Questions continue to loom at the quarterback position for the 2011-2012 campaign. This, of course, makes sense, since I said the same thing last week and there haven't been any practices or other development since. Today, head coach Mike London discussed each of the four candidates, and what each of them brings to the table over the others, explaining that at the end of the day, they need to separate themselves, and do so on a consistent basis.
"I [am looking for] whichever quarterback is the best candidate to help us win games and manage the team," London said on Thursday.
Again, yes. That makes sense.
"Obviously the two older guys, [Michael] Rocco and [Ross] Metheny, have been in games and played in front of big crowds and things like that. Michael Strauss has not."
What about January enrollee David Watford?
"David's still using his swipe card to get into his dorms. He wants to know where the library is and stuff. So he's learning a whole lot of things about being a college student."
More on the actual skills of each QB after the jump.
"Ross Metheny is the oldest of all of them and therefore you could say arguably the most experienced. But you gain experience by playing in games and he's played in a lot of games. Just being around Coach [Bill] Lazor for a while and being here before that the QB position, understanding coverages and where to go with the ball and different decision-making processes. He does that well."
"Rocco comes from a dad that coached him as a QB. They'd come to our camps, our 7-on-7 camps, and his school (Liberty Christian) would win every 7-on-7 camp against any team from Maryland, DC, Atlanta, wherever they went, because he was a good decision maker."
"Michael Strauss was the Dade County Player of the Year. He got in here mid-January last year. He's got a canon of an arm. He'll take the ball deep, which is a good thing, but he'll throw it deep, which is a bad thing when the coverage doesn't dictate that."
"David Watford has an extreme amount of poise for a freshman quarterback. Coach Smith was up here the other day, we had a coaches clinic. We had talked about the poise that he has. Nothing rattles him, and you like that in a quarterback. He's going to have to learn to be more vocal, but when you're just learning the offense, you're trying to find your own place."
"I told them the biggest gains they can make to separate themselves is between now and as we get ready to report to camp," London said. He went on to say that all four would be staying in Charlottesville this summer to watch film, organize their own 7-on-7, and otherwise take it upon themselves to create that separation.
"Each person has something better that they have to bring to the table. But they're going to have to get better at what the other person has over them in order to separate themselves."