Daily Discussion # 3: Quarterback Breakdown

The quarterback position may be the most important piece of the puzzle when trying to make a run at the mythical BCS National Championship these days. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the last 10 BCS National Champions and who the leader was behind center.

2009 - Florida - Tim Tebow
2008 - LSU - Matt Flynn
2007 - Florida - Chris Leak/Tim Tebow
2006 - Texas - Vince Young
2005 - USC - Matt Lienart
2004 - LSU - Matt Mauck
2003 - Ohio State - Craig Krenzel
2002 - Miami - Ken Dorsey
2001 - Oklahoma - Nate Hybl
2000 - Florida State - Chris Wienke

After looking at this list, there are two distinctly different quarterbacks that win you national titles. There are the Matt Lienart's and Tim Tebow's that are your on the field generals, with strong arms, and an understanding of the game that is beyond top notch. Then you have your Craig Krenzel's and your Matt Mauck's, good college quarterbacks that don't make mistakes and do what it takes to get their team a "W".

The Hokies haven't possessed a true strong-armed quarterback since Jim Druckenmiller in 1995. However, the Hokies do continually recruit kids that would fit into that second tier of quarterbacks, which means Tech does have a chance to win a national championship with Tyrod, JuJu, Logan Thomas, or Marcus Davis at the helm.

So, let's take a look at each one of these players and discuss their roles and contribution to the Hokies this upcoming season.

Tyrod Taylor

After two years of battling Sean Glennon for playing time, Tyrod finally has the team all to himself. This should lead to Tyrod being the sole vocal leader on offense this fall, which in return should lead to a more coherent and focused offense. Taylor has two years left and with a large amount of talent coming back in 2010, Tyrod will have two good chances at winning a national title before leaving Tech with a degree.

JuJu Clayton

JuJu was brought in last season in August and benefited from having Sean Glennon and Tyrod as a teacher while he redshirted. This year, JuJu is expected to be Tyrod's backup, only seing the field if Tyrod is having to get helped off of it. Clayton has a bright future at quarterback but he still has some work he needs to do before he could be trusted to take of the reigns full time.

Logan Thomas

Logan Thomas is a once every 10 years kind of athlete. He is starting off the fall at quarterback but he will more than likely move to wide receiver or tight end following the Hokies first fall scrimmage on the 15th. Thomas is a very intelligent player and could easily succeed at any position on the field.

Marcus Davis

Davis is almost in the same mold as Logan Thomas only Marcus is a bit more of a true wide receiver. Davis played quarterback this past spring and showed some promise if he wanted to stay there full time but he would see the field a lot sooner at wide receiver. Davis has spent the first 2 practice sessions at wide receiver so it looks like the quarterback experiment is over with.

Will Cole

Will is going to be a player that nobody should sleep on. Cole will more than likely redshirt this season before battling JuJu, Ricardo Young, and possibly Mark Leal in the spring for a spot on the three deep at QB. If quarterback doesn't work out for Will he could easily bulk up some and move over to Rover where he could be a Vincent Fuller esque nickelback in Bud Fosters defense.