The War for Kentucky's Quarterback Position

BleedBlue7
WT Executive Moderator

The Kentucky Wildcats football program has an interesting battle on there hands within their own team this preseason. Senior leader Mike Hartline, sophomore standout Morgan Newton, and redshirt freshman Ryan Mossakowski are all battling to be the head General for Kentucky's offense in the 2010 football season.

The Wildcats offense, ever since the 2007 high octane offense led by Andre Woodson, has been dissapointing production wise. The Wildcats have struggled in the air ever since Andre Woodson's senior class departed Lexington in 07. The quarterbacks have struggled being consistent, putting up numbers, hitting the open routes, the deep ball, etc. Basically the Wildcats offense has relied heavily on junior Randall Cobb in the backfield and out wide, and senior Derrick Locke rushing the ball.

Senior leader Mike Hartline(6'6 205 lbs.) from Canton, OH and little brother of Brian Hartline, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins seems to have the early upper hand based purely on his experience but by just a nudge. Last season, Hartline threw for 802 yards and 6 touchdowns by completing 79 of 133 attempts. But also threw 7 interceptions.

Sophomore Morgan Newton(6'4 235 lbs.) from Carmel, Indiana, was a very highly hyped quarterback coming out of high school. He was named to the All-America High School Football Team, ESPN/Rise Athlete of the Year in Indiana, Gatorade Football Player of the Year and also Indiana's Mr. Football. He came to Lexington as a immediate impact player. Newton had a pretty good Freshman season sharing snaps with Mike Hartline. Newton threw for 706 yards and 6 touchdowns by completing 75 of 135 attempts and threw 3 interceptions. But, on top of that, Newton rushed for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Mossakowski looks to factor into the Wildcats offense after recovering from shoulder surgery. Mossakowski was highly touted coming out of high school as well. He was named an All-America quarterback by SuperPrep and PrepStar magazines. The Wildcats coaching staff have nothing but good things to say about Ryan. They have said his shoulder has healed perfectly and he is a heady player that picked up the offense well for a true freshman.

Many factors play in to being a successful quarterback.

Experience

Experience plays a big factor in to being a successful D1 shot caller. The quarterback has to be used to the speed of the game which is completely different and much faster than all other levels of play, with the obvious exception of the NFL. Senior Mike Hartline has the obvious upper hand in this area by being the starter as a sophomore in the 2008 season and taking half the snaps as a junior in 2009 alongside true freshman Morgan Newton.

Football IQ

The quarterback must be able to ready the opposing teams defense pre-snap and during duration of the play to make good decisions. They must be able to pick up on the defense's tendencies, read blitzes, read coverages and find holes in zone defenses, know the mismatches outside, know when to audible out of the current play based on the defense's alignment and front, etc.

One obtains this vast knowledge by years of experience, film study and scouting report on the opponents tendencies and blitz packages, and practice. Having a good football IQ and being able to read the defense will translate into good decisions throwing the ball down field and audible out of the original play to a different pass play or even a running play to obtain yards based on the alignment tendencies of the defense.

Athleticism

A D-1 quarterback has to be able to make things happen when things do not go his way due to a blitz breaking through his protection or even just his protection breaking down on a 4 man rush. Morgan Newton has the obvious upper hand in this area over Hartline and Mossakowski. Newton can scramble and make things happen with his arm, and also tuck the ball away and make things happen with his legs.

The War

Joker Phillips has given this seasons Kentucky team a military theme and rightfully so with the war going on to become the Wildcats General under center. Kentucky fans be prepared to see 3 different quarterbacks during the course of the 2010 season.

Senior Mike Hartline will get the beginning season starting nod based solely on experience and leadership over Newton and Mossakowski. But expect sophomore star Morgan Newton to slide his way into the starting spot eventually as the course of the season unfolds. Newton is the best of the three candidates overall and expect him to eventually make his way under center as the starter much like he did last season.