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Jake Heaps Transferring Out of BYU

By Mark Knight

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There was much speculation surrounding Jake Heaps this year about if he would transfer out of BYU after his disappointing season and being benched in favor of Riley Nelson.

Today, Mason Kelley of the Seattle Times broke the news that Heaps was officially transferring and his location is still undetermined. Kelley says, “Potential destinations for Heaps include Washington, Washington State, Cal and USC.”

Dave “Softy” Mahler later expanded on this school list after talking with a source close to Heaps, Softy tweeted these two tweets:

"Spoke 2 Taylor Barton, who’s helping Jake Heaps w/ transfer. Schools Heaps is considering: UW, USC, Cal, WSU, Colorado, S. Carolina +othersMore on Jake Heaps: Wants to make decision in 10-14 days. Transferring to “compete for starting job elsewhere.”"

Let’s take a look at those schools and see which is the best fit for him:

NOTE: A lot of this will be determined based on how the NCAA deems him eligible. He will be a special case since he is transferring mid-school year. Not sure how the NCAA will address it. He may have to sit out a year. 

Washington

  • Washington has 5 guys with 2012 scholarships for the QB position. Keith Price, Nick Montana, Derrick Brown, Jeff Lindquist, and Cyler Miles. They also have a walk-on in Thomas Vincent that has impressed many people that have watched him play and he isn’t ruled out of someday earning a scholarship on this Washington team.
  • Keith Price is going to be the starter for the next few years.
  • The fit just isn’t at Montlake anymore, he had an opportunity to sign a couple years ago and decided to go to BYU. Sark has moved on, and while I don’t think they would necessarily turn Heaps away if he showed up on their porch, I doubt Sark and company pursue him with any luster.
  • Fit for Heaps: D+

USC

  • As usual, there is no shortage of QBs at USC. The success of QBs headed to the NFL after their days as a Trojan is really high and thus becomes a dream school for a lot of young quarterbacks. Their starter Matt Barkley may leave in the NFL draft but there is no guarantee, and behind him there is about 6-7 other quarterbacks hoping to become the starter.
  • He may be able to compete with some of the other candidates (if Barkley leaves), mainly Cody Kessler, Max Wittek, and Jesse Scroggins. But then it becomes a 4 man battle in training camp for the starting spot.
  • Nothing about USC seems to be the ideal fit for Heaps. He wouldn’t be guaranteed a starting spot and it seems to me, that is what he is looking for in a school.
  • Fit for Heaps: C

CAL

  • Cal could be a win for Heaps. He would easily be one of the best if not the very best QB on their roster.
  • The only hitch is that they have some chemistry and foundation established with Zach Maynard. He will be going into his senior year and Coach Tedford may not want to bench his senior QB especially because of the relationship with Keenan Allen.
  • However, if the NCAA forces Heaps to sit out next season, this may be one of the best fits for Heaps.
  • Fit for Heaps: B+

WSU

  • New coach, new quarterback. My first thought was Cal would be the best fit but after thinking it through, WSU clearly is.
  • He would still be expected to compete for the spot but he is probably more talented than the quarterback trio they have over there. All 3 showed flashes of brillance but Heaps has too.
  • Heaps would fit in nice with Leach’s high powered offense.
  • The location is close enough to home, it’s about a 4 hour drive.
  • Fit for Heaps: A-

Colorado

  • Tyler Hansen, their starting QB is graduating this year. Their backup is freshman Nick Hirschman and Colorado seems to like him.
  • If Heaps sits out next season, which he may, Hirschman will have a year to impress and if he does- he will have 2 more years of starting time while Heaps watches.
  • This could be a good fit but is also a gamble.
  • Fit for Heaps: B-

South Carolina

  • I don’t know enough about South Carolina’s program or system to say anything substantial but since they are included in the list we can take a quick look.
  • This schools seems to be out of the mold from the others in the list, not in the Pac-12, not on the West Coast, etc. Thus it becomes the wild card.
  • Stephen Garcia and Connor Shaw both started games for the Gamecocks and while Garcia looked bad, Shaw as able to compete and is only a sophomore.
  • Fit for Heaps: Unknown
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