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Navy QB who came out of stands to play in 2016 is switching positions
Navy quarterback Malcolm Perry is moving from quarterback to slotback.
Perry’s movie-script story was one of the best things of the 2016 season. He attended Navy’s first game of the season as a student fan — he missed practice because he was sick and had previously played in a junior varsity game — before he was pulled out of the stands at halftime because Navy needed him for depth.
Navy’s win against Fordham was a blowout in the second half so Perry got into the game in the fourth quarter, tallying seven carries.
Perry came to Navy as a slotback and switched positions before the 2016 season. And, according to Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, Perry’s move back to slotback is an indirect result of the situation that caused Navy to need him vs. Fordham.
Perry’s crazy story happened because Navy starting quarterback Tago Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1. Smith, a senior in 2016, was making his first start after previously backing up star quarterback Keenan Reynolds. Had Smith played another position, he might have played more before 2016. Moving Perry to slotback prevents him from re-enacting Smith’s career.
“I don’t want to make the same mistake I did with Tago. I feel like I screwed that kid. He could have played all those years, could have been on the field,” Niumatalolo said via the Annapolis Capital Gazette. “I made the decision to keep him on the sideline because I felt he was too valuable as the backup quarterback. That reasoning came back to bite us.”
Had he stayed at quarterback, Perry could have been the top backup to quarterback Zach Abey, who started the Midshipmen’s loss to Army and the bowl game vs. Louisiana Tech. Abey was pressed into duty in 2016 after Will Worth — the quarterback who became the starter after Smith’s injury — suffered a left foot injury in the AAC title game.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
