How Dakereon Joyner taken a back up role for now as a QB
April 05, 2019
THE STATE
To a degree, any backup quarterback is going to be frustrated.
Throughout their career, they’ve been the commander of the offense, in the thick of things running the show. For a quarterback such as South Carolina signal-caller Dakereon Joyner, arriving at college often means waiting one’s turn and biding time.
But if the second-year passer has any frustration, he’s not showing it.
“I haven’t noticed that,” Gamecocks quarterback coach Dan Werner said.
Werner, a veteran of working at the position, understands there should be a little undercurrent of that naturally as any player tries to work from a backup role to something more.
“I would hope as a competitor, all of them are a little frustrated,” Werner said. “They want to get out and play. But that’s just part of our business.”
Joyner is in the midst of his second season on campus, going against four-star Ryan Hilinski and Jay Urich for the backup job Michael Scarnecchia left open. Joyner came to Columbia a four-star prospect and played in one game while redshirting last season.
His ability to run has never been in doubt, but his passing had to come along. One question that arose early was with his mechanics, and if USC planned to change them.
The answer was, maybe a few tweaks, but most of that work was done away from the coaches.
“You’ve been throwing however he’s been throwing, this is with every quarterback, then you get to be 18, 19 years old, trying to change it and learn a new offense and all that, it’s really difficult,” Werner said. “He worked really hard in the offseason on his own and he has come back and is throwing the ball really well now.”
If he manages to get his passing in top shape, he’ll be able to complement some of his dynamic skills running the ball. He ran for 980 yards as a high school senior and more than 1,000 as a junior and sophomore, all while throwing for more than 10,000 yards and leading his team to a 40-3 career record.
Gamecocks fans will get a good look at him Saturday in the spring game, as both Will Muschamp and Werner said Jake Bentley won’t have more than three or four series on the field all told. That means plenty of work for the backups.
Last season, Joyner got in late against Chattanooga, scrambling for 24 yards on three plays and throwing a pair of passes. He didn’t get a chance to go in against Akron as the Gamecocks offense stalled out after racing to an early lead.
Although taking off and running was a prominent feature of that lone appearance, Werner said the staff is neither making a big emphasis on reining him in or working his rushing skills into the passing game.
They simply want him to read through the progressions like everyone else does and take off when that is exhausted.
A season ago, the spring game provided a snapshot of a young player very much learning the ropes. He had several good runs but also connected on 1 of 5 passes and threw an interception.
But according to those around the team, the Joyner this spring is a far cry from that player.
“When he came in, he was swimming just because his offense was so different in high school,” Werner said. “We were asking him to do a lot of different things that he had never done. It hurt him obviously, but he wants to do so well. He works as hard as anybody. He’s in their watching film, studies the playbook, and he knows it, and has had a really good spring so far.”
April 05, 2019
THE STATE
To a degree, any backup quarterback is going to be frustrated.
Throughout their career, they’ve been the commander of the offense, in the thick of things running the show. For a quarterback such as South Carolina signal-caller Dakereon Joyner, arriving at college often means waiting one’s turn and biding time.
But if the second-year passer has any frustration, he’s not showing it.
“I haven’t noticed that,” Gamecocks quarterback coach Dan Werner said.
Werner, a veteran of working at the position, understands there should be a little undercurrent of that naturally as any player tries to work from a backup role to something more.
“I would hope as a competitor, all of them are a little frustrated,” Werner said. “They want to get out and play. But that’s just part of our business.”
Joyner is in the midst of his second season on campus, going against four-star Ryan Hilinski and Jay Urich for the backup job Michael Scarnecchia left open. Joyner came to Columbia a four-star prospect and played in one game while redshirting last season.
His ability to run has never been in doubt, but his passing had to come along. One question that arose early was with his mechanics, and if USC planned to change them.
The answer was, maybe a few tweaks, but most of that work was done away from the coaches.
“You’ve been throwing however he’s been throwing, this is with every quarterback, then you get to be 18, 19 years old, trying to change it and learn a new offense and all that, it’s really difficult,” Werner said. “He worked really hard in the offseason on his own and he has come back and is throwing the ball really well now.”
If he manages to get his passing in top shape, he’ll be able to complement some of his dynamic skills running the ball. He ran for 980 yards as a high school senior and more than 1,000 as a junior and sophomore, all while throwing for more than 10,000 yards and leading his team to a 40-3 career record.
Gamecocks fans will get a good look at him Saturday in the spring game, as both Will Muschamp and Werner said Jake Bentley won’t have more than three or four series on the field all told. That means plenty of work for the backups.
Last season, Joyner got in late against Chattanooga, scrambling for 24 yards on three plays and throwing a pair of passes. He didn’t get a chance to go in against Akron as the Gamecocks offense stalled out after racing to an early lead.
Although taking off and running was a prominent feature of that lone appearance, Werner said the staff is neither making a big emphasis on reining him in or working his rushing skills into the passing game.
They simply want him to read through the progressions like everyone else does and take off when that is exhausted.
A season ago, the spring game provided a snapshot of a young player very much learning the ropes. He had several good runs but also connected on 1 of 5 passes and threw an interception.
But according to those around the team, the Joyner this spring is a far cry from that player.
“When he came in, he was swimming just because his offense was so different in high school,” Werner said. “We were asking him to do a lot of different things that he had never done. It hurt him obviously, but he wants to do so well. He works as hard as anybody. He’s in their watching film, studies the playbook, and he knows it, and has had a really good spring so far.”