Three Areas Where BYU QB Jake Retzlaff Can Improve the Most in 2025

On Monday night, ESPN released a way-too-early Top 25 for the 2025 season. BYU came in at no. 9, the highest-ranked team in the Big 12. If BYU is going to live up to those lofty preseason expectations and compete for a Big 12 championship, it could come down to the improvement of returning quarterback Jake Retzlaff.

Retzlaff was much-improved in 2024 compared to 2023. He made big-time throws, he led BYU in rushing for a chunk of the season, and he was more accurate. While BYU dealt with injuries at running back, Retzlaff was the primary source of offense for BYU. He made some really critical plays in big moments, and he was consistently good in the two-minute drill. Without Retlzaff, BYU doesn't start the season 9-0.

As the season progressed, however, one thing became clear: there is still room for improvement. Retzlaff's production dropped off in November and the problems that plagued him in 2023 began to surface again. If Retzlaff can take a similar step forward in 2025 like he did in 2024, BYU could be a very, very good offense in 2025. BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said he expects Retzlaff to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football next season. Today, we're going over three areas where Retzlaff can improve the most during the offseason to become one of the best quarterbacks in the sport.

1. Protect the Football

First and foremost, Jake Retzlaff needs to take better care of the football if BYU hopes to compete for the Big 12 championship in 2025.

There are two ways to improve: increase the floor or increase the ceiling. Step number one is to increase the floor. At times, Retzlaff's floor was too low in 2024 due to turnovers.

Turnovers were an issue for Retzlaff, especially during the back half of the season. Retlzaff finished the season with 12 interceptions and 18 turnover-worthy throws according to PFF. He had a turnover-worthy throw on 4.1% of his attempts. That was the third-highest rate among Big 12 quarterbacks (minimum 200 drop-backs) ahead of only Isaac Wilson (6.3%) and Jalon Daniels (4.3%).

Through the first eight games of the season, Retzlaff's turnover-worthy play percentage was 3.9%. Not great, but much better than the 6.4% ratio he had over the last five games of the season. His bowl performance against Colorado was his worst of the season, and frankly, it wasn't very close. Retzlaff had a turnover-worthy throw on 14.3% of his attempts against the Buffaloes.

It was the timing of those turnovers, in particular, that were costly in November. Whether it was the interception against Kansas that led to BYU's first loss of the season, or the game-sealing interception against Arizona State, the turnovers came in very critical moments in November.

Retzlaff also fumbled the football eight times in 2024, a number that needs to come down if he is going to continue to be a fixture in the BYU rushing attack.

Protecting the football typically comes with experience. With a full year as a starter under his belt, and another full offseason to make improvements, this is the area we expect Retzlaff to grow the most in 2025.

2. Make the Defense Pay When Blitzing

There's a reason defenses don't blitz on every down: there are downsides. Sending blitzes consistently makes defenses vulnerable to chunk plays.

One area where Retzlaff struggled in 2024: making defenses pay when they brought a blitz. Retzlaff's PFF passing grade when he wasn't blitzed was 86.7. When he was blitzed, his passing grade dropped to 54.9.

When he wasn't blitzed, he had a big-time throw rate of 4.6% and a turnover-worthy throw rate 1.9% of his attempts. When he was blitzed, his big-time throw rate dropped to 0.6% and his turnover-worthy throw rate increased to 7.4%.

This deficiency isn't unique. Most college football quarterbacks struggle against the blitz. Elite quarterbacks, however, learn to diagnose blitzes and make defenses pay for sending them. If Retzlaff can learn how to better diagnose blitzes and hit his hot routes when they come, he could take another big step forward in 2025.

3. Connect on Deep Throws When They Are Open

If protecting the football will increase Retzlaff's floor, connecting on more deep throws will increase his ceiling.

Aaron Roderick's offensive philosophy is not a secret. He wants to establish a physical rushing attack and create chunk plays in the passing game. During the first half of the season, Retzlaff was consitently hitting on chunk plays in the passing game.

During the back half of the season as he was dealing with some injuries, he missed a few too many open receivers downfield.

Against Kansas, for example, Retzlaff missed a wide open Darius Lassiter downfield for a would-be touchdown. Against Colorado on the first play from scrimmage, Retzlaff threw the ball behind Keelan Marion for what might have been a one-play touchdown.

Retzlaff connected on 37% of his passes that were 20 yards or more downfield. That ranked 12th in the Big 12 last season. His deep passing grade ranked 15th in the conference. If Retzlaff can increase that completion percentage to near the middle of the Big 12 (or better), he could really increase his ceiling as a quarterback.