24 Players in 24 Days: #1 Conner Weigman

Position: Quarterback
Classification: Redshirt Sophomore
Hometown: Cypress, Texas
Listed Height: 6-3
Listed Weight: 220 lbs.

Key notes from Liucci’s thoughts on Weigman

• Injuries are part of a team's season. The year before, A&M’s quarterback got hurt, and the year before that, &M’s quarterback got hurt. It was not a conducive environment for a quarterback to stay healthy. There was also some bad luck.
   
• I remember talking to Jimbo Fisher after that injury, and he just got sacked. Unfortunately, that sack, which was from a missed block, took him out. How many times does that happen during a game? Even championship teams miss a block. That stuff happens.
   
• Conner Weigman just happened to suffer a season-ending injury on that sack. With that said, if Conner was healthy last year, I think we, along with the rest of the country, would be talking about him being a First-Team All-SEC candidate at quarterback along with Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers. He would probably be at the top of that list. I would put Jalen Milroe in there as well because I think he does not get talked about enough.
   
• Had Weigman been healthy last year, the whole country would say A&M is led by an All-SEC quarterback, an All-American candidate, top-ten Heisman contender in Conner. I think that is how people would have talked about him because that is how I think his season would have gone.
   
• He does not have a large body of work to show. We have seen Conner struggle in games, too. He struggled a little bit in the first half against Auburn. His team lost by a couple of touchdowns against Miami, but he had no protection and was getting abused. I thought if you go back and watch the game, he did a great job. Jordan Rodgers has been talking about that for a long time.
   
• Dinner the night before the Miami game, I talked to Tim Tebow. The conversation was about the best quarterback in the SEC at the time. Jordan Rodgers said Conner had some really nice highlights. He had Conner Weigman, Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels as the best quarterbacks in the SEC.
   
• Obviously, Daniels ended up winning the Heisman, and he deserved it. No one is saying that would have been Conner last year. There was no Malik Nabers or Brian Thomas Jr. for him to throw to, but he was trending toward being an All-Conference contender. He is a gamer.
   
• Go back and look at how he played in his first start against Ole Miss and Jaxson Dart. He outdueled Dart. Quinshon Judkins went crazy in that game. Weigman's production in that game was that of an All-American if you look at his numbers and the throws he made. A few weeks later was the LSU game... That was the De'Von Achane show, but you watched some of the throws and scrambles he made early to keep games alive when it was close. Then he trusted Moose Muhammad III and was not scared to throw the ball up and let your receiver go up and make big catches. He may have been 12-for-18 in that game, but he looked like he was A-plus-plus in that game. He looked like a veteran and a four-year starter. He was a freshman.
   
• Then, we can go and talk about that Miami game. The small sample size is why I understand if you don't have him ranked that high. If A&M is to reach its upside this year and enter that Texas game with a shot at the playoff, it will be because they rose above LSU, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The team out of those four that moves up is whoever has the quarterback that plays the best. I think that could very well be Conner Weigman.
   
• Conner has looked good on the foot all fall. His performance within Collin Klein's offense as this camp has gone on has been a steady progression. I would say trust the guy that is here and sees it. Trust the guy that is able to ask questions. I am not saying that every single guy looks great. That is not the way it goes. Conner is a guy that, throughout camp, has gotten better and better. 
   
• I think Mike Elko and Collin Klein have not seen yet that Conner is such a gamer. He just has that dog in him, whether it is on the football field or the diamond. His energy level, focus, and competitive drive just go up exponentially. I think it's a noticeable jump between practice and games. He hates to lose and wants to walk off the field with everyone, knowing he was the best one out there that day.
   
• Trevor Sikkema has been really high on Weigman. Shoutout to Trevor and Alyssa Lang, who will be at the McNeese State game. She will be on the call. Trevor has been high on Conner since he wrote that article this summer. He did a deep dive into Weigman and the numbers and tape.
   
• He might be the most bullish on Conner, but he is not the only one who has started to come along on that front. I think the single biggest thing for this quarterback and this football team is Conner Weigman and the decision to say he can go in the spring. He said wanted to go. He was not hurt, but he was not 100 percent.
   
• If your quarterback is going to send a message, that is the message you want him to send. Conner made it clear he was all in and QB1. The worst thing to happen is for people to wonder. It also meant a lot for his development in this offense and what it meant for his ability on that foot and ankle. Having to cut or seeing a pass rusher coming and making a move helps strengthen that ankle and get him back to normal.