Washington State Cougars: The Ups and Downs of Jayden de Laura’s debut
Ed Stein
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Highly touted true freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura led the Washington State Cougars to a win in his NCAA debut on Saturday night. Here are some initial impressions.
It was a night of new beginnings for the Washington State Cougars in Corvallis, Oregon on Saturday night. Nick Rolovich made his long-awaited head coaching debut for the school. While he doesn’t run the Air Raid like his predecessor Mike Leach, Rolovich is a disciple of Run and Shoot guru June Jones.
Rolovich wasn’t the biggest question mark ahead of WSU’s 2020 season opener. That was reserved for Jayden de Laura. For the first time in school history, Washington State started a true freshman in a season opener. Jayden de Laura, for lack of a better phrase, won the competition to be Rolovich’s trigger man. How would the 18-year-old perform in his NCAA debut?
For the most part, de Laura didn’t disappoint. He completed 18-of-33 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. His feet weren’t bad either. The frosh ran eight times for 43 yards and another TD.
Here some of the positives and negatives from the freshman Wonder Kid’s first college football game.
Positives
There is no hiding talent. Either someone has it, or they don’t. Jayden de Laura has talent in spades.
de Laura showed patience and maturity beyond his years. Very rarely did he lose his head or make serious mistakes. Maybe the most impressive thing he showed was the ability to know when to throw, take off running, or throw the ball away to avoid a big loss.
It took him a possession or two to get his feet under him, but de Laura found a rhythm that worked. As a result, the offense had an uptempo yet steady pace. The unit never played out of control or generally sloppy.
Another thing that was fun to watch was his rising confidence level. As de Laura found the above-mentioned rhythm, his confidence began to grow. From there, he played as if he’d been with head coach Nick Rolovich for years.
Finally, he carried himself like a leader. Following in the line of Luke Falk, Gardner Minshew II, and Anthony Gordon isn’t easy. He the attention of his teammates in the huddle. They trusted him to make good reads. Very rarely did he give the impression that he was out of sync with his receivers.
Negatives
Of course, de Laura had some struggles. Due to his inexperience and lack of practice time with his teammates, that was expected.
There is something about de Laura’s mechanics that looks off. Although his incredible grip strength makes for good pump fakes, he winds up his arm way too much to throw the ball. Oregon State didn’t come after him as other teams will. Against teams with a better pass rush, de Laura has to get the ball out of his hand sooner.
His arm strength wasn’t as impressive as I hoped. There were instances de Laura got the ball out on time but was still throwing a bit behind his receivers. On his lone interception, he decidedly under threw Jamire Calvin. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Calvin hadn’t drawn double coverage. Hopefully, as de Laura grows, so will the zip on his passes.
This last point certainly isn’t his fault. de Laura caught a few breaks against Oregon State. The Beavers aren’t a very aggressive defense. The freshman had time to throw and experienced receivers that got open for him. He’s likely to get a big reality check against 11th ranked Oregon next week.
Will Jayden de Laura be the next great Washington State Cougars quarterback? It’s way too early to know. He’s off to a good start.