Texas Tech Football Roster Review | Quarterbacks

This is DTN's annual review of players, position-by-position, to take a look at the players that I think will be gone (graduating seniors or players possibly leaving the program), guys I know something about (these are players I've heard), guys I know nothing about (these are players that are on the roster who I have no idea who they are) and guys I think are on the way (commits to the program).

GUYS I THINK WILL BE GONE

For me, I think that Potts was significantly better as the season progressed. Unfortunately, Texas Tech's schedule was front-loaded and Potts had his toughest games at the beginning of the year. Still, I'll miss both Potts and Sheffield. The one thing that a fan should be concerned about was that Leach was usually able to get a player who had been in the program 3 or 4 years ready to play his junior or senior year (I think Potts was the only senior) and did so with pretty good results. This will be OC Neal Brown's first opportunity to groom a quarterback and there are a couple of things to take away, at least for me, as I look back at Brown's first year as offensive coordinator. The first thing is that Brown was able to correct Potts' touchdown to interception ratio and Potts was significantly better in 2010 in comparison to 2009. The second thing is that Potts, despite his big arm, averaged only 6.8 yards per attempt. The offense wasn't as explosive, although Brown has shown a propensity to stretch the field with his offense while at Troy.

GUYS I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT

This is probably one of the most interesting quarterback controversy that Texas Tech has seen in quite some time. And there are people who think that every one of these players have an opportunity to start in 2011. OC Brown has said that Doege has the inside track, although every one of these players was highly rated coming out of high school.

Like a lot of fans, the next guy is always the best guy and the guy that currently sits in the driver's seat is the least hearalded of all of the possibilities. Doege was injured his junior and senior seasons in high school and despite blowing out his knees each of those years, Leach still wanted Doege at Texas Tech. Doege hasn't had a knee issue since his his high school days, but he also hasn't seen significant playing time either, but from all accounts, Doege's health isn't an issue.

Karam was a 4-star quarterback from Friendswood, the shortest of the these three, he does have wheels, and although he threw plenty of passes in high school, he had no issues tucking the ball and running. This doesn't mean that I think that think that Karam is a running quarterback.  He's not.  He's a mobile quarterback.  Karam may be a lot more like Brewer in terms of style and Brewer would be Brown's first true quarterback commit (not including Young).

Young is the pocket-passer, but a lot of times when fans think about a pocket-passer, we tend to think that the quarterback is a statue, which isn't true at all with Young. Young was also a high school pitcher and if you go back and watch his film, he's actually quite mobile. What I do think happened with Young in high school is the same thing that Leach told his quarterbacks, which is that running is a last resort. As a result, Young never ran, nor did he need to run as his arm could get him out of just about any situation.

What I think about each of these players is that they're all a little bit of something and I honestly don't think that OC Brown is going to discount a quarterback because he can or cannot do something as well as another. What we do know thus far is that OC Brown can work with a pocket-passer (Potts), that OC Brown apparently worked incredibly hard to make sure that Young kept his commitment (Young) and that he's personally recruited a quarterback that is a talented runner (Brewer, which might help Karam) and a pretty good passer. 

I don't think this position battle is resolved during the spring and I think Texas Tech goes into fall workouts with the quarterback position still up for grabs.  In preparation for the TicketCity Bowl, OC Brown essentially said that Doege was ready to play right now.  For those of you who remember Doege being a bit flustered under pressure as a redshirt freshman (2009) you're right, but players mature and they get better.  And OC Brown also commented on Young and Karam:

“Karam and Scotty bring a couple of things that Doege doesn’t,” Brown said after Wednesday’s practice at Dallas Bishop Lynch High School. “Karam’s a little bit more athletic. Karam’s got a little gamesmanship to him. Sometimes he doesn’t look pretty doing it, but he makes some plays. He moves around in the pocket really good and he’s a good leader. Guys follow him.”

Please feel free to debate, but I think we've got a quite a while before a starter is named.

GUYS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT

This is where we're going to learn a little something about the players on the roster who you may not have heard of. Rather than doing much homework, I'm going to link to their Texas Tech profile page and let each of you dig around. Up first is Brant Costilla:

Navarro Junior College... helped lead team to Heart of Texas Bowl championship... Junior College Head Coach: Nick Bobeck.

GUYS I THINK ARE ON THE WAY

In my opinion, Brewer is a passing quarterback that is capable of running. The one thing that I think Brewer needs to do is a little on the light side, especially since he likes to take off and run the ball. Doing that at 175 is going to get him killed in college. And when I mentioned earlier that the next guy is the best guy, I know that there are a lot of DTN faithful that think Brewer will come in and play immediately. I admire you optimism, but just keep in mind that two of the three quarterbacks ahead of Brewer were all as highly rated as Brewer. Rivals has Brewer as the #12 quarterback, had Young as the #10 and Karam as the #18 quarterback. And Scotty Young was a Parade All-American.  Let that sink in for a second.  The good news is that Texas Tech will not be forced to play a freshman. There are options.

YEAR-BY-YEAR CHART

Not a depth chart, but a chart based on who is here and how many years they have left. Doege, Karam and Young have all burned their redshirt. I assume that Costilla has also burned his redshirt last year and Brewer will probably burn his redshirt in 2011.