How concerned should we be about Oregon’s sudden QB controversy?
All throughout the summer, we’ve known one thing for sure about the Oregon Ducks football team: Anthony Brown Jr. was the starting quarterback.
Mario Cristobal made that clear after Oregon’s Spring Game, and throughout the summer months, he even reaffirmed that proclamation by saying that Brown was the QB1 heading into fall camp.
But now that we are a few weeks away from the first game of the season, a new question has come up: Are we sure that Anthony Brown is the starting QB still?
It’s not a question that has risen due to distrust of the coaching staff, but rather a sudden change in situations. After Oregon’s scrimmage on Saturday night, it became clear that the Ducks may not be completely solid at the QB position. It’s not an overreaction to say that Brown’s 5 completions on 11 attempts were underwhelming, and his 1-for-6 success rate in the third-down period was less than ideal.
In comparison to Brown’s lackluster scrimmage, true freshman Ty Thompson — the highest QB recruit in school history — really did look the part, converting 5-of-6 tries in the third-down period.
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On Monday, Cristobal was open and honest about the situation, declaring that it was Thompson who looked the best of all passers in the scrimmage and that there was some concern about Brown’s arm in the meantime.
“We’ve pulled him a little bit, felt that his arm was overused and we got to rest him so we don’t cause any issues,” Cristobal said after Monday’s practice. “Today, those guys all took turns with the twos and they performed well and we think they keep getting better. There was some very positive play by all those guys.”
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So your assumed starter is dealing with an ‘overused’ arm after one full week of fall camp, and your true-freshman QB is ascending. It’s too soon for us to declare this a wide-open competition for the QB1 spot, but it’s at least something to consider.
While the Ducks continue to practice over the next couple of weeks and prepare for their season-opener against Fresno State on September 4th, all eyes will now point toward the quarterback position. Day in and day out you’ll hear reports on who was taking first-team reps, which quarterbacks were throwing, and how the hierarchy may be positioning itself.
This isn’t a place that we imagined we’d be a month or two ago, but the reality has become apparent. Whether it’s due to injuries or a real comparison in talent and ability to lead the team, we are close to what looks like a battle for the QB1 spot.
Ty Thompson is throwing his hat in the ring and giving Oregon’s coaching staff a tough decision to make. Let’s just hope they figure out what the game plan is before Week 2 vs. Ohio State.
