What does the perfect SEC quarterback look like? ‘Think about it like this.’
Is there such a thing as an ideal or “perfect” Southeastern Conference quarterback?
University of Kentucky quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw pondered that question between sessions of “Monopoly” with his family and the normal responsibilities of his job, which has been anything but normal since nationwide social-distancing efforts aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 forced the cancellation of all in-person sporting practices and events on SEC campuses through the remainder of the school year.
His answer, in a single word: No. But there’s a lot more nuance to it than that.
“Think about it like this,” Hinshaw said during a recent phone interview with the Herald-Leader. “You’ve got Johnny Manziel. If he walked into your house right now, you would go, ‘That’s not an SEC quarterback. No way.’ And he literally owned the SEC when he was at Texas A&M. And then you’ve got a guy like Cam Newton who was at Florida and didn’t play, got into trouble, transfers to a junior college then goes to Auburn and wins a national championship. A totally different quarterback. Then you look at Joe Burrow who’s at Ohio State for three years and doesn’t take a snap, he transfers, goes to LSU as average as can be.
And then, Hinshaw said, Burrow transformed from a guy who likely wouldn’t have been an NFL free agent into the prohibitive favorite to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft later this month.
There’s not a singular build or type of guy who can be plugged into an offense and turn it into a menace for opposing defenses. It’s the responsibility of offenses to accommodate the guys who come to them.
“When you’re looking for a quarterback, it’s what you do with him and his development in that situation, where you get ’em to that point where everything comes together,” Hinshaw said. “That, to me, is the biggest key to the quarterback position that people don’t realize. You’ve got to call the plays to help that quarterback be successful. And once you get to that point, it’s a lot of fun, but it’s hard to get to that point.”
Kentucky has been faced with having to mold an offense to different quarterbacks several times in Hinshaw’s tenure with the program. In 2016, his and fellow co-offensive coordinator Eddie Gran’s first year at the school, presumptive starter Drew Barker suffered a back injury that led to the insertion of Stephen Johnson, a run-pass-option guy who thrived more with short tosses than the long balls Barker brought to the table. It was able to build upon the success it had with Johnson by recruiting Terry Wilson, a former junior-college star whose speed and accuracy as a passer helped the Cats win 10 games in 2018.
A season-ending injury to Wilson the second game of last year forced the staff to re-configure around grad transfer Sawyer Smith, a more stoic presence in the pocket. The shift worked for a half before Smith suffered a wrist injury against Florida, through which he played the remainder of that game and in the first half the next week at Mississippi State, where he sustained a shoulder injury. He played through both the next week before the reins were handed to wide receiver Lynn Bowden, who over the course of eight games left an impressionable mark on UK’s quarterback history despite attempting just 74 passes.
Bowden wasn’t Burrow, Manziel or Newton, but he still managed a 6-2 record as a makeshift starter. He threw for 403 yards all season; Burrow threw for 14 times that. The latter won a national championship while the former won the Belk Bowl, but it at least somewhat illustrates Hinshaw’s point: a cat can be skinned more than one way.
Managing QBs
UK probably would not have needed to look to Bowden as an option had two outgoing transfers and an ACL injury not depleted its ranks.
Danny Clark and Gunnar Hoak both could have seen the field in 2019, but the former was at a junior college (he’s since signed with Vanderbilt) and the latter was on the bench at Ohio State. True freshman Nik Scalzo was taking to the offense well and building a strong case to be next in line after Wilson and Smith before he suffered an ACL injury, his second in less than a year, during an intrasquad scrimmage last fall.
With the NCAA soon expected to approve immediate eligibility for first-time transfers, managing quarterback rooms could become even more difficult than it already is for staffs that have only one ball to hand them.
“We want to keep everybody happy but it’s impossible,” Hinshaw said. “Coach (Mark) Stoops does a great job making decisions on who plays and, at the end of the day, that’s who we go with. The rest is a situation where we’re trying to develop quarterbacks where we have multiple guys. ... You have to find a way to be successful no matter who’s playing.”
Wilson will have to prove he’s capable of returning to the field and matching, or exceeding, the level at which he’d played through 14 and a half games, but he should regain his spot as UK’s starting quarterback if those boxes are checked. He’s remained in Lexington to continue his rehab; Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart arranged for him to work with a trainer, one-on-one, at UK. Whenever football activities are allowed to resume, Hinshaw expects Wilson will be further ahead than anyone.
“Terry has been phenomenal,” Hinshaw said. “ ... He’s gonna be ready to go.”
The talent behind Wilson should ease concerns about another 2019 quarterback situation playing out: Smith is fully healthy and was taking first-team reps during the spring. Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood and true freshman Beau Allen, an early enrollee from Lexington Catholic, impressed Hinshaw in the short time he got to be hands-on with them. Amani Gilmore has made significant strides and Scalzo was able to go through limited drills.
Is it the most talented room he’s had at UK?
“It’s extremely good,” Hinshaw said with a chuckle. “Not that I didn’t feel good about any of my rooms before that, so I don’t want to ever say that. With the rooms I’ve had in the past I’ve been extremely proud of everybody and how hard we’ve worked and where we are.
“We have a lot of depth right now at quarterback, and I’ll tell ya this, they’re continually getting better and the future looks really bright.”
