Image Courtesy – HornFans
With all the uncertainty surrounding the Texas Longhorns football program as spring practice looms, there is one apparent certainty — David Ash will be the starting quarterback in Week 1 against the New Mexico State Aggies on August 31st.
Who should / will backup David Ash is another matter all-together. I say redshirt freshman dual-threat Jalen Overstreet should get a look — here’s why:
Prior to the post-season as Big 12 play wrapped up, the obvious answer was to-be senior Case McCoy, but due to the shenanigans surrounding he and Jordan Hicks during Alamo Bowl weekend in San Antonio back in January, he’s no longer a shoe-in.
Connor Brewer’s stupidity recently on the Forty Acres seems to have made things more difficult for him than they already were, as, on the surface at least, he looks like the odd-man out among the five quarterbacks on campus.
Highly-regarded incoming freshman Tyrone Swoopes has yet to take a snap for Texas — and no one seems to know for sure what the Longhorns are getting in the 6’5″, 250 pound star at the 2A level at Whitewright.
Who’s left? Redshirt freshman Jalen Overstreet.
While not the most physically imposing of the Texas quarterbacks at 6’2″, 212, Overstreet has the speed and athletic ability to be a nice fit in the new up-tempo offense being promised Texas fans by Mack Brown and Major Applewhite — an offense which was showcased during the Alamo Bowl victory over the Oregon State Beavers.
While David Ash will get the majority of the snaps next season, Overstreet is the next best option to run an offense that will be predicated on quick hits and more importantly, designed run plays and Wildcat options in which he could excel if given the opportunity.
Putting Case McCoy, or possibly even Connor Brewer in the game in these situations does nothing to further the cause of running an up-tempo offense that will look to run more average plays per game than was done in 2012.
In short, Jalen Overstreet by chance — given he wasn’t really recruited for that purpose by Bryan Harsin — has turned into a quality backup quarterback option for David Ash which will give Texas a change-up look that they will undoubtedly need if they attempt to run 80-90 plays a game on average.
Will he get that chance?
That’s up to Mack Brown — and god knows, old habits die hard regardless of what lip service is paid to killing them.
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Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports. You can follow Kris on Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook
