It has been an interesting offseason for Eastern Washington as two-time Big Sky player of the year Vernon Adams transferred to Oregon, but junior quarterback Jordan West is ready to take the reigns of this offense. He had the spring, the offseason and now the fall to be the leader and he's ready to show his teammates, as well as the fans, that he can get this squad back to the National Championship game.
"It's something I'm trying to come into," West who started four games last year said. "I don't want to act like I'm the guy and come straight out with it, but I'm trying to be a leader on this team and I'm coming into my role."
Eags head coach Beau Baldwin said, "You'll probably see (West) use the middle of the field a little bit more. Vernon would get out to the sidelines and did a great job of doing that, but Jordan, who is a little taller, has the potential to see the middle of the field...he's got as live of an arm as I have ever coached."
Senior offensive lineman Clay DeBord added, "I'm going to call a spade a spade. There was a little bit of turmoil in the offseason and there's no sense in hiding that or shying away from that. I really think (West) is going to surprise a lot of people this year. He kind of got his feet wet after the four games Vernon was out, but he's been looking good this camp."
West, who tallied more than 1,000 passing yards and eight touchdowns in his short stint starting, said, "A lot of it is confidence. I went into a lot of those games a little shaky and lost one of them, which was a tough loss, but I learned a lot from those games and am just happy to be back."
West said playing behind Vernon Adams was very helpful and he hopes to take some of the lessons he learned into the season, and especially that first game on Sept. 5 against Oregon.
