Redshirt-freshman QB a Virginia veteran

CHARLOTTESVILLE — By the time first-semester classes begin at Virginia later this month, Greyson Lambert will qualify as a junior academically.

On the football field, he’ll be a redshirt freshman.

“I feel like I’ve been here forever, honestly,” said Lambert, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound quarterback, “and I haven’t played in a game yet.”

Lambert had enough credits to graduate in December of his senior year at Wayne County (Ga.) High School in 2011-12 and he enrolled at Virginia in January.

He has been in Charlottesville for two springs and two summers, taking classes the whole time, but the only fall was last season, when he was redshirted.

At the time, Lambert was one of five scholarship quarterbacks in the UVa program, all of them underclassmen. Two more quarterbacks, prospects Brendan Marshall and Corwin Cutler, had made oral commitments to the Cavaliers.

UVa was in position to go into the 2013 season with seven scholarship quarterbacks. Then, they started dropping.

Michael Rocco, the Cavaliers’ leading passer for the past two seasons, asked for a release from his scholarship and transferred to Richmond.

Phillip Sims, who battled Rocco for the starting job after transferring from Alabama, fell to third on the depth chart in the spring and eventually was dismissed from school for academic reasons.

Cutler headed to Fork Union Military Academy, apparently the plan all along, and suddenly new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Steve Fairchild was looking at a foursome of sophomore David Watford, Lambert, fellow redshirt freshman Matt Johns and Marshall.

Watford, who played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2011, was listed No. 1 going into spring drills and remained in that position coming out of the spring. Lambert was No. 2, although head coach Mike London has held off on naming starter for UVa’s opening game Aug. 31 against visiting Brigham Young.

As he spoke to reporters on UVa’s media day, Lambert sounded unfazed. Departures since the end of the season include the resignation of former offensive coordinator Bill Lazor to become quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.

“It was difficult when I heard the news,” Lambert said. “I wouldn’t be here, honestly, if it wasn’t for him and the way he recruited me. I was really thankful for the time I had with him. But, it was only a few days before coach Fairchild got here. It was like barely anything had changed.”

Lambert also had become close to Rocco, who was a mentor of sorts. It was Rocco who introduced Lambert to the church Lambert now attends, and Lambert lives in the house that Rocco had been sharing with Zach Swanson and Pablo Alvarez.

Lambert and Rocco communicate regularly and Lambert was quick to text Sims and wish him well upon the announcement that he would be leaving UVa. Listening to Lambert, there’s little reason to question his sincerity.

“I’ve never worried about [the competition],” said Lambert, one of the most heavily offered quarterbacks to come into the UVa program. “I worry about what I can control and how I prepare. Whether that’s playing or not playing, I’m willing to do what’s best for the team.”

Part of his preparation includes taking a picture of the scripts the quarterbacks get for an impending practice and texting them to his father, Drexel, who coached him in little league.

“He’ll call it out, like [a] coach would call it out, and then I would recite the play, tell him what cadence it’s on, tell him the progression and that sort of thing,” Lambert said. “He’s helped me a lot.”

Lambert’s height and strong arm could lead to an improved UVa deep game, but the mental game is just as important to him.

“I’d like to run a 4.3 or 4.4 up here,” he said, pointing to his head, “because I’m not as mobile as some. That’s been my focus.

“You see all the great ones, [Tom] Brady and [Peyton] Manning, and you see that they have very low sack numbers. That’s because they get the ball out of their hand they know where they’re going with it.”

Whether he’s a freshman or a junior, or somewhere in between, Lambert hasn’t lacked for an education.

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