The Quarterback position is glorified to a point of near hyperbole. Girls want to be with the quarterback and guys want to be him. Look at almost any football movie and the quarterback is the focal point or the star.
There is no better example of this than in Varsity Blues; Johnny Moxon goes from a nobody, who reads his textbooks during practice, to the most sought after person in the town. Who can forget the infamous whip creamed bikini by Ali Larter... however, I digress.
In all hyperbole there is a basis of truth, and the truth is that the Quarterback is the most important person on the field. He is the coach on the field; he is the only person on the offense who handles the ball every single snap, sans Wildcat formations.
He has to audible when necessary to avoid failure. He sometimes plays the role of air traffic controller, making sure all of his weapons are going to the designated areas and not running into each other.
In a period of four seconds, he has to blindly take a snap and not fumble it, backpedal as fast as he can, get set, then make split decisions on as many as 4 to 5 targets and hurl the ball into a window that has mere inches of room for error.
All the while there are 300-pound monsters bull rushing toward him with every intention of inflicting bodily harm.
The Quarterback also has to know every single play in the playbook, along with every audibled variation of those plays. He also has to have a strong working knowledge of a defensive playbook in order anticipate the defense's true motives behind their camouflaged formation.
Throughout the course of a game, there are big plays that determine the outcome. One player can make a detrimental play that ultimately leads to a loss, or vice versa. However, over the course of a game, the Quarterback can win or lose a game on his own with individual performance or lack thereof.
DEPTH CHART DISCUSSION
Going with the theme of the prior position previews, youth is king. Towles is the old man of the bunch entering his junior season, followed by the ultra talented redshirt Freshman Drew Barker and more than serviceable Sophomore Reese Phillips.
PATRICK TOWLES
Patrick Towles came to Kentucky as a high school phenom; expectations reached a level of extreme when whispers of the next Tim Couch were rampant. He showed promise as a true freshman but an ankle injury derailed his season and his progress.
There was a time when Towles was nothing more than an afterthought and a disappointment. The Big Blue Nation was set on Drew Barker coming in as a true freshman and developing via the school of hard knocks.
However, a funny thing happened on the way to Lexington, Patrick Towles woke up. Towles made a decision he wanted to fulfill his lifelong dream of being the Quarterback for the University of Kentucky and he went to work.
He worked with a QB guru, he spent time in the film room, and he became a leader. Towles won the job over true freshman last fall and had a solid season in his SEC debut. This spring, summer, and fall Towles improved. He progressed on the field and off the field by making this team his priority.
It was not a given that he would be under center at 7:01 Saturday night, he had to earn it again. He held off a maturing Drew Barker and now we have the junior Patty Ice Towles leading the big blue out of the new tunnel this Saturday.
Towles has every throw in the book; he has all the tools in the toolbox. He is an NFL prospect, we just do not know if he knows that yet. Towles is only one attribute away from being a potential NFL draft pick this spring; Confidence.
Not to say he lacks confidence in what he does, but it showed at times last year that he did not stay cool in the pocket and check down to even a second option, much less a third or fourth.
Part of that was the line was not very good... that is fixed. Part of it is that he did not have many weapons... that is fixed. Part of it was that our game plan was to have Patrick run the ball at any sign of trouble... that is fixed.
So now, here we are with a guy who truly bleeds blue and wants nothing more than to lead his beloved Wildcats to Atlanta. We are in good hands in 2015 and I cannot wait to see what the guy does.
This season WILL BE SPECIAL!
— Patrick Towles (@patty_ice14) September 1, 2015
We are actually https://t.co/JbLaB0YZIU
— Patrick Towles (@patty_ice14) August 18, 2015
We are actually https://t.co/JbLaB0YZIU
— Patrick Towles (@patty_ice14) August 18, 2015DREW BARKER
Drew Barker is just the latest in a seemingly endless line of Kentucky Quarterbacks with roots in the state and a line of stars beside their name. Tim Couch, Jared Lorenzen, Andre Woodson, Patrick Towles, and now Drew Barker... nearly 20 years of excellence.
Drew Barker was a tremendous key to keeping his recruiting class together and bought in to Coach Stoops. He has a bright future and it is only getting started. From a talent perspective, I am guessing there may not be many more talented in the SEC this season.
There is only one thing that could keep Barker from having a successful career at UK; Drew Barker. During his redshirt season, he got into trouble with the airsoft guns on campus. He was also involved in the EKU bar brawl and the victim of former Wildcat Patrick Grafree's cowardly sucker punch.
All accounts are that Barker has learned from those mistakes and grown up. He has dedicated himself to the team and really did push Towles for the job this fall. Offensive Coordinator Shannon Dawson and Coach Mark Stoops both indicated they want him to get time on the field as early as this Saturday.
In a perfect world, Shannon Dawson's offense propels Patrick Towles into an All-SEC season and a first or second round pick in this spring's NFL draft. This would give Drew Barker three full seasons to create a legacy at UK.
Even so, if Towles is here next fall and is still our QB we would have two full seasons of Drew Barker and hopefully another discussion about yet another UK quarterback with gaudy numbers and moments that will be discussed in Kentucky lore for years.
REESE PHILLIPS
Phillips is a guy who I would consider more than serviceable as a Division I Quarterback. Phillips is a poised in the pocket decision maker with likely the most accurate arm on campus.
He is the Kind of quarterback that you could plug into a system offense and he would put up many zeros in his numbers.
He is unfortunately in a situation where the two guys above him are truly entrenched. Barring injuries, he will likely be buried on the depth chart.
OUTLOOK
The Quarterback of this Wildcats team is going to enjoy a fun year on offense. Assuming health, I expect that to be Patrick Towles for about 95% of the time and Drew Barker the other 5%. Although, Barker would be just as good for UK if he were in the driver's seat.
A person very close to the program said that the number of wins that Kentucky gets would not change whether Towles or Barker was running the team.
There are several units that will be a strength for Kentucky Football this year; Safeties, Defensive Line, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, and you can count the Quarterbacks in that discussion as well.