It’s official. Todd Graham has announced his starter after a summer-long quarterback competition that had Sun Devil Nation embroiled in debate as the tide turned from Mike Bercovici to Michael Eubank to Taylor Kelly, with a mid-August surge that made him the eventual victor. Kelly, 6’2” and 202 pounds, has shown himself to be both light on his feet and good with his arm throughout the summer practices, and threw two touchdowns and zero interceptions (this will be important to keep in mind later in this article) at the Tontozona scrimmage this past Saturday in Northern Arizona.
Taylor Kelly
One can’t help but draw comparisons to former ASU QB Jake Plummer, who also hails from Kelly’s native Idaho. Plummer (‘Jake the Snake’ to some) was quick on the field, and stood at an identical 6’2” to Kelly. As usual, there’s an expectation inherent in the comparison, as Plummer defined his legacy at Frank Kush field with an undefeated regular season in 1996 (which ended, unfortunately, in a Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State). And while its unrelated to the quarterback conversation, it’s worth mentioning that Pat Tillman was also a part of that team, although his legacy was defined for what he did on a different field.
Physically speaking, Kelly seems to have what it takes. But the bigger question is with his mental game: being able to read defenses, connect with receivers, lead the team, the list goes on. It has been my observation that the mental acuity necessary for quality quarterbacking comes concurrently with certain personality traits, none of which reports thus far suggest that Kelly demonstrates. Based on the interviews, at first blush he doesn’t seem to have the requisite edge demonstrated by other members of the starting QB cadre. Could I be wrong? Of course. Will it be interesting to see how the season unfolds? Absolutely.
While Kelly was named to the #1 position, Coach Graham was also very intentional about how he plans to utilize Michael Eubanks within his offensive structure (he’ll be used, a lot). His emphasis on flexibility at the QB position lends a feeling of transience to the decision, making me think that the possibility of having another starter at some point in 2012 is very real. And what about the other Michael? Mr. Bercovici, a more refined and polished passer coming off his back-up role last season, was an early leader in the race but had trouble with ball security (which is held in the utmost regard by Todd Graham). Although notably absent in the current QB conversation, fans can only hope the situation serves as motivation and not a detriment to his morale (or that of the team as a whole).
Although the quarterback situation has been resolved (for now), there are a slew of question marks remaining for the upcoming season. Will the execution of Todd Graham’s ‘speak victory’ philosophy translate to immediate victories? And, if the Sun Devils start the season with a few losses, will that matter? Sun Devil fans can be notoriously fickle, and with a new coach and his new starting QB, the pressure’s on. Maybe a red-hot spotlight is exactly what Taylor Kelly needs to shine.
