CORVALLIS — Oregon State’s plan remains to name its starting quarterback no sooner than Aug. 22 — two weeks before the season opener at Houston.
JaMarcus Shephard outlined his intention for the position during spring practice and nothing has changed as the Beavers opened fall camp Wednesday morning at Reser Stadium.
“Eventually we do want to name one and give him the opportunity to take the first-team reps with the first team offensive line,” Shephard said. “Even at those times we still are going to have him take some with the second team.”
Technically, returning starter Maalik Murphy, Mercer transfer Braden Atkinson and Western Michigan transfer Brady Jones are competing for the job. But anyone who watched the spring game could see Murphy’s arm talent and athleticism are clearly a cut above.
Regardless, whether it’s quarterback or any other position, Shephard and his staff intend to fill in a depth chart after two fall scrimmages and with two weeks of practice before the first game.
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Shephard outlined some of the analytical data OSU will use to base its decision on who starts, including the number of times quarterbacks put the ball in jeopardy, turnovers and bad reads.
“We look at all of that and we keep a tally of it,” Shephard said. “We’re very transparent with our whole football team, to the point that we’ve put this information up in front of all of our offense so they see how it’s going all throughout camp. So they know who’s going to probably be the quarterback based on the data that they have.
“If they tell you, I’ll have a big problem.”
