Jordan Webb, Justin Tuggle Key for Kansas Quarterback Battles

If you like good quarterback competitions, Kansas is the state for you this football season.  They’re not getting the same press as many major competitions, and deservedly so, but it should certainly be of interest to Big 12 (or 10 or whatever the hell it’s called now) fans.

I’m a KU fan, so naturally I don’t follow Kansas State as well, and if anyone has any good information or insight on the quarterback competition, please chime in.  I’m here because I’m ready for good football talk.

It seems to me that, for the Wildcats, it would be the most immediately beneficial if junior Justin Tuggle won the job.  The grade-A JuCo product has good size, a quality arm, Bill Snyder-quarterback legs and some experience to boot. 

True freshman Daniel Sams features the cliché combination of great elusiveness and undeveloped tools as a quarterback.  He could have an instant impact on the return game and start immediately, along with fellow quasi-quarterback Collin Klein (6’ 5”, 230 pounds), at the receiver position within an otherwise ho-hum corps.

If senior Samuel Lamur is capable with the second team, Bill Snyder could afford to use Sams (and Klein) elsewhere.  Squeezing in some reps and formations at quarterback could help Sams develop, during the next two seasons, into the future full-time signal-caller. 

Kyle Klein and Angelo Pease are the other two names that might get mentioned in the Wildcats’ quarterback battle.

In contrast, Kansas’ competition has only one true bright spot.  Improvement on the offensive line, in the running game and within the offensive system overall will help every Jayhawk quarterback in 2011.

Senior Quinn Mecham is mentally light years ahead of the competition, but was cursed with a noodle for an arm.  True freshman Michael Cummings is a raw prospect who’ll be recovering from an injury through August; his name should pop up again in a year or two.

A super-developed freshman Brock Berglund or improvements from sophomore Jordan Webb are the best the Hawks can hope for.  Still, I have two pieces of advice for us hopeful KU fans.

No. 1, don’t give up on Webb yet.  His first campaign was bad, but the situation around him was tumultuous.  He’s only a red-shirt sophomore, after all.  Even if he doesn’t progress, he and Mecham will make nearly acceptable stop-gaps while the younger quarterbacks learn the ropes.

No. 2, don’t expect too much too early from those young quarterbacks, especially Berglund.  Only the most wishful thinkers should expect a game-changer immediately out of high school in an offense that’s still working its kinks out, like Kansas’. 

Ideally, growth from Webb will earn him the starting spot, and early maturation from Berglund will make him competitive for minutes down the road.  Super ideally, one of the three young quarterbacks will separate and distinguish himself as a quality starter for years to come.

All things considered, it looks like the quarterback scenario at Kansas State has a more positive vibe for the moment.  Kansas has a lot of youth behind center, though, and things could change down the road.