Utah Utes Football: The Fall QB Situation
Nov 7, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kendal Thompson (1) throws prior to the game against the Baylor Bears at Floyd Casey Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Yesterday, I talked about how this Utah Utes Football team is feeling Pac-12ey, maybe for the first time since joining the Pac-12. And yesterday’s practice essentially reinforced that. Nate Orchard, Gionni Paul and the good news out of the secondary sound like we’re going to see at least something of a return of the Utah defense.
But what has me feeling good is the situation at Quarterback. Travis Wilson is finding his way back after four months away from football. And I think we have to recognize what has become the surprise of the camp in Connor Manning. He’s not big and he’s not sexy, but he has great decision making and in a quick throw offense like Dave Christensen, that goes a long way.
Plus remember this, Connor Manning is listed at 6-1, 205 lbs. Chase Daniel, who was a star for Christensen at Missouri was listed at 6-1, 214.
And none of this mentions that Kendal Thompson arrives in June and since we will be running something close to what Oklahoma does, he’ll be up to speed pretty fast.
All of that ignores the fact that we still have Brandon Cox, Adam Schulz on roster and Donovan Isom arriving from Louisiana.
As I said a few days ago, it might be time for Adam and the coaches to recognize that a move to Weber St. might be the best for him. It’s clear that Kendal and Connor can deal with the back-up situation. If Schulz is taking snaps this fall, things have gone horribly wrong.
So what does all this say about the QB Depth Chart in the fall?
As long as Travis is cleared, and there is no reason to think he won’t, it looks like the only thing that will unseat him is Kendal Thompson blowing him away. Manning isn’t showing so much that he could unseat Travis, but he’s clearly showing enough that he would be better moving the team than Adam Schulz.
The question becomes, if Brandon Cox can’t make up some ground on this group, is it time to think position change or transfer for him?
And the other good news is that Donovan Isom will clearly get to redshirt, which since even guys like Manziel redshirt, is a great thing.
The Depth Chart provided Wilson is cleared will look something like…
- Travis Wilson
- Kendal Thompson
- Connor Manning
My guess would be they create a package for Thompson that they can run out for a change of pace. And I’d guess that unless Adam is fine with his situation, he’ll move on. And you have to wonder about Brandon Cox as well.
These are all nice problems to have compared to the last few years.