Transfer quarterback could compete for starting job at SFA immediately

Late last week, Texas walk-on quarterback Josh Covey announced his intention to transfer to Stephen F. Austin on Twitter. The product of East View High School in Georgetown, Texas flew under the radar during three seasons in Austin, sans a scholarship and without a legitimate path to playing time.

Covey's announcement wasn't met with a lot of fanfare. He is, after all, a former walk-on who has played multiple positions and is entering a crowded quarterback room at SFA where fellow transfer Foster Sawyer (when healthy) commands a much higher profile.

But without taking away anything from the Lumberjacks' stable of quarterbacks that include Sawyer and Jake Blumrick - who both have starting experience - and a true sophomore Zach Smith whose potential has been likened to former Walter Payton Award winner Jeremy Moses, Covey's arrival at SFA is a much bigger deal than most people realize.

He could start at the most important position on the Lumberjacks football team as soon as this coming season.

Covey is already enrolled and attending classes in Nacogdoches, but he cannot formally join the program until National Signing Day and team representatives cannot comment on his intentions to do so. Even still, a source familiar with Covey's body of work suggests he is a significantly underrated talent who could thrive given an opportunity to lead SFA's offense.

"He has a different make up," the source told The Sawmill. "Gives SFA a true dual threat. He is going there to play football."

Covey's speed has been called "4.5ish" and he has a powerful arm. He'll likely be the best all-around athlete among quarterbacks at SFA and could easily find himself on the field even if he's eclipsed in a quarterback battle.

A high school valedictorian and electrical engineering major, Covey walked on at Texas - where his dad played on the defensive side of the ball in the late 1970s - and turned a few heads over the last couple years. Ask anyone familiar with Josh Covey the man, and they'll all use the same word: "competitive."

"That’s part of his leadership," Covey's high school coach Rob Davies told Rivals.com for a profile last year. "The way he lives his life, and he works hard in everything that he does. His capacity to care about other people. I’m not trying to be sap, but I’m better for my time being around him just because he brings out the best in the people he comes in contact with. People say things like that all the time. He’s one of those kinds of people legitimately."

Covey was the third option at signal caller for most of this last season but the coaching staff at Texas was enamored with him. "[Former Texas head coach] Charlie Strong loved his athleticism," our source said. "[Current Texas head coach Tom] Herman saw his potential at quarterback. They didn't want him to leave."

By all accounts, Covey brings a certain edge and mental toughness that are both uncommon at his position. Still, even with the apparent chip on his shoulder, he was a very popular teammate. "This is tongue in cheek, but he's Baker Mayfield-esque but with better representation publicly," we're told.

Not bad praise at all for a football player who hasn't yet played a meaningful college snap. All indications are that he'll get a chance to at Stephen F. Austin as a redshirt junior in 2018.

And with National Signing Day just a few weeks away, Lumberjacks fans will be able to formally meet one of the most intriguing pieces of the 2018 roster very shortly.