UNM football notes: Quarterback competition, James-Newby's big goals highlight first day of camp

If fall camp is its own chapter, New Mexico is writing it in pencil, not pen, to start.

“I don’t know if anything’s etched in stone right now,” head coach Jason Eck said Wednesday. “Just because we have 24 more practices, injuries could arise, everything. We want to have really good competition here early.”

That competition started in earnest at Wednesday morning’s practice, UNM’s first of fall camp.

Quarterback competition underway

Regarding the quarterback competition, Wednesday’s practice only provided one real takeaway: it won’t drag on forever.

Eck said UNM will name a starter by the time classes begin on Aug. 18, a move to make sure said QB1 gets enough reps with the rest of the first team.

Beyond that? There wasn’t a whole lot to glean from day one, other than the fact that it very much feels like it’s Jack Layne, James Laubstein, and everybody else. There will be more shuffling with the rest of the room and different units throughout fall camp (there always is) but it seems like a tall hill for the rest of the quarterbacks to climb — at least for now.

FRONTRUNNERS: Layne leaned on his experience and was mostly smooth running the offense and moving in the pocket. If there were a few hiccups — linebacker Mercury Swaim picked him off down the sideline during one 11-on-11 period — one could chalk a couple of those missed plays up to working within a collapsing pocket, or a drop.

The main thing is, Layne looked comfortable. After an elbow injury ended his spring just one practice in, Layne said he’s almost to the point where he's not thinking about throwing, either before or after the release. For now, that’s a bigger positive than any possible negative out of a non-padded practice.

“I can’t lie, in the back of my mind, it’s worrisome,” he admitted. “(The injury) stole spring ball. But I’m feeling really confident about where I’m at right now, and just not thinking about (it) as much. Just ripping.”

Laubstein had a few more issues, particularly when he was forced to throw on the run. But he did get the first reps out with the starters, something Eck said he earned this spring — even if Layne was UNM’s de facto QB1 the last time the Lobos kicked off practice.

After all, it is a quarterback competition. We’ll see where it goes from here.

“You can’t not think about it, right?” Laubstein said of the competition Wednesday. “But I think the biggest thing for me is (to) just be myself. And I feel like if I do that and be myself the best I can, everything will play itself out — whether that’s in Jack’s favor, or my favor.

“Hopefully in my favor,” he added with a smile.

Keyshawn James-Newby setting big goals

This wasn’t exactly the plan for Keyshawn James-Newby.

After all, he didn’t think he’d leave Montana Tech (NAIA) — and why would he? The 6-foot-2, 244-pound defensive end was only a 90-minute drive away from his hometown of Helena, Montana, “super content” to wreck opposing linemen while working towards a degree in civil engineering.

Then he led the Frontier Conference with nine sacks as a sophomore.

“I had a few people call me like, ‘dude you shouldn’t be here,’” James-Newby said Wednesday.

Two remarkably productive seasons at Idaho (FCS) followed, and when his senior year came to a close in December, he thought that was it.

“I never really, actually believed that I was going to make it to the FBS level,” James-Newby said.

Planned or not, Wednesday provided the first real look at James-Newby as an FBS player. After missing spring practice with a labrum injury, the Idaho transfer didn’t feel like he put in his best work on day one — “I’d like to see more hustle out of us all, really,” he said – but there were flashes of the pass rusher he’s trying to be; one with some of the loftiest goals on the team.

“I want 16 sacks. It’s really my goal,” he said. “If I can’t get that, I just wanna ... be a double digit guy from this point on. If I (have) a professional career, I wanna be a double digit guy."

For context, UNM’s single-season program record is 17 sacks, set by Robin Cole over 10 games in 1975. It’s unlikely anybody will break that one anytime soon. But James-Newby (10.5 sacks last season) thinks he has another step to take in his final year, meshing a little more power with the speed that's made him so effective at previous stops.

“I got (10.5) sacks last year off of coming outside,” he said. “If I can be able to counter inside and work my inside moves a little bit better, that’s another 10, you know what I’m saying? There’s just things that I (got to) work on, and it’s (going to) be all fall camp, but it’s worth it.”

News and notes

- The first team offensive line as of Wednesday: left tackle Tevin Shaw, left guard Israel Mukwiza, center Kaden Robnett, right guard Richard Pearce and right tackle Nevell Brown. There was a little shuffling, but it’s about what we saw in the spring with a now-healthy Shaw back in the mix.

- Josh Perry is no longer listed on the roster and won’t be with the team this season, a program spokesperson confirmed. The Rio Rancho native and Cleveland High School graduate was moved to linebacker this spring after playing running back last season.

- A look at the first team defense, as of Wednesday: defensive ends Xavier Slayton and James-Newby; defensive tackles Brian Booker and Gabriel Lopez; linebackers Jaxton Eck and Dimitri Johnson; cornerbacks Abraham Williams and Jon Johnson; and safeties Austin Brawley, David Murphy and Tavian Combs. That’s with Murphy at UNM’s nickel star spot, one that Albert Nunes also notched some reps at.

- Freshman wide receiver Ray Gilbert had been listed on the roster, but won’t be with the team this season. The 5-10, 155-pound freshman from Inglewood, Calif. will attend a junior college instead, according to a program spokesperson.

UNM football photos: Fall camp is open