Former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Troy Aikman thinks highly of UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley and said he made a wise decision to return to school for his junior season.
"To me, if you say, 'What does he have an opportunity this year to work on, or things that will help him as he moves on to the next level?' You've heard me and others say it a million times: He's a tremendous, athletically gifted quarterback, but just to continue to make the plays within the pocket, throwing the football and reading defenses," Aikman told the Los Angeles Times.
Aikman said the experience Hundley will gain this season is a big positive moving forward, pointing out that Hundley will be "doing some different things in that offense than he'll be doing ultimately in the NFL."
Aikman began his college career at Oklahoma, but he transferred and started as a junior and senior at UCLA in 1987-88, guiding the Bruins to a 20-4 mark in those two seasons. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 draft and led the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles.
Aikman told the Times he appreciates the attention Hundley is bringing to the UCLA program.
"It's been a while since we've had a player of his caliber or had the attention on the program," Aikman said. "I guess it goes back to probably when Cade McNown was there, the last time UCLA had that kind of attention and these kinds of expectations."
Hundley has a chance to leave UCLA with some key passing records. While he seems a long shot to become UCLA's career passing-yardage leader, he has 53 touchdown passes and is 17 away from setting the school mark in that category.
Bruins coach Jim Mora has said he thinks Hundley eventually will become an NFL star. NFL Media draft analyst Bucky Brooks likes Hundley's potential, but is looking for improvement in two areas this season: game management and deep-ball accuracy.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
