2023 BYU Football Spring Roster: The Good, The Bad, & The Future at the Quarterback Position
Last week, BYU kicked off Spring camp in preparation for the 2023 season. Today, we start a series previewing the Spring roster by position. We'll start with the quarterbacks.
BYU Spring Roster: Quarterback
Six quarterbacks are listed on BYU's roster. Only two of them were on BYU's roster in 2022.
Previous Signees (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)
NA
Transfers (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)
Credit: BYU Photo
- 10 - Kedon Slovis
Returning Players (Number, Name, 247 Composite Score)
- 11 - Cade Fennegan
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15 - Nick Billoups
2023 Signees
- 18 - Ryder Burton
- 12 - Jake Retzlaff
Other Newcomers
- 16 - Cole Hagen
The Good – BYU is coming off three consecutive seasons of great quarterback play. Whether it was Zach Wilson in 2020, Baylor Romney in backup duty, Jaren Hall throughout his tenure, or Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters in the bowl game against SMU, Aaron Roderick has found different ways to move the football with different quarterbacks.
While the 2023 season will feature more new faces at quarterback than familiar ones, the BYU offense has the potential for another productive season at quarterback. Pitt transfer Kedon Slovis has impressed coaches and players in his first week at camp. Barring injury, Slovis will start for BYU at quarterback in 2023. Slovis has all the talent to be successful in BYU's offense - he has thrown for nearly 10,000 yards in his career and if Roderick can help Slovis return to USC form, the BYU offense has a chance to be very good again in 2023.
The Bad – After Slovis, BYU's quarterbacks are almost entirely unproven. Cade Fennegan has attempted 28 passes in his college career. Besides Slovis, he is the only quarterback with FBS experience.
Quarterback health at BYU has been hard to come by over the last decade, and Slovis himself has dealt with his share of injuries during his career. If BYU is going to make a bowl game or better, it might hinge on the health of Kedon Slovis.
The Spring is supremely important not only for Slovis, but those that will sit behind him as well.
The Future – Slovis has only one season of eligibility remaining. This time next year, BYU will be preparing for another season with a new quarterback. BYU doesn't have any quarterbacks on missions or committed to the program, so the future of the quarterback position is already on the roster, at least for now.
Cade Fennegan, Jake Retzlaff, and Ryder Burton are the three other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Retzlaff was a highly productive JUCO quarterback before he signed with BYU in December. He has unique arm talent and a very high ceiling. He can make near impossible throws look comfortable. If he can learn the offense and limit mistakes, it's my opinion that he will emerge as the starting quarterback for the 2024 and 2025 season. You can see his arm talent in his highlights:
Cade Fennegan, according to reports, has impressed during Spring camp. Fennegan has been in the offense longer than any quarterback on the roster, so this is a big opportunity to showcase what he can do with more opportunities. Fennegan was coveted by USC before he ended up at Boise State. If Fennegan can win the backup job in 2023, he will set himself up to compete for the starting job in 2024.
Ryder Burton is the first high school quarterback that BYU has signed since Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters. Burton prepped at a smaller school in Springville, Utah in a run-heavy offense. Burton will need some time to acclimate to the college game, but he has impressive arm strength and is fiercely competitive.
Cole Hagen is another newcomer to monitor this Spring. Cole is the older brother of four-star wide receiver Cody Hagen who signed with BYU before his mission. Hagen was a state champion quarterback at Corner Canyon who decided to walk on at BYU after his mission.
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