The preparations for the 2016 college football season are well underway across the country as teams continue to identify the best candidates for each position on their roster. There will be hundreds of jobs up for grabs and while the majority of them will not be decided until preseason practices in August it’s worth keeping a close eye on them over these next few weeks. No position is more important than the quarterback spot. Here is a look at the four biggest quarterback battles to watch out for this spring.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Jake Coker’s graduation means Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin will be looking for a new starting quarterback once again this spring. This year’s candidates will solely consist of passers recruited by the Crimson Tide with Cooper Batemen the only quarterback on the roster that has starting experience at the college level. Batmen completed 11-of-14 passes for 87 yards with an interception in Alabama’s home loss to Ole Miss before he was replaced by Coker and threw only 13 more passes the rest of the way. David Cornwell has yet to play in two seasons with the Tide while Blake Barnett redshirted last fall. Barnett and Batemen are the early favorites to start this season, but there is a long way to go before the position battle is decided. True freshman Jalen Hurts is in the mix as well, but will likely need at least a year of experience before he competes for the starting job at Alabama. The Tide will need a steady presence under center in order to compete for a national title again next season, but Kiffin appears to have a couple of solid options in Barnett and Batemen.
Auburn Tigers
Auburn is in a unique situation heading in to next season after Jeremy Johnson crashed and burned as one of the most talked about prospects in the SEC heading in to last season. Johnson didn’t come close to living up to the hype in his first year as a starter and Sean White didn’t do any better when he was called on to step in for Johnson throughout the season. Johnson and White combined for 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year, but both are back in the mix for the starting job for next season. The wild card will be junior-college transfer John Franklin III, who began his college career at Florida State, but is hoping the move to the Tigers can lead him on the path to stardom. Franklin has a very good chance at beating out Johnson and White for the starting job, but all three passers will be in the mix as the position battle continues throughout the spring and in to preseason practices.
LSU Tigers
Jim McElwain will have his work cut out choosing a starting quarterback at Florida, but the more intriguing quarterback battle to watch will be at LSU, where Les Miles’ job might depend on it. Miles was fortunate to remain on as the Tigers’ head football coach following another disappointing season, but he will have no room for error next season. Miles will have to decide who is starting quarterback will be with Brandon Harris and Anthony Jennings competing at the position. Harris threw for 2,158 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 starts last season,, but his 53.4-percent completion rate wasn’t pretty. That mark included a 6-of-19 passing performance in LSU’s loss to Alabama and far too often it seemed as though Harris struggled when he was simply being asked to manage the game. Jennings started most of 2013 and is expected to be a legitimate option for Miles while the wild card is Danny Etling. The Purdue transfer has 12 career starts and it wouldn’t be a total shock if he beat out Harris and Jennings for the starting job at LSU.
BYU Cougars
One of the most intriguing debates this offseason has been whether or not Tayson Hill deserves his starting job back after he was sidelined by injury a year ago. Hill would have likely been expected to step right back in as the starting quarterback at BYU, but his replacement Tanner Mangum shined after taking over in 2016 and now there is some serious debate about who should be their starter next season. Mangum finished with 3,377 yards and 23 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman while Hill will have to bounce back from the Lisfranc sprain that could limit his ability throughout the spring practices. Kalani Sitake will have a tough decision to make between Mangum and Hill and it will be very interesting to see how things play out.
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