong arm, Fafaul is the kind of player that could have easily made a name for himself in a lower tier conference or even dominated the FCS level.
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Instead he came to a major university where the chance to win a starting job wasn’t guaranteed and competed against all odds.
During last Fall camp I watched Fafaul complete some very nice balls, lead the offense, and demonstrate a gunslinger mentality that is typical of many high profile quarterbacks.
Most would agree that if Josh Rosen went down the Bruins would be hard pressed to play at a high level. A heavy majority would assume that either Matt Lynch or Devon Modster would have to take over as freshmen.
A slight few however know what Fafaul is capable of and although this may be an unpopular opinion, this writer believes the team would do surprisingly well with him at the helm.
Next: UCLA Football: Three Game Times Set for 2016
Next week we will look at the running back position to find an unheralded runner who does more for the team than is recognized. As always leave comments or thoughts about the list and take a stab at who will be featured next week.