Alex Malzone (#12)
Name: Alex Malzone
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 222 lbs.
High school: Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #12
Last year: I ranked Malzone #75 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
Malzone enrolled in January of 2015 and earned a start for one team in last year’s spring game. That was the pinnacle of his very short career. By the fall he had dropped down the depth chart, at least to #4 behind Jake Rudock, Wilton Speight, and Shane Morris. This spring he was behind Speight, Morris, transfer John O’Korn, and even true freshman early enrollee Brandon Peters. And after a few snaps in the spring game, he was escorted off the field by a trainer after injuring his throwing hand. Then he had a minor run-in with the law. So the last twelve months or so have not gone smoothly for him in the football department.
It’s a new season in 2016, but not much will change. He should still be behind the aforementioned players, making him maybe fifth on the depth chart. Some mop-up duty isn’t out of the question, since Peters will probably redshirt. However, if something drastic were to happen, I think Peters would draw into the lineup before Malzone. Peters is just a superior athlete. Malzone will probably spend all or the vast majority of the season watching from the sideline.
Prediction: Fifth string quarterback
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We are still firmly in the section of the countdown where everyone has a less than 1% chance of playing meaningful snaps. BUT… the 5th string QB never ever ever makes a difference. Unless Malzone is going to get a role on special teams (e.g., holder) he doesn’t belong about people like Metoluis and Gil who could be special teamers or even get some snaps to aid their development for bigger roles in 2017. These are guys who could be an couple injuries from being real options in the playing rotation, no matter how much development they need.
I agree Malzone is probably the 5th string QB, but I think he has less of chance of contributing than most of the guys listed below him.
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I agree somewhat, and like you said, when you’re at 79 or below, the chances of contributing are slim, anyway. However, I just don’t think replacing, say, a Devin Gil on special teams punt coverage is difficult at all. You can probably throw in a lot of linebackers, safeties, running backs, fullbacks, defensive ends, walk-ons, etc. in there to fill his role. In the case of Malzone, you can’t throw in just anyone at QB, or even as a holder. We’re also talking about a guy who’s an injury and/or a transfer or two away from being in a prime position to contribute. Let’s say (just for funsies, but perhaps realistically) that Shane Morris plans to grad transfer and John O’Korn takes a hit to the knee while scrambling in the opener. Now Malzone becomes slightly more important for the future (2017 and beyond), but he also gets a step closer to playing this year in mop-up duty. Maybe you have a similar scenario occur on special teams/at safety for Metellus, but you can move Brandon Watson there, move Peppers back there, toss in A.J. Pearson, throw in Karan Higdon on special teams, etc.
So I agree, but in a toss-up situation, the QB position is more important.
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Some valid points, but I don’t think Malzone projects to be much more important to the future than he is to the present. Even if you assume Morris transfers, you still have everyone else coming back and the #1 or 2 QB recruit in the country joining the roster, plus Peters coming off his presumed red-shirt. Malzone’s still probably not better than 4th string even if you assume Morris transfers and one of Peters/Speight/OKorn are also attrition victims.
I think you can use the positional importance argument for the 3rd or 4th QB. If there are 2 injuries (possible) they can potentially be very important, but the probability of 4 injuries (to get to the 5th string guy) is just so tiny that it’s hard to argue he matters in any scenario.
I think you could argue Malzone (as one of the younger QBs on the roster) could be in line for development snaps but it’s very hard to imagine those coming in meaningful situations. Anyway, if we’re down to talking about development snaps the “replaceable” argument applies there too. I know you’ve ranked walk-ons QBs in this range before – those guys can handle that job too in non-critical situations.
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