Ahead of first scrimmage, Todd Monken has blueprint for UGA quarterback battle

Todd Monken has held the title of Georgia’s offensive coordinator for eight months. He has been on the practice field with his quarterbacks for five days.

Monken envisions the quarterback, like most, as the one most aligned with a team’s final result. They’re heavily involved with a coach’s plan and are integral in executing that into successful plays. Georgia has five of them to choose from ahead of a season that begins in about a month on Sept. 26.

The team’s play caller has only had five practice sessions to see what his options are, and the Bulldogs have plenty of them: Jamie Newman, JT Daniels, Carson Beck, D’wan Mathis and Stetson Bennett. To a disadvantage, Georgia didn’t hold a spring practice due to the pandemic. All of Monken’s prior knowledge came from previous game tape and a handful of Zoom player meetings.

The biggest challenge rests in narrowing it down to one starter.

“You can only do so much in meetings without getting out there,” Monken said Tuesday in his first meeting with local reporters. “Right now, it’s an open competition and we’re looking at all of the players. They all have talent.”

Monken’s first opportunity to get a legitimate gauge on the quarterback battle comes in Saturday’s scrimmage.

There will be plenty for Monken, a coordinator who plans to revamp Georgia’s offense with explosive plays and consistency, to evaluate.

He shared his views Tuesday on most of the contending signal callers, but started with the two transfers. Newman and Daniels are expected to be the leaders for the starting position after having previous starting experience at Power Five programs.

Monken’s view on the two transfers likened to that of many others. Newman had athleticism while efficiently running Wake Forest’s offense. Daniels, while a younger player, was touted for his arm strength at Southern Cal. After a few glimpses on the practice field, Monken noticed a bit of a difference.

“JT is a better athlete than we would’ve thought,” said Monken, after restating the difficulties of not having an evaluation period during spring practice. “Jamie is a better thrower than we thought.”

Newman and Daniels have dealt with some injuries leading up to fall practices, too, so that has also hindered Monken’s perspective. Newman was recently cleared from a mid-foot sprain, but did not participate in all of the team’s walkthroughs. Daniels, recovering from a torn ACL, has yet to be fully cleared for contact.

Through those setbacks, Monken has learned about his quarterback room through “mental reps,” as he put it, and numerous conversations about schemes and approach.

“It has been fun to be in the room,” Monken said of all of his quarterbacks. “They’re different in terms of their personalities, but they all want to be very good players. They really want to work at it and there’s never an issue in terms of what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Along with the transfers, Georgia has some younger players vying for the job. Beck, a freshman, has impressed Smart since arriving on campus in January. Monken’s view is similar. Mathis, coming off of a redshirt year due to a brain injury, has been waiting in the background after signing with the program as a 2019 recruit.

“You can see a lot of things you like from Carson’s end of it, from throwing and athleticism,” Monken said. “D’wan has athleticism and arm talent as he continues to develop. They’ve been rotating like the other guys to get an opportunity to compete for the job. Their future is very bright.”

Most things are new for Monken since arriving at Georgia. He returned to the college ranks for the first time since a three-season stint as head coach at Southern Miss. The Bulldogs’ room, however, has multiple players who could have NFL futures. Monken has coached Jameis Winston and Baker Mayfield with Tampa Bay and Cleveland, respectfully. As Georgia’s quarterbacks coach, this challenge fits his mold.

There are a lot of criteria that Monken can pinpoint when narrowing down his field of quarterback contenders. He highlighted three of them, and the highest priority was accuracy. In Jake Fromm’s final season under former offensive coordinator James Coley, his completion percentage (60.8%) quickly became an issue in the Bulldogs’ offense.

“If you’re going to throw, then you have to be accurate with the football,” Monken said of his blueprint. “They have to handle ups and downs and sustain that. There has to be athleticism in order for a quarterback to extend plays. You have to escape and make plays. It’s hard to be a statue and be explosive anymore.”

Georgia’s offense will have a new look and feel. The quarterback will, too. Monken is ready to find his new signal caller, even if time isn’t in his favor.

“We’re excited about getting to scrimmage and see where we’re at,” Monken said.

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 2:28 PM.