PonyFans.com

Hell, start a debate and see if we can get some traffic.

If you read the spring outlook, Bennett says all the QB's have something to work on. That is obvious; who on the team doesn't?

I am sure I hold the minority position here. I think most people are thinking Eckert or Phillips will be the QB. But I predict the starter v. Baylor will be Jerad Romo. Romo is a better runner than Eckert and a better passer than Phillips. Of course, we really didn't see Phillips' arm healthy last year so I could be wrong there.

Look at the numbers between Eckert and Romo:
PASSING GP Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/
Eckert, Tony 11 109.80 203-111-13 54.7 1406 6 59 127.
Romo, Jerad 9 126.49 85-48-2 56.5 599 4 49 66.6.

Other than the pure attempts and completion numbers, I think you can make a good case that Romo is every bit the passer that Eckert is. Better efficiency and completion percentage; if you prorate the numbers based on attempts, Romo blows Eckert away. Plus Romo's running ability makes this an easy call in my book if it comes down to these two.

I would love to find out Phillips is the man. But we didn't see enough of him last year to find out. Regardless, the coaches have to find a way to get Phillips on the field somehow. Plus, Eckert and Romo are gone after this year and somebody is going to have to start for this team.

if he puts in the work, Phillips needs to be our qb because of his upside. Before getting hurt last year, his stats came against the best teams on the schedule. Not really comparable to Romos which came later in the season against WAC comp and some of it at garbage time of games.

So far Phillips hasn't shown the arm to make the defenses scared of the pass which is critical in the offense we run. Maybe he'll prove me wrong in the spring practices, because I do like the way he runs.

Well, I have only been to two practices so far, so there is a lot time between now and next year. BUT, Right now I think Eckert is in the lead as far as passing. Phillips is not consistant enough right now, for every good pass he had he would throw one short that would for sure get picked. I am hoping that he surprises me and gets in the lead, if the O-line can gel, Eckert could do good if he doesn't have to scramble a lot. As far as after those two graduate, I heard that we are getting a transfer QB who would sit out next year but start for us the year after that hands down. Who knows if it is true or not, so I probably shouldn't even have brought it up. Did some research on him, he got some offers coming out of high school, one to Syracuse, Maryland, Boise State and then a bunch of lower shools. Also found some quicktimes that I will post when this gets confirmed.

Sounds to me like Phillips picked up some extra pounds during his downtime after the shoulder injury. However, I was told last week that he's been working much harder than in the past, and once again looks like a quarterback. Supposedly he's running very well. I stopped by one practice last weekend, and to me, he was throwing almost sidearm. I don't know if that's compensating for a still-sore shoulder, or because of a bad habit he picked up during his time on the shelf, or if it's because he was just going 50 percent in the drills I watched. Whatever the reason, that needs to be corrected. Throwing that way, his passes would be knocked down by Ted Barnhart, let alone a 6'5" pass rusher. But if he can get that corrected, he still has great talent. If that talent develops to match his physical tools, I still really like his potential.

Then again, to be fair, I like some things about Romo and Eckert, too. Needless to say, none of these guys is John Elway, but it's the best QB crew we've had around here in a long time.

Chris Phillips

Any new word on how the QBs have looked in spring? Are the coaches trying to pick a starter now, or simply working with each and then letting them sort it out in the fall?