It was 11 months ago today when Matt Trogdon over at Streaking the Lawn reached out to me to see if I would mind sending over some quotes for a piece he was doing on Bryce Perkins. Recall that at that point, there was no game film to go on, no memories of 3,603 yards of total offense and 34 TDs. No, it was just bits and pieces from spring ball.
Even then, it was plain to see just what a difference maker this kid would be. I figured if he stayed healthy, he would be a game changer for the Cavaliers and was more than enough to put them back in the postseason.
Fast forward nearly a year and what Perkins put on the field in 2018 should have every Wahoo fan jacked about what he can do for an encore this fall.
Now, PFF has been talking a lot about Bryce Hall this offseason—for good reason—but the place with the absolute best stats breakdown in the business is also putting out plenty on Perkins, too. And there’s plenty of reason for that.
What the Arizona native and presumed team captain did last fall was the definition of special. Along with Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, Perkins was one of just two players to put up more than 2,600 yards passing while racking up more than 900 on the ground. Not only did he lead the conference with 206 points (13th best nationally) but he set the UVa single-season record for both total offense and TDs. And that’s not all: His season was all over the record books elsewhere, including tying most 100-yard rushing games for a QB (four) and tying for second with 25 passing TDs while also finishing third all-time with a 64.5 completion percentage.
It’s fair if a year ago fans had no idea he’d end up winning the Dudley Award. It’s fair if a year ago you were still a little concerned about him staying healthy or about the offense coming together around him. And it’s fair if, after the way 2017 ended, you still weren’t sure how this whole thing would go.
But in Perkins Virginia didn’t just find lightning in a bottle. Sure, the kid came in and immediately went to work, thereby winning over his team before he’d even officially won the starting job. But the coaching staff put a blueprint out on the field, each and every week, of the kind of quarterback they want leading their offense.
So, if that’s what he did then, without any seat time and with just one spring around his new teammates to build chemistry and learn the playbook, it’s fair to dream what he can do now with a full year under his belt. That’s even more tantalizing when you consider that he played the majority of the season with torn ligaments in his throwing hand that required offseason surgery.
Surely, with more time in the system both OC Robert Anae and QBs coach Jason Beck know better what the 6-foot-3, 215 pounder can do and what he needs to improve on this summer. And it’s not only understandable but reasonable if they expect his on-field play to improve, especially when it comes to reading defenses and going through his progressions.
There’s no doubt that teams will be more prepared for Perkins this season in ways they weren’t last year. And without Olamide Zaccheaus, UVa has to figure out how to best deploy its assets to create the kind of mismatches and space that Perkins made so much hay out of in 2018.
Maybe a Heisman campaign is a bit much as of yet, though some fans are surely eager for it. But Perkins is a special talent, easily the second-best QB in the league, and the type of guy who makes your question marks elsewhere seem like minute details after the fact.
Any Wahoo fans who aren’t all in on this team this year will have no one to blame but themselves.
As I told Trogdon then I’ll echo here a year later: “Doubt [Perkins] at your own peril.”
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