BEAUMONT, Texas – With the start of preseason camp in full swing, LamarCardinals.com will be doing its annual position-by-position breakdown of the team heading into the season opener at Texas State (Aug. 31, 2024).
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU quarterbacks.
 
RB Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 2/1
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/0
Newcomers: 1
Redshirts: 1
 
Stats: The Cardinals completed better than 60 percent of their passes (159-for-263) for 2,056 yards and 17 touchdowns, with nine interceptions last season. Lamar ended 2023 ranked eighth in the Southland in pass offense (186.9 ypg).
 
Key Player: Robert Coleman – returning starter who had a solid year completing 156-of-255 passes for 1,956 yards and 16 touchdowns. Coleman was picked off seven times on the season. He also carried the ball 98 times for 170 yards and a score. I know half the folks who look at this and think we didn't put much thought into this and just went with the returning starter, so to answer that question, yes, we simply went with the returning starter (the flip side of that coin is if we didn't go with the returning starter the other half would ask why we didn't just go with the returning starter.
 
The Storyline
While no one will ever stand up and go crazy with excitement over finishing eighth in the league in passing, that number alone doesn't tell the whole story, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the position heading into 2024.
 
For starters, Lamar returns both players from the depth chart last season in Robert Coleman and Jakolby Longino. That alone brings stability and experience to the position. While Coleman started all 11 games last season, he was pushed every step of the way by Longino. What was a close battle last season is even tighter this year.
 
Another reason for excitement, the quarterbacks played behind an offensive line that faced significant injuries through the first half of the season. Top returning receiver from the 2022 campaign (Sevonne Rhea) was also sidelined for the first half of the season. Despite all of that, this team still figured out a way to record FCS football's fourth-best single season turnaround last year.
 
And finally, with all of the injuries, a new quarterback behind center and a new coaching staff, THIS TEAM FIGURED OUT A WAY TO RECORD THE NATION'S FOURTH-BEST SINGLE-SEASON TURNAROUND. Throw in the fact that Lamar faced No. 8 Idaho and South Dakota (both teams who would go on to be national seeds in the NCAA FCS Playoffs) as well as FBS UL Monroe and Big Red recorded one of the best single-season turnarounds in NCAA history.
 
Continuing with the getting better each week theme, Lamar's signal callers have had a full year with LU's coaching staff. The coaches know more of what they can expect from personnel and the returners know exactly what is expected of them.
 
If you need more reasons to be excited, the Cardinals return four of five starters on the offensive line, plus LU returns several other guys who gained starting experience during all the early season injuries. Add to that they fact that Lamar also returns its top seven receivers from last year and even the "glass is half empty" folks would have to say that it's at least a good starting point.
 
Coleman returns to camp as a starter. We listed his 2023 stats earlier so no need to rehash those here, but he was solid. He ended the year posting LU all-time top-10 marks for passing yards, completions and touchdowns in a single season and ranked second in the conference in efficiency.
 
Longino played in four games last season and completed 2-of-6 (.333) passes for 25 yards. More of a dual-threat option, Longino also carried the ball seven times for 67 yards (9.6 ypc). Although he didn't see a ton of playing time last year, Longino looked strong in the team's spring game where he completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. There is a battle taking place behind center for the Cardinals and the best part is preseason camp is just a week in.
 
The Cardinals also return Aiden McCown, who spent his first season in the Golden Triangle utilizing his redshirt. The son of an NFL standout (Josh McCown), Aiden has all the tools to be a standout when his number is called. A three-star prospect coming out of high school, McCown was considered a top 140 QB prospect nationally.
 
This offseason, the Cardinals also added Brady Driver to the fold. A former district MVP from Sulphur Springs, Driver came out of high rated as one of the top 100 prospects in East Texas. Driver threw for 4,057 yards and during his career, while rushing for nearly 1,900 yards. He also accounted four 45 total touchdowns in 24 games.
 
No matter who wins the starting job for LU this season, head coach Pete Rossomando and quarterbacks coach Will Fleming have options.