Texas A&M Football: 3 reasons to believe in backup QB Zach Calzada

Despite the narrative, Texas A&M football QB Zach Calzada has an incredible arm

If you had to pin me down and ask me what Zach Calzada’s weaknesses are as a quarterback, I would have a couple of answers for you.

For starters, he was hesitant to throw the ball early on as a starter — that’s not a problem anymore. He isn’t much of a scrambler, but with an improved offensive line, that’s not much of an issue anymore either. There is no point in time where I would say anything about his arm strength or ability to throw a nice pass.

On a handful of occasions, Calzada has actually thrown passes too hard to receivers, which has led to drops.

Again, say what you want about Calzada, but saying that he doesn’t have the tools to be a great quarterback would be a blatant lie. They don’t call him the Cuban Missile for nothing — when Calzada has time in the pocket, he can throw further and more accurately than any quarterback in the country.

The issue here, rather than actual talent, is Aggie fans’ expectations of Calzada. Before the season, Haynes King was already being hailed as the next Johnny Manziel. Okay, maybe nobody actually said that, but comparisons were made. You’d be lying if you acted like you didn’t believe King could be the next great Aggie quarterback, even if only for a second.

Calzada isn’t that guy — not yet at least. That said, Haynes King would not have been that guy either. It’s important that Aggie fans are able to realize how spoiled they are to even think that Calzada is bad.

Texas A&M has a good quarterback who plays with more heart than anybody in the entire country. It’s time to appreciate him.