The Texas A&M football team has struggled in 2021, but it hasn’t been the team as a whole that has played poorly. Rather, the onus of the bad offense can be placed largely on the offense’s shoulders.
This is the same offensive unit that returned three separate players who are still considered potential first-round draft picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. So how are they so bad, you ask?
It starts with the offensive line, which is among the worst in the nation. They’ve been consistently overpowered with a three-man rush from opposing teams, which is flat-out embarrassing. That said, the poor offense isn’t getting any help from backup quarterback Zach Calzada, who has struggled on the year, landing at 109th on PFF’s midseason quarterback rankings.
Texas A&M football QB Zach Calzada’s career isn’t over though — he still has plenty of room to improve
Granted, it’ll be an uphill battle for Calzada, who is set to make his fourth career start against the most powerful dynasty in the history of college football. Still, “the Cuban Missile” can, and frankly, has to, bounce back.
Without decent quarterback play, it’s hard to imagine this Aggie team outscoring virtually anybody on their schedule. So while improved offensive line play should be a priority, A&M will need better performances out of Zach Calzada, who looks like he’s afraid to throw the football.
That said, there are specific areas of improvement that we need to look at in Calzada as the season moves forward. Here are two of the most important ones.
Texas A&M football QB Zach Calzada, Improvement No. 1: Completion Percentage
In my opinion, the worst part about Zach Calzada’s performances, and an area that can be solely blamed on Calzada himself, is his completion percentage. The Aggie quarterback is at 53.9% on the year — a jarringly low number.
That number ranks 112th in the country, three spots below where Calzada ranked in the aforementioned PFF quarterback rankings. If it’s any consolation, he stands next to two talented quarterbacks on the list, sandwiched between Michael Penix Jr. and D.J. Uiagalelei in terms of completion percentage.
That said, it’s not good enough. It’s not working for Calzada and it’s not working for Clemson and Indiana, who sit beside the Aggies on the list of most disappointing college football teams in 2021.
I don’t know if sitting behind Kellen Mond, who rarely made mistakes, for a couple of seasons caused Calzada to fear mistakes, but it seems like he’s scared to throw the ball. If he simply released the ball earlier and more frequently, his completion percentage would jump, at least a little bit.
Maybe Calzada can take notes from Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, who has the 4th-highest completion percentage in the country at 75.7. This has given the Bulldogs’ offense a healthy boost in 2021.
Even so, this is much easier said than done.
Texas A&M football QB Zach Calzada, Improvement No. 2: Scrambling
This part is actually one of the more promising areas for Zach Calzada. Sure, he’s not the same level of scrambler as Haynes King, but who is?
Calzada, although he’s a pro-style quarterback, is relatively mobile. He’s definitely not a threat on the ground, but with a poor offensive line, he’s able to escape pressure decently well. He’ll need to do it better in the future. Calzada’s lack of willingness to run the football may be part of why this offense feels like it is experiencing some resistance.
That said, we’ve already seen drastic improvements from him in this category, best exemplified by a 26-yard touchdown run against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
And again, he’s not Haynes King, but Calzada is pretty quick for a guy his size. If he can consistently make plays as he did against Mississippi State, opposing teams will loosen up their coverage a bit to avoid running plays by the Aggie quarterback.
This, in turn, will help him increase numbers like his yardage, touchdown-to-interception
Still, there are areas within this that Calzada can improve. As an example, a pass on the run from the Aggie quarterback landed just behind Demond Demas early against Mississippi State. It wasn’t the worst pass in the world, but Demas couldn’t handle it, leading to an early interception and a shift in momentum.
Who knows how much he can improve in this category before Haynes King returns. Still, it should be something that he’s keeping an eye on.