Born to play: BYU freshman Jake Heaps has always displayed passion for playing QB

PROVO — From a young age, Jake Heaps has been grooming himself — pushing himself — to be a championship quarterback.

The true freshman at BYU was in the fifth grade when, with his family, he began making three-hour trips from his hometown of Sammamish, Wash., to work out with renowned quarterbacks coach Greg Barton, who runs a football academy in Beaverton, Ore.

Barton still remembers his first meeting with Heaps.

"His eyeballs were dilated. He was into it," says Barton, who has tutored Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Jason White and three current NFL starters (Palmer, Aaron Rodgers and Kyle Orton). "Everything Jake and I talked about, he just ate it up.

"Quarterbacks need to take everything in, like a sponge. They have to have that gym rat mentality. They have to have that to be a really great quarterback. Jake had all that. And he was having the time of his life. The guy's really got a passion for being a quarterback."

Heaps attended Barton's academy about 25 weekends a year to learn the quarterback craft. That time and hard work paid off, as he led Skyline High School in Sammamish to three consecutive state titles and finished with a 40-2 record as a starter.

In addition to his accomplishments at Skyline, Heaps earned MVP honors at the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp last summer, and he was a member of the U.S. Army All-America team. He was rated by Scout.com as No. 1 high school QB in the nation.

After an intense recruiting battle, which saw him receive scholarship offers from more than two dozen schools, Heaps picked BYU. One of the most sought-after LDS recruits ever, he finished high school early in order to enroll at BYU and participate in spring drills.

When the Cougars open fall camp in a little less than three weeks, Heaps, junior Riley Nelson, sophomore James Lark and redshirt freshman Jason Munns will resume the battle to become the starting quarterback this fall.

Legions of BYU fans are expecting Heaps to join the pantheon of BYU quarterback greats right away. To some fans, he's already achieved that status even before he takes a collegiate snap.

Are the lofty expectations placed on a youngster who turned 19 in June realistic? Is Heaps prepared to deal with those expectations?

The reality is that only one former Cougar QB, Drew Miller, has started a game as a non-returned missionary true freshman. And that was for one game late in the 1997 season.

As per BYU policy, newcomers like Heaps aren't allowed to talk to the media for now. But the Deseret News spoke to several of his former coaches, mentors and others who have known him for years. They all agree that Heaps is ready to play, and even start, as a true freshman.