Predicting the Winner of Every Pac-12 Quarterback Battle
Over the past few years, the Pac-12 has turned from the conference of champions to the conference of quarterbacks. Whether it’s big names who garner plenty of press like Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley or more under-the-radar players like Connor Halliday, Kevin Hogan and Taylor Kelly, the league has pumped out quality signal-callers with regularity over the past few seasons.
2016 presents a little more of a challenge to keep things going with just four teams settled at the position. It seems pretty safe to say that Anu Solomon (Arizona), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Jake Browning (Washington) and Luke Falk (Washington State) are all set to be the starters, and all of them may garner some preseason love nationally as well.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
After that, though, things get a bit interesting around the league. Some schools have clear leaders in their race to replace a longtime starter, while others will need every bit of spring practice and fall camp to find their guy. Who has the edge? Here are the players who should emerge out of a quarterback battle as the starter when all is said and done this fall.
Arizona State
In the running: Manny Wilkins, Brady White, Bryce Perkins, Dillon Sterling-Cole
The Sun Devils have had an interesting history with quarterback battles. Some years, they’ve had an easy, default choice to make, and there wasn’t much of a competition during spring practice or fall camp. Other times they’ve had a few messy transitions that have resulted in transfers of those who were relegated to backup duties. This year might trend more toward the latter than the former in Tempe.
Manny Wilkins is likely to be considered the favorite as the 6'3", 190-pounder is a dual-threat option who was the primary backup to Michael Bercovici last season. Still, he’s never thrown a pass in a game, and the sophomore will have his hands full fighting off other challengers.
Wilkins’ primary competitor is likely to be Brady White, a redshirt freshman who was a recruiting coup for head coach Todd Graham given how highly rated he was coming out of high school. He’s much more of a pocket passer, however, so he’d give the offense a bit of a different look than if the Sun Devils went with Wilkins. Bryce Perkins is also in the mix, as is incoming freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole.
What could mix things up a little is new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and his approach to the competition. He didn’t recruit any of the quarterbacks like his predecessor Mike Norvell did and hasn’t spent a second of an actual practice seeing them throw. As a result, it’s safe to say this battle is wide-open with no guy having much of an edge.
We’ll predict White to eventually emerge as the starter though. The former Army All-American has waited his turn to be the starter, and the change in offensive coordinators probably helps him more than it hurts. Lindsey had Nick Mullens during his time at Southern Miss, and White is a little more in line with that and what kind of offense the Sun Devils can run. Still, it’s anybody’s game at this point, and it could be time to kick off the opener before we know for sure who the pick is.
California
In the running: Chase Forrest, Luke Rubenzer, Ross Bowers, Max Gilliam
It will be no easy task to replace one of the most prolific signal-callers in Cal history this offseason. All one had to do was catch a few offensive plays last year to see just how important Jared Goff was for the Golden Bears and just how many wins he likely was responsible for given the talent surrounding him on the team.
While Goff is busy going through the NFL draft process and getting ready to throw at the NFL scouting combine, his former head coach Sonny Dykes is likely surveying his quarterback room and trying to figure out just who can be the next guy up at the position.
The first in line to be the starter is likely Chase Forrest. He was last year’s top backup, and all the signs the staff gave were pointing to him being the guy whenever Goff made things official that he was leaving school. He’s another big-armed pocket passer who has a good grip on how to run the team’s version of the Air Raid and likely will enter the spring getting the majority of the reps with the first team. Still, he will be pushed by guys behind him.
One of those quarterbacks is Luke Rubenzer, a dual-threat at the position who was brought on occasionally two years ago as a change-of-pace guy from Goff in order to get the ground game going. He certainly brings more of an option to run the ball than his peers. The flip side is that his passing is somewhat suspect to the point that he was moved to safety last season due to depth issues.
If Rebenzer puts everything together, he can make a nice challenge to Forrest, but that might not be something the team is counting on.
Also in the mix are Ross Bowers and incoming freshman Max Gilliam, who is already enrolled and ready to go through spring football. He could make a move to be the starter and likely will be given a fair shake, but it might be tough for Dykes to go for another true freshman in what seems like a tough rebuilding year in 2016.
What Gilliam can do, however, is set himself up to be the top backup and become the starter down the road with a good impression this spring and fall.
In the end though, new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and Dykes are likely to opt with some experience and roll with Forrest. Either way, it’s quite the uphill battle for the team to replace somebody like Goff.
Colorado
In the running: Sefo Liufau, Davis Webb
Head coach Mike MacIntyre likely viewed the 2016 season as one in which he already knew who his quarterback was, but that appears not to be the case. Last year’s starter Sefo Liufau did not have as great a sophomore season as he or the team wanted, and then he suffered through a number of injuries to the point where he’s no sure thing to play when the games get going.
Even if he were fully healthy, Liufau would have a quarterback battle on his hands. That’s because former Texas Tech starter Davis Webb has opted to make the move to Boulder in order to start for the Buffs. He has plenty of experience—46 touchdown passes and bowl MVP honors as a true freshman—but leaves the Red Raiders after experiencing a bit of unluckiness when it came to injuries and finding himself as a backup to current Tech starter Patrick Mahomes.
At this point, you simply have to pencil in Webb as the starter by default. Liufau is still facing months of rehab of a Lisfranc injury in his foot, and it remains entirely possible, with a redshirt season available, that he doesn’t take a snap for Colorado this year as he focuses on getting better.
Webb is used to playing in big time games in a similar offense, so he would have pressed to be the starter regardless of what Liufau was doing, but it says plenty that the Buffs staff pushed hard to land the graduate transfer from Texas Tech.
Oregon
In the running: Dakota Prukop, Travis Jonsen, Jeff Lockie, Terry Wilson
One FCS transfer worked well, so how about another?
In what has been essentially a series of punts in replacing Marcus Mariota with a homegrown product, Oregon appears to once again be turning over the reins at quarterback to yet another transfer from the lower level of football. While Vernon Adams was somewhat of a known quantity coming out of Eastern Washington, the addition of Dakota Prukop is a little more unknown to fans who didn’t see him play at Montana State.
The graduate transfer is not some guy off the street, however, as he was named an All-American last season and hotly recruited by the likes of Alabama and Michigan to make the leap from Bozeman to the FBS level. Unlike Adams, he’ll be able to take full advantage of his transfer because he’ll be in Eugene for spring practice and be the easy pick to be 2016’s starter for the Ducks.
He won’t be alone in a crowded quarterback room however. Jeff Lockie returns for yet another season. Given how much he struggled in big moments last year, it seems likely that he will be the top backup and serve as a veteran coach more than a candidate to start. Also in the mix is Travis Jonsen, who might have the biggest upside of any of the options head coach Mark Helfrich will consider as a former Elite 11 signal-caller.
In addition, incoming freshman Terry Wilson will be involved this spring and could throw his name into the ring, but it appears he’ll be a long shot. This is Prukop’s job to lose.
Oregon State
In the running: Darell Garretson, Marcus McMaryion, Mason Moran
Seth Collins led the Beavers in both rushing and passing, but the freshman quarterback opted to transfer last month to narrow down what could be an intriguing competition to be the starter in Corvallis.
The odds-on favorite is likely to be Darell Garretson, who transferred into Oregon State after making a name for himself at Utah State prior to sitting out last season. He most notably replaced an injured Chuckie Keeton for the Aggies several times and brings plenty of experience to the table for what will be a very young team once again this year. His familiarity with head coach Gary Andersen is likely a huge plus as well.
Also in the running are now-sophomore Marcus McMaryion, who was beat out by Collins for the job in 2015 but wound up playing during stretches late in the season. Freshman Mason Moran might also be in the mix but is likely to redshirt if he doesn’t win the starting job.
Given how the season went last year, it seems that the Beavers would be wise to have more than one option at quarterback, but the depth chart has thinned out quite a bit due to transfers. Garrettson is probably set on being the starter, but he’ll at least be pushed by McMaryion this spring and into fall camp.
Stanford
In the running: Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns
For a school that has produced John Elway, Jim Plunkett and Andrew Luck, the career of Kevin Hogan is likely to be overlooked by all but the most faithful Cardinal fans.
That would be a mistake, as all the all-time winningest player in school history did was capture three Pac-12 titles and a pair of Rose Bowl trophies. As such, replacing him won’t be an easy task for head coach David Shaw and company.
Unlike a few other spots around the conference, at least Shaw only has to deal with a two-man race. While recent signee K.J. Costello, a 4-star recruit, was highly regarded by recruiting services, it seems all but certain that he’ll arrive on the Farm to redshirt.
That leaves the two guys who shared the backup spot behind Hogan last season. Ryan Burns is the older of the two options as a redshirt junior and has the size one typically associates with the position at Stanford too. A former 4-star recruit, he has all the traits you’d be comfortable with in a starter but simply doesn’t have the experience after seeing just a handful of snaps in five games over two years.
His top competitor is Keller Chryst, a likewise highly rated 4-star recruit coming out of high school but one who was in reality Hogan’s top backup in 2015. He is widely considered the favorite to win the job, and the coach’s kid has both the pedigree (his dad, Geep, was recently the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, and his uncle Paul is the head coach at Wisconsin) and the physical tools to bring even more to the offense than Hogan did.
It would be a surprise if he doesn’t take the first snaps in the opener, but Shaw will take his time with this decision and make sure he finds the right fit in replacing yet another school legend at the position. Still, it seems like Chryst being the starter is a little inevitable unless Burns tears things up this spring to create some separation.
USC
In the running: Max Browne and Sam Darnold
Cody Kessler will be overshadowed in USC history given just how many big names played in the cardinal and gold at quarterback, but it’s still hard to argue that he had a very good career for the Trojans over the past few years. Replacing him will be no easy task for new coach Clay Helton. It’s made doubly tough because the team’s opener is none other than defending national champion Alabama.
The favorite and likely choice is Max Browne, at one time the top high school quarterback in the country who was a marquee recruit landed by former coach Steve Sarkisian. At 6'5" and 220 pounds, he’ll remind plenty of folks of a typical USC dropback quarterback based on his stature alone, and he has quietly waited his time to show that he is ready to be the guy for the team going forward. He knows the offensive system well after being on campus for so long, but there are still a few questions as to how he’ll be when the bullets start firing around him.
No matter what though, even if Browne is the starter, he’ll be pushed by redshirt freshman Sam Darnold. At one point a late addition to a recruiting class, he has impressed folks around the program with his athletic ability (he’s a much, much better runner than the slow-footed Browne) and ability to deliver a catchable ball. He should be plenty adjusted to the speed of the game when spring practice rolls around, and Darnold is talented enough to make this a two-man race to replace Kessler.
This is still Browne’s job to lose, and don’t be surprised if Darnold sees some playing time in 2016 even if he isn’t the starter in order to mix things up for opposing defenses.
Utah
In the running: Troy Williams, Brandon Cox, Tyler Huntley, Chase Hansen
Four-year starter Travis Wilson is gone but not forgotten around Salt Lake City, as is electric backup Kendal Thompson. The end result is going to be quite an open competition for the Utes in order to see how their QB depth chart looks this fall.
The favorite and predicted starter is Troy Williams, who transferred in from the junior college ranks recently and has the right blend of arm strength and athleticism to run the team’s offense. He was at one time a highly recruited 4-star prep quarterback from Southern California who played at Washington but now finds himself back in the Pac-12 and in line to be a starter. It’s no sure thing that Williams is the guy in the fall, but it seems that his experience will hold a lot of weight with the coaching staff.
In the mix behind him is an interesting cast of characters. Cox was the No. 3 signal-caller last season and is entering his fourth season in the program. While he doesn’t have a whole lot of actual playing time under his belt, he knows the offense far better than anyone else looking to start and also has a strong arm that can get the ball downfield.
Freshman Tyler Huntley, a true dual-threat option who came west from Florida and is already enrolled in school for the spring, is an exciting quarterback who could at least find a special package developed for his skill set if he doesn’t get the starting job. One off-the-radar candidate who is also somebody to keep an eye on is Chase Hansen, a former top recruit who was moved to safety to get him some playing time but will be coming back from an injury. He’s shown flashes of being a special player, and it seems likely he’ll be on the field at a position to be determined.
Bryan Fischer is a national college football columnist at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer. Unless noted otherwise, all recruiting info via 247Sports.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
