BYU Football: The strengths (and weaknesses) of each QB
By Adam Gibby
Sol Jay Maiava
Brief Bio: Sol Jay Maiava was a three star athlete coming out of St. Johns high school. He was the Polynesian Bowl MVP before joining BYU Football last year. He entered the game three times last year, however never registered any stats.
Strengths: Vision and “It factor”. When watching highlights of Maiava in high school, Maiava was really efficient with his reads. He had the mobility to get out of trouble while keeping his eyes down the field. Many of the highlights in his MaxPreps video appear to have him positions where within three seconds he is already on his fourth read. He also has the “It factor” where he was able to make something out of nothing whether it was picking up a bad snap, flipping the ball out with his left hand or throwing into a window that wasn’t open when he released the ball.
Weaknesses: Size. While in today’s college football world being 6’4″ 210 pounds is no longer a requirement, his 6’1″ 175 pounds is a bit small for the position. While he can get over this, QB’s that size tend to get hurt a lot easier than either shorter QB’s around the same size, or bigger quarterbacks.
How to get in the game: Hope for the best. Maiava has been overlooked this past offseason as a clear cut fourth stringer. While I’m not here to judge how accurate or fair that is, the reality is the guys above him on the depth chart, much like Cade Fennegan, are just better at what they do. It may be tough for Maiava to see the field this year, but watch out for him in a few years if he sticks around.