Well, here's the next one of my looks at an early signeee from this year's class. 

Previous entries: Isaiah Tupou

Specifics: 6'0, 190 pound, 3-star QB from Washington D.C.

Other offers: Michigan, Oregon, Purdue, Utah, Virginia, Fresno State, Hawaii, Liberty, Utah State

Strengths: His speed, acceleration, and agility are definitely the main factors that got him so many offers. When he decides to take off running, he is an absolute terror for opposing defenses. He gets into gaps extremely quickly, and gets up to speed almost instantly. That speed is usually better than even the opposing defensive backs', so huge gains or long touchdown runs are fairly standard for when he does take off running. He's also prolific at making lone defenders miss in space, has a great sidestep and can vary his speed to get them off-balance or out of position to make a tackle on him. This all allows him to pick up first downs so smoothly, even in third and long situations where nobody is open. 

In addition, he also has elite tenacity, determination, and escapability. On film, I saw countless plays where what should have been a busted play or a big loss was turned into a huge gain or touchdown because of Maiava's escapability and refusal to quit. He was honestly Manziel-like in that respect, although there seemed to be way fewer boneheaded decisions from Maiava while doing so than with Manziel. It's almost like he thrives even more when things get difficult on the field, he doesn't buckle under pressure at all. It's not that he does these things as just a runner either, many of his big plays were him making amazing escapes in order to buy himself time to find the open receiver, or scrambling enough to buy time for receivers to eventually get open who weren't initially.

Weaknesses: His throwing mechanics are the biggest issue. It's not that he has a weak arm, he puts quite a bit of zip on the throws that he needs to and also makes plenty of long throws. His accuracy is also pretty solid, even on the run. No, the problem is that his throwing mechanics are at times of the type that may work in high school, but have a greater chance of error in college. His release point is somewhat inconsistent, but most frequently is actually near his back shoulder. This leads to some very unconventional arc on many of his throws. It worked in high school, but many of these throws were just inches away from a defender's fingertips because of the arc they had, and in college many of those throws could go from completions to interceptions as a result. There's also occasionally noticeable wobble on his medium and long range throws, which, once again, is a bigger issue in college. In addition, he also has a tendency to go one-footed on many of his throws, including the ones in the pocket. You see his back foot come up and the back half of his body spin a bit in the air on a decent chunk of his throws. In college, you more often need to plant and drive through your throws, so this tendency to throw off of one foot is not exactly ideal.

The other noticeable issue with him as a QB is that he's slow to go through his reads. Even when he's scrambling and escaping pressure, it's not uncommon to see him still focused on his first read. It's not that he never progresses through reads, he does several times in his film, but when he does, it's usually after 5-10 seconds of focusing entirely on his first read. There were several times where he had to scramble around specifically because he was so locked in on his first read, when he had guys open elsewhere. In high school, being athletic enough to run your first read open works fairly often, but in college, QBs usually need to quickly get through their progression to find the open man.

How he projects at BYU: Out of all of the early signees in this year's class, Maiava is the most difficult one to answer this question for. I don't know under what terms the coaches got him to Provo. Did they promise him that they'd keep him at QB and work with him on mechanics? Or did they tell him that they were going to switch his position in order to use his sheer athleticism? I haven't been able to find any info about this, so it's difficult to say whether he projects at QB or is set up for a position switch. If the coaches do change his position, it will be to either RB, WR, or DB, as his physical toolset and size are fairly well-suited for those. He could also possibly be used immediately as a punt and kick returner, as he's got an ideal skillset for that, if his hands are good enough for it (which we have no clue about, as it's not something that he's had to show, so the status of that is unknown).

Overall thoughts: It's obvious why coaches wanted him, his athleticism is off the charts. In addition, sometimes while watching film, I see a guy who just obviously loves the sport of football and it shows in the film, as they're willing to go above and beyond for their team consistently. Maiava is one of those types of players. To me, watching his film was like seeing Riley Nelson's heart in a much, much more athletic body. You absolutely want a player like that, as finding a guy with both elite effort/determination and incredible athleticism is a very rare find. He is also very proudly LDS, and very adaptable to change. He started out playing QB for Kahuku, one of the elite programs in Hawaii, before moving to Washington D.C. before his junior year in order to start for St. John's College High School, whose football team has a national profile. Everything about him seems to suggest that he will embrace and thrive in the conditions present at BYU, regardless of whether he stays at QB or switches positions.

Whether he has any mission plans is currently unknown, but it does appear that he will likely be on campus this coming season. Depending on what the coaches decide to do with him, we could quite possibly see him on the field right away. If they go all-in on using him as a QB and working on his mechanics, it might be a couple years before we see him out there. But he could easily get on the field in Wildcat packages and special teams right away. If he does change positions, it will depend on how quickly he takes to the position and picks it up, but he has the physical skills to have an impact right away if he can adjust quickly to a possible position change. He's the type of player that you find a way to get onto the field as much as you can, because that combination of determination and athleticism makes good things happen for your team, regardless of what facet of the game it's in. After watching his film, I'm absolutely elated that he signed with us, as he has the possibility to be very, very special, even if it's not currently entirely clear in which position that will be.