Texas A&M football has a quarterback problem. It’s been a problem since Kevin Sumlin arrived and he’s running out of time to fix it.
The 2017 Texas A&M football season is in its infancy and head coach Kevin Sumlin and the team have been dealt another dilemma at the quarterback position. It seems like this is becoming the norm. With rising salaries and rising expectations the question remains, what will happen to this crop of young quarterbacks? Will the results be any different from what we’ve seen since 2012?
Don’t get me wrong, the Aggie coaching staff, even under Mike Sherman, have done a tremendous job at evaluating and ultimately deciding which quarterbacks to offer. In today’s arms race for quarterback talent, decisions are tough. Like anything else in life, you’re not sure what the end result will be.
This piece will look at the Aggie quarterback situation post Mike Sherman and Ryan Tannehill. After going through the list, I was amazed at the instability at the position. Once I began to look year by year in conjunction with my own experience I’m really concerned that the pattern that we’ve seen may not end.
Here’s the condensed list of Let’s all the quarterbacks that were on scholarship since Ryan Tannehill was drafted No. 8 overall by the Miami Dolphins in the 2012 NFL Draft.
2012 — Johnny Manziel (RS-Fr.), Jameill Showers (So.) – decided to transfer in January of 2013, Matt Joeckel (So.), Matt Davis (Fr.) – decided to transfer in August of 2013
2013 — Johnny Manziel (RS-So.), Kenny Hill (Fr.), Kohl Stewart (Fr,) – decided to play baseball, Matt Joeckel (Jr.) – decided to transfer in April of 2014
2014 — Kenny Hill (So.) – decided to transfer in January of 2015, Kyle Allen (Fr.)
2015 — Kyle Allen (So.), decided to transfer in December of 2015, Kyler Murray (Fr.), decided to transfer in December of 2015, Jake Hubenak (So. -Transfer)
2016 — Trevor Knight (Graduate Transfer), Jake Hubenak (Jr.), Nick Starkel (Fr.)
2017 — Jake Hubenak (Sr.), Nick Starkel (RS-Fr.), Kellen Mond (Fr.), Connor Blumrick (Fr.)
That’s a long list, but that’s part of the issue. Since Johnny Manziel took the first snap of the 2012 season a different Aggie quarterback has started every subsequent season opener. That’s not great. Here’s a closer look at those passer as we examine what has become a troublesome issue with quarterbacks at Texas A&M.