Nearly every head football coach wants a healthy positional competition in spring practices as it tends to make the players better, causing the cream to rise to the top.
If there is one spot on the football field the coach wants to be sure of it’s the quarterback. But if that all-important spot isn’t a sure thing, you want two talented players to compete.
That’s exactly what faces Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal, as he watches senior Anthony Brown and freshman Ty Thompson battle each other. It’s a decision that will be so close that Cristobal might not be able to make it until the fall.
Whatever that decision is, however, the Ducks will be in good hands.
Brown came to Eugene last season after a three-year career at Boston College. His time with the Eagles was hit-and-miss because of injuries, but when he was able to see the field, Brown was able to tear apart Big East defenses.
In those three seasons, Brown threw for 40 touchdowns and 4,738 yards. Those numbers would be bigger, but he suffered a season-ending injury after six games as a junior.
Once healthy again, Brown transferred to Oregon looking to start, but then the pandemic hit last year and put spring practices on hold. His progress in offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead’s system was hampered, so the staff went with Tyler Shough, the known quantity.
But Brown slowly worked his way onto the field as the season went along. He played well in the Pac-12 title game where he threw for two touchdowns against USC, and then again in the Fiesta Bowl. Despite the 34-17 loss to Iowa State, Brown rushed for two touchdowns and threw for 147 yards in part-time duties, splitting reps with Shough.
After the season, Shough transferred, making Brown the incumbent, but when Oregon recruited and signed the program’s first-ever five-star quarterback, the Ducks suddenly had a decision to make at quarterback.
Thompson is the Ducks’ first five-star signal-caller to sign. He stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 215 pounds. Thompson was Arizona’s top prep football player last season and was rated as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country.
[lawrence-related id=547]
At Mesquite High School in Gilbert, Ariz., the two-time state champion ended his career throwing for 9,891 yards and 100 touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,145 yards, averaging nearly five yards a rush and 20 scores.
It’s difficult to ignore a talent like that, and since Thompson is an early enrollee, it gives the freshman the best possible chance to start right away.
As the schedule is set, no one would blame Cristobal if he wanted to go with the upper-classman. Ohio State looms as the second game of the season in the 12-game slate and having a true freshman enter the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio might be too much to ask.
Oregon has the talent at the other positions to be the favorite to win the Pac-12 title and possibly sneak into the College Football Playoff if everything falls into place for the Ducks.
This one decision might determine the destiny of the 2021 Oregon Ducks football team.
[listicle id=689]