UConn coach Bob Diaco released his first fall depth chart of the 2014 season last Saturday, and it shows no distinction between quarterbacks Casey Cochran and Chandler Whitmer.
Cochran, a sophomore, is the first one listed, but a glaring “OR” separates him and the fifth-year senior Whitmer.
“Casey is your quintessential leader. He’s the moxie, the swagger guts guy that is going to will the group down the field but he’s got to work on his foot speed,” Diaco said during AAC Media Day. “He had to work hard on his body composition. He probably lost almost 30 pounds. I think he weighs 217 pounds right now. When we started he was 247, 243. Now he’s in the teens. He dropped his body fat probably 20 percent, 15 percent. So he’s working on his liabilities: arm strength, foot speed, change of direction.”
“Chandler is working on his liabilities,” Diaco went on. “Very few of his liabilities have to do with his tangible skill. He’s incredibly talented. He’s fast. He’s got an incredibly strong arm. He throws great on the move. He sees the game in pictures like you’re supposed to so he’s working on shallow, intermediate to short passing. He is working hard at that. He’s working on leading, being a great teammate.”
So what do you do when you have two quarterbacks with completely different skill sets?
You play them both.
“Because they do things totally different well,” Diaco said while discussing why more than one quarterback will play this season. “Things we’re going to need done.”
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From a fan perspective, Cochran is likely the sexier option of the two. While Whitmer has found some success in his two years with UConn, he has certainly had his fair share of struggles.
Whitmer is 5-11 as a starter, including going 0-4 during the first four games of the 2013 season before being replaced by Tim Boyle (who is currently No. 3 on the depth chart). Whitmer has completed 55.0 percent of his pass attempts for 3,555 yards, 14 touchdowns and 22 interceptions during his Huskie career, compiling a total QBR of under 30.
Cochran, on the other hand, won three-of-four games when getting the nod under center, helping UConn beat American Athletic Conference opponents Temple, Rutgers and Memphis in back-to-back-to-back fashion. He completed over 63 percent of his passes and posted a near 3-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, with a QBR of 73.1—more than doubling Whitmer’s career number.
UConn’s offense got a major boost with Cochran in control; the Huskies went from scoring 15.6 points per game through the first two-thirds of the season to 30.5 in the final four—almost a 100 percent increase in production.
It’s that small sample size that will assuredly give Cochran the edge as the Huskies near their second week of fall practice, but Whitmer isn’t going to hand anything over anytime soon.
Whitmer did, of course, outplay the field during UConn’s annual Blue-White game this past April, completing 19-of-26 attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown. Cochran and Boyle combined for 17-of-34 and 188 yards.
“We’re blessed to have three players that played in games,” said Diaco. “We have four (including walk-on Will Rishell) physically capable and mentally capable quarterbacks to quarterback the team, and that’s a good thing.”
If Whitmer could come up with more plays like this, then there’s no doubt who would be winning the UConn QB competition this summer.
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