The JQ Hardaway vs Nick Mardner matchup
A fun matchup to watch so far throughout camp has been Nick Mardner versus true freshman JQ Hardaway. Hardaway, a true freshman that stands 6-foot-3 is everything they said he would be coming into his first fall camp with the Bearcats after enrolling early this spring. The freshman has not been scared to take on the 6-foot-6 wide receiver early in camp, and it sort of reminds me of the battles we saw over the last two seasons between Alec Pierce and Sauce Gardner. However, Hardaway is drawing a lot of comparisions to a guy named Sauce Gardner, who just became the Bearcats highest drafted player in program history in this past April’s NFL Draft.
Bearcats defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, safety Ja’von Hicks and wide receiver Nick Mardner all had a lot of praise for the true freshman after a great start to fall camp.
“It’s pretty rare, even with Sauce, it wasn’t until a couple games into the season that the coaching staff was like oh, I think we got something here. It’s pretty rare, but on the other side of the coin, JQ has to come out do it in scrimmages, earn the right to do it in games, so we won’t talk about that yet,” said Tressel.
“It’s extremely rare for a guy like JQ to come in make those contributions. However, ball is ball, but JQ makes a lot of plays. My early impressions on JQ, is that he kind of does look like Ahmad Gardner out there, but at the end of the day he is JQ Hardaway, he is going to play his own game, but he is going to be special,” said Hicks.
“JQ is a dog, it’s real exciting to see a guy like that come in real young, instantly contributing, for me he gives me great work and I got nothing but great words for JQ for sure,” said Mardner.
The battle between Jowon Briggs and Jake Renfro
The Bearcats lost a lot of talent on the defensive line from a season ago between Myjai Sanders, Curtis Brooks and Marcus Brown, that one guy that was left out of conversations some last season was Jowon Briggs. Briggs, a 6-foot-1, 310 pound defensive lineman saw action in 2021 and played a huge role down the stretch up front for the Bearcats in 2021 and is looking to make that next step heading into 2022 where he has been battling with Jake Renfro in the trenches and it’s been a fun battle up front throughout camp and Briggs is really embracing that opportunity heading into the season.
“Jake is an excellent center first, he makes me use my hands and power, just because how good his feet are, he is strong, he’s got a nice wide base. It really makes me have to get in those tough situations as a defensive lineman, not only in the run and pass game. I have to really be combative in my rush, so it’s just really a matter of iron sharpens iron, it’s a battle. Going against Jake, it’s really about making sure I have my hand placement and if I don’t, roll me over and that’s immediate feedback,” said Briggs.
Freshman Quincy Burroughs continues to stand out
However, Freshman Quincy Burroughs, is off to a tremendous start to camp, after deciding not to enroll early this spring, Burroughs has looked phenomenal throughout the first week so far. The freshman has tremendous route running skills, and for someone 6-foot-2, he is so twitchy and athletic and has been able to win a great number of matchups so far and could surprise a lot of people based on how he has looked early, and he has left some of his teammates in wow including wide receiver Tyler Scott who compared him to NFL star Julio Jones.
“I think it starts with him, one thing I’ve noticed with Quincy is that he is there mentally, his mindset is there, he wants to be great, he wants to get better. That was the first thing I had noticed with him. As far as him on the field, he reminds me of a Julio Jones type, he kind of moves like him. He is hungry, which is good, he is always asking questions, trying to find ways to get better, make sure he is always doing the right thing, he’s always early to things too. I think he is going to be great.”
