Early Look Ahead - Quarterback

B.J. Daniels is the starter heading into this Spring, but he will have plenty of competition. (Picture:www.usfnation.com)

Here we go again, taking an early look at all of the positions and this time I look taking a look at one of the most talked about positions on the team, quarterback. B.J. Daniels, entering his junior season, will be the starter, but he will have plenty of competition and will be looking over this shoulder all throughout practices.

Daniels struggled during the 2010 season as he learned the new offense, but had a break out game against Clemson and is finally healthy headed into the Spring and Fall. When Daniels is healthy and playing up to his talent, he is one of the best duel-threat quarterbacks in the country. Let's take a look at Daniels and the rest of the quarterbacks entering the Spring practices.

B.J. Daniels - 6'1" 212-pounds

The junior quarterback had a rough 2010 season, but the bowl victory over Clemson seemed to be the break out performance everyone was waiting for and seemed to renew Daniels's confidence. Daniels is a very athletic quarterback and can cause defenses headaches. He is a great runner, has excellent field vision, and enough speed to run past anyone (plus great lateral movement). He does have a strong arm, but his decision making and ability to read a defense are questionable at times and when pressured, even worse. He often locks onto a receiver and does not make the necessary progressions in his reads.

Holtz did not want Daniels to run as much last season and in the beginning of the season, you could see the difficulty Daniels had with the play calling. As the season progressed, Daniels became more comfortable and Todd Fitch began mixing in bootlegs and option plays that allowed Daniels to move around more and made him more comfortable in the offense.

Daniels will be the starter heading into this season, but the competition will be open for him. With more quarterbacks on scholarship this season, the competition should help push Daniels to be better and also give Holtz a few more options in case he does struggle.

Bobby Eveld - 6'5" 200-pounds

The redshirt freshman stepped up in the win over Miami and played well in the game against UCONN. Eveld just received a scholarship and has some fans wishing he was the starter (they will have to wait). Eveld seems to be the ideal Hotlz-type quarterback; a pocket passer that can move out of the pocket when forced, a strong arm, and very accurate. Eveld is a very tall, slender quarterback that has a strong arm and can make the throws. He will push Daniels this year and if he struggles, the coaches have shown that they are not afraid to hand the offense over to Eveld. Keep an eye on him, he might be on the field quite a bit this season.

Others: The Bulls do have some depth now at quarterback. Ryan Eppes and Brandon Smith are both walk-ons and probably won't play this season unless something amazing happens during all of the practices (but they will continue to work hard and do anything they can to help theetam out). Jamius Gunsby is a big quarterback (6'4" 235-pounds) that seems to be a rising name and could find his way into the mix this season and will be a factor in the years to come. Matt Floyd enrolled early and will be in Spring. Enrolling early will help him learn the offense early, but with the depth and talent ahead of him, I don't expect him to play this season, but will be eagerly watching him all year.

Daniels is the trigger man of this offense. When he is playing well, making reads, and delivering strikes, the Bulls offense can take over a game. With healthy receivers (Griffin and Love) and new, powerful running backs (Scott and Aycock), the offense should be much more productive this season, as long as Daniels plays better.