UNLV Rebels Quarterback Alex Orji Is A 'Perfect Fit' For Dan Mullen's Offense

The UNLV Rebels football team brought in Dan Mullen to be their head coach this season and replace Barry Odom, who left Las Vegas to take the Purdue Boilermakers job. One of his first tasks as the Rebels coach was replacing surprise breakout quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams, who graduated in the spring and earned an invite to the Las Vegas Raiders rookie minicamp. Mullen hit the transfer portal and brought in Anthony Colandrea from the Virginia Cavaliers and Alex Orji from the Michigan Wolverines to compete for the starting job.

We have been vocal that we believe that Orji will ultimately be named the Week 1 starter. The general consensus has been very split between the two quarterbacks. Recently, Mountain West Connection gave their take on the Rebels' QB competition.

Mountain West Connection On Colandrea

"The first starting option for the Rebels is Anthony Colandrea. He played for Virginia last season. He had 2,125 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, but 11 interceptions which is a concern. His touchdown to interception ratio is 1.18. He turned the ball over last season for Virginia nearly as often as he scored. He does, however, have an extremely high upside. He played incredibly for Virginia in the first five games of the season. He averaged 242.2 passing yards per game in that stretch and led them to a 4-1 record."

Mountain West Connection On Orji

"Mullen also brought in former Michigan quarterback Alex Orji. He’s a dual-threat quarterback with incredible legs. He also is a National Champion. Orji seems to fit the mold of quarterbacks that Dan Mullen likes to coach. He loves running RPOs and Orji would be a perfect fit for an RPO offense. The starting quarterback decision is still up in the air. The one hope for UNLV this season is that there won’t be any NIL drama causing a midseason transfer, like we saw last year with Matthew Sluka."

We side with the take that Mullen goes with the dual-threat quarterback who is a perfect fit in his RPO offense. It's the poor decision-making from Colandrea that we believe ultimately holds him back. While Colandrea is a more proven passer, he's not electric on the ground like Orji. It will be easier to maximize the strengths of Orji while protecting him from his faults. Both quarterbacks are going to get playing time, but we expect Orji to ultimately prove to be the top guy.