Vernon Adams is Oregon’s next starting quarterback.
Well, that’s what popular opinion and conventional wisdom suggest based on the much ballyhooed decision by Adams to leave Eastern Washington and enroll at the University of Oregon. But while outsiders believe the aforementioned to be set in proverbial stone, logic and a quality showing at last Saturday’s spring game might suggest otherwise.
Jeff Lockie is no spring chicken. That’s not to say he’s old nor that he’s fraught with the type of experience which does or would instill confidence in a coaching staff and fan base looking to replace the best signal-caller in university history. But he is entering his 4th year in an offense and with familiar personnel somewhat foreign to a player who’ll have roughly a month to catch-up. And that matters.
Shortly following the disappointing loss at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes, all eyes in and around the Oregon Duck football camp turned quickly to next season. Gone was the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback who dazzled Duck faithful for the past 3 seasons, and left was a relatively unknown back-up, a redshirting 4-star recruit and a transfer from Georgia Tech who’d widely been rumored to be switching positions. All capable players worthy of scholarships to one of college football’s burgeoning elite, yet none thought to be man-enough to be thrown the keys to the type of collegiate sports car the University of Oregon football program had become.
Enter Vernon Adams.
The relatively short-statured signal-caller from Pasadena, California has made hay at the FCS level, and even dismantled a Pac-12 team or two along the way. But while excitement surrounds the new guy on the block, my bet is he’ll be watching rather than playing come week-1.
It’s not as if Adams can’t play. He was one of, if not the best player on college football’s second-tier last season. And the Washington Huskies, along with the Oregon State Beavers, can attest to his ability to dissect an FBS defense. But while accomplished and proven at least a bit at the big-boy level of college football, Adams remains a question mark for those with a true understanding of what lies ahead.
Adams will have a month. That’s right, a month come training camp to prove to Oregon’s coaching staff that he not only understands, but has a command of an offense he’s never run, better than a player who’s been immersed in it for three and a half years.
Jeff Lockie came to Oregon in 2012, studied alongside last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, and beat out a 4-star recruit (Jake Rodriguez, who eventually transferred) in route to a job as last season’s backup. True, he’s seen little action and even a tinier amount of the meaningful kind, but his familiarity, coupled with his performance in last weekend’s Spring Game, amount to a level of trust likely insurmountable by Adams or any other quarterback with merely a month to prove his worth.
He’s run the Zone Read … Adams hasn’t. He has a full understanding of an offense and its personnel … Adams doesn’t. And he ultimately has the backing of players and coaches who are likely rooting for the player who’s become an afterthought by a fan base who’s become accustomed to someone a tad higher on the “cache’ meter.” Adams? Who knows.
I’ve got nothing against Vernon Adams. He’s an intriguing talent with an even more intriguing story as a potential starting Oregon Duck quarterback. But while talented and intriguing, he’s also a relatively unknown about to do battle with a systematic “known” with time, experience, and sentiment on his side. Does that result in him starting under center come September 5th? I don’t know, but if so, he will have overcome odds many have already discounted.
I wish him luck.
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