"Last year was for me to learn and come into this season ready to compete for the job. That's why I came in early everyday and studied film with Coach Olson. Once I picked up on the playbook, it was time to understand defenses. It helped going against our defense in practice, but watching film I can make the right calls and understand what I'm seeing from the defense. That's why I'm just as much a part of this competition as anybody else. A lot of people outside of this organization might not understand that, but in time people will get a chance to see what I can do. From a playbook standpoint we are on equal footing now. I just want to make sure I go out and do the best I can when the opportunity presents itself. I'm getting the opportunity to compete [now], and that's all I can ever ask for." - per the Pewter Report

"[He’s an] absolute specimen to look at. Physical. Tall. Big. Big arm. Deceptively quick, even though the 40 time says 4.8, he's got that Ben Roethlisberger effect where he's hard to tackle once you get back there, so you'd better send somebody blitzing big enough to get him on the ground. When I was there when he was a freshman, he started probably Week 5 and had a big-time game over Oklahoma State, where he won a game. Had a big-time game against Texas where he helped us win that game. He was starting to come into his own when I left. All I know is he put up big-time numbers, not big-time win production and that's a major factor for a quarterback. Whenever you're drafting a quarterback, you want to make sure he's a winner." - per the St. Pete Times