Which Transfer QB Will Have Better 2015, Everett Golson or Vernon Adams?

The 2015 season could be the year of the transfer quarterbacks. Or it might not be. It depends largely on whether the series of recent grad transfers will play.

Of all the big names that have gone through college football's version of "free agency"—Greyson Lambert is the most recent, with Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that he has transferred from Virginia to Georgia—the two biggest have been Vernon Adams Jr. and Everett Golson.

Adams announced early in the year he would be transferring up a level from Eastern Washington to Oregon. Golson confirmed last month he was moving on from Notre Dame to play for Florida State.

Which one will have the bigger season in 2015?

On paper, the Adams-to-Oregon marriage looks the most promising. Adams is a gifted dual-threat quarterback who showed off highlight-reel plays at the Football Championship Subdivision level. He also doesn't have the ball security problems that plagued Golson in 2014.

From a matchmaker standpoint, Adams fits perfectly into the Ducks offense. If you were to pull a player's name and a school out of a hat, you probably couldn't find a better pair.

However, the Adams-Oregon pairing also has the bigger roadblock that would keep it from coming to fruition, and its name is Jeff Lockie. There's an argument to be made that, at this point in time, Oregon's quarterback two-deep—in any order—is on steadier ground than Florida State's.

That complicates things.

So let's start on that critical point: There's a possibility that neither Adams nor Golson starts in Week 1, or at all.

The modern-day graduate quarterback transfer has been filed under the quick-fix label. I should know, I've put them there before. It's easy to do, though. Quarterbacks touch the ball on every single play and get the most attention of any person on the field. However, as Samuel Chi noted on ThePostGame, the results don't always mirror that narrative.

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What sort of impact does a grad transfer QB really make? @ThePlayoffGuru evaluates https://t.co/HoNYeIo849 pic.twitter.com/M0eHC8u4Ot

— ThePostGame.com (@Post_Game) May 28, 2015"

Russell Wilson, who transferred from North Carolina State to Wisconsin in the summer of 2011, has become the face of the grad transfer quarterback. 

That situation, though, was a culmination of several factors coming together. Wilson was—and still is, having won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks—a special player who just so happened to join a Big Ten Championship-ready team with a questionable quarterback depth chart.

For every Wilson, there's another grad transfer signal-caller—maybe several—who never starts for myriad reasons. Florida State and Oregon, for example, both have better quarterback situations today than the Badgers did four years ago.

Why would a coach bring in a grad transfer quarterback then?

According to Bud Elliott of TomahawkNation.com, it's all about competition. By design, it makes everyone better because there's no sense of security or complacency. 

Adams and Golson are proven players who have had success at their previous stops, but they both know they won't be handed the starting job. Both head coaches, Mark Helfrich and Jimbo Fisher, have been adamant about that.

Specifically, Helfrich says Lockie—a redshirt junior—has done all the right things this spring to enter summer as the No. 1 guy. Here's Helfrich on Lockie from the Pac-12 coaches teleconference in late April (h/t Tyson Alger, the Oregonian):

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Jeff (Lockie) has certainly had the upper hand as the guy that is the most experienced of the bunch and he's done a good job stepping up and injecting himself as a leader. He is confident in how he goes about his business. The most important part of being a leader is a response and I think the guys around him on offense and defense believe in him. Everybody else is competing. Taylor has done a tremendous job, he's the next most experienced guy. The other guys area all battling and competing. We will be in decision-making mode a long time from now.

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It's not uncommon for a coach to be optimistic at this time of year, but that doesn't sound like someone who's too worried about their quarterback situation. 

Lockie might not possess the same level of flash or big-play ability that Adams does, but there's something to be said for a guy who commands respect in the locker room and moves the offense. If Adams wins the job over Lockie, it's because he shows similar characteristics and is able to do things athletically that Lockie can't.

If all of those things fall into place, Adams should be in for a huge year because of the guy who pushed him in preseason camp.

As for Goslon, his transfer to Florida State is a little more unique from a fit perspective. He's not a traditional, big-bodied Jimbo Fisher quarterback. That's not a bad thing, but it is a different route.

To Golson's credit, he does bring an added dimension with his scrambling ability. Golson's not a true designed runner, but he can extend plays with his feet. How much of an edge, if any, does that give him over Sean Maguire?

Above all, it'll be interesting to see how Golson masters the FSU playbook and works with one of the most demanding quarterback coaches in college football.

Furthermore, can Golson get past the turnover problems that resulted in his demotion last season? Those can be fixed, but they're not an easy fix.

There are a lot of questions that Adams and Golson have to answer.

Some are common: Can they learn a new playbook within a matter of months? Can they become leaders and develop chemistry with teammates? Others are more specific. Can Adams show he's capable of consistently playing at the highest level of college football? Can Golson even out his career-long inconsistencies?

Of the two, at least Adams has some answers, as Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.com noted in February: 

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In a 59-52 loss at Washington in 2014, he [Adams] completed 31 of 46 passes for 475 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. That came a year after he led the Eagles to a 49-46 win at Oregon State in which he threw for 411 yards and four touchdowns with 107 yards rushing and two more scores.

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There are no guarantees with either of these two players, as good as they are. But if we're to assume that both get the starting nod, Adams' consistency and fit within the offense give him an edge.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.