BYU Football: 3 Areas Riley Nelson Must Improve Upon

Riley Nelson will be, without question, the starting quarterback for the Cougars come September.

Nelson has incredible leadership and scrambling abilities as well as great field vision, but along with his strengths come weaknesses.

When you think of areas that Riley Nelson needs to improve upon, three of them stand out the most. If these areas aren't corrected or at least adjusted by the beginning of the season, don't expect the Cougars to have an exceptional year.

Pass Accuracy

Riley Nelson may be great at making plays outside of the pocket, but his scrambling ability does not entirely make up for being a below-average passer. In several games last season, especially the Tulsa and TCU contests, Nelson often made sloppy passes that missed wide-open receivers.

Although Riley Nelson isn't the strongest quarterback, he should be able to complete short passes nearly 100 percent of the time. Despite having great receivers in Ross Apo and Cody Hoffman, passes that are completely off-target will not be caught, no matter how talented your receivers are.

Decision Making

I respect the fact that Riley Nelson wants to win and will do whatever it takes to be the winner. But every once and a while, Nelson needs to just take a sack.

He needs to learn that if he throws the football into double and triple coverage instead of tacking a sack, nine out of ten times it will be intercepted.

Once again, I respect Nelson for his will to win. But he can't let it get out of hand. He needs to watch film of the TCU game and realize what he did wrong, and change that aspect of his game.

Aggressiveness

Aggressiveness is a great thing to have in the game of football, but Riley Nelson must keep it under control. As a mobile quarterback, Nelson is often the target of big hits by the defense.

Instead of lowering his shoulder and taking pops from defensive players, he should slide or throw the ball away to prevent injury. Without a great backup quarterback, it is essential that Nelson stays healthy throughout the season.