Mike Leach Says Mississippi State is Unlikely to Play Two Quarterbacks
We're expected to see Jack Abraham or Will Rogers take the field as the starting quarterback for Mississippi State at the beginning of the season.
But it doesn't look like we'll see them coming in and out of the same game unless there's a serious reason for it.
Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach was asked about the possibility of running a rotating quarterback system between Abraham and Rogers during his Wednesday appearance at SEC Media Days.
His reasoning against using two quarterbacks at once comes down to more than just the quarterbacks themselves.
"I doubt we'll play two quarterbacks because that's not just an adjustment to the quarterbacks, it's an adjustment to the team and the players around them," Leach said.
"Jack (Abraham) is accurate, makes good decisions, has quick feet is how I would categorize him," Leach said. "The other thing he brings to us is the highest level of experience at the position that we have on our team."
Leach had praise for Rogers, who took the reins of the offense and became the starter after KJ Costello suffered a concussion against Alabama last season.
Rogers completed 69.1% of his passes for 1,976 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions over nine appearances.
"I thought Will did a really good job," Leach said. "True freshmen don't start very often, and part of the reason is they're true freshmen. But in Will's case, we needed a guy that could go out there and play. I thought he did a very good job, especially as far as being composed and played with a level of -- at times looked more experienced, certainly, than he was."
Rogers seems to have had continuous upward momentum and also seems to be proactive in his approach to bettering himself.
"I think he steadily improves," Leach said. "He's a tireless worker, works a great deal on his own. Also is one of those guys that does elevate the players around him. We got a lot better quarterback room than we had last year."
Of course, while Rogers has been impressive at some points, Abraham has the edge in terms of how much action he's seen.
Abraham completed over 69% of his passes for 7,067 yards with 41 touchdowns and 29 interceptions over three seasons at Southern Miss.
"Jack Abraham has got the most experience in the room from when he played at Southern Miss," Leach said. "Then we've got some really promising young guys too, Sawyer Robertson and Daniel Greek."
In Leach's offense, the best guy plays, and the process of figuring out exactly who that is could come down to the wire.
"We're looking forward to what unfolds this year," Leach said. "And it will be competitive, it will be very competitive, and the biggest challenge is going to be sorting out how to deal the reps because you don't have enough reps to consistently rep four quarterbacks. So we're going to have to sort out who's toward the top and narrow it down to two and go from there."
This isn't the first time Leach has given his thoughts on situations like this with two quarterbacks who are in close competition.
“You never know if you make the perfect choice but you make the best choice you can,” he told me ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft on the subject of Gardner Minshew and Anthony Gordon at Washington State.
“At some point, you have to decide who you’re going to invest the reps in. Once you invest the reps in them then they’ll improve and flourish. The worst thing you can do is not make up your mind and you’ll make everybody mediocre.”
