Michigan State OC Jay Johnson on the QB Competition

The Big Ten season is less than a month away, and MSU still hasn't named a starting quarterback. Today, the Michigan State offensive coordinator Jay Johnson broke down the competition.

It's the question every Michigan State football fan has wanted to know the answer to since the end of the last season.

Who will be the starting quarterback for the Spartans?

"That's a good question, I kind of want to know that too," MSU offensive coordinator Jay Johnson told reporters Friday afternoon. "It's been good, right now, the most veteran guys – Rocky, Payton, and Theo are the guys getting all the reps."

All three quarterbacks have practiced together every day while being "tracked" by Johnson himself.

"They are almost very, very equal right now in total amount of reps in most 7-on-7 and team activities. At this point, I've seen some good things but then I've also seen some inconsistent things," Johnson said.

It's no secret; the new MSU coaching staff hasn't had ample time with their players. Mel Tucker missed out on a traditional spring and fall before the Big Ten postponed its season.

With college football reinstated and set to begin in late October, the Spartans started practicing in pads a few days ago, which gives coaches the ability to develop new player evaluations.

In the case of the quarterback position, it's precisely what Johnson needs.

"The biggest decider for me – we've been out there running around with just our helmets. But obviously, we've just been out there for two days in pads," said Johnson. "So, now it starts to come to be a little bit more. We're still in that process – I think I'll have a better take of where we are at, probably, in another week or two."

Johnson elaborated, saying everything "is so much more real" with pads on.

So far, they have a small sample size that leaves "a lot of unanswered questions."

However, Rocky Lombardi's playing experience automatically gives him an edge in the competition, no matter how big or small it might be.

"To be quite frank, anybody that has playing experience, obviously, is just different," Johnson said. "It's hard to get that gameday type of experience, and he certainly has more."

Even with an advantage, it's a closer race than fans might be willing to admit because the Spartan coordinator thinks the competition could leak into the regular-season.

It's not something Johnson wants to see happen, but he will entertain it if it's necessary.

"I could see it going that way if there's not a clear picture presented to us, the staff, and the team. I think there's always a chance of that ... if we have to go that route, we could, but I'm hoping here in the next three weeks through a bunch more practices coming up that things can present a pretty clear picture.

"That's my goal, but I'm not unwilling to do that if that's what we need to do," said Johnson.

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