Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Owls emphasize patience, ball security with QB Posey
The FAU Owls are in the middle of a balancing act with their new starting quarterback: staying patient with Javion Posey’s development while continuously pushing him to be better.
With only three games and two starts at quarterback under his belt, Posey has already displayed the dynamic rushing ability he brings to Florida Atlantic’s offense. He leads the Owls in yards (332) and touchdowns (three) on the ground.
Posey’s also shown that steps will need to be taken for him to be more dangerous with his arm, completing 52.3% of his 44 passing attempts so far during the season.
“His growth is going to come,” FAU coach Willie Taggart said. “We got to be patient with him. We can’t go from A to Z. We have to start this thing off in pre-algebra and not start in calculus when it comes to him.”
Posey’s time playing and learning the nuances of the quarterback position has been limited since he joined FAU last year.
He spent the 2019 season at wide receiver after playing quarterback in high school. Spring practices were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Taggart said Posey “didn’t get as many reps early in training camp through now” with Nick Tronti being the team’s starting quarterback through the first four games of the season.
Despite the aforementioned factors, the Owls are seeing the improvements Posey has made throughout the season.
“As we get through this offseason, he’ll continue to get better,” Taggart said. “We have to be smart in our development with him and not ask to do more than what we need him to or ask him to do some things he can’t do and then get mad at him for not doing those things.”
And some of that development will involve improving at the skills that don’t involve actually throwing the football.
“We have to teach him how to be a quarterback and the things it takes to be a quarterback,” Taggart said. “As the quarterback, you have to be in control of the offense. You can’t let anyone else sell your offense short.
“You expect everybody to do their job and hold them accountable to it. When you make a mistake, you let them know. It’s tough because it’s in season. He can’t do it all at once but take one thing to focus on and getting better at.”
Taggart’s made clear what he’s emphasizing with Posey this week with the Owls set to play a Georgia Southern team on Saturday that’s recorded 11 takeaways through eight games, including 10 interceptions — tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation.
“It’s really important,” he said while repeating the word “really” 10 times. “We take care of the football. We’re not going to have many possessions with the style of play they play, so every possession’s going to count for us.
Drew Mehringer, FAU co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, added it’ll be crucial for FAU’s offense to help keep the Southern Eagles’ offense off the field as much as possible because they tend to dominate possession.
Georgia Southern’s average time of possession of 35 minutes is tied for No. 3 mark in the country.
“We’re going to have to find ways to make sure we stay on the field,” Mehringer said. “When we take our shots down the field, we’re going to have to connect.”