The Lone Star 50: Is No. 38 Grant Gunnell the answer to UNT's offense?

[Jonnyeagle]

Former St. Piux X quarterback Grant Gunnell transferred to North Texas from Memphis to kickstart the Mean Green passing attack. Will he be the answer UNT needs to turn the offense around?

The college football season in Texas starts a week earlier than normal with a Week 0 matchup between North Texas and UTEP. To celebrate us making it through another off-season, we’re counting down the 50 most important players in Texas every day until Aug. 27. The list isn’t necessarily about which players are the best, though talent plays a major factor in most important. 

No. 38 Grant Gunnell: North Texas junior quarterback 

The History

Gunnell was one of the most prolific passers in Texas state history during his TAPPS career and was a finalist for All-American Bowl Offensive Player of the Year after the 2018 campaign. He threw for 16,108 yards and 195 touchdowns – both state records – during his four seasons on varsity. Gunnell only threw 28 interceptions in 1,471 pass attempts. He added 1,621 yards and 28 touchdowns as a runner.

The Skillset

Potential was never a concern for Gunnell, who was a one-time pledge to Texas A&M and a four-star recruit in the 2019 class. He’s a pure pocket passer with size and a big, accurate arm. The 6-6, 228-pound Gunnell also never struggled to produced, evidenced by his prolific prep career. Gunnell was an All-American Bowl participant and a member of the Elite 11 Finals. The talent is there, especially at the G5 level. 

The concern with Gunnell is durability.

read more:  https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2022/07/20/the-lone-star-50-no-38-grant-gunnell-should-improve-the-mean-green-offense?ref=article_preview_img

[greenminer]

The high school stats are new to me.  Crazy.

[MeanGreen13]

3 hours ago, greenminer said:

The high school stats are new to me.  Crazy.

That's why I was somewhat confused by the lackluster response from the board when he signed. he is immediately the most talented quarterback we have ever had the second he steps on campus. I understand the wait and see response because of our history but he has a really high ceiling and might end up putting us way over the top if things go well. Not to mention that we have four legit D1 WRs on the roster again (Shorter, Neville, Bush, Maclin), kind of like what Mason Fine had with Bussey, Guyton, Darden, and Mike Law. Not to mention Ward and Burns with their recent experience. The ceiling for the offense is probably higher than most people think. Potential means nothing without execution though so I am curbing my excitement to see what we have moving forward. Hope the Oline is deeper now and we can still run the ball like we did last year when appropriate. Really the offense could easily put a lot of defenses ina "pick your poison" type of predicament if the QB position hits! 

Rambling. 

[greenminer]

15 minutes ago, MeanGreen13 said:

That's why I was somewhat confused by the lackluster response from the board when he signed. he is immediately the most talented quarterback we have ever had the second he steps on campus. I understand the wait and see response because of our history but he has a really high ceiling and might end up putting us way over the top if things go well.

Looks like any drama/uncertainty around Gunnell has nothing to do with his on-field ability, and a ton to do with his father.

[UNT18Grad]

37 minutes ago, MeanGreen13 said:

That's why I was somewhat confused by the lackluster response from the board when he signed. he is immediately the most talented quarterback we have ever had the second he steps on campus. I understand the wait and see response because of our history but he has a really high ceiling and might end up putting us way over the top if things go well. Not to mention that we have four legit D1 WRs on the roster again (Shorter, Neville, Bush, Maclin), kind of like what Mason Fine had with Bussey, Guyton, Darden, and Mike Law. Not to mention Ward and Burns with their recent experience. The ceiling for the offense is probably higher than most people think. Potential means nothing without execution though so I am curbing my excitement to see what we have moving forward. Hope the Oline is deeper now and we can still run the ball like we did last year when appropriate. Really the offense could easily put a lot of defenses ina "pick your poison" type of predicament if the QB position hits! 

Rambling. 

The lackluster response from me is because he is now on his 3rd school and the only school where he got meaningful playing time could have easily been called one of, if not the worst, teams in the country.  

The potential is absolutely there but high school stats and accolades means nothing to me when we are looking at a player who has consistently dropped to lower and lower levels of competition since going to college. To be very clear I hope he is everything he has potential to be and I am 100% on board with trying anyone but Aune since I think we've seen all we need to see there, it's just going to be a tough climb all the way up the depth chart in only a few weeks.  Completely agree on the potential of the offense this year though, if everyone stays healthy then I think this is one of the most solid groups we've had in the Littrell era outside of the QB position.

[Udomann]

38 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Looks like any drama/uncertainty around Gunnell has nothing to do with his on-field ability, and a ton to do with his father.

Or how much stickum we put on the receivers gloves. Aune wasn't the best, but the WRs did absolutely no favors

[GrayEagle]

1 hour ago, MeanGreen13 said:

That's why I was somewhat confused by the lackluster response from the board when he signed. he is immediately the most talented quarterback we have ever had the second he steps on campus. I understand the wait and see response because of our history but he has a really high ceiling and might end up putting us way over the top if things go well. Not to mention that we have four legit D1 WRs on the roster again (Shorter, Neville, Bush, Maclin), kind of like what Mason Fine had with Bussey, Guyton, Darden, and Mike Law. Not to mention Ward and Burns with their recent experience. The ceiling for the offense is probably higher than most people think. Potential means nothing without execution though so I am curbing my excitement to see what we have moving forward. Hope the Oline is deeper now and we can still run the ball like we did last year when appropriate. Really the offense could easily put a lot of defenses ina "pick your poison" type of predicament if the QB position hits! 

Rambling. 

Also to remember...the offensive line in front of him is one of the best at protecting the passer and in run blocking.  He should be able to function at a high level.  

[NT80]

2 hours ago, MeanGreen13 said:

That's why I was somewhat confused by the lackluster response from the board when he signed.

I hope he is all that is advertised!   We need more production at QB.   But, call us skeptical.  We have seen potential program-changing QBs show up here before, only to see them fizzle out or not see the field at all. 

Also, lack of a real QB coach, HC on the hotseat, offense direction TBD, helicopter-dad, etc. all cause for potential disruption.   Otherwise, he has all the tools and I wish him great success here!

[Wag Tag]

Yes! Please!

[MeanGreenTexan]

16 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

Also to remember...the offensive line in front of him is one of the best at protecting the passer and in run blocking.  He should be able to function at a high level.  

This is not entirely true.

The INTERIOR OL... is what you say.  Carroll, Mose, & Blair are mean maulers.

However, All-Conference Tackle, Brammer, is gone.  And Brown has a ton of experience, but certainly has a lot of room to improve.  Teams that bring heat from the outside are going to give us a ton of problems if we're going to try and start throwing the ball around again... starting game 1 VS Praise Amaewhule, who's a monster.

[NT93]

I always fear that the senior year of high school was the ceiling.

[UNTLifer]

5 hours ago, texx2818 said:

I’m skeptical because I keep getting flashbacks to that Berglund(?) kid

Gunnell has achieved success on the field at this level.  Berglund was a legend in his own mind.