Arizona football season preview position breakdown: QBs
In two years, coach Rich Rodriguez has guided Arizona to consecutive eight-win seasons. He has changed the offense and won two bowl games. His next challenge: competing for the Pac-12 South title. Over the next two months, counting down until the season-opening kickoff, we'll provide a weekly look at UA's program, breaking down each position group. This week we look at the quarterbacks.
QUARTERBACKS
Starter: TBD.
Key players: Jesse Scroggins, Anu Solomon, Connor Brewer, Jarrard Randall.
Key loss: B.J. Denker.
2014 breakdown: Identifying the right quarterback is the looming question over Arizona's 2014 season, but coach Rich Rodriguez doesn't mind the competition and isn't in a rush to select a starter until late in fall camp. He said the race stayed relatively close during spring ball, and he meant that in a good way as he saw progress in the four top competitors, none of whom has thrown a pass in a Division I game.
Scroggins, a senior who spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons at USC, took the first snap of the spring game, which doesn't mean much in terms of the race, but it is a sign of far he has come since arriving at UA in the spring of 2013. Toe surgery and then concussion problems in fall camp set him back, and he otherwise seemed to be in the coaches' doghouse during last season.
"All that other stuff doesn't really matter now," Scroggins said. "We can't care about that stuff. It's all about moving on. That's part of the maturing process."
Said Rodriguez near the end of spring: "He was lost quite a bit his first year, like most first-year quarterbacks are, but he's taken it to heart and played really well."
Scroggins has a big arm and runs well, so he can handle the zone-read part of Rodriguez's offense. Solomon, a redshirt freshman who was the jewel of UA's 2013 recruiting class, was more focused this spring after failing to launch much of a bid for the job last fall. At 6 feet 2, he's added at least 15 pounds since his arrival, up to around 205, and better looks the part.
"I pretty much feel I'm to the point where they want me to be," Solomon said.
Brewer, a Scottsdale Chaparral grad and sophomore transfer from Texas, might have the best grasp of the offense, but he doesn't have the best arm of the bunch, and his running skills rank last. Being smart with the ball is a valuable skill, though.
"The ball is precious," Scroggins said. "Whoever takes care of it, whoever doesn't turn it over, whoever gets all positive yardage, that's who is going to be the quarterback."
Randall, a former LSU quarterback who signed in December out of junior college, is an X-factor. His arm is "unbelievable" -- Rodriguez's word -- and he's UA's best overall athlete at quarterback. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Part of Rodriguez's strategy in not having any kind of a quarterback depth chart is to keep all four players sharp in the summer -- and freshman Brandon Dawkins arrives for fall camp, when every practice snap will count.
"It's anybody's job," Solomon said. "And even when he picks the starting quarterback, everyone is still trying to get that job, so you can't be comfortable. You have to be working."
Check back each Monday for a new installment of our preview series:
- June 9 - Quarterbacks
- June 16 - Running backs
- June 23 - Wide receivers
- June 30 - Tight ends/H-backs
- July 7 - Offensive linemen
- July 14 - Defensive linemen
- July 21 - Linebackers
- July 28 - Defensive backs
- Aug. 4 – Punters, kickers, returners
- Aug. 11 - Coaching staff