University of Utah graduate transfer quarterback Charlie Brewer attempted over 1,300 passes across 44 games for Baylor from 2016-19.
The other four Utes quarterbacks available during spring practice are freshmen, with a combined zero collegiate snaps between them.
Taking all of that information into account as Utah finishes up its second week of spring ball, it stands to reason that Brewer would seize early control of a quarterback competition that will surely drag into the summer.
After Kyle Whittingham spoke on the matter Friday morning, that assumption would be correct.
“First of all, Charlie Brewer is quite a bit ahead of everybody else,” the 17th-year Utah head coach said on a Zoom call with reporters. “The other four are freshmen, that’s to be expected. Charlie’s a senior with a lot of experience under his belt. The other four guys have almost no Division I experience, so that’s no surprise to us. That’s how things are unfolding to this point.”
Brewer may be ahead of everyone else, but all of Whittingham’s quarterback options are not yet available, which is why this competition will eventually move to fall camp.
Sophomore Cam Rising is the incumbent, having won the starting job out of fall camp in 2020, but he was lost for the season to a shoulder injury 14 offensive snaps into the opener vs. USC. Whittingham has said repeatedly that this quarterback competition will wait for Rising.
Rising has been ruled out for spring ball, but he is slated to be healthy and ready to go for the fall. Only then will the QB situation at Utah really start simmering.
“We obviously have Cam Rising waiting in the wings once fall camp begins, so that’ll put a whole new spin on the quarterback competition, but right now, Charlie Brewer is performing better than anybody else,” Whittingham said.
Once spring practice concludes on April 17 with the Red-White Game, Whittingham will have a five-man QB pecking order going into the fall before Rising enters the mix. Once fall camp begins, five will become three, and eventually, three will become two fighting for the job ahead of the Sept. 2 opener vs. Weber State at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Of those three initial candidates entering fall camp, Brewer will be one and, if healthy and able, Rising is sure to be a second. The third QB in the mix is likely to be either four-star freshman Peter Costelli or Texas transfer Ja’Quinden Jackson.
Three is going to become two quickly once fall camp starts, a fact Whittingham did not shy away from, while offering a little insight into who he thinks that second guy next to Brewer may be once the dust settles.
“You can’t spend much time in the fall with any more than two quarterbacks getting reps,” Whittingham said. “There will be a short period of time where we’ll probably have three guys involved, but if Cam is able to do everything, not be limited, and take all the reps we hope he can take, it’ll really be a two-man race.”
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