PonyFans.com

Transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai visited with PonyFans.com to discuss a number of topics, including how Lincoln Riley and Grant Calcaterra factored in his decision to choose SMU, his connection to a former SMU quarterback, how Garrett Riley compares to his brother, and his approach to the 2021 season.

Thanks for the interview. He sounds pretty relaxed in the system. Glad he got spring in.

Has he gotten the ball off quicker and been more accurate than the other QBs?

Keep seeing ints on social media. Who’s throwing them? I’m sure it’s just because they aren’t fully scrimmaging yet and forcing balls.

I don't know that I can quantify whether he is getting the ball off quicker than the others — judging that depends on so many factors (the play called, whether it's in live 11-on-11 team sessions compared to informative drills that involve only token pressure from the defense, etc.). I can say there have been times in practice when he gets the ball away quickly enough that's noticeable. I couple of times, I consciously thought "that doesn't look like a guy in his first year in an offense/with new teammates."

His accuracy has been impressive. The sideline route he threw Sunday to Danny Gray was a thing of beauty — Gray had a defender almost inside his jersey and never broke stride because Mordecai's pass dropped straight into his hands over his outside shoulder. The coverage was terrific; the throw was better.

Don't misread the Mordecai comments as a dismissal of either Green or Stone — not the case at all. Each of them has impressed at times, too. I'm not saying Mordecai is a future star, or even that he's the starter — just that there have been times early in camp when he has been very impressive.

PonyFans will remember various years when some wanted to wrap the starter in bubblewrap because of the absence of a quality reserve. If nothing else, this is the best three-deep group I have seen in a long time. Whether the eventual starter turns out to be as good as Dandy Don, McIlhenny, Flanigan, Padron, Gilbert, Buechele — whoever your favorite past SMU quarterback is — remains to be seen. But there is better depth at the position than in years past.

Thanks for the info.

You mentioned QB being the deepest you’ve seen in a while. Seems like a lot of positions are the deepest us SMU fans have seen in decades. We had some good WRs with Aldrick/Sanders, Quinn/Proche/Sutton, but overall depth seems deeper at pretty much every position than at any point I can remember.

Good interview. He sure sounds ready, if he ends up being the guy.