The Case For Each Virginia Tech Quarterback

Along with the promise of an up-tempo offense, and hard, smart, tough play, the Justin Fuente era of football at Virginia Tech has draped a veil of secrecy over the Hokies. It's not necessarily done for nefarious reasons, but there's been a shift in how the program interacts with those outside of Merryman. Closed scrimmages and podium-processed interviews at media events allow Tech to draw the curtain as little, or much, as it wants. Though annoying, it's a brilliant way for the Hokies to control their message.

And nothing has had its coverage impacted by this new stealthiness more than the competition at starting quarterback. Outside of brief Snapchat clips, and a bland spring game, no one's seen much of the five players vying for the job, and it's anyone's guess as to who'll win by week one.

Though Fuente has indicated senior Brenden Motley and JUCO transfer Jerod Evans are in the lead, it's unclear how the battle's going. Is it Motley's or Evans' to lose? Can anyone make up ground? But just because we have no information on the race's progress, doesn't mean we can't speculate wildly about its outcome.

And since it's June and we're still months away from football, we can analyze the race for not just what it means on the field, but off it as well. Because with each player comes a slew of different storylines, both positive and negative. And though you can make an argument as to why it'd be cool to see any of them in the starting job, you can just as easily make a rebuttal as to why they won't.

Brenden Motley

What it means if he wins: A Motley win is far and away the most feelgood story. Let's look at a timeline of his career:

A three-star prospect who directed a run-focussed Wing-T attack out of nearby Christiansburg High School, Motley was tagged with the dreaded "ATH" label. Even though his skills projected well to the defensive backfield, Tech offered him with a promise he'd get a shot at QB, which seems nice but it came with two problems.

For one, it came from Kevin Sherman, Mike O'Cain, and the rest of a soon-to-be-deposed offensive staff. That's like your high school girlfriend promising to take your virginity, but promptly moving across the country after her dad got a new job. You may still have sex before you graduate, but you'll need to move on and impress someone else.

Secondly, how many times have we seen guys like Motley have "chances" under center? Quite often it amounts to an hour or two worth of practice in the first week of spring ball. Remember Carlis Parker? Carlis had a shot to stick in the QB room, which lasted all of two days until he split out and started to catch passes (albeit still in a yellow jersey).

But Motley stuck. Mostly to the back wall of Scot Loeffler's (probably dimly lit) meeting room. He sat behind Logan Thomas, Mark Leal, and Michael Brewer. Though young, he seemed destined to don the Cory Holt Memorial Headset for backup signal callers known more for their antics on the sideline, than their action on the field.

But a Brewer broken collarbone against Ohio State last season temporarily landed the job in Motley's lap, with no clear starter returning in 2016. To survive two regime changes and countless minutes on the bench? It's the perfect rise for a local kid who's worked his ass off to start as a senior.

Why it won't happen: Anyone other than Dave Doeren and whichever poor souls were in West Lafayette last year knows Motley wasn't particularly good. He went 3-3 as a starter, struggled with accuracy, and didn't provide enough with his legs to make up for it. Fuente's stressed the ability to make high-percentage plays consistently, and there are obvious doubts on Motley's tape to question his capacity to do that.

Jerod Evans

What it means if he wins: Because he's the guy Fuente brought in, Evans now represents more than just a talented JUCO prospect.

The most important part of Fuente's new regime was the need to drag Virginia Tech football into the 21st Century offensively — a complete overhaul of the offense and an effort to pave over all the transgressions of Hokie squads past.

No jumbled attempts at halfbaked scheme changes (remember O'cainspring's "up-tempo pistol"?), or unidentifiable messes (try to explain the Scot Loeffler era without using the words "confusing" or "inconsistent"). What the Hokies needed most, more than a new coach, is a single offensive identity everyone buys into.

And now the coaches know what they want to do, and selected their QB to do it. The Fuente/Evans pairing signifies a clean break from the offensive cluster f--- of the last half decade as they head into the future.

Why it won't happen: There's an underratedly large transition between junior college and division one ball. It's not necessarily the level of competition, but everything else involving the jump to a big university. Can he handle the change in the quality of classes he has to take? How will he transition to living over a thousand miles from home? Just think about what a move like that means. New friends, new town, new start to life.

And what if this competition extends longer than initially thought? Upon his commitment, many (including myself) assumed Evans would grab hold of the starting spot and never give it back. As of today he hasn't, and if Motley keeps it close will it hurt his confidence? And if anyone other than Evans wins, does it bring this staff's ability to evaluate talent into question?

While it's not fair to judge off a single player, Evans is the guy everyone is watching. And if he falls flat, people will wonder why he was signed in the first place. JUCO guys, especially quarterbacks, aren't brought in to be backups. Why waste a scholarship on someone with half the eligibility of a freshman, just to see them leave after two years pulling pine?

The coaches went out and got a guy from the outside who, in their minds, could start right away. If, for whatever reason, he can't? There'll definitely be some questions.

Dwayne Lawson

What it means if he wins: Lawson's development is still the most important thing for Tech's perception amongst recruits. He was a talented, highly touted, dual-threat guy out of high school. And although the program's had its deficiencies elsewhere, they've done okay with those kinds of players historically.

Should Lawson thrive, he's another player in Tech's long line of successful multi-talented quarterbacks to dazzle crowds at Lane Stadium. And after he tears up the field, the coaches can point to him in their pursuit of the next upper echelon, mobile signal caller.

Why it won't happen: Loeffler and company should be sued for damages for the way they handled Lawson in 2015. Though he was the most interesting guy in the recruiting class, he was obviously not ready to go. But in what was probably a desperate attempt to garner some semblance of hope from the fanbase, Lawson spent what should have been a redshirt year on the sideline as a little used reserve.

He was too raw, and it was apparent the moment he fired missiles at the shoelaces of poor Kevin Asante in garbage time against Furman. Did the decision fundamentally stunt him? We may never know. Motley and Evans have already separated themselves from the pack. What if Evans wins? Would Lawson even stick around for two years and wait for his chance to start as a redshirt junior or senior?

Josh Jackson

What it means if he wins: I'm a child of the 90s. Two of my three favorite sports movies growing up were The Mighty Ducks and D2: The Mighty Ducks. The star of those Ducks teams was a player named Charlie Conway. Charlie Conway? Played by the actor Josh Jackson! THINK OF ALL THE MIGHTY DUCKS JOKES WE COULD MAKE.

I'll make this proclamation right now: if Fuente wants to endear himself to this publication, he names Jackson the starter today. And if not? We rollerblade around his neighborhood with sweatshirts tied around our waists like hooligans, yelling "the quack attack is back, Jack!" until he gives in. It's just how we at The Key Play dot com roll (pun intended).

(I was just informed that I have no standing to speak for any of our other writers, and especially not this website as an entity. This plan may need tweaking.)

(Also for anyone wondering, my other favorite sports movie is Space Jam. It constantly battles D2 for the defining film of my childhood. I was a weird kid.)

Why it won't happen: Did you just read the nonsense I wrote over the last four paragraphs? Aside from a 5-of-9, 35 yard spring game performance, it's the most I know about Jackson.

Jack Click

What it means if he wins: I know it's a stretch, but let's play out this scenario for just a second. Justin Fuente transformed Andy Dalton from an awkward ginger whose only other collegiate offer was UTEP, into an awkward ginger who's also an NFL starter. He then took Paxton Lynch, an unheralded kid out of Florida, and made him into a first round pick with the confidence to wear sunglasses indoors on national television.

If Fuente can come to Blacksburg and turn Click into a Power Five performer, he can do literally anything he wants with someone who throws a football. He instantly lives up to every single bit of the hype as a quarterback guru, and fans would beg Whit Babcock to give him a lifetime, trillion dollar contract.

Why it won't happen: He's a walk-on. I had to look him up 46 times on Hokiesports just to make sure his last name is actually Click and not Glick. And as of this writing, I'm still not sure. Have fun on the practice squad there, Click. Or Glick. Whatever. Try to avoid getting squashed by Tim Settle.

And so it remains to be seen who will take the first snap against Liberty in early September. My money's on Evans, but I doubt we'll find out who QB1 is any time before game week. But whether it's Evans, Motley, or one of the youngsters, they all bring intrigue along with them.