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Evaluation simple on QB situation

By Al Myatt
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The East Carolina quarterback situation will get a lot of Dave Nichol's attention in the offseason with the exit of Shane Carden, who started for most of the last three seasons and recently took part in the NFL combine after a record breaking college career and a couple of conference offensive player of the year awards.

Spring practice starts March 20 and the spring game is set for April 18.

"Right now we've got five quarterbacks on the roster," said Nichol, who was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Lincoln Riley went to Oklahoma following the 2014 season. "Kurt Benkert, Blake Kemp and Cody Keith are our three scholarship guys. They're going to get quite a few reps this spring. We're just going to let them go compete. Obviously, Kurt was the No. 2 guy during the season. Cody was hurt. Blake was over there kind of redshirting on the scout team. Kurt will probably go out there as No. 1 but they're all going to get a bunch of reps. The way we practice, we get a lot of reps for our guys. We'll kind of go from there."

There are two walk-on quarterbacks on the roster, Jason Connella and Ray Smith.

"We'll be able to see what they can do as well by the way we practice and throw it around," Nichol said.

ECU's former outside receivers coach talked about the qualities of the scholarship quarterbacks.

"Kurt, first and foremost, is a really-motivated guy," Nichol said. "He's a big, strong guy. He's great in the weight room. He's great in the class room. He's obviously been here, kind of doing it behind Shane really for two years so to speak. He really wants to be the guy. He can probably run better than most people think. ... He's just really physically talented. Getting him to really absorb the offense even better than he has is kind of the goal with him.

"Cody Keith had the Tommy John surgery but his arm is coming back pretty good. He's a thrower. He's a talented guy who's always been able to throw it. Like all of them, his challenge will be how they can function when 11 guys are out there and moving the ball. He's a good kid. Smart kid. He's already graduated. Big, tall kind of passer."

Kemp transferred from Mesa (AZ) Community College before the 2014 season.

"I'm interested to see kind of what he's all about," Nichol said. "He was on the scout team last year and did a good job for them. He's an intelligent guy. He was a junior college kid who had run this offense basically. ... He gets it done in different ways. I'll be anxious to see him throw it around, too."

Nichol said the evaluation of Carden's successor will be simple.

"Whoever moves the ball the best," he said. "I've already told all them this. Whoever moves the ball the best. You get us moving down the field with first downs, that's the guy who's going to be the starter. However that happens. Somebody who doesn't turn the ball over and moves us down the field.

"The most important statistic — well first, wins — but then if you break it down offensively is scoring. Whoever takes us down the field to score, that's who's going to play. Obviously, that entails a lot of other stuff but that's very simple and it's very true. Then you go into not taking sacks, not throwing picks, not having negative yardage. A lot of times it starts with really just minimizing mistakes.

"Whoever it is, it's going to be their first game to start (Sept. 5, at home against Towson). That's something that we're not used to the last couple of years with a guy like Shane. So as opposed to making ridiculous, crazy plays, let's make sure we minimize mistakes because I think we've got some good talent around them. Throwing it to the right guy and moving the ball down the field, even though that's simple, that's still the name of the game."

Sizing up the running game

The running game has the potential to take some pressure off the Pirates' first-year starter at quarterback.

Chris Hairston, Anthony Scott, Marquez Grayson and Cory Hunter are among the experienced returners at running back.

"That's where it all starts," Nichol said. "Then you've got your play action passes off the thing, which can be very effective. We've got a bunch of linemen returning, long story short, so that's going to help us in that running game. We've got to lean on those guys and they've got to improve. Just because they're seniors doesn't mean they've got it all figured out. We've got to lean on them up front to help take some pressure off the quarterback and sometimes the passing game. We hope to improve that running game next year, no doubt."

Running back Chris Mangus sat out last season after transferring from Virginia Tech.

"He did some good things in the fall," Nichol said of Mangus. "He's got to keep doing that and keep taking care of his academics and all that kind of stuff. He's like a bunch of guys on offense. We're just going to wait and see — throw the ball out there and see what they can do this spring. He can catch a little bit. He can run a little bit, but he's still got to kind of continue to grow and mature on and off the field. He's trying to do that."

Significant losses at receiver

The Pirates lose outstanding receivers Justin Hardy and Cam Worthy, both of whom were involved in the NFL combine in Indianapolis in February. There is still depth among the pass targets.

"We've got a good group coming back," Nichol said. "Obviously, those guys are motivated to step up and do some good things. We feel good about starting on the right outside, Davon Grayson and Jimmy Williams, then inside with Bryce Williams, Isaiah Jones, Quay Johnson. Travon Brown and Terrell Green. We feel really good about those guys.

"Each of them have to step up in different ways because that's a lot of production we lost. ... Collectively, I think we'll be able to get it done but that's the challenge. The one thing we talked to them about was Justin never missed practice. He never got hurt. He was just super consistent. That's why he could make all those catches and all those plays. Just showing up and being there every day. There's something to be said about that. The young guys will grow up and mature. That's what they've got to do. We'd like them to do it sooner than later."

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PAGE UPDATED 02/27/15 05:29 PM.