Husky Back-Up QB Battle Remains Up For Grabs

Four guys are competing to see who will become Demond Williams Jr.'s understudy.

JP Losman tutors quarterback Elijah Brown, a Stanford transfer. | Dave Sizer photo

Newly installed as the University of Washington quarterbacks coach, JP Losman has an ideal situation on the one hand because junior Demond Williams Jr. is the returning starter, immovable from the lineup and needs only polishing.

Yet with spring football practice winding down, Losman has his pressing challenges, namely bringing the other four quarterbacks up to speed and settling on a back-up. There is work to be done here.

"There's some real deal competition for No. 2 and it will continue through the spring and into the fall," said Losman, who was an eight-year NFL quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins.

The candidates are all young guys in sophomore Eiijah Brown, a Stanford transfer and a three-game starter last season for the Cardinal; redshirt freshmen Kini McMillan and Dash Beierly, and early enrollee freshman Derek Zammit.

Each is going through significant growing pains this spring in Montlake.

While the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Brown came in and picked up the offense in a hurry and has been delegated as the second guy taking snaps much of the time, he's thrown more scrimmage interceptions than anyone else.

The California native had his good and bad monents in the weekend scrimmage. He completed 9 of 15 passes for 117 yards. Yet he threw an interception to freshman corner Elijah Durr in the end zone and had three touch sacks.

The 5-foot-11, 215-pound McMillan from Hawaii exhibits more swagger than most guys on the roster -- after all, who gets in a shoving match with edge rusher Devin Hyde? -- but he's struggling some with his production.

On Saturday, he suffered through an unofficial 2-for-10 passing afternoon with negative yardage.

"We're trying to get this young Kini, kick him to the others side of the lake so he can't return and get this new, improved Kini," Losman said. "And that should happen by the fall."

Derek Zammit, an early enrollee as a freshman QB, has been initiated at times at the UW. | Dave Sizer photo

The 6-foot, 208-pound Zammit from New Jersey throws a real hard football, but he's wrestling with his accuracy. At times, the Huskies have used him as the No. 3 quarterback. Yet he's thrown a lot of balls into the ground. He's also come face to face with the turf.

On his second play on Saturday, Zammit dropped back and turned around to have freshman edge rusher Ramzak Fruean put him on his back hard for a 9-yard sack. The freshman was not off limits to contact. He finished 0-for-4 passing in the scrimmage, with one of his throws dropped.

Then there's the 6-foot, 213-pound Beierly. His Saturday didn't go any smoother than the others, with him missing on all three of his pass attempts, including a pair that he lobbed into the end zone.

Dash Beierly is a redshirt freshman quarterback trying to establish himself. | Dave Sizer photo

Losman attributes it all to youthful struggles for these guys. He went through it at Tulane. These quarterbacks behind Williams will all go through it at Washington, particularly the younger ones.

"I remember what I was like as a redshirt freshman and it was nowhere near what I was like as a redshirt junior, I'll tell you that right now," the coach said. "I was like a whole different person."

Losman seems up for the challenge of getting these guys settled down, confident, proficient and having one of them emerge as a solid No. 2 quarterback behind Williams.

"There's a great battle going on and and a lot of coaching going on and a lot of players relationships going on that makes that battle interesting," he said.