Unit Analysis: Quarterback

We have reached the final unit of our analysis series.  Time to take a look at the quarterback position.  Senior B.J. Daniels is the starter as he looks to take the team to the Big East title in his final season, but there are major questions on the depth chart as the team heads into the Fall.

Depth chart coming out of the spring:

B.J. Daniels (6-0 215-pounds); Bobby Eveld (6-5 217-pounds) or Matt Floyd (6-1 201-pounds)

Who else is on the roster: Eveld and Floyd are the reserves, but the team does not have anyone else after that.

What we lost after the 2011 season: The Bulls did not lose a quarterback to graduation, but back-up Ryan Eppes did move to linebacker this spring and Baylin Trujillo transferred out.

2012 recruits: The Bulls did not add a quarterback with the 2012 recruiting class.  Tommy Eveld and Trenton Miller are both preferred walk-ons and will join the team in Vero Beach for the fall camp.

Strength of the unit: The heartbeat of the offense lives in the arm and legs of B.J. Daniels.  The gifted athlete set all new personal records last season despite the 5-7 finish and continues to mature as a passer into his senior year.  In his final season, Daniels may have the most weapons at his disposable since he has been at USF with the loaded wide receiver and tight end groups, which should lead to more yards and more offense.  Daniels has a ton of experience, a ton of talent, and an understanding that this is his last chance at winning the Big East title before his career is over.  He has the potential to put up big numbers this season and could even become the all time career yardage leader in Big East history, surpassing Matt Grothe if he continues to put up the numbers. 

Weakness of the unit: There are two weaknesses.  The first is Daniels.  While he is the strength of the offense, his track record will have some questioning his ability to lead the team to the promised land.  Daniels has made bad turnovers at key times in games over his career.  Some of these mistakes and miscues have cost the team in big games over the past 3 years, leading to some doubt at times. There is also concern about his health.  Over the past two seasons, he has missed 2 games late in the year and take a beating due to his aggressive running style.  If he is out, the team is going to be missing a major part of their offense which leads to the second weakness, a back-up quarterback.

With Daniels being the first weakness and the health concerns, the second weakness of the unit is the back-up position.  The competition between Floyd and Eveld is still on-going, with no one emerging yet as the clear winner.  Eveld has engineered wins in the past when Daniels went down, but his lack of mobility and timing with throws was apparent last season when he came onto the field, leading to doubts if he could lead the team to late season wins.  Floyd is the unknown factor.  After making noise last spring and continuing it this spring, he has yet to set himself apart and will need to have a sharp fall camp to beat out Eveld, but with that, is he ready for action?  With no real back-up (don't expect Tommy Eveld or Miller to storm into camp and win the job over) there are real concerns if something happens to Daniels this year.

Overall assessment: A.  The fate of the season rests in the arm and legs of B.J. Daniels.  If he can play up the talk and hype surrounding him this season, the unit will emerge as a major strength, but if he gets hurt or the back-up position continues to be a mess, then it could be a struggle for the offense to get anything going.