Predicting the Winners of College Football’s QB Competitions

The Texas Longhorns weren’t expecting Tyrone Swoopes to be the starting quarterback in 2014, but when concussions ended David Ash’s career following the team’s season opening win against North Texas, Swoopes stepped in to start the final 12 games of the season. Swoopes completed 58.3% of his passes for 2,409 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The 6-foot-4, 243-pound rising junior added 262 yards and four scores on the ground.

Jerrod Heard, a four-star dual threat quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class, never saw the field fotr the Longhorns. In fact, no one else on the roster threw a pass for Texas in 2014. But that doesn’t mean Swoopes doesn’t have to worry. In fact, Heard is making things very interesting as spring practice comes to a close.

Head coach Charlie Strong had quite a bit of praise for his redshirt freshman following Wednesday’s practice:

"“Jerrod has taken tremendous strides here in the last week or so. He’s really closed the gap, so it’s going to be interesting to get through Saturday and get to fall camp…” “He’s so athletic, and I always say he’s one of those guys who’s so light on his feet. When the pressure is coming to him he can get himself away from the rush and create plays on the perimeter with his feet…” “He’s hitting the open receivers, he’s finding open receivers and making the correct checks. He’s throwing the deep ball when we open it up and throw it deep some.”"

Such a glowing evaluation makes it more conceivable than ever that Heard could take the starting job away from Swoopes. Don’t expect it to happen by the season opener, but he may earn the job by the end of the season. Of course, true freshman Kai Locksley, who will join the team in the fall, could make a push for playing time as well.

Projected Winner: Tyrone Swoopes

Next: Oregon