Why I think Huntley might start for us and why I can't predict more than 8 wins:

[Utah]

So, I had a spreadsheet of all the PAC-12 QB’s from last year and and where Troy stacked up overall and where his USC game put him (pretending that he played at the same level all year long).

My computer crashed and I lost all of it. BUT, the point is, Troy Williams was near the bottom of the PAC-12 in completion percentage, TD’s, yards per game, etc. About the only QB’s he was better than was Stanford (which is why Stanford is WAAAAAAY over-rated this year) and Oregon State.

He was terrible last year. The only thing he was good at was TD/INT rate. He doesn’t turn the ball over.

I think we ride Troy Williams to 8 wins and maybe another bowl win. The rest of our team is too good.

BUT, NEXT YEAR, Darnold, Browning, Falk and Rosen are all gone. We return almost our whole team. Next year is our best shot at winning the south, and we should be battling Oregon in the title game.

So, if Huntley is even close to Troy, do you go with Huntley? What is Huntley’s floor? 7 wins? Whereas Troy’s ceiling is 8 wins?

Anyhow, I think Troy is the starter. But don’t be surprised if Huntley trots out vs Dakota. Don’t be surprised if we use the first three games to get Huntley ready. You can go semi-conservative vs North Dakota and win. You can go really conservative vs BYU and win. You can open the floodgates vs SJSU and win. You then have Huntley three games in, vs a bad Arizona team. He can beat them.

Then you get a week off before Stanford and USC. That puts you at 4-2 worst case scenario. You then have a “vet” Huntley ready for hopefully the rest of the season.

And you have a Huntley fully prepped and ready to win the PAC-12 next year.

[Utah]

Imagine if Huntley started us out 5-1. Whoa baby. Huntley is playing better than we think and I think there is a real QB competition going on right now. 

[Utah]

Also, I’ve been saying this since spring, but go watch Taylor’s offense at EWU. Huntley looks like a Taylor QB. His legs are an amazing weapon. If he can not throw INT’s…Taylor likes to run the ball and run the ball a lot…from the QB position. He loves the RPO, and he loves his QB to run. 

[Utah]

AAAAaaannnnddddddd

Having a WR like Carrington makes up a lot of mistakes. He can catch a couple of INT’s. 

Anyhow, just ramblings late at night. 

[RiseasUtes]

I really do believe Huntley has a chance or they would have named Troy starter already to boost his confidence.  If Huntley isn’t ready(arm-mental wise) then Troy needs to be in there.  I think our O would be more exciting with Huntley, but also a bit more out of control.

I don’t care who it is as long as it’s our best option and they look better than what we had last year.

[Onlyu]

Interesting take…Huntley does run well, makes something out of nothing often and has a bright future IF he smooths out under Taylor.

My problem today is that Huntley wants to take off when he feels pressure, throws an inferior ball vs. Williams and is still skittish in the pocket based on what I saw in the last scrimmage. If you need a score in a two minute offense with some 15-20 yard throws mixed in Troy gives you the best chance. That’s where I’d say thif biggest difference lies in my eyes. QB scramble notwithstanding I don’t think Tyler is ready quite yet to make all of those pressure throws when the defense knows it’s coming.

Troy on the other hand was sharp, composed and deliberate and throws a better ball right now over Tyler. Maybe too deliberate at times but I think he’s ready to play well this year in an offense that suits him.

I think the potential upside with Tyler could be pretty good as you mention but he does have two years left after this year. I personally like the Senior/Soph rotation quite a bit as your 1/2. Next year it will be Junior/Freshman but each guy learns for two and then plays for two…Best case scenario in my mind.

I completely agree with your assessment of our chances next year and the year after though. We could be special with these past couple of recruiting classes, missionaries coming back etc. If Huntley is good we could have our best two teams in our history next year and the year after that.

[FtheY]

I still think it’s Troy that starts the season out, but I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts on squeezing in Huntley. We would be crazy not to. 

If Troy were to end up injured in the same capacity as last year, I think Huntley would probably start this year. 

I hope Troy Taylor’s plan is to shove 28 points down the opponents throats ASAP and maximize Huntley on the field to finish some games. Not garbage time, but a good lead and game experience. 

[SkinyUte]

I’m not sure it’s a given that Darnold will be gone next year. He’s only a sophomore this year, and who knows what could happen (look at Rosen, for example).

If he continues on the trajectory he’s on, then I can see him leaving. If he has any sort of decline, even a minor one, it wouldn’t surprise me if he stayed.

[Puget Ute]

IIRC the NFL requires players to be 3 years out of high school, so Darnold can’t leave until the 2019 draft.

[ironman1315]

Darnold was part of the 15 class. Wouldn’t that make it so he could be in the 18 draft or does three years mean three years to the day?

[Puget Ute]

You are correct, he did Redshirt in 2015. Good!

Follow your dreams and jump to the NFL next spring, young man!

[Tony (admin)]

I bet we see Huntley play a few downs in each of the first 2-3 games. Then it’s Troy.

[Chidojuan]

I may be naïve, but I’m not sure we give Troy Williams enough credit. JC transfers typically take a year to settle in, and he helped us to a 9 win season last year. Pretty good for his transfer year. He seems more like a PAC-12 quarterback than Huntley right now to me though. Huntley is Lamar Jackson at Utah, which isn’t a bad thing, but Louisville seemed pretty one dimensional to me last year. Jackson was a one man team. I’m not saying that the rest of the team is talentless, but if you’re fast enough to run away from the defense all night, someone is going to get open, which I think is a waste of coaching and talent. They might as well have only run go routes the whole year and just adjusted when there was pressure on the QB. I love Huntley, and I think next year looks amazing, but Williams seems more skilled at the position right now, Huntley is just super athletic, which again isn’t bad, but I’d take a skilled quarterback over a skilled athlete, especially with our receivers. Just my two cents.

[KiYi-Ute]

I agree with this. Not to mention that Troy was hampered for 3/4 of last season with a significant MCL sprain. Combine that with one-dimensional playcalling, and I’m not surprised that he didn’t quite perform at the level that we all expected of him.

I think he has a breakout year this year. I’m not opposed to giving Huntley some reps in preseason, but I think Troy is our guy for this year.

[Utah]

For the record, I think Troy is the guy. 

That being said, Troy had the world against him last year and won 9 games. Very impressive. And he did have a MCL tear. None of those things were his fault. 

All I’m saying is that Huntley is playing great and Troy did not earn the right to the job based on last year. 

I think it is a real QB competition and it’s Huntkey’s higher ceiling vs Troy’s ability to not turn the ball over. 

I also think Carrington has given Huntley the opportunity to take this job. 

[Red Don]

I trust TT to be the best evaluator of QB talent that we’ve had in a long time.  And his selection won’t be based on “grit.”

[Mr Chainsaw]

I think both are going to be in the position where we need them to win a game for us this year.  Since we’ve been in the PAC-12, how many years have we had 1 QB go the distance?  I’d guess our odds aren’t that good.

[GameForAnyFuss]

This is exactly why these discussions – while fun – are basically academic. Odds are very high that both guys will start games for us.

In 2014, the last year for which I have data, only 17% of D1 teams started the same QB for every game (presumably due to injury or performance-related issues). That same year, Ohio St. started 4 quarterbacks…and won the national championship.

So chances are it won’t matter who’s the starter. Both will probably see significant meaningful time.

[ragtownute]

Unfortunately, this is Troy’s job to lose during the season unless Huntley just goes off over the remainder of camp.  We have a senior incumbent that had a bum leg and flailing OC last season. 

They’ll give him the reins once more until he proves he can’t succeed. I have a feeling we’ll see Huntley for about 10 snaps a game until then.