Pokes Position Breakdown: Quarterbacks

LARAMIE -- Wyoming football season is right around the corner.

Jay Sawvel and his team will hit the practice fields in Laramie July 28, kicking off training camp just 31 days ahead of the Cowboys Thursday night opener at Akron.

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Nearly 50 new players -- both freshmen and portal signings -- litter this new-look roster as this program attempts to put a disappointing 3-9 season even further in the rear-view mirror. Hopefully you're learning about all the new faces in our summer series Welcome to Wyoming Football.

According to ESPN, UW returns 56% of its production (104 combined starts) from last season, including its leading rusher (Sam Scott), receiver (Jaylen Sargent) and tight end (John Michael Gyllenborg). Three offensive linemen -- Wes King, Jack Walsh and Caden Barnett -- are back in the fold, too. So is quarterback Kaden Anderson, who took the reins late in 2024.

Now, let's break down this team, position by position, ahead of Mountain West Media Days July 16-17 in Las Vegas:

PLAYERS | *Kaden Anderson, Landon Sims, Gage Brook, Mason Drube (* - Presumed starter)

POSITION COACH | Jay Johnson - 2nd season

WHAT TO WATCH | Will Kaden Anderson be the guy we saw torch New Mexico for 342 yards and three touchdowns during his first career start? Or, will the sophomore look more like the quarterback who completed 43.3% of his passes two weeks later in a lopsided loss to Border War rival Colorado State? Somewhere in the middle should give this program something it definitely didn't possess last fall: consistency. Anderson, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Texan, has shown touch, especially on deep balls. He is also relatively athletic, considering he tore his ACL twice in high school. Can he morph into a true dual threat? Landon Sims, a sophomore transfer from East Central Community College (Miss.), will likely claim the back-up role. He has experience, which is exactly what Jay Sawvel and Co. wanted. The son of a coach, the 6-foot-3 Sims completed nearly 60% of his passes last season, including 13 touchdown tosses. He also rushed for 269 yards. Gage Brook was impressive during the spring, taking full advantage of a larger workload. This will be his third season with the program. Mason Drube, the unquestioned gem of the 2025 recruiting class, in a perfect world, won't see the field this fall. If that does indeed happen, he also showed promise as an early enrollee.

SUMMARY | Evan Svoboda was touted as the next rocket-armed QB in Laramie. Former head coach Craig Bohl and predecessor Andrew Peasley sat behind the postgame podium, just minutes after a victory in the 2023 Arizona Bowl, and preached the gospel of Svoboda. The latter even compared him to Josh Allen and Jordan Love, two of the current best signal callers in the NFL. Well, as you know, that didn't pan out. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior was statistically the least-efficient quarterback in the nation through eight weeks. The final straw was a screen pass against San Jose State that was lobbed to no one in particular and picked off, ending any hope of a road win that day in the Bay Area. Svoboda made the move to tight end where he will now be a target of his successor, Kaden Anderson. The Southlake Carroll standout threw for 955 yards and six touchdowns in just nine appearances, including only three starts. He completed nearly 60% of his passes and was picked off just three times. Though he did take plenty of punishing hits, most memorable (for you) was a drive into the turf late in the first half against Boise State, Anderson was sacked just once. Svoboda's number sat at 26. The major question surrounding last season's dismal 3-9 outcome: Why did it take so long to go to Anderson. Sawvel said he didn't know what he had in the redshirt freshman, Heck, Anderson himself, at times, wasn't exactly sure as he made his way back from two devastating knee injuries. Sawvel wanted Anderson to take a stranglehold of the back-up role. That didn't happen until midway through the campaign, right after the departure of Jayden Clemons, who unexpectedly left the program. Since, Anderson has taken on a leadership position. He is confident, yet still wants to compete. Though he says he wants to earn the job, he likely already did. Now, he needs to steady this ship and execute Jay Johnson's wide-open offense.

QUOTABLE | "This time last year, he wasn't a leader, you know? So, I mean, this is a way different thing. Kaden Anderson, everybody has a lot of confidence in him, in that regard. So, yes, there's a different level to that. Last year, I think, at this time he's just trying to play. You know, (with the injury) and that whole thing, he was largely unknown. Most of the fall -- a big part of the fall -- last year, he was just coming off of an injury, and so there wasn't a frame of reference for people. Now, there's a frame of reference from people, and they see how he's worked. He's done a great job with his body in the offseason, too. So, you know, I'm really happy with where he's at. I'm happy with what he's done, leadership wise, within the group. People have a high level of confidence in him, and, I think, any time that that happens, they're able to look to him and listen to him. They're able to look to him and know that he'll make something right. I think that's a big piece of it," UW head coach Jay Sawvel said last April.

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