Aaron Murray gives his take on UGA quarterback competition
A camper spoke up to ask Aaron Murray, the most decorated quarterback in Georgia football history, quite the hypothetical question.
If Murray happened to be Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who would he start at quarterback – Greyson Lambert, Brice Ramsey or Jacob Eason?
"Is anyone recording?" Murray quipped.
Murray obliged and gave the young boy his opinion at the conclusion of his Aaron Murray Football Camp at Stratford last Saturday. In Murray’s mind, based on his experience, he’d prefer to start a veteran (presumably Lambert or Ramsey) and allow the freshman (Eason) to catch up to speed before handing the job to him.
But that’s just what Murray thinks. He knows the decision will ultimately come down to what Smart and the coaching staff see out of each player through preseason practice.
Murray, a former fifth-round draft pick entering his third year with the Kansas City Chiefs, is still a big-time Georgia football fan after a four-year career that placed him atop the SEC leaderboard with 13,166 yards and 121 touchdowns. Murray also ranks fifth all-time in the SEC in quarterback rating (158.6) and 11th all-time in completion percentage (62.3)
Following his camp, Murray spent a few minutes to talk about his alma mater’s football team, which included his thoughts on the ongoing quarterback battle.
The Telegraph: Entering your third year with the Chiefs, do you get a chance to follow Georgia?
Aaron Murray: Oh yeah, as much as I can. When we have home games, we usually have Saturday afternoons off before we have to go to the hotel. So I can watch the games and sometimes we have satellite TV on the plane and I can watch games. I’m always on my phones checking scores regardless.
TT: I know you’ve talked to others about Kirby already, but what’s your sense of the program while it’s in its transition?
AM: I’m excited. I went over and watched them in the spring. They look great. They were competing – a lot of fire, a lot of energy. It looks like they have a great team and I’m excited with what they can do this year.
TT: What kind of advice would you give – whether it’s somebody like Greyson entering his last year or somebody like Jacob, coming in as a highly-touted freshman?
AM: Compete, have fun and study your butt off. You have to earn the respect of your coaches and earn the respect of your teammates. You do that by being in the huddle, being able to call the play competently, getting to the line of scrimmage and make your Mike linebacker ID declaration, change the play if you need to change it based on what the defense is giving you. The guy who receives the most confidence from his teammates and coaches, I think, is going to get the nod. They have to go there and study their butts so they can compete, play fast and have fun.
TT: Do you see any parallels with Jacob and you since you came in as a five-star guy?
AM: Except he’s about six inches taller. He’s a big boy.
TT: But you also got to redshirt.
AM: Yeah, I got the redshirt, which was awesome for me. I’m a huge fan of that, to sit back and learn the speed of the game. I had another year to learn the playbook. It’ll be interesting to see what they do. Obviously if (Eason) goes out there and earns the job and it’s obvious, I’m sure the coaches will give him the nod and go from there. But the coaches have their idea of what they want to do and they’ll stick to it I’m sure.
This story was originally published June 27, 2016 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Aaron Murray gives his take on UGA quarterback competition."