Quarterback battles are always intriguing regardless of how deep they are in the depth chart. It is not uncommon for coaches to use the depth chart as a mean of motivation in pushing a player to their full potential. Could that be the case for OU's Blake Bell and Drew Allen?
As everyone knows, Landry Jones is the unquestionable starter for this squad. He will be coming off one of the best performances by a QB to date and will be counted on time and time again going into the 2011 season to not go "happy feet" on us and lose his composure. While Landry has made great strides from the beginning of 2010 to the end of the season, there is something that marinates in the back of Oklahoma Sooners fans' minds that worries them on whether "Bad Landry" will make an appearance at the most inopportunemoments. That being said, the No. 2 spot is still undetermined. Kendal Thompson is a sure lock on the No. 4 spot but where Blake Bell and Drew Allen fall, only time will tell.
We asked the question on our podcast of who we would rather see take over, now I am posing it to the rest of the readers here at CCM.
Josh Heupel has been working with both Bell and Allen and had this to say about each of them:
"I think we’ve seen a lot of that growth here in the first couple practices with Blake. So I’m excited about the progress that he’s made," Heupel said. "Drew has continued to take command of our offense, understanding what he needs to do with the football, taking care of it, communication, being able to play in tempo, as well, so we’re excited about his development, as well."
In the spring game it was evident that Allen was still a few steps ahead of Bell, however by the statement issued above as well a quick glance at the meaningless depth chart tell us that both are in a dead sprint toward the finish line.
Drew Allen came in a 3-star pro style QB and was being crowned "The Next Sam Bradford" at least this was the case by his HS coach. They may be similar in size but the college game is different than that of the HS game. Drew Allen has come in and committed to stay regardless of the rumors that he was transferring and continues to work hard and taking command of the offense, something that I think Bell lacks. However, Bell came in a 4-star pro style QB drawing comparisons to a younger Big Ben. He has deceptive speed and because of his size is hard to tackle. Bell still needs to work on his reads but has all the qualities to become a star given time.
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