It's not quite accurate to call Tate Smith a dark horse in the UNM football team's quarterback competition.
But he is more liberated. He can thank head coach Mike Locksley for that.
Remember, when Locksley was introduced to replace Rocky Long, he said every position was up for grabs.
"I think everybody should have a little fear for their job. I told (the team), as of Dec. 9, 2008, everybody's starting with a clean slate - there are no starters," Locksley said. "What you've done prior doesn't mean anything. Everything I judge you by now is based upon what you show me."
And Smith didn't look like a walk-on in Saturday's scrimmage.
Sure, he's only played in four games. Sure, his numbers last year - 7-for-21 and an interception - don't bolster a sense of excitement.
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But Smith does have a few things working in his favor: He's Stoney Case's cousin. The same Case who was UNM's all-time leading passer in the 1990s. The same Case who was the first player in NCAA history to pass for 8,000 yards and rush for 1,000. That bloodline is the one Smith shares.
Smith has a gun, too, possibly the strongest arm of the three other guys taking reps in practice: Donovan Porterie, Brad Gruner and signee Emmanuel Yeager.
He said he has run an offense that is a near-replica of Locksley's.
"I ran this offense back in high school, so it's a whole lot easier on me because we ran the whole operation - the same way coach Locksley's doing it," Smith said.
He's mobile, something that has to look favorable with this coaching staff, especially considering the quick-paced, no-resting-on-your-laurels system Locksley plans to run this season and has already started implementing.
Gruner is also mobile - but in a different manner.
Gruner, evidenced by his propensity to take off running down the field last year, didn't use his bounding quickness to buy time for receivers to get open. Instead, he'd tuck and take off. For him, it looks like that was the better decision, because when he tried to scramble and find a receiver on Saturday, he didn't make many good decisions.
On one play, after being flushed out of the pocket, Gruner dipped to his right and chicken-winged a duck to a covered receiver in the back of the end zone. It was nearly intercepted.
There are also concerns about Porterie.
Porterie has proved to be agile in the past, but not all ACL injuries are created alike. No one knows how much of an effect this potentially career-threatening injury will have on his elusiveness.
During Saturday's scrimmage, Porterie walked around gingerly. And on plays where there was pressure, he was unable to avoid it and was sacked at least four times.
Smith, on the other hand, avoided pressure and twice on one drive dumped balls down to his check-down receivers. They weren't the flashiest plays, but they were the right ones.
"Brad and Donovan are out front," Smith said. "(But) after today's performance, I think I'm right there with Brad and Donovan."
On Saturday, he looked to be ahead of them. And in an open, clean-slate competition, the difference between a starting job and a clipboard will be playing intelligently and maximizing the Lobos' chances of scoring.
But Smith is far from flawless, and his greatest gift could be his curse.
"I'm a gutsy guy," he said. "I'm willing to take the chance."
Yes, he did throw for a pair of touchdowns in UNM's scrimmage on Saturday. Smith, though, need only remind himself of that slip-up he had. In attempting to float a pass to Michael Scarlett, Smith was intercepted by cornerback Edrick Boger.
"If I would have thrown it a second earlier, it would have been six," Smith said. "If I hold it like I did, it's an interception."
Each quarterback has had his day, too.
In the Lobos' last scrimmage on April 4, Porterie was iceberg-lettuce crisp, completing 13 of his 20 pass attempts. Saturday, he was 9-for-12. Gruner, at times, has also looked worthy of nabbing the starting position. In UNM's first scrimmage, Gruner was a perfect 9-for-9.
But cumulatively, there's no question who has had the finest stat line: Smith, altogether, is 17-for-31 for 266 yards, three touchdowns and just one pick. In three scrimmages, Gruner is a combined 16-for-31 for 161 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. And Porterie, 25-for-39 for 237 yards with a trio of picks, hasn't done as much as the other two quarterbacks production-wise.
It's a juggling act, though. Quarterbacks coach Tee Martin has to consider that Porterie is less than 100 percent, but he's experienced. Last year, Gruner was a running back stuck in a quarterback's body. But he also didn't have a great deal of opportunities to throw the ball downfield - or just throw it for that matter. And Smith, although he has done well in simulations, is unproven in actual games.
The coaching staff has said a starter likely won't be named until mid-fall. And for now, all we can do is speculate because, in that regard, Martin remains tightlipped.
"All of them are doing a good job," he said.
