Couch: Michigan State QB Brian Lewerke is on the cusp of something great – and he knows it

Graham Couch | Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING – Brian Lewerke’s father saw something he’d never seen from his son as he watched Michigan State’s football team scrimmage last week.

“Someone doesn’t do the right thing and, man, I’ve never seen him angrier,” David Lewerke said.

“There’s a fire and passion that I’ve never seen before. Like he knows what it’s going to take to be at Big Ten championship level and NFL level. He’s very aware of it and I think the coaches have helped him with that. He’s setting the bar high and expecting people to hit it.”

Michigan State’s junior quarterback can sense that he and this MSU offense are on the cusp of something. Something pretty damn great. There is a noticeable swagger to Brian Lewerke. Different than before.

“A little bit, with the hair and the one sleeve (on an arm),” teammate Cody White, a sophomore receiver, said, grinning and looking over at his quarterback.'

Nothing overly brash. In him is still the same quiet kid who showed up from Arizona three years ago feeling like an outsider and, two years ago, threw up on the sidelines before one of his first games.

But there is cause for confidence. Lewerke is a rare bird and he now knows it. He believes he can lead MSU’s offense to new places. He knows he can play in the NFL.

“I watch the guys in my class — (NFL rookies) Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, all those guys, guys that maybe I’m not friends with, but I knew them (through the Elite 11 camp or recruiting visits). It’s just like picturing myself, ‘Hey, I can do those things.’ I still have a long way to go, I think, but I can see myself being in there at the same position.”

(Story continues under video)

Michigan State captains preview 2018 season Michigan State captains Khari Willis, Brian Lewerke and Joe Bachie preview 2018 season. Recorded Aug. 23 in East Lansing.

He’s not alone in thinking that. He can do things they can’t. He’s not a dual-threat QB in terms of how we’ve come to picture them — a guy whose first or second instinct is to take off downfield.

“He is a pocket passer, with the ability to run and that’s special,” MSU quarterbacks coach Brad Salem said. “He’s a gifted thrower. When you see him throw on the run, he’s as natural a thrower as we’ve had.”

This from a program that’s produced three NFL quarterbacks — Brian Hoyer, Kirk Cousins and Connor Cook — under the current regime.

“He’s probably in the 3- to 5-percent range of kids I’ve ever worked with or seen that were true dual-threat quarterbacks,” added Lewerke’s private QB coach, Dennis Gile, who had a cup of tea in an NFL training camp behind Tom Brady, and has worked with Colin Kaepernick, Tyrod Taylor and Tim Tebow, among others. “His first, second or third progression — it’s to throw the ball, not to run it. That’s rare, that’s really rare.

“I wouldn’t compare him to anyone because I don’t think there are a lot of guys who can do what he can do. Not saying he’s the best quarterback in the world. I just think he has a lot more tools to work with than most.”

The same could be said for what he has around him at MSU — a senior tailback with NFL aspirations and three proven wideouts of varied strengths, each of whom also might eventually play on Sundays.

This is the year when it’s supposed to be fun, when everyone knows the offense inside and out, everyone knows their roles. It’s about seeing what they become together.

“I feel like we’re a good enough offense to put a lot of points up, hopefully,” Lewerke said. “I know the offense like the back of my hand now. I can focus a lot more on what the defense is giving me. I trust all my guys to run all the right stuff. I can just be more calm and not think, ‘Ah, man, I forgot what this guy is running, I’ve got to figure it out as he’s running it.’ It’s more just be calm and have fun.”

It’s been this way, Lewerke said, beginning with the Holiday Bowl win over Washington State. That was the first time he felt like he had it all down and could do anything.

“I’ve just kind of carried on and kept that as spring ball and fall camp has gone,” he said.

Talkin' Fortnite with Brian Lewerke and the Michigan State football team Michigan State football players Brian Lewerke, Felton Davis, Darrell Stewart, Joe Bachie, others talk about their love of the video game Fortnite.

We’ll see beginning Friday — as MSU opens its season at home against Utah State — how this fire, confidence and deep understanding of the offense translates to production and accuracy.

Lewerke passed for 2,793 yards, 20 touchdowns, seven interceptions and completed 59 percent of his passes as a redshirt sophomore last season. Those are good, though not spectacular numbers in MSU’s pro-style offense, which doesn’t allow for the inflated completion percentage you’ll see in spread attacks. Playing in four bad-weather games didn’t help, either.

Position analysis:

You don’t need stats to grasp Lewerke’s strengths and weaknesses. Neither does he. But he’ll give you a number if you ask: 3. That’s the number of overthrown deep passes he let fly in last year’s overtime loss to Northwestern.

“All of them could have all been 80-yard touchdowns,” Lewerke said. “I’m like, ‘Man, I need to work on this, make sure I get better.’”

Deep pass accuracy, stepping up in the pocket instead of out — this is the crux of what separates Lewerke from guys who start in the NFL.

Getting those deep shots on target meant repetition and occasionally intentionally poor decisions in practice. Seriously. Lewerke will throw a pass deep into double coverage or skip the smart check-down in drills because he wants to perfect that part of his craft when there are no real consequences. MSU’s coaches are cool about it, most of the time. They’re trusting he won’t go all cowboy on them during the actual games.

“There’s an understanding of each other,” Salem said. “Like in a practice, when he throws a ball when technically he’s not supposed to, I know he just wanted to try to rip a post on the outside because he either hadn’t thrown to that guy or wanted to challenge his arm a little bit.”

“There are a couple times I still get yelled at for still doing that,” Lewerke said. “I know I can take the check downs almost every time if I need to.”

Lewerke is the quarterback of MSU’s modern dreams — a live arm, quick-out-of-trouble feet, a pro-style brain, a passer first. That package is going to be difficult to duplicate in recruiting year in and year out.

MSU landed Lewerke because it caught his attention on a big stage — the Rose Bowl. Otherwise, he’s likely playing at his second choice, hometown Arizona State, MSU’s second opponent this season.

“If there is a single factor, it’d be that Rose Bowl win,” Lewerke’s father said. “We never watched Michigan State. Michigan State wasn’t really on the radar and so when they won that Rose Bowl game, I remember Brian and I were watching that game live, and when Kyler Elsworth made that stop, the determination …

“It was a big game and you see a big team, and keep in mind when you’re 17 years old, you don’t have a lot of history in life to really base it on. I even had to remind him, ‘Hey, Brian, before you commit there, you do know Michigan State has not been a traditional powerhouse program. They’ve had a really good year. That’s not going to happen every year.’ It didn’t really matter. He saw that. That really meant a lot to him.”

A true success-breeds-success recruiting story. Perhaps some 17-year-old QB somewhere will watch Lewerke this season and see the possibilities for himself.

There aren’t many quite like him.

“I think people underestimate how athletic he really is,” Gile said. “You don’t find that a lot anywhere — a guy who can be an unbelievable pocket passer but yet can probably run a 4.5(-second) 40(-yard dash) as well.

“His potential is limitless from my standpoint. He can do everything you want him to do.”

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

More MSU season preview coverage: