Pecking Order

We've only had a few days of practice but it looks like the coaching staff is ready to start settling into a pecking order for the quarterback position. Ben Olson, Pat Cowan, and JC transfer Kevin Craft have been taking mosr of snaps with the first team. Today, Neuheisel wants the team to spend half of practice scrimmaging, so they can begin to identify a leader.

The goal here is start increasing reps for the guy who is supposed to start this fall. With five quarterbacks in the stable, the coaches need to reduce that list down to just one or two guys who they can focus most of their attention on. My guess is that Olson and Cowan are the most likely to make that cut, but there have been a lot of positive things being said about Craft this spring. If anything, he is a solid backup who can jump in and play right away.

The good news for all the quarterbacks was that the offense played well for the first time on Monday. They had some nice passes and the running game knocked out some impressive gains on the ground. Of course, there were still a lot of false starts and "young mistakes" as coach Neuheisel put it. You expect that from an inexperienced offensive line, but it is something that needs to be ironed out soon. Still, overall, it is encouraging to read that the offense is making progress.

Another good piece of news is that nobody has been seriously hurt this Spring (knock on wood). There were a few bangs and bruises but nothing serious so far. Glenn Love hurt his hand and left practice to have X-rays. Brian Price went down in practice but said the injury wasn’t serious. Alexsey Lanis missed some practice because of a sore knee. Nick Ekbatani sat out with an ankle injury but is expected back tomorrow.


(photo credit: Daily Bruin)