Wednesday afternoon SDSU Football head coach Sean Lewis addressed the media for an update after the official February signing day. There were some clear information given about many topics; most notably the off season injury outlook going into the rest of winter conditioning.
QB Jayden Denegal
Much of last season QB1 Jayden Denegal was toughing it out through pain in his non-throwing shoulder. Coach Lewis gave more insight to when he injured it in week #1 against Stony Brook. For those who remembered, Lewis confirmed the initial injury happened in the opening drive of the season.
“From that moment goin forward he handled it.” said Lewis. “It just talks about his intangibles and his ability to sacrifice his own comfort and week in and week out get prepared to play get as close to 100% knowing that was probably never be an obtainable goal and then execute the game plan as best as he could.”
Denegal’s first season as a starter racked up over 1,800 yards through the air on a 58% completion percentage with 9 TDs and 8 INTs.
“A lot of that is time on task,” Lewis continued “and now you start talking about he loses his top two receivers halfway through it and now we’re kind of going about it a different way and the staff did a tremendous job the way that we install it the concepts are adaptable enough that you can change the personal and still find ways to have success.”
It’s far too much credit when it’s good and far too much when it’s bad. But that’s the life of a quarterback. -Sean Lewis
“Excited to get him healthy and get him rockin & rollin’ to do it at an even higher level and to maximize this last year we have with him and his last season in this journey to really make a splash for him and hopefully earn the right to play a little more on Sundays.”
Denegal is expected to be back in time for Spring ball which begins towards the end of March on the 23rd. But it’s Lewis’ final line there about him playing on future Sundays that really indicates what he thinks about the big gunslinger.
The opportunity to advance into the professional ranks of football is extremely dificult for any player let alone a quarterback. But given his natural athleticism, Lewis definitely has seen enough of Denegal’s work ethic, toughness, leadership and learning curve to sprinkle that tidbit out there about the young man.
For those questioning wether Denegal would retain his QB1 status moving forward, those are pretty high remarks to think anything otherwise.
OL Kalan Ellis
Joining Denegal on recovery is the big 6’5″ offensive guard who earned a starting spot on the line. Ellis’ coming into his senior season after spending his first year with the Aztecs last year. The Hawaii native also is expected to undergo surgery on a shoulder but was delayed after breaking a hand against North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
His return to the red & black this year is a big retainment for the line that lost team captain Ross Maseuli and Christian Jones to graduation. Ellis the transfer from Syracuse is expected to be a major role in the continuity of the offense.
Having Denegal as a repeat QB that doesn’t require a whole new introduction to the offense is a crucial factor in building upon last season’s performance—with the losses on the O-line, Ellis might be next in line to that connection of consistency. Unfortunately it appears his return may be subject to a later date but still before the season begins.
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