Nevada quarterback Carson Strong throws against UNLV on Oct. 31, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, file)
Nevada Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong continues to receive substantial NFL draft hype.
The Wolf Pack junior, according to internet reports, is considered a possible 2022 first-round pick. Strong, many of the reports believe, might even be the first quarterback taken in the draft.
It is all a little difficult to take seriously because, well, Strong plays in the Mountain West, is not a physical specimen along the lines of Trey Lance and Justin Fields and will play most, if not all, of his games this season as midnight approaches on Saturday. But anything is possible because, everyone knows, you must believe everything you read on the internet.
None of this Strong NFL hype, of course, helps the Wolf Pack. It could, in fact, sabotage this season if Strong lets it go to his 21-year-old head. But this we do know. Strong will put up ridiculous numbers this year.
His head coach and offensive coordinator have been waiting for this season to show how smart and innovative they are ever since they came to town before the 2017 season. Strong, who will play against mediocre-to-awful defenses all season long, will throw long, short and often this year. He has to, after all, keep all those receivers (namely Elijah Cooks, Romeo Doubs and Cole Turner) who also have NFL dreams happy and content. The numbers (how does 40 touchdowns, 4,000 yards this year sound?) will keep the NFL interested all season long.
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Strong, if you believe the hype, will be the best NFL quarterback ever produced by the Wolf Pack. That title, of course, currently belongs to Colin Kaepernick, who passed for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdowns and rushed for 2,300 yards and 13 touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-16. Kaepernick also led the 49ers to the Super Bowl (they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31, on Feb. 3, 2013).
The only other Pack quarterbacks to play in the NFL have been Bill Mackrides, Stan Heath and Jeff Rowe. Mackrides passed for 1,583 yards and 15 touchdowns from 1947-53 for three NFL teams, Heath had one touchdown and 14 interceptions for the Green Bay Packers in 1949, Pat Brady completed one pass for Pittsburgh in 1952 and Jeff Rowe played in two games (no passing stats) for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2007.
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The Wolf Pack has also had a handful of quarterbacks that should have gotten NFL opportunities. The three that quickly come to mind are John Dutton, Chris Vargas and Cody Fajardo.
Dutton (1996, 1997 with Nevada) was one of the greatest quarterbacks in Arena League history. He won two Arena League championships and passed for 37,981 yards and 752 touchdowns from 2000-13. Vargas played in the Canadian Football League from 1994-98, passing for 5,821 yards and 34 touchdowns and Fajardo is currently one of the best quarterbacks in the CFL for Saskatchewan. He’s passed for 5,489 yards (since 2016) and rushed for 1,187 and has thrown for 27 touchdowns and rushed for 25.
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This NFL preseason, of course, has been all about the rookie quarterbacks, namely Fields (Chicago Bears), Lance (San Francisco 49ers), Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars), Mac Jones (New England Patriots) and Zach Wilson (New York Jets).
Lawrence and Wilson have already won their starting jobs because they had no competition and Jones will likely do the same by beating out Cam Newton. Lance is competing with Jimmy Garoppolo and Fields, for some reason, is the backup to Andy Dalton.
We understand why the 49ers are moving cautiously with Lance. Garoppolo is a quality quarterback and has already taken the 49ers to a Super Bowl. Lance will take over as soon as Jimmy G gets hurt. But the Bears situation is puzzling. Dalton, as he proved last year with Dallas, is nothing more than an average backup right now. Bears head coach Matt Nagy is asking to get fired, maybe by Week 6, about the time Jimmy G limps off the field.
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Northern Nevada, it seems, is not suffering from Las Vegas Raiders fever. There might be a few more Raiders fans in Northern Nevada since the team moved from Oakland. But it is not noticeable. And I get it. It’s Las Vegas. It is difficult for Northern Nevadans to root and cheer for anything Las Vegas.
But if you are not a 49ers fan, you might want to give the Raiders a chance to steal your heart. The Raiders are likely going to fall far short of the Super Bowl but they are an entertaining team, led by coach Jon Gruden. The offense will be pretty dynamic with Derek Carr, Josh Jacobs, Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller. They wore a Nevada patch on their jerseys last year so they know what state they now live in. Don’t think of the Raiders as Las Vegas’ team. Think of them as the NFL team the state of Nevada stole from California. That should warm your Northern Nevada hearts.
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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, a McQueen High graduate, just might end up as the best Northern Nevada high school players to ever play in the NFL.
Aiyuk, a first-round pick out of Arizona State by the 49ers in 2020, caught 60 passes in his rookie season. The thought of Aiyuk catching bombs for a decade from Lance is anther thing that should capture your Northern Nevada heart.
The one question that is still baffling is how Aiyuk didn’t end up with the Wolf Pack. Aiyuk had to go to a junior college (Sierra College) to play his first two seasons (2016-17) before heading to Arizona State. Imagine Aiyuk catching passes from Ty Gangi and Strong.
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The best Northern Nevada high school product to ever play in the NFL? It just depends on your preference. The list has to include linebackers Dave Wyman (Wooster), Josh Mauga (Fallon) and Kyle Van Noy (McQueen), quarterback Glenn Carano, offensive linemen Austin Corbett (Reed), Harvey Dahl (Fallon) and Eric Sanders (Wooster) and wide receiver Jo Jo Townsell (Hug).
Wyman, who played at Stanford, played in 92 games (83 starts) from 1987-95 with the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, making 553 tackles and intercepting three passes. He is currently a member of the Seahawks radio broadcasting team.
Townsell played from 1985-90 with the New York Jets, returning two punts for a touchdown and catching 70 passes. Van Noy has played in the NFL since 2014, getting into 95 games, and Corbett, a NFL player since 2018, is a starter with the Los Angels Rams.
Sanders played in 158 games in the NFL from 1981-92 and Dahl got into 87 games from 2006-13. Mauga played in 59 games from 2010-15 and Carano, the backup to Roger Staubach and Danny White at Dallas, played in 36 games with one start from 1978-83.
The pick here as the best NFL player ever produced by a Northern Nevada high school is Wyman.
