5 Reasons Jerrod Heard Is the Present and Possible Future for Texas

By Adam Sweeney

Texas football’s future is wide open after a 42-28 win over Rice. What can be expected this season? If anyone can answer that, then get him or her a 1-900 number because that person is the next Miss Cleo. What can be said is that redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard has, in a single game, opened eyes of both Texas fans and opposing defensive coordinators. Heard broke out in his first collegiate start with 120 passing yards, 96 rushing yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. We understand that this was a single performance against an opponent slightly less formidable than the TCU Horned Frogs or Baylor Bears, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jerrod Heard has emerged as the premier option at quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Here are five reasons Heard, the multi-dimensional play-caller, should be the face of Texas now, and perhaps for the future.

He’s Got the Juice

Talk to any player on the team and they’ll tell you that Heard, like Phil Collins, has been waiting for this moment for all of his life. But Texas head coach Charlie Strong said it best.  [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Heard, Strong said, has “the juice.”

“When your quarterback has juice, your team is going to have juice,” Strong said, “and he has a lot of it.”

Heard channeled that energy all game against Rice, lighting up the Owls on plays like this one to receiver John Burt.

The quarterback also raised a few eyebrows when he did three push-ups after being caught from behind on an 18-yard run in the third quarter. Heard was asked why he got in the extra workout and replied, “That’s kind of something for me to keep calm, and I didn’t want to get tackled. That was weak.”

That is the man I want as quarterback. I love Tyrone Swoopes off the field, but he currently doesn’t possess the overall makeup of a quarterback who can lead this particular offense. We won’t harp on Swoopes too much, but when you watch the last three games in which he has played, you don’t see a sense of urgency or the ability to extend/make plays. Heard, on the other hand, clearly can. Heard can make the most of play-action passes to freeze the defense and, when needed, he can move the chains by skirting down the sideline. All we ask is for Heard to slide — for the love of God, get down. Former Texas quarterback David Ash is nodding somewhere right now.

Running Down a Dream

Heard is listed as having 4.5 speed (in the 40-yard dash), but what we see doesn’t match with what the stopwatches are telling us. Heard has “football speed” and, like the Transformers, there is more than meets the eye. His elusiveness will serve him well when the offensive line protection breaks down, and we have learned already that there will be many times that this happens in the 2015-16 season. At these times, Heard can turn on the afterburners or simply live to fight another down by throwing the ball away. There is nothing wrong with either of those choices.

You’ve Got the Touch

Go back to the Vine earlier in the article and watch that pass Heard throws to Burt. Heard hits the receiver in stride, the importance of which can’t be overstated. Playing quarterback requires a blend of strength and touch on the ball, along with intangibles like leadership and the aforementioned juice. Heard has been challenged at times by scouts for not having “gunslinger” throwing velocity. You know who did? JaMarcus Russell. Arm strength can be overrated. What isn’t overrated is having a guy who throws accurate passes on which a receiver can make a play. Heard has shown that much, and has the potential to improve in that area as he becomes more comfortable in the pocket. He keeps his head up while going through progressions — something Swoopes often forgets to do — and typically sets his feet when needed. I don’t care who you are; if you throw off your back foot you are going to have problems. Nobody wants to be confused with Jay Cutler, so thank goodness that Heard has decent mechanics.

Size Matters Not

Football scouts will harp on how a quarterback has to be blessed with the stature of a Greek God. Here are a few names to throw out there to skeptics of the smaller quarterback; Colt McCoy, Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III … do I need to keep going? I’m not ready to tout Heard as a Heisman contender, but the fact is that you don’t need to be built like Andrew Luck to command an offense effectively. Heard has been rumored to have 4.5 speed, but anyone who watches him in the game can tell that his football speed might be even faster. Translation: the dude’s got jets. Jay Norvell, Texas’ new play caller, can remedy some of the size issues by moving Heard out of the pocket to allow him to see more of the field. This also will prevent Heard from getting killed if and when the opposing pass rush breaks through the offensive line. But there is no mandate specifying tat Heard has to leave the pocket to be effective. Manziel and players like Drew Brees were happy to stand still when the pressure was on. What Heard will have to perfect in order to achieve similar results is proper footwork. Good mechanics can buy a lot of time for a quarterback. It also doesn’t hurt to have a stud like Burt burning down the sidelines.

A New Hope

Heard’s ceiling continues to rise, and it is up to him to put in the work, on and off the field. If he studies game tape, absorbs Norvell’s schemes and matures as a student of the game, he will be able to marry maturity as a field general with his already-impressive intangibles. Combine that with an ever-evolving team filled with youth, and the eyes of Texas (fans) could grow wide with delight for the years to come. Nobody can predict what Heard’s future — or that of the Texas Longhorns — will looks like, but what is known is this: there is hope. As Andy Dufresne from said in The Shawshank Redemption, “hope is a good thing.”
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