A potential tripping point in the Lorenzo Nunez-to-WR talk

It’s a natural line of reasoning.

Quarterback Lorenzo Nunez was a dynamic operator in the pocket last season, turning designed runs into trouble for defenses that faced South Carolina’s football team. But his passing was hardly where it needed to be, and with an influx of young signal-callers and a dearth of proven pass-catching talent, many outside the program have pondered if the quick quarterback might find himself on the receiving end of passes before long.

Although there’s certainly precedent for that sort of move, wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon has seen similar situations hit a slight road block.

“Now, I’ve seen this a bunch, this story, and I’m not saying this is going to be the way it is, but some guys, they look more athletic because they’re at quarterback,” McClendon said. “And now that they’re out there playing against a lot of good athletes, they don’t look as athletic.”

At wide receiver, he’d match up with the cornerbacks McClendon called the best athletes on the field. Those players often boast length, good hands, good eyes, quick feet and the physical and spatial awareness to stick with top-flight athletes and track fast-moving objects darting through the air.

And Nunez would have to show the ability to beat those guys play after play.

He has the build at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. For sure, he showed some pop. Discounting sacks, he averaged 7.8 yards a carry, with at least four runs of 29 yards or more.

But a lot of that work came from escaping a pocket crowded with big bodies, a different sort of challenge.

“It’s not running away against 3-techniques,” McClendon said. “It’s not the same. I’m not saying he can’t do that, but I think that’s something we would find out.”

Any move isn’t in the cards at the moment. Nunez only played one week in the spring before being sidelined by a knee injury. At the time he was battling for a spot in the pecking order, and he came out with coaches calling his performance incomplete as Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain seized the reins.

That means he’ll almost assuredly get another go behind center in August. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said as much in a radio interview after spring wrapped up.

“Right now, our thought process is he is still in the quarterback chase,” Roper said. “That is something we’d like to know more about. We just don’t know as much as we’d like to right now. Our mindset is for him to compete in that situation.”

His competition will include the two who already asserted themselves, plus Connor Mitch, who took second-team reps after Orth got hurt, and highly-touted incoming freshman Jake Bentley. With that level of talent around him, he’d likely have to stake a claim to a depth chart spot quickly.

But if he doesn’t and his talent still adds up to something useful elsewhere, the staff knows what to do.

“If he’s one of the better athletes that we’ve got to get the ball, then we’re going to have to find a way to do it,” McClendon said.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "A potential tripping point in the Lorenzo Nunez-to-WR talk."