Arizona Football quarterback Khalil Tate Air Show started in Youth Ball

Arizona Football quarterback Khalil Tate has more depth than rushing. Tate can pass the ball with accuracy and efficiency.

The Arizona Football coaching staff is mostly brand new, but their quarterback and most of their team are returning for their sophomore season. Quarterback Khalil Tate is already a Junior (he started college a semester early), but he is getting ready for next season. He has been working on his passing skills since his Youth football days.

Tate is known for rushing the ball, darting in and out of his opponents’ defense. But Tate is not a one-dimensional quarterback, he not only has multiple speeds, he can pass the ball with accuracy. In Rich Rodriguez’s offense, it seemed that passing was not a major part of the strategy. Maybe he didn’t trust the receivers or didn’t think he could win by having his quarterback pass a ton. Or maybe he recruited dual-threat quarterbacks because he thought that was a great strategy.

Arizona Wildcats Football

Whatever the reason, listening to new head coach Kevin Sumlin, there should be more passing. Will it be an air show? Possibly. Hopefully, Sumlin will use his tight ends more often, as this helped the offense last season. Having a short game and a long game will help throw off the defense. The short pass seemed to disappear towards the end of the season.

The question is, how much control with the coaching staff have over the plays? Will Tate be able to call an audible? The clap strategy is gone. The play count will no longer start with a huge clap. With Spring football in the books, the Summer program is about to start and incoming freshmen will come to compete.

If you think Tate is not a great passer, think again. His efficiency is what you should be paying attention to. At a rating of 152.4, Tate is ranked as the No. 14 quarterback in the NCAA in passing efficiency. UCS’s Sam Darnold (drafted No. 3 in the NFL Draft) is ranked No. 26 and UCLA’s Josh Rosen (drafted No. 10 in the NFL Draft) is ranked at No. 28. Tate was also ranked No. 10 in the NCAA in yards per pass attempt. For reference, Baker Mayfield ranks No. 1 in both categories. True, Tate threw fewer passes that Darnold and Rosen but still, you cannot ignore the fact that when Tate passes, he does it well. Also, take into consideration, there were a number of passes dropped last season that Tate threw on target.

Pass Year Cl Pos G Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A AY/A TD Int Rate 2016 FR QB 7 18 45 40.0 243 5.4 3.7 3 3 94.0 2017 SO QB 11 111 179 62.0 1591 8.9 8.2 14 9 152.4 Careeer 129 224 57.6 1834 8.2 7.3 17 12 140.7

Tate ranked as the No. 1 QB passer rating of 123.5 on play action in the Pac-12 according to Pro Football Focus.

Tate also passed extremely well in the Foster Farms Bowl game, earning a 158.3 passer rating completing 10 of 12 passes, 202 yards, and four touchdowns. Tate and his receivers were the highlights of the Bowl game even though the Cats dropped to the Purdue Boilermakers.

Tate was four years old when he started playing football for the well-known Inglewood Jr. All-American Football League. He ended his youth football career with 10,000+ passing yards and 3,000+ rushing yards. At Serra High School in Gardena, California Tate became a High School All-American and earned 15 Division I football scholarship offers.

Last season as a starter of just eight games, Wildcat fans and football fans around the nation got the opportunity to witness Tate ball out. He was one of the most exciting QBs to watch in all of college football that broke and set FBS and PAC12 records. Tate also became a Heisman Candidate and the UofA Sophomore Male Athlete of the Year.

Are you as excited about this upcoming season as Zonazealots? Sit back and watch this Tate Air Show from his youth football playing days to his exciting college sophomore season:

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Watching the Tate Air Show just got us more excited about the upcoming season.