There’s angst in Athens about the lack of a clear No. 1 quarterback. That’s understandable because no one likes for the most important position to be unsettled this late in the summer. (I hear what they are sayin’).
At least the Dawgs aren’t alone. One reason the SEC East is looking least again is because there is no QB in the division that you can be sure is
The Man.
That’s true in Knoxville, even though it may not seem like it. After all, junior Joshua Dobbs is preseason All-SEC and on several of those awards watch lists. Phil Fulmer is comparing him to Heath Shuler.
Thing is, Dobbs built his rep largely on his performance during four games, and all of them come with asterisks: vs. Bama when down 27-0, South Carolina, Kentucky and bowl game vs. Iowa
At least Dobbs has potential. In South Carolina, the Ol’ Ball Coach had nothing good to say about Perry Orth, Connor Mitch, Lorenzo Nunez or Michael Scarnecchia.
”We didn’t have a ‘best’ quarterback,” Steve Spurrier said after the first scrimmage. ”You see any best ones?”
Ouch.
At Kentucky, mediocre 2004 starter Patrick Towles held off touted prospect Drew Barker to win the starting QB gig. I thought this one was pretty much settled when Barker got sucker punched back in April and a couple of his teammates seemed pretty OK with it.
In Gainesville, new coach Jim McElwain is pretending he’s comfortable with either Will Grier or Treon Harris at quarterback. He’s just not comfortable enough that he will name a starter but, hey, plenty of time.
New Vanderbilt OC Andy Ludwig is taking his time in deciding whether Johnny McCrary or Wade Freebeck quarterback will lead his offense. Freeback was bad last season, McCrawy was bad in the spring game and so good luck with that, Coach Ludwig.
Maty Mauk didn’t live up to the hype for Mizzou last year but he was OK after the Bulldogs shut him out. But reports from the weekend scrimmage were that Mauk was mediocre while hotshot freshman Drew Lock looked good, prompting QB coach Andy Hill to compare the youngster to Chase Daniel’s arrival in Columbia.
Nothing fans and media types love more than a new QB who might be better than the old one they have now, so that’s why Hill was backtracking a couple of days later.
“Drew’s done some great things, but he’s got a long way to go,” Hill said on Monday. “Chase Daniel was a standard-setter in a lot of ways for Missouri. Drew’s been out here for, what, 11 practices? We’re certainly keeping a level head about how guys can play.”
Not sure Hill was keeping a level head when he spouted off about Lock looking like Chase Daniel after one practice, but maybe he’s just being hopeful. In the SEC East, no one can be sure about their QB.