Mike Leach explains what he looks for when evaluating quarterbacks

Statistically speaking, Mississippi State has the top quarterback in the SEC this season. Bulldogs coach Mike Leach discussed what he looks for in quarterbacks in his weekly press conference on Monday.

Will Rogers is throwing for 374.1 yards per game and completing 76.1% of his passes this year, leading the SEC in both categories. His 34 touchdowns are second in the league behind Alabama quarterback and Heisman contender Bryce Young.

Leach was asked about the qualities he wants from a quarterback, and he gave a great answer.

“Are they accurate? Do they make good decisions? The biggest, which is hard to pinpoint because it’s kind of a collection, is how good they do as far as elevating the players around them,” Leach told reporters. “But you start with ‘are they accurate’ and ‘do they make good decisions?’ If they can’t do that, then you can’t get past square one. You’ve got to be able to do that. A lot of times, you hear how big somebody is, how strong somebody is, how fast somebody is. Every bit of that’s irrelevant unless they’re accurate and they can make good decisions.

“From there, you look at do they have good feet? Are they fast? … Do they have a strong arm? Then, some collection of those things and their ability to lead and elevate their team, help them or allow them to unfold as a quarterback. You see quarterbacks come from all different levels, not just Division I, and I think because it’s a position that you learn, that you study, provided you can do certain things.”

Mike Leach: Quarterback is ‘arguably the most coached position on the field’

Leach also talked about how people see the quarterback position. While there’s a lot of natural ability that goes into it, he argued coaching plays a bigger part than almost any other spot on the field.

“So I think some people don’t view quarterback as a coached position,” Leach said. “I think it’s arguably the most coached position on the field with the possible exception of offensive line. You’ve got to push that along. People talk about all these great quarterbacks and all of these qualities I’ve mentioned.

“The Hall of Fame’s full of people that were missing two or three of those things. But I think it starts with how you elevate the players around you.”

Mississippi State is 7-4 this season and will close out the season with a Thanksgiving showdown with Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.