Predicting Winner of Every Major 2016 Spring QB Battle
Finding the right quarterback is a major decision in college football, especially for the programs that potentially could compete for a national championship.
Places like Clemson (Deshaun Watson), Oklahoma (Baker Mayfield) and Ohio State (J.T. Barrett) are fortunate to ignore this discussion for at least another year, but Football Bowl Subdivision blue bloods like Alabama, USC and Michigan aren't as lucky.
Big-name schools with impending quarterback competitions as well as teams expected to contend for the College Football Playoff title are included in the list.
Agree? Disagree? Head to the comments and add your thoughts.
Auburn: Jeremy Johnson
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Auburn was arguably the biggest disappointment of the 2015 season, and the blame largely fell on erratic quarterback play.
Jeremy Johnson was an early contender for the Heisman Trophy but threw six interceptions in three outings and was benched. Sean White took over, soon missed action because of injury and eventually returned for a mediocre start in the bowl game.
History—minus injuries, one would think—figures to repeat itself. Johnson is better suited than White to run the zone-read-oriented, uptempo attack.
Yes, the Tigers also added an ideal fit for Gus Malzahn's system in John Franklin III. However, he wasn't the full-time starter in junior college and might not be ready immediately.
Granted, though Johnson opens the season as the starter in this projection, there's no guarantee Auburn will finish that way.
TCU: Kenny Hill
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Trevone Boykin was an electric playmaker with outstanding running ability and an effortless release. Replacing him is not a simple process, even if there's an obvious answer.
Kenny Hill, perhaps better known as "Kenny Trill" or Johnny Manziel's initial replacement at Texas A&M, tallied 2,649 yards and 23 touchdowns to just eight interceptions in 2014.
Character concerns led to Hill's dismissal from College Station. However, TCU coach Gary Patterson said that "Kenny's done an unbelievable job" and called the quarterback "awesome" multiple times, via Carlos Mendez of the Star-Telegram.
Foster Sawyer, Grayson Muehlstein and Brennen Wooten are in the mix, but the responsibility is Hill's to lose.
Georgia: Jacob Eason
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Jacob Eason enrolled for the spring semester, and new Georgia head coach Kirby Smart knows what came along with the nation's No. 5 overall recruit.
"Everybody's expectation is he's going to start, he's going to be the savior," Smart recently said on 680 The Fan, according to Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph. "We got two quarterbacks on our team competing for a job. He's the third guy coming in to compete for the job."
Smart can downplay the hype all he wants; it's not going away.
The Bulldogs managed a 10-3 record last season, but Greyson Lambert was far from spectacular and missed more plays than he made. Brice Ramsey only received a handful of opportunities.
Plus, Eason ran a vertical-oriented passing attack in high school, something that should be repeated in Athens under offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Eason's combination of velocity, accuracy and touch is unmatched on the Georgia roster.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Michigan State: Tyler O'Connor
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Connor Cook is headed to the NFL, so Michigan State must replace a three-year starter. At this moment, Tyler O'Connor and Damion Terry are the leading candidates.
According to Mike Griffith of MLive, head coach Mark Dantonio indicated that O'Connor will open spring practice at No. 1 on the depth chart.
That shouldn't come as a surprise, and it's the likely outcome of the competition, too. He replaced an injured Cook against Maryland and handled a majority of the reps during the Spartans' upset victory over Ohio State.
Don't discount true freshman Messiah deWeaver, though. Depending on how quickly the 4-star picks up and executes the system, deWeaver may challenge for the starting job.
Florida: Luke Del Rio
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Changes, changes and more changes.
Former starter Will Grier elected to transfer after being suspended due to taking performance-enhancing drugs. Then, Mike Huguenin of Gridiron Now reported that Treon Harris is switching from quarterback to wide receiver—a smart move for the dynamic runner but a less-than-stellar passer.
Consequently, the primary contenders for Florida are Luke Del Rio—who bounced from Alabama to Oregon State before landing in Gainesville—and Austin Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue.
Del Rio is widely considered the favorite, and there's little reason he'll lose that title. Appleby was an inefficient and turnover-prone quarterback in West Lafayette.
Gators fans may point to 4-star early enrollee Feleipe Franks as a top option. But if the U.S. Army All-American Bowl was any indication, Franks needs at least one year to refine the quickness and intelligence of his decision-making against better competition.
Stanford: Keller Chryst
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Gone is Kevin Hogan, a 46-game starter and the winningest quarterback (36) in program history.
To be fair, as long as Christian McCaffrey is upright, Stanford will have a dangerous offense. However, superstar running backs don't mean everything when the quarterback isn't even adequate—just ask Leonard Fournette and LSU.
Keller Chryst should take over after serving as the backup in 2015, and the first thing most viewers will notice is his strong arm.
"The receivers have to tell him to kind of take something off it sometimes," wide receiver Michael Rector said of Chryst, according to Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Gate. "He likes throwing lasers."
Chryst must hold off Ryan Burns and, to a lesser extent, true freshman KJ Costello.
Florida State: Sean Maguire
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The Everett Golson experiment failed, so Sean Maguire is the leader in the clubhouse at Florida State thanks to his previous experience.
However, he will likely miss all of spring practice after undergoing ankle surgery. Deondre Francois and Malik Henry won't go away quietly—especially the 4-star early enrollee.
"I don't plan on redshirting at all," Henry said following the Under Armour All-America Game, via Safid Deen of the Tallahassee Democrat.
Prior to Golson's arrival, though, Maguire was expected to be the quarterback last year. Why? Practice. He was so far ahead of the competition during 2015 spring practice that head coach Jimbo Fisher nearly announced Maguire as the starter.
Francois and Henry are flashy and desirable options, but a healthy Maguire will be tough to beat in fall camp.
Baylor: Seth Russell
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Looking back on the 2015 season, it's easy to wonder how Baylor's season would've turned out had Seth Russell not broken a bone in his neck and missed six games.
Fortunately—and not just for football reasons—Russell is almost completely healthy.
Craig Smoak of ESPN 1660 noted that Russell said he has "99 percent" range of motion in his neck, and head coach Art Briles added that Russell is taking first-team reps this spring.
Jarrett Stidham is a fantastic backup, but the sophomore doesn't have the same mobility as Russell. Although Chris Johnson is a bit faster, he doesn't have Russell's arm.
As long as Russell avoids any setbacks and is comfortable taking hits, he's a championship-caliber gunslinger for Baylor.
Notre Dame: Malik Zaire
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Notre Dame enters the 2016 offseason in perhaps the most enviable unenviable situation, boasting a pair of dual-threat standouts who could start at nearly every program in the country.
A two-quarterback system is theoretically an option, but Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer are the same type of player—not complementary like Chris Leak and Tim Tebow.
While it seems like a cop-out to say the eventual starter won't matter as much because Notre Dame will be excellent either way, that's not far from the truth.
Still, despite Zaire's season-ending injury and Kizer's stellar job as a replacement, the former won the battle once. Zaire will do it again.
USC: Max Browne
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Explosive wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and an experienced offensive line will ease the transition from Cody Kessler to a new shot-caller at USC.
Plus, unlike many programs in need of a replacement, the Trojans have a clear-cut favorite for 2016.
Max Browne, the No. 1-rated quarterback of the 2013 class, may finally get his chance. Browne was the second-stringer during each of the last two seasons.
Sam Darnold is the primary competition, but Browne's three seasons under former quarterbacks coach and current head coach Clay Helton will influence the choice.
Michigan: John O'Korn
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During last season's competition at Michigan, Jake Rudock beat out Shane Morris. Head coach Jim Harbaugh decided to redshirt Morris but keep him as the backup.
Midway through the season, however, Wilton Speight became the No. 2 guy and stepped in for Rudock after he exited the Minnesota game due to injury. Speight ultimately led a game-winning drive and earned the trust of many onlookers.
But neither player is favored to start. That honor belongs to John O'Korn, who sat out 2015 after transferring from Houston but has learned and worked in the system for a year.
In addition to having a much stronger arm than both Morris and Speight, O'Korn holds a valuable edge in game experience. He notched 16 starts and threw 619 passes at Houston.
Early enrollee Brandon Peters looks like the future, but O'Korn is the present in Ann Arbor.
Alabama: Cooper Bateman
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It's truly remarkable that despite all of Nick Saban's success, he's never had a top-tier NFL prospect leading the offense.
Maybe—just maybe—Cooper Bateman or Blake Barnett will reverse that trend. But they'll be competing with each other for the right to showcase their skills.
David Cornwell is a possibility, but he wasn't even on the travel roster last year. Jalen Hurts might eventually become the starter, but Saban seems to favor the veterans at quarterback.
Which is why, at least initially, Bateman will start over Barnett. Like at rival Auburn, though, that decision might not stick. Departing linebacker Reggie Ragland said Barnett is "going to be a monster," via Matt Zenitz of AL.com.
But monsters don't always emerge from the shadows immediately.
Stats from CFBStats.com or B/R research. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
