Washington’s quarterback battle continues to heat up as spring ball comes to a close this Saturday. Kalen DeBoer has been hush about who will start with the season still months away. Let’s take a closer look at who’s standing out the most so far.
Michael Penix Jr.
It’s no secret that when Michael Penix Jr. transferred to Washington from Indiana that he wasn’t transferring with the intention to sit on the bench. Head coach Kalen DeBoer was Penix’s offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2019 before taking the head coaching job at Fresno State the following year. In 2019, Penix Jr. had his best quarterback rating (157.6) of his career – while leading Indiana to their most wins (8) in 26 years.
Thoughts
Penix Jr. started 17 games in his four years at Indiana. He holds a 12-5 record as a started and has completed 59 percent of his passes in those starts. Penix Jr. has many advantages over his challengers in Sam Huard and Dylan Morris. Under DeBoer, Penix Jr. completed a career-best 68.8 percent of his passes. His familiarity with the system gives him a huge advantage, and although Penix Jr. has only rushed for 165 yards in his career, he does have the ability to extend plays with his legs. The biggest question mark for the 6-foot-3, 218-pound junior is whether or not he can stay healthy. He has yet to stay healthy for a full season in college. From what we have gathered, and from listening to the coaches, it appears Penix Jr. holds a big lead in the QB competition. He’s proven he’s a winning quarterback and is comfortable in DeBoer’s offense.
“I’m really liking what I’ve seen from Penix, the coaches seem really excited about what he brings to the offense, and it seems like it’s his job to lose at this point,” said Realdawg’s senior editor Roman Tomashoff.
Dylan Morris
The often-forgotten quarterback in this competition is Dylan Morris. It’s no secret that the offense and Morris struggled in 2021. After a solid Covid short season in 2020 – Morris was 4-7 as a started in 2021 with a 14-12 TD-Int. ratio. The 6-foot sophomore, looked very uncomfortable last year .
Thoughts
With a new coaching staff at UW, it could be a perfect redemption story for Morris. DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb turned former Husky QB Jake Haener into a borderline Heisman candidate in 2021. That’s not to say to expect the same for Morris but a new system could be exactly the type of change needed. It’s definitely more of a long shot that Morris wins the job. But it’s also very much a possibility that he sees the field multiple times this season with Penix Jr’s injury history.
“DeBoer has praised Morris’ consistency, and it seems like an actual quarterbacks coach has done wonders for him, and I could say the same for Sam Huard,” Tomashoff said.
Sam Huard
Husky fans have long-awaited Sam Huard’s arrival. Last year, Huard got his first career start of the season in the Apple Cup. The result was a 40-13 loss to Washington State, and the true freshman threw four interceptions in the game. Many UW fans were clamoring for Huard to start the game after watching Morris struggle for most of his 11 starts. But to start a true freshman in the Apple Cup was asking a lot, especially with the suspension of then-head coach Jimmy Lake mid-season.
Thoughts
Sam Huard has the talent to be a great college quarterback. There’s a reason he was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school. But for him to win the QB competition, he will have to overcome a lot. He will have to learn his second offensive system in less than two years in college. He will also be competing against Penix Jr., who has proven he can play great football in this system. Not to mention, he’ll also be going up against Morris, who beat him out for the starting position last year. It’s not to say Huard can’t do it, but an ideal situation is for the 6-foot-2, 194-pound redshirt freshman to sit one more year and learn behind two veterans while he gets stronger and becomes more comfortable in the system.
“It sounds like Huard still has a ways to go when it comes to learning the offense, and fans will need to be patient with him,” Tomashoff said. “He’s showing flashes of brilliance but John Donovan and his offense did him no favors, and developing under DeBoer and Grubb will do wonders for him.”
Final Thought
Washington still has a few more spring practices and all of fall camp to figure out who starts at quarterback. With practice being limited to the media, it’s hard to get an accurate gauge on how the quarterbacks have been playing. But what we have gathered from what the coaches have been saying and the parts of practice we have seen, it very much seems that right now, Penix Jr. is in the lead, with Morris looking like he’s in a firm position to be the backup ahead of Huard. However, I would expect multiple quarterbacks to play this season with the injury history of Penix Jr.
