Summer To-Do List for Top Contenders of Biggest Remaining QB Battles
In some ways, this is the time of year when unsettled quarterback competitions really take shape. Why? Because the gap between the end of spring practices and the start of preseason camp is a time when it's up to the players to make things happen.
Summer is about morning workouts, building team chemistry in "voluntary" passing drills and staying on top of the playbook—all the things that keep a player sharp until he's back at practice.
With several high-profile quarterback battles remaining, summer is one big to-do list for those competing. What do the top players in these quarterback competitions have to do for the next couple of months to go into fall camp with an edge? Selections were made on the profile of the program with at least two players who have a legitimate chance of winning the starting job.
Texas
1 of 11
Tyrone Swoopes: By all accounts, Swoopes has taken last season's struggles to heart. Teammates have praised the junior for his leadership skills, per Wescott Eberts of Burnt Orange Nation. That's important, so for Swoopes, it's about building on that and developing chemistry with his wide receivers and O-line—two of the weakest positions for the Horns. The team's top two wide receivers from 2014, John Harris and Jaxon Shipley, are gone, meaning young guys like Armanti Foreman need to boost their production. This is when Swoopes shows command of the offense individually and as it relates to his teammates.
Jerrod Heard: For the redshirt freshman, it's all about mastering that playbook. Study it, study it some more, watch some film and then get back to studying. During spring practices, Texas head coach Charlie Strong and quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson indicated that the proverbial light was starting to come on for Heard, per Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News. The mental aspect of the game—reading defenses, making quick decisions and the like—is crucial for Heard, because it's already well-known what he brings from an athleticism standpoint. If those two things can mesh, Heard has a good shot of supplanting Swoopes as the starter.
Michigan
2 of 11
Shane Morris: Morris was the No. 1 guy exiting spring and was formerly the most experienced quarterback on the roster (see Rudock below). Morris has a cannon for an arm, but his biggest improvement this spring has been developing touch on shorter passes. Really, it's about his ability to keep improving in that area of his game. You also want to see confidence in the pocket after sustaining a concussion last season.
Jake Rudock: Rudock might be the veteran presence on Michigan's roster now, but he's still the new guy. The Iowa transfer must show that he can learn a new offense quickly, become a trusted player in the locker room and complete all the necessary throws. This is an offense that's still coming together, after all. Big plays will likely be at a premium right away.
Alex Malzone: An early-enrollee freshman, Malzone completed a little over 50 percent of his passes and threw two picks in the spring game. He, along with incoming freshman Zach Gentry, needs time to develop.
Oklahoma
3 of 11
Trevor Knight: None of the quarterbacks were particularly impressive in Oklahoma's spring game, including Knight. The redshirt junior is the most experienced of the bunch, but he's also learning new coordinator Lincoln Riley's offense for the first time, just like everyone else. In addition to grasping the offense, Knight has to develop better touch on his passes. We've seen what happens when he does, and the results are great (see: 2014 Sugar Bowl). Last year, though, he led the Big 12 in pick-sixes and was erratic during the spring game.
Baker Mayfield: Like Knight, Mayfield was all over the place in the spring game. His issue, as it was at Texas Tech, is forcing things that aren't always there. A lot of that falls under his gunslinger mentality, and as a coach, you have to accept that to a degree. He's going to make some plays, and he's going to give the ball away. "I love taking my shots," Mayfield said, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. "When you have a one-on-one matchup, I feel you have to take it."
Still, Mayfield would do himself a lot of favors if he were able to harness that aggression and take better care of the ball.
Cody Thomas: Thomas is more of a long-shot in OU's quarterback competition. However, he did flash some promise in the spring game. His to-do list is a bit longer and includes a lot of the basics. Better decision-making and accuracy would improve on his numbers from a year ago (45.5 completion percentage, two touchdowns, four interceptions).
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Ohio State
4 of 11
Cardale Jones: Jones has a built-in advantage in that he finished last season on a three-game winning streak for the ages and was the only quarterback (of the big three) who was 100 percent healthy. As such, Jones' biggest task is to show head coach Urban Meyer by preseason camp that he has complete command of his teammates and the offense. There's no doubting Jones' physical ability—the guy has a cannon for an arm—but how has he matured and grown as a teammate and a leader?
J.T. Barrett: Barrett is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a season-ending ankle injury. By preseason camp, he should be fully healed. Remember that it was Barrett, not Jones, who was selected to replace the injured Braxton Miller at the start of last season. Barrett is known for his tremendous leadership, so his task is about showing he can pick up where he left off and move the chains with the passing game.
Braxton Miller: Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports calls Miller the "wildcard" of this quarterback battle, and he's absolutely right. The two-time Big Ten MVP hasn't played a down of football in more than a year while recovering from a nagging shoulder injury. When he's healthy, he's a dynamic player with his arm and his legs. According to Meyer, Miller has started to throw "aggressively up to 25 yards," per Eleven Warriors' Tim Shoemaker. That's a good start, but he has a long way to go before he'll be able to throw it at the necessary levels.
Florida State
5 of 11
Sean Maguire: Maguire was the clear front-runner exiting spring even though his spring-game performance itself was iffy. Now that Everett Golson is in the running, though, Maguire's checklist becomes two-fold. First, to put it simply, he has to hold off any late rally from the Notre Dame transfer. Second, in order to do that, he has to improve on the inconsistency we saw in the spring game. Golson has been plagued with turnover issues in the past, so Maguire's job is to show he can take care of the ball and move the offense.
Everett Golson: Golson is an intriguing addition to the roster. On one hand, he can be a entertaining player. He has a good arm and can obviously make plays with his feet. On the other, he's not being handed the job. This is something head coach Jimbo Fisher and Golson have made clear, per Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports. If Golson wants to earn the job ahead of Maguire, he has a lot of catching up to do. Learning the playbook and developing timing and chemistry with teammates doesn't happen overnight. Golson also has to improve on his ball-security issues quickly.
Alabama
6 of 11
Jake Coker: It's been quite a ride for Florida State transfer Jake Coker. Though predicted by many to win the starting job last year, he instead fell behind the more veteran Blake Sims in the quarterback race. Sims had the experience edge on Coker in terms of learning offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's playbook and building chemistry with teammates. That, ultimately, proved to be the deciding factor. In turn, Coker is the veteran guy this year. What should earn him the starting job in 2015 is building the same level of respect that Sims had a year ago.
David Cornwell: Technically, this is still an open quarterback competition among five players. However, the general consensus is that redshirt freshman Cornwell has emerged as the top competitor to Coker. Like Coker, Cornwell has spent the last year mastering Kiffin's playbook. Can Cornwell take that knowledge and apply it to the speed of the college game? How he moves the sticks with the passing game will be critical. And, as head coach Nick Saban has opined, per Marq Burnett of the Montgomery Advertiser, "somebody's got to take the bulls by the horn" during the summer. For Cornwell, that means showing maturity beyond his years.
LSU
7 of 11
Anthony Jennings: Jennings started all but one game last season. Unfortunately for him, that means he'll be connected with the fact that LSU had one of the most inefficient passing offenses in 2014. In nine of 13 games, Jennings completed 50 percent of his passes or less. It's fine that the Tigers rely on the running game and sophomore Leonard Fournette, but Jennings has to improve his accuracy and touch. Otherwise, there's not even a threat of a passing attack.
Brandon Harris: Many of the things Jennings has to improve upon this summer, Harris does, too. In his one start against Auburn, Harris completed just three of 14 passes. The fact that Jennings had been starting week in and week out with such below-average numbers tells you a lot about where Harris stood last season. But, in Harris' defense, he was just a freshman. That's no longer an excuse. This will be his second summer on campus. It's all about reps, reps, reps in passing drills. Even a serviceable passing game should put Harris above Jennings because of his added athleticism.
Oregon
8 of 11
Vernon Adams Jr.: On paper, this is about as perfect of a match as you're going to find. Adams was a star at FCS school Eastern Washington and fits the mold of a Ducks quarterback. He's athletic enough to make plays with his feet—for goodness' sake, watch this highlight over and over again—but he's an accomplished passer as well. Will that be enough for him to earn the starting job in the span of a few months? Head coach Mark Helfrich said on a Pac-12 coaches teleconference last month that he'll work with Adams in preseason camp to figure out what he does best. Still, Adams has to know what to look for in the playbook and insert himself as a leader quickly.
Jeff Lockie: Lockie is not a particularly flashy player, at least by Oregon standards. Perception-wise, that puts him at a disadvantage. He was already in the unenviable position of being the guy after Marcus Mariota. Now, put him side-by-side with Adams and...well, did you watch the highlight above? That's not something Lockie is going to give you. But that doesn't mean he can't keep Oregon's offense running at a high level. Lockie has the respect of his teammates, moves the sticks and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He can only do one thing to ensure Adams doesn't come in and take the job: be himself. Don't try to be Mariota or Adams.
UCLA
9 of 11
Josh Rosen: The blue-chip early enrollee has all the physical tools you want in a quarterback. For such a young player, though, the question becomes: How quickly does he mentally evolve? By all accounts, he's answered that question with flying colors. "We all know he has the tangible things, the physical things. But for a young guy, he has such great composure of what's going on around him and great understanding about all the moving parts and how they work," offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone told Chris Foster of the Los Angeles Times in April. For Rosen, it's just about continuing to show that he's mentally further ahead than someone his age should be.
Jerry Neuheisel: Neuheisel led UCLA to an early-season victory over Texas last year, so you know he has the capability to win games. He's not as physically gifted as Rosen, but as a coach's kid, he understands the game as well as anyone. For Neuheisel, it's about showing, come preseason camp, that he's sharper upstairs than anyone else.
Georgia
10 of 11
Before diving into Georgia's quarterback competition, it's important to note that the Bulldogs have received permission to contact Virginia transfer Greyson Lambert, according to . Ryan Bartow of 247Sports adds that Lambert plans to visit Florida, as well. What this means for the players already on campus remains to be seen—Lambert may not transfer there at all—but Georgia has been in the grad transfer market.
Brice Ramsey: Ramsey fits the description of the typical Georgia quarterback over the past several seasons. He has a strong arm that can push the passing game down the field. That'll only get him so far, though. Ramsey has some ground to make up in the decision-making department. He also needs to improve on his short-to-intermediate accuracy. Do those things, and choosing a starter will be a no-brainer.
Faton Bauta: Bauta doesn't have the arm that Ramsey does, but he's more of a running threat. So, he does have that going for him. He also has shown positive flashes with his decision-making and checkdowns. Physically, there's nothing Bauta can do to pass Ramsey—he's not going to wake up one day and throw the ball farther—but if he can show that he has mastered the ins and outs of the shorter passing game, he has a legitimate shot.
Jacob Park: Park is the youngest of the three quarterbacks as a redshirt freshman. Nothing's official yet, but it feels like a gap has formed between Ramsey and Bauta and then Park. You'd like to see a lot of maturity from Park in terms of leading teammates and operating the offense, but he's still grasping the ropes.
Florida
11 of 11
Will Grier: If Greyson Lambert lands at Florida, it bears watching how he shakes up the competition. For now, though, Grier is the front-runner. The redshirt freshman is simply a better fit for head coach Jim McElwain's offense. Still, there's room for Grier to grow as a pocket passer. Can he make all the throws, sideline to sideline and down the field? Also, his composure in the pocket will be tested. Florida has major question marks along the offensive line. Getting happy feet and losing confidence is something Grier will have to avoid.
Treon Harris: Harris is the rushing threat of the two quarterbacks, but he has a long ways to go as a passer. Under former coach Will Muschamp, he could get away with that. Under McElwain? Probably not. Harris missed some practices during the spring to attend a family member's funeral, which set him back a touch. By the time preseason practice rolls around, Harris needs to show he's improved his accuracy.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
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