Texas A&M Football: Kevin Sumlin talks Aggies QB situation, progression of Kyle Allen

It hasn’t been the most enjoyable offseason for the Texas A&M Aggies as they get set for the 2014 season. In particular, the process to replace Johnny Manziel hasn’t gone as smoothly as head coach Kevin Sumlin had hoped it would.

First there was the arrest on public intoxication charges of the front runner for the position, Kenny Hill, and then there was the transfer a few weeks ago of veteran backup Matt Joeckel.

All things considered, Sumlin is now left with a decision between the sophomore in Hill and the true freshman in Allen, and he recently expressed a little bit about how the competition will play out.

“I don’t know that it changes the dynamic very much,” Sumlin told ESPN. “Yeah, they’re going to get more turns at this point … just from a sheer numbers standpoint you’re going to raise the number of reps [for Allen and Hill] but you also have to be careful that the number of reps is not too high because those guys still have young arms and aren’t used to throwing that many balls.

“So we’ll keep track of that and work them through this summer with reps and try to increase their strength but also their knowledge so that when we get to fall that they’ll both have an opportunity to compete to see who’s going to run out on that field the first snap against South Carolina.”

This is one of the more intriguing storylines to watch over the summer, not only because whoever does win the job will be taking over for the most high-profile college football player of all time and a Heisman winner, but because both bring their own unique attributes to the table.

Hill brings the experience to the table having to step in last year while Manziel was suspended, but as Sumlin also pointed out, the freshman has the tools to play his way onto the field.

“We changed some things in how we did things from a meeting schedule standpoint early this spring and really were able to get quite a bit of the installation in and meeting with players before we actually started the practice process because of the number of guys offensively and defensively that are going to have to play for us.” Sumlin pointed out. “I think he’s handled it. The thing now is he’s got the tools, he’s got the basis of the offense, he’s got the progressions and what we expect out of him.”