Predicting the Winners of College Football’s QB Competitions
Most of the teams on our list have two quarterbacks competing to be the starter next season and a few with three players in the mix – but at UCLA, four players are competing for the top spot on the depth chart.
Jerry Neuheisel served as Brett Hundley’s primary backup last season and helped lead the team to a come-from-behind victory over Texas at AT&T Stadium in September when he completed 23 of 30 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, including a 33-yarder with three minutes left that proved to be the game-winner.
But despite his experience and famous last name, Neuheisel is facing stiff competition from Mike Fafaul (who saw action in two games for the Bruins in 2013) highly touted redshirt freshman Asiantii Woulard and five-star early enrollee Josh Rosen.
Head coach Jim Mora has been rotating all four in and out of the rotation with the first-team offense, usually focusing on two players one day and switching to the other two the following practice.
"“If you try to work four or five guys through practice and give them equal reps,” Mora said, “it gets watered down. … When you give them a concentrated number of repetitions, they can get into a rhythm. They can play through some mistakes that are going to happen in practice. It’s not like, you get 10 plays, and three bad ones, and you feel bad about practice.” Added quarterbacks coach Taylor Mazzone, who suggested this evaluation strategy: “I think it makes it easier for coaches. Who is the guy on that day? ‘We’re going to give you this day. You know what the script is. Go execute, OK?’”"
With all four still in the mix as spring practice winds down, it’s difficult to project a winner. However, Rosen has the biggest upside of the bunch. A five-star prospect from St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound pocket passer was the top rated quarterback and 12th player overall in the 2015 class according to the 247Sports Composite.
Also, Mora didn’t hesitate to start Hundley as a redshirt freshman in the coach’s first season, so it’s certainly possible he would call on the true freshman in 2015, especially since he arrived on campus early and has excelled this spring.
Projected Winner: Josh Rosen
Next: Alabama