What a year it has been for sophomore quarterback Kyle Padron. This time last year he was a 2-star recruit just trying to make a good impression during summer workouts. He started the season on the bench and was wondering if he would ever get a chance to get on the field during his time at SMU. Now he is the unquestioned leader of the SMU offense that is hyped to be one of the best in Conference USA, if not the country, during the 2010 season.

Padron replaced the struggling Bo Levi Mitchell mid-season last year and ended up winning five of his six starts, including an MVP performance in a landslide victory over Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. He finished last season completing 67% of his passes and boasted the fifth best quarterback rating in the country. In only six games he threw for nearly 2,000 yards with 10 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. However, it doesn’t get any easier for Padron in 2010 with the loss of star wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to the NFL, but from the looks of it he hasn’t come close to reaching his potential.

If you want to try to predict how Padron will handle his first full season behind center for the Mustangs I suggest you take a look at another low profile sophomore June Jones coached at Hawaii. Colt Brennen was given the starting role for Jones in 2005 with no prior game experience and zero hype. Brennen wasn’t highly recruited out of high school either and his transfer to Hawaii was widely unnoticed in the college football world. However, he threw for over 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns his first season in Jones’ offense, and later went on to set several NCAA passing records.

Am I saying that Kyle Padron will set NCAA passing records in 2010 and, like Brennen, become a Heisman hopeful every season? I guess it kind of looks that way but that isn’t what I’m trying to do here. My point is that all of the signs point to Padron having a huge year and a terrific career for the Mustangs. When asked about Padron offensive coordinator Dan Morrison told ponystampede.com, “He has really showed a lot of poise from right in the beginning. He has a lot of escape-ability and movement around the pocket, something you need at this level, and he is pretty accurate.”

Coming from a winning tradition at Southlake Carroll High School it is clear that Padron knows how to win. He comes from a similar offense and is used to being heavily relied on to throw the ball 30 plus times a game. Head coach June Jones told foxsports.com “He just needs a lot of repetitions. He didn’t really get a chance to play in the first five or six games last year. His confidence level from the bowl game is certainly high. He was really accurate throwing the ball. I think his grasp of just knowing where to go with the ball has improved.”

The rumors coming from campus are that he has bulked up and has taken on a leadership role with the offense so far this offseason. All rumors aside, don’t be surprised to see a more poised Padron leading an offense that could dominate in Conference USA this coming fall.

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