Mississippi State football film study: Michael Van Buren is the future in Starkville

Michael Van Buren's fit in Jeff Lebby's system

From an attributes standpoint, there are three things that typically standout when it comes to QBs in a Jeff Lebby offense. First, they have the ability to consistently connect on shots down the field. Second, they're going to be decisive, accurate, and on-time in the RPO game. Third, they're mobile enough to add a number to the run game and create off schedule.

Michael Van Buren possesses those traits.

We can start with his deep ball. Few things jump off the page more than how well he throws the football down field. Look at this shot to Kevin Coleman at Georgia. UGA is in a very clear Cover 1 blitz look - single high safety, one linebacker walked up to blitz, man coverage across the board.

Coleman has a slot fade, and if you're a QB, there's few things you want more than having your best WR running a slot fade vs Cover 1. If you can make a good throw, it's going to be a big gain. Van Buren makes a perfect throw.

At the snap, Van Buren gives the fake to the RB and makes sure to look away from Coleman. That FS is cheating to Coleman's side, and while it's unlikely he can get over top regardless, the fake and look off simply creates more space. That pulls the FS back towards the middle, and now, it's just on Van Buren to hit his man.

He stands strong in the pocket, even with pressure bearing down on him, and delivers a strike right over Coleman's outside shoulder. Perfect placement. Huge play.

Next we look at Van Buren in the RPO game. Here's a rep from his first ever start at Texas. In Jeff Lebby's offense, his QBs have a mental checklist they're asked to work through on each RPO. Part of that is to determine if the defensive box is loaded or unloaded. A loaded box means the defense has more players in immediate position to stop the run than the offense can block, while an unloaded box is one the offense has numbers to block.

Against a loaded box on a RPO, Lebby's QBs are automatically going to throw (with rare exception). They still have to execute a proper fake to the RB, but they're going to take their passing option on the play. That's what we see here. State has a stretch zone run called with a backside glance route from the slot receiver. Texas has six in the box vs five Bulldog blockers. The box is loaded, so Van Buren is going to throw the glance.

He goes through the mesh with the RB and, again, makes sure not to immediately look to his WR to prevent the safety from firing down on the glance. He then quickly flips his hips, sets to throw, and hits his slot for the 1st down. Notice how important the fake to the RB was. If he doesn't sell the run, that backside LB is in position to knock down the ball or even make a pick. But the fake gets the LB to bite on the run and create a window to throw.

Finally, Michael Van Buren is enough of an athlete to make defenses pay with his legs when he needs to. His first career TD was a scramble for a score in Austin. It's tough to tell if this is a true scramble or a QB Draw just with some pass options attached on, but even if it's a draw, Texas makes it a scramble either way. They send six rushers, and he's immediately under pressure. But he calmly slips by the blitzing LB, and with the secondary having cleared out with the receivers, he glides in for the score.

Van Buren has drawn a lot of comparisons to one of the most prolific QBs Jeff Lebby has coached: Dillon Gabriel. That comparison is a strong one. Obviously the stature stands out. Both are listed around a (generous) 6'0, 200. Both throw an accurate deep ball. And both are run threats that tend to be more shifty and quick as opposed to truly fast.

Where Van Buren may have an edge is in arm talent. Gabriel is great throwing down the field, but he's long had a tendency to have to load up and throw "moon balls" to connect on those shot plays. Van Buren by no means has a cannon, but there looks to be a more natural ease for him throwing deep, and he can put more zip on the ball.

Obviously Gabriel as a sixth-year QB, that's quite literally one of the nation's best, is a far better all-around player, and if Van Buren comes anywhere close to having a career like his, that'd be fantastic news for Mississippi State. But purely from a raw talent standpoint, Van Buren's ability gives him an incredibly high ceiling once he develops.