Georgia Tech’s starting quarterback and B-back spots are secure, particularly the latter. After six spring-practice workouts, though, the competition behind both quarterback Matthew Jordan and B-back Dedrick Mills has not produced a leader.
The B-back battle continues between KirVonte Benson and Quaide Weimerskirch. While Jordan’s spot as the No. 1 quarterback isn’t quite as secure as Mills’, the more likely competition is to be the No. 2 behind him, with TaQuon Marshall and redshirt freshmen Lucas Johnson and Jay Jones trying to claim that job.
“They do some good and some bad,” coach Paul Johnson said Wednesday of Benson and Weimerskirch. “KirVonte has looked good at times with the ball in his hands. They’ve both got to do a better job blocking. And Quaide’s tough, but I don’t think anybody has distinguished themselves as winning that battle.”
With a desire to keep Mills healthy and him not needing as much practice time as the backups, Johnson has given more snaps to Benson and Weimerskirch. At quarterback, Johnson sounded encouraged by what he has seen.
“Matthew’s done O.K.,” Johnson said. “TaQuon’s really quick, Jay’s a great athlete, Lucas missed (Wednesday); it’s the first day he’s missed. But he’s done some good things, so it’s a good competition. There’s more depth there than anywhere on the team, probably.”
New quarterbacks and B-backs coach Craig Candeto said that ideally the No. 2 quarterback would be determined by the end of spring practice, but that the competition will likely go into preseason camp.
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell just in spring because a lot can happen over the summer,” he said. “Guys can develop physically more, especially when you’ve got some young guys in the mix.”
In the summer, both position groups will take on incoming freshmen who will also be given a chance to compete, Tobias Oliver at quarterback and Jerry Howard and Jordan Ponchez-Mason at B-back.
