SMU QB Tanner Mordecai plans to enter 2023 NFL draft after this season

UNIVERSITY PARK — SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai told reporters on Tuesday that he plans to walk at Senior Day on Saturday against Memphis with the intention of entering the NFL draft after this season.

Mordecai had one season of eligibility left if he wanted it.

“SMU has been so great to me,” Mordecai said. “Last year, I know there’s a lot of sour feelings with what happened, but I had a blast. From going from not playing for three years, to coming out last year and letting it rip, I had a fricken blast.”

Mordecai has led an explosive SMU offense under two different coaching staffs the last two seasons. In 22 games he’s completed 65.9% of his passes for 6,706 yards, 68 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

This season, Mordecai — a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award for the second year in a row — has thrown for 3,078 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions, despite missing a game with a concussion. He had a conference and school record 10 touchdowns against Houston earlier this season, including a record nine passing touchdowns. He’s fifth in the country in big-time throws at 26, which is a statistic kept by Pro Football Focus to account for “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window,” according to the website.

“Oh man, I’m certainly glad that we have him,” offensive coordinator Casey Woods said when asked about Mordecai’s decision. “We have talked week in and week out about his professional approach.”

And for this new coaching staff, it started from the very beginning.

Mordecai transferred from Oklahoma after three seasons as the backup quarterback. He threw 70 career passing attempts for the Sooners, but was eager to show what he could do in a starting role.

At SMU, with former head coach Sonny Dykes, Mordecai had that chance, showing he was worth the wait. In his first season as the starter, Mordecai threw for 39 touchdowns.

Mordecai told reporters on Tuesday that he always intended to come back to SMU for his second season, even though Dykes left for TCU and SMU named Rhett Lashlee as the head coach.

Lashlee and his staff wouldn’t just simply hand the starting quarterback job over to the incumbent, however. Lashlee wanted to prioritize competition across the entire team, which meant Mordecai had to battle with former All-American recruit Preston Stone for the starting job.

Mordecai was named the starter with weeks before the opener to spare.

“I’m proud of how he handled it,” Lashlee said at the time of Mordecai. “He trusted us in spring, summer and fall camp, and you’re right: that can’t be easy when you’re a returning starter and had a successful season to be in a real battle. But I think how he handled it speaks a lot of his maturity and like I said, he’s earned it.”

The Mustangs have also had the chance to see their future at the position this season. Mordecai missed the Tulsa game after suffering a concussion the week prior against Cincinnati. Stone started against Tulsa and completed 11-of-17 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown in less than a half before he suffered a broken collarbone, ending his season early. True freshman Kevin Jennings took over after Stone left, finishing eight-of-11 for 91 yards and a touchdown, helping the Mustangs beat Tulsa.

McKinney quarterback Keldric Luster is committed to SMU in the class of 2023. Also, the transfer portal opens on Dec. 4, and the Mustangs have shown an ability to find talented quarterbacks there.

That’s how SMU landed Mordecai, and in turn, how Mordecai found a place to let it rip for two seasons.

“I made some of the best friends of my life here, and this year has been nothing short of awesome, too,” Mordecai said. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but it’s been a blast. Playing every Saturday with this group has been special. Maybe our record is not what we wanted, but I love these dudes, they play hard, and they’re everything I could ask for.”

On Twitter: @JoeJHoyt

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