idahostatesman
Redshirt senior Maddux Madsen is heading into his third year as the full-time starter for Boise State football, with little in the way of competition for his starting spot in 2026.
The 5-foot-10 QB has enjoyed plenty of success in his time leading the Broncos namely, a pair of Mountain West championships, a trip to the College Football Playoff, and pretty impressive statistics, including never having lost a game at home if he finished the contest.
However, criticism comes with the territory for quarterbacks, and Madsen has faced his share mostly over his size and arm strength.
Madsen has sometimes found himself hesitant to push the ball downfield, and when hes been forced into those situations with the Broncos chasing from behind, the results have been quite mixed.
In the playoff game against Penn State in 2024 at the Fiesta Bowl, three of his six interceptions on the season came while BSU was trying to get back into the game with the Nittany Lions.
It happened again last season, when he threw four picks on the road at Notre Dame.
And once again in the LA Bowl against Washington, when he threw two interceptions on just 16 pass attempts albeit while playing with an injury in a game he departed early.
Madsens average depth of target in 2025 was just 8.1 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.
That squarely put him in the category of a short- to intermediate-game manager in a West Coast offense.
The top quarterbacks in college football, especially in a play-action vertical offense, are typically sitting around 10 yards on average target depth.
But heading into his final year, Madsen has been working on becoming more adept at getting the ball down the field.
Sometimes I feel like those wide receivers hate me because Im like, all right, guys, were running the post, Madsen said at Boise States media day on Wednesday.
..
With that comes timing and certain things, and its been fun to see that (grow).
As much as the deep ball depends upon Madsen, it also is the responsibility of those receivers, and this years room has plenty of new faces.
Aside from sixth-year Ben Ford, whos returning from an ACL tear, the most experienced player in the group is speedy junior Cam Bates.
Hes joined by shifty freshmen Rasean Jones and Terrious Favors, while upperclassman transfers Akeem Wright and Darren Morris add an extra layer of height and size to the group.
I see us as more vertical and man-beaters, Bates said Wednesday at the teams media day.
Were fast, and then we also have some guys that can go deep in for a jump ball.
Head coach Spencer Danielson highlighted Madsens work in the weight room this offseason and how that could correlate with being able to attack vertically.
He also stressed the other components, including protection from the offensive line and establishing the running game to create more play-action opportunities.
You look at the success Boise State offenses have had in the past.
Everything has had an explosive run attack, Danielson said.
From there, that then opens up the play-action vertical attack.
From there comes the boots.
From there comes the screens.
From there comes tempo and different ways to throw a defense off.
So we are going to be cutting-edge.
Were going to attack defenses, but it starts with our offensive line.