With the Washington Husky’s home opener less than two weeks away, yet another Saturday has come and gone without Washington coach Kalen DeBoer naming his starting quarterback.
This week he’s supposed to be deciding between Indiana-transfer junior, Michael Penix, Covid-red shirt sophomore Dylan Morris, and freshman Sam Huard. After more than two weeks of Fall Camp DeBoer and company are still undecided.
Is that cause for concern? What is the long-term impact of not naming his QB starter with the start of the season right around the corner?
The questions beg: “Is the quarterback glass half-full or half-empty? Is it a neck-and-neck race or are they limping to the finish?”
The prolonged deliberation gives the coaches extra time to untie the knots that John Donovan left in Huard’s and Morris’ ropes and project who gives the Huskies the best shot at beating Michigan State and Stanford.
At Fresno State, the Bulldogs were Power 5 team’s “B” opponent. Hailing from the Mountain West, FSU wasn’t the “A” opponent like Ohio State, and they weren’t the team’s “C” opponent like Portland State. As a “B” opponent FSU would have to have their QB in place early on while at Washington he has the luxury of two weeks of warm-up games like Kent State and Portland State before the Michigan State Spartans come to town.
Based upon the practices observed by RealDawg.com’s staff this is a fierce competition, with each QB’s strength giving the coaches something to think about.
“Morris is much improved in varying his delivery,” Mueller said. “He still has the velocity when needed, but the touch he puts onto passes has noticeably improved.”
Morris was steadily improving through the first 6 practices and observers stated that he may have been the most consistent of the three. The 2021 Apple Cup starter, Sam Huard appears to have been able to put the Donovan-era behind him.
Coming out of Kennedy Catholic High School, the freshman signal-caller Sam Huard was often referred to as a “generational talent”. With the pedigree of an NFL QB talent, Huard could make all of the throws in the book. However, the former high school 5-star QB’s development stagnated and then regressed under the previous regime.
“Huard has one of the prettiest deep balls you’ll see by someone not named Warren Moon or Russell Wilson,” said Warren Mainard. “And he puts the ball into spots where only his receiver has a shot at catching it.”
Morris, a 4-star quarterback in his own right at Graham-Kapowsin high school south of Seattle, was thrust into a QB situation, not of his own doing. After Jacob Eason transferred from Georgia to Washington it set off a series of events that led to Morris being the last man standing. In the spring of 2019, the Huskies had acquired an enviable level of arm talent that
“Ja’Lynn Polk, Jalen McMillan, Rome Odunze, Taj Davis, Lanyatta Alexander, all are 6-1 and over, giving the QBs a pretty big catch radius, but the QBs are all very accurate,” noted Mueller. “Of course, a QB should be accurate, but the receivers can make up for small errors by the passer.”
Left to project who will give the Huskies the best opportunities to win against Michigan State and Stanford, DeBoer is in no hurry to make his first mistake on Montlake.
“We’ll go through the process here in a little bit–throughout the weekend.” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said after practice on Saturday. “We gotta make sure that we handle it right with the guys, the quarterbacks as well as with the team.”
In reality, there’s no need to rush the decision. The first two games of the season against Kent State and Portland State offer a soft landing to whoever gets the call.
“Alabama and LSU aren’t the ones rolling into town the first two Saturdays of September, it’s Kent State and Portland State,” Mueller said. “It is college football and anything can happen on any given Saturday–as we witnessed in the season opener against Montana last year, but getting the pick right is
For practical purposes, delaying the decision makes sense. With two weeks of Fall Camp remaining plus treating the first two opponents as live scrimmages It still gives the starting QB time to build rapport with his receivers.
However, the money is on Michael Penix who played under DeBoer in 2019 in Indiana. Together they elevated the Hoosier’s offense to third in the Big Ten in total offense. Also, a factor is the transfer’s familiarity with other Washington coaches as Penix was recruited to Indiana by Nick Sheridan.
But should the protracted decision be setting off alarm bells? No. The QB competition is continuing to elevate the level of play for all of the QBs and with the first two games being warms up acts to the Michigan State game in front of a national TV audience, the Washington staff should be credited with their judicious approach.
“The hope is that a fierce competition will make the entire QB room better,” said RealDawg.com’s Trevor Mueller. “It’s the old adage ‘a rising tide lifts all ships’.”
