Funaki / Colt

"Someone" profiles Inoke Funaki.

Funaki, who will be a junior in the fall, was the No. 3 quarterback behind starter Colt Brennan and Tyler Graunke last season. Brennan completed his NCAA eligibility at the end of the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl, and Graunke is suspended from team activities after breaking team-oriented rules.

Funaki, who will turn 25 next month, is on track to enter the March 31 start of spring practice as the No. 1 quarterback.

Without a doubt, he said, "I definitely want the job. Nobody wants something handed to them. You want to have the spot because the coaches have trust in you, and they know you can do the job. That's why I'm working very hard."

Funaki, who is 5 feet 11, said he weighs between 200 and 205 pounds — his range during last season. But he said he is in better shape.

"I'm putting in that little extra when I work out," he said. "When I run, I try to do a little bit more. Everybody looks to the quarterback. Even if he doesn't want to be the leader, he's the guy the team looks to. I want to set an example."

Gotta love Funaki. And with Graunke hopefully coming back soon, it's gonna be a crazy spring at the QB position, and a crazier fall when the JC QBs Brent Rausch and Greg Alexander come in.

Dave Reardon talks to Colt Brennan as he prepares and gains weight for the NFL Combine.

Colt Brennan says it's nothing new.

"Whenever I get criticized, I always seem to prove them wrong in the end," said Brennan, who was third in the Heisman Trophy voting after leading Hawaii to an undefeated 2007 regular season.

Questions abound as the former UH quarterback heads to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. This time they are about weight, arm strength and adaptability from the run-and-shoot to a traditional NFL system. The questions are amplified after sub-par performances in the Sugar Bowl and Senior Bowl.

Some of his plusses are accuracy and scrambling ability. And Brennan has often used an underdog attitude to his advantage.

Speaking of criticism, Adam Schein of FoxSports.com has a compendium of Colt criticism.

The issues for Brennan range from the physical to the mental to the schematic.

A consistent, major concern for these NFL executives was the fact that Brennan played in the shotgun formation.

One general manager told me, "His offensive scheme is a big issue, playing in the shotgun. 1-2-3 and out. It's totally different getting under center. He is going to have to adjust to the pro-style attack. He won a lot of games and you have to respect that, but he didn't have to read defenses. That's a problem."

He then added, "Arm strength is a big time question mark. His release point needs to be fixed."

And that was before the ultimate exclamation point.

"He's not a sure-fire make-the-team-guy."

The fools! All the best to Colt, and let's hope he has a great combine.