It seems that every single year there is a quarterback in college football who receives a large amount of hype — even early Heisman Trophy candidate treatment — despite having an incredibly small sample size.
At one point, that was former Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King, who fell short of the expectations. In 2024, it’s Conner Weigman, who just so happens to also be an Aggie.
There’s a world of potential that Weigman has flashed, but he saw action in just four games in 2023, completing 82 of his 119 passing attempts for 979 yards with 8 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
The previous season, Weigman was good on 73 of 132 passing attempts for 896 yards with 8 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
So, can Weigman back up the hype he’s receiving ahead of the season? Here’s an in-depth look into just that:
The case for Weigman
Weigman hasn’t seen the field as much as some of the other nation’s quarterbacks who are getting the same type of buzz that he is, but he’s definitely made the most of the opportunities he has gotten.
Sure, Weigman has a small sample size, but it’s not necessarily by fault of his own. In 2022 when Weigman did not get the starting job, he only missed one start that he actually could have made, due to a flu outbreak that put roughly half of the Aggies’ team off the field for the contest against the Florida Gators.
With what can only really be called a lack of in-game experience, his level of play is impressive. He doesn’t lock onto one read or give things away with his eyes, goes through his progressions well, throws with touch, has solid pocket presence, can perform both under-center and from the shotgun and he’s mobile enough to improvise.
For what it’s worth, number of games played considered, Weigman posted some impressive PFF numbers. Those included a 73.8% adjusted completion rate, a 92.6 passing grade from a clean pocket and just a 2.1% turnover-worthy play rate.
The case against Weigman
Weigman has played just eight games over the past two years, meaning that the body of work he’s put up may not be over a significant enough time frame to make a true judgement on what his ceiling is. It also raises the question of just how available he’ll be from an injury perspective, which people are split on depending on which side of the spectrum of the Weigman hype they lean toward.
Weigman suffered a broken bone in his right foot in the fourth game of the 2023 season, rendering him unable to play for the rest of the campaign after limited action the previous year.
Where the pure tape is concerned, there’s that pesky Auburn showing in 2022. It was Weigman’s worst game in which he looked completely uncomfortable, clearly rattled as he completed 38.9% of his passes for 121 yards and 1 touchdown, sacked three times. Was this just a bad day or is it more indicative of who he is as a quarterback from time to time? That’s hard to say because of the number of games he’s seen the field for.
Weigman has had his moments, but he’s not a finished product and has a good bit to prove. Areas the Texas A&M signal-caller could stand to get better in include timing, throwing flat-footed or off his back foot, and overall anticipation on certain throws, sometimes showing hesitancy or struggling on tight-window throws.
Final verdict
It’s simply too early to tell. There’s no question that Weigman has shown potential and has potential to build off of — he hasn’t drawn comparison to players of Drew Brees’ magnitude to this point without reason. He’ll need to put up a full season of consistently solid tape for the first time ever in his career in 2024 to prove he’s truly worthy of the sky-high expectations that surround him.
It could go either way with Weigman, but the “wait and see approach” is best practice here as the Aggies look to get on the right path at the start of the Mike Elko era.
