Sun Belt Media Days came and went this week, and while they were fairly boring, there were a few interesting tidbits. 

Here’s what we took away from JMU football’s publicly available interviews this week. 

Napier quiet about QB battle

JMU’s starting quarterback for Week 1 against Liberty is an unknown. Camden Coleman has the most experience after two stellar seasons at Richmond and a redshirt year with the Dukes, but JC Evans was listed as the starter in Phil Steele’s preseason preview magazine. 

Davi Belfort has moved to wide receiver, and Memphis transfer Arrington Maiden has generated limited offseason buzz. That suggests it’s between Evans and Coleman for the starting gig — plus the Dukes can’t give three quarterbacks meaningful reps into fall camp. 

While Napier hasn’t named a starter (and local media regularly avoids direct questions about the battle) he told Dave Riggert that he feels good about the group. 

“That position doesn’t worry me,” Napier said. “I have a lot of confidence in that room.”

The rest of JMU’s offense looks good on paper. If the Dukes hit on the quarterback, they should be among the most prolific offenses in the Group of Six, especially without a P4 opponent on the schedule.

Which quarterback will get the keys to a high-powered offense?

Preseason polls, honors are a waste of time

JMU had two players make the preseason All-Sun Belt first team. They were center Zach Greenberg and defensive end Amar Thomas. Both are returning players. 

George Pettaway earned a spot on the second team, but the Dukes were largely ignored on the preseason All-Sun Belt teams despite being the pick to win the Sun Belt East. How does that work?

Well, the voting for both seems fairly lazy. Given the massive roster turnover across the league, the preseason rankings mean almost nothing these days. The voting process basically rehashes the past season, with returners landing on All-Conference teams and last year’s best teams ranking atop the preseason poll.

Among the ignored Dukes with obvious All-Conference potential are:

• WR Corey Scott
• WR Jeremiah Harrison
• OL Tyler Brown
• QB JC Evans or Camden Coleman
• DT Kells Bush
• LB Gannon Weathersby
• CB KJ Flowe
• K Morgan Suarez
• P Patrick Rea

That’s hardly all of the players with All-Conference ability, but it details how little the league’s preseason rankings account for individual transfers. 

“I think we have a lot of players you guys don’t know about, simply put,” Napier told the media Wednesday. 

Napier explains Belfort transition to WR

Belfort is the “fastest guy on the team,” according to Napier. He’s been posting clips of him working out at wide receiver in recent weeks, getting fans excited. So will he be an immediate contributor for the Dukes at wide receiver this season? Ehhh, probably not. 

“There’ll be a learning curve there,” Napier told Riggert. 

Napier says he felt the Dukes could’ve won with Belfort at quarterback, but the new wide receiver saw other quarterbacks developing at a faster rate than him and thinks the position switch makes sense for his career aspirations. 

Belfort likely won’t start in the slot over Michael Scott or Braeden Wisloski, but Wisloski will graduate after this season, and Scott will soon be a coveted transfer portal target of Power Conference programs. There’s certainly a path to playing time for Belfort in 2027 and beyond, if he develops well. 

A former QB at Virginia Tech and UCF, Belfort is an elite athlete. His speed and quickness make a ton of sense at wide receiver if he can learn the nuances of the position. 

If nothing else, his transition is an entertaining experiment for fans to track. But don’t bet on major contributions just weeks after starting to learn the position. 

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications