Who could WSU start at QB in the Apple Cup? A deep dive on each candidate and their strengths

PULLMAN – Jimmy Rogers squinted under the blazing hot sun and, standing on the North Texas turf where his Washington State team had just absorbed one of the worst losses in program history, considered a question about his decisions at the quarterback spot.

Once you decide to pull Jaxon Potter, how do you decide who to go to next?

Hours prior, Rogers had pulled Potter, who had thrown three interceptions in his third straight start to open the season. Before the game got out of reach, WSU tagged in redshirt freshman Julian Dugger, a run-first, dual-threat QB who proceeded to lose a fumble on his second snap. With the game a wash late in the third quarter, WSU subbed in fifth-year senior Zevi Eckhaus, who missed a couple throws but scored his team’s only touchdown of the game.

Rogers went on to explain that because Dugger had been practicing with the Cougars’ second-team offense, coaches tried him first, hoping to kickstart what was a moribund offense. That bet hardly paid off – in 20 snaps, Dugger has gone 0-for-3 on passing attempts, with one rushing score – so coaches pulled Eckhaus off the bench late in the third quarter for the remainder of the game.

All of those developments bear revisiting because as WSU prepares to host archrival Washington in this weekend’s Apple Cup, coaches are allowing the trio of quarterbacks to compete for the starting gig, Rogers said earlier this week. It’s a remarkable turn of events from Rogers and Co., who labored over the decision to name Potter the starter after a long battle in fall camp.

Who will the Cougars roll out on Saturday? It could be Potter, Dugger or Eckhaus, forcing the Huskies to prepare for all three, at least theoretically. But who the coaches decide to start depends on what they feel they need most at the position.

Do they need someone who can diagnose coverages and make the right reads down the field? Because of his experience, they might go with Eckhaus.

Do they need someone whose mobility makes him a threat both with his arm and his legs? In that case, they might go with Dugger.

Do they need someone who can unfurl reliable deep passes and make accurate throws in tight windows? If so, they might stick with Potter.

On Monday, Rogers seemed unhappy with some of Potter’s coverage reads, which led to at least one of his three interceptions. The one that bothered Rogers most came in the second quarter, when Potter failed to look off a linebacker to the middle of the field and spring open receiver Josh Meredith on the right side, allowing the UNT defender to rove over and make an easy pick.

“We missed one shot there to Meredith. He was wide open,” Rogers said. “That’s kind of like a standard football play in college football. We just threw it in that window. And he’s going to learn from these things. He’s young. But obviously he’s gotta continue to grow and process the information and take it in stride.”

It was the first flood of adversity for Potter, who had looked sharp in his first two outings, wins over FCS Idaho and San Diego State. He had received the starting nod in large part, Rogers has said, because of his ability to avoid sacks and turnovers. He still has yet to take a sack, but if his three interceptions are any indication, it’s clear he is still learning to process coverages at the level coaches have in mind.

Could Potter improve in that way and convince coaches he’s still the man for the job in time for this weekend’s Apple Cup? It’s certainly possible, but the Huskies’ defense figures to be the toughest the Cougs have faced this fall. UW cornerback Tacario Davis, one of that unit’s best players, picked off a pass in his group’s win over FCS UC Davis earlier this month, but he took a hard fall on the play. He’s questionable for Saturday’s game, coach Jedd Fisch said.

If WSU coaches do decide to move away from Potter, part of the decision might revolve around the RPO game, Rogers added. Potter hasn’t always made the right reads on those plays – whether a defensive end is crashing toward the running back or waiting to go after the quarterback – and because he isn’t the fleetest of foot, he isn’t a threat to pull the ball and run with it. For a team already struggling to run the ball, that dynamic could also inform coaches’ decisions.

“He has done a great job in two games of putting the ball in tight windows,” Rogers said, “but at some point, you gotta be able to see the coverage. He missed some open throws, and he’s gotta grow. He’s a young quarterback that’s going through it for the first time.”

If decision-making is as much a priority as Rogers is making it seem, he might be more inclined to opt for Eckhaus, who has three complete seasons of college football under his belt, plus a start in last season’s Holiday Bowl, when he threw three touchdowns and two interceptions. He may not be a perfect quarterback – “he’s gotta hit those open throws,” Rogers said, referring to a pair of misses from Eckhaus on Saturday – but on top of having his teammates’ respect, he certainly understands how to process coverages.

As a Cougar, Eckhaus might have put that quality on display best on one throw in last year’s Holiday Bowl. Early in the third quarter, he took a shotgun snap and found Meredith streaking to the left, but Eckhaus would have to layer the throw between defenders to hit Meredith. Not a problem for Eckhaus, who connected with Meredith in stride.

But does Eckhaus have a reliable enough deep ball to keep UW’s defense honest down the field? One of Eckhaus’ missed throws Rogers referenced came late in the fourth quarter, when Eckhaus rolled out and spotted an open Mackenzie Alleyne, who was surging toward the end zone. But Eckhaus put too much on the throw and it fell incomplete.

A few moments later, Eckhaus sailed another open throw, this one targeting freshman wideout Carter Pabst. Eckhaus didn’t have his feet set on this toss, which might have been why he overthrew Pabst, but in the end it was another missed opportunity.

ESPNU

ESPNU

For the game, Eckhaus completed 7 of 10 passes for 72 yards, including a nice sling on the right side to Pabst, who hauled in what was a perfectly placed pass. Even in defeat, after misfiring on a couple throws, Eckhaus still posted promising plays. Maybe that bought him some credibility for this week’s competition.

“As far as his command of the offense, it’s there,” Rogers said. “His leadership is there. His work ethic is there. And he gives us a little bit of flexibility with his feet. Is he elite twitch? It’s not. It doesn’t need to be. He’s just gotta create something when something’s not there.”

The numbers aren’t as kind to Dugger, whose usage has fluctuated in his first three games at WSU. A transfer from Pittsburgh, where he started in the Panthers’ bowl game last season, Dugger has taken 20 total snaps on offense. He is 0 for 3 on passes this fall. He’s rushed 13 times for negative-5 yards, though many of those came on one play against San Diego State, where he had to retreat and fall on a bad snap.

It’s clear that coaches like Dugger’s mobility more than his passing ability. When Rogers has answered questions about subbing him in, he’s referenced his athleticism.

“His legs can kill you,” Rogers said after the North Texas game.

“I felt like Julian’s legs might have been able to do that for us, and it didn’t,” Rogers said after a win over Idaho, referencing his hope that Dugger could provide a spark.

So far, Dugger’s longest run has gone for nine yards, which he did on the final play of the first half against North Texas. But more often, because of blocking issues up front or regrettable reads or a faulty handoff resulting in a fumble, Dugger hasn’t provided the kind of spark off the bench that Rogers and coaches are hoping for.

“Julian’s got to progress his decision-making process as far as not just premeditating his throws. He knows this,” Rogers said on Monday. “Gotta get off of a certain read. I gotta get off the read and then I gotta get to the next check without patting the ball and then looking to scramble right away when it’s not really there.”

For those reasons, it seems unlikely the Cougars would give the starting nod to Dugger, especially considering how often Rogers mentioned the importance he places on decision-making. But he’s been full of surprises once before, starting Potter in the season-opener. Maybe another is in store.

Turns out, WSU didn’t hold a QB competition after all.

Rogers and coaches selected a starter on Sunday, he said after practice on Wednesday, which apparently contradicts his earlier indication that coaches would hold a QB competition during this week’s practice. Rogers declined to say who will start in the Apple Cup.

In other news, Rogers said that wide receiver Devin Ellison is “back at it.” Ellison has yet to play this season with what Rogers called a heel contusion, which has held him out of each of the Cougars’ first three games of the season. A splash commitment for WSU over finalists Boise State and UCF last winter, Ellison projects to make a big impact at the receiver spot if healthy.

Linebacker Anthony Palano, who missed the North Texas game with an undisclosed injury, remains questionable, Rogers said. Palano practiced with a yellow no-contact injury on Wednesday, said Rogers, who added that his status for Saturday’s game will remain unclear until team medical staff make a call.