Spring is in the air, and that means we have some college football quarterback battles to dissect. We are roughly halfway through our annual allotment of spring games, spring practices, or whatever they are called now. The spring transfer portal just opened up, so keep an eye on that as well. While head coaches are not going to divulge who won the starting job under center just yet, we have some ideas.
I wrote about this nearly a month ago on who I thought would win the seven quarterback battles outlined by this article Chip Patterson wrote for CBS Sports. While it should be noted that programs such as Colorado, Maryland, Michigan and Oregon have yet to hold their annual spring games, other ones such as Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame sure have, as have my beloved Georgia Bulldogs.
Again, this is all very fluid because not only has the spring transfer portal just opened up, but we also have fall camp to get to in a few months. In the latter stages of August, we will inevitably get our answers as to who will be starting under center for all these programs of note. At this time, we are looking at leanings after how spring practice went. Some of these may be the truth. Others may not...
Let's start with the Alabama Crimson Tide first and work our way down alphabetically to Ohio State.
Alabama Crimson Tide
New Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said it so second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer would not have to. If it were up to him right now, Ty Simpson would be their Week 1 starter over former Washington transfer Austin Mack and promising five-star freshman Keelon Russell. Simpson dazzled is A-Day, proving to us all that Alabama guys are better than Washington's.
In time, Russell's talent may overtake Simpson and Mack on the depth chart, but this is a critical season for DeBoer and his staff. Alabama needs to make the College Football Playoff either this year or next to give him his best shot at a fourth year leading the program. Simpson has been around the longest and has more free rein. Mack is the most physically gifted, but he seems to come up short.
This may not be the result anyone wanted, but at least Alabama has a firm leader in the clubhouse.
Georgia Bulldogs
I am including the Georgia Bulldogs in this discussion for three reasons. One, this is the team I know the best. Two, they have had their annual spring game already. And three, I needed a fourth team to round out this spring quarterback battle round-up of sorts. As a surprise to no one, Gunner Stockton leads Ryan Puglisi and Ryan Montgomery. However, Georgia seems to really like Puglisi's growth, too.
Stockton is Mike Bobo's guy, and has been placed front and center throughout most of the Dawgs' offseason. While none of the Georgia quarterbacks had a high completion percentage, you can chalk it up to the perpetually frustrating receiving corps of the Dawgs for dropping one pass after another. Right now, I would feel the most comfortable with Stockton leading us out of the tunnel over Puglisi.
Georgia may need to win with defense and the ground game again to get back into the playoff again.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
We have arrived at perhaps the toughest quarterback battle to dissect. The one brewing up in South Bend on Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame Fighting Irish is the epitome of a good problem to have. Freeman said he is comfortable with all three candidates leading them out of the tunnel. The mobile Kenny Minchey is third, but former five-star CJ Carr is creeping up on former four-star Steve Angeli.
In the Blue-Gold Game, Angeli started slow, but finished strong. Minchey had his moments, but Carr was perhaps the most consistently strong. He had a hiccup or two in the middle of his performance, but he started strong and finished strong. Right now, I would say it is neck-and-neck between Angeli and Carr, but it seems as though Carr has the upward trajectory to overtake Angeli, based on his skill.
Carr may have a famous last name, but it is his talent that elevates Notre Dame's ceiling even more so.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The other massive quarterback battle brewing this spring is the one going on in Columbus. I wrote about this on Monday that the three-man race at Ohio State is now a two-man race. As expected, freshman Tavien St. Clair was too inconsistent this spring to win the job. Right now, Ohio State will either go with the trusted veteran in Lincoln Kienholz or the higher upside player in Julian Sayin.
In a similar vein as the battle brewing at Notre Dame, Kienholz is closer to Steve Angeli and Sayin is closer to CJ Carr, with St. Clair being Kenny Minchey, of course. The only difference is Kienholz had been the better practice player throughout this spring than Sayin, who had the better showing in their spring scrimmage. All things equal, Sayin will win the job because he can take Ohio State over the top.
Conversely, the longer this battle goes on, the more and more likely it could end up being Kienholz.
At time of publication, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan and Oregon had not played their spring games.