Football position breakdown: Quarterback

In our first position breakdown for the 2013 football season, we will take a look at the Quarterback position for the Louisville Cardinals. I thought about just putting a picture of Teddy and that would be the whole post. But since you are taking the time to check out the site (appreciated by the way), I will return the favor by giving just a little bit more information than just that. And no, I would not have really just put a picture for this post.

Teddy Bridgewater

Junior

6’3   196 lbs

Entering his junior season, Teddy Bridgewater has the chance to go down as the best quarterback, or even best football player, to ever play at the University of Louisville. High praise? Yes. Deserved? Absolutely. Although Bridgewater does not want a Heisman campaign, he will certainly be watched all season by the voters. He has played in all 26 games that he has been with the Cards.

Think about all of the great Quarterbacks that have played for Louisville. You have Johnny Unitas, Jeff and Brian Brohm, Chris Redman, Stefan LeFors, Browning Nagle, and many more. Teddy has played 2 seasons, and he currently ranks 6th in school history 5,847 passing yards. The Top 5 are:

1) Chris Redman (12,541)

2) Brian Brohm (10,775)

3) Dave Ragone (8,564)

4) Jay Gruden (7,024)

5) Stefan LeFors (5,853)

So by the end of this season, Bridgewater should find himself in 3rd place. Not bad for 3 years on the job.

He is 5th in career touchdowns with 41. He is behind Chris Redman (84), Dave Ragone (74), Brian Brohm (71), and Jay Gruden (74). So again, Bridgewater could find himself around that top 3 mark by the end of this season.

With a 66.9% completion rate, Bridgewater enters the season as the all-time leader at UofL. That should be one that he holds on to with as accurate as he is, and with the weapons he will have this year.

I could go on and on and throw all kinds of numbers at you about Teddy Bridgewater, but we all know he is a great quarterback. What makes him special is the type of character he has. He never has off the field issues like some other college athletes. He almost quit football to take care of his mother while she battled breast cancer. He visited a fan in the hospital after a random tweet asking if he would, and he did not do it for any kind of publicity. I mentioned how he doesn’t want a Heisman campaign. He is very much more about team success than his own. He came in against Rutgers and showed so much heart, playing with a broken wrist and a sprained ankle, and leading the Cards to a victory that would ultimately put us in the Sugar Bowl, where he was also outstanding.

Bridgewater has the chance to put up huge numbers this season. We know the schedule is not loaded with powerhouse teams, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. Teddy is that good. With the running game we will have, and the wide receivers and tight ends that he will have, it could get very ugly for opposing defenses. There were games last season where we scored in the 20s, and looking at the roster you wondered why that was so low. That should not be a problem this season. This team can score 40 plus points every game. He could break some records.

Whether or not it’s the right thing to do when writing one of these, I can not think of one negative thing to say about Teddy Bridgewater, so I just won’t. To see how far he came from his Freshman year to his Sophomore year, I can’t wait to see what is in store for his Junior year! Here is a great highlight video of Teddy, done by the guys over at thecrunchzone.com.

It was tough to keep this section about Teddy even this short, but there will be plenty of time to talk about Teddy Bridgewater this season.

Remembering that this is not a Teddy Bridgewater breakdown, it is a Quarterback breakdown, I must move on…

Will Gardner

Redshirt Freshman

6’5   230 lbs

Gardner is 6’5 and 230 lbs from Coffee County, Georgia. He had an offer from Alabama coming out of high school, but chose to sign with the Cards. He tore his ACL last summer, so he red-shirted last season. In high school, he was the top rated QB prospect in class 5-A. In this year’s spring game, he was the QB with the 2nd team offense. We will find out if Gardner is going to win the battle for the backup spot. One thing he does have going for him, however, is his size. You can’t teach height, and at 6’5, if he can develop, that is a big advantage at the QB position.

Brett Nelson

Junior

6’4   231 lbs

Nelson is a Junior College transfer from Southwestern Community College in California. He played 2 seasons there and was named one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the state of California. At Southwestern CC, Nelson threw for 4,472 yards and 34 touchdowns with 17 interceptions. At 6’4 and 231 lbs, Nelson also brings good size to the position. Another way he stands out is that he is left handed.

Kyle Bolin

Freshman

6’3   196 lbs

Bolin played right down the road at Lexington Catholic High School. Rivals.com and ESPN.com rated him as the #4 prospect in the state of Kentucky. In his career, he passed for 7,038 yards and 63 touchdowns. He led his team to the state finals as a junior. He also attended the Columbus Elite 11 camp. Bolin also had offers from Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Illinois. He tore his ACL during his senior season and is recovering well from that. I would expect that he will red-shirt this season.

My outlook:

Obviously we have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Teddy Bridgewater. I have absolutely no worries there. I am looking to the future though also. I don’t see any way that Teddy comes back for his senior season, and rightfully so. Because of that, we need a proven QB to take us into the ACC next year. I believe Gardner and Nelson will battle all camp for that backup spot. I am not sure which one stands out right now, but the backup position is very important in my opinion.

If we get big leads on teams this season, which should happen, I would like to see us play our backup QB and get some valuable time. I am all for Teddy winning the Heisman, but if his numbers have to drop a little bit so we can get our backup some quality playing time, I am more in favor of that.

So I guess what I am saying is that we know what Teddy is going to do. No worries there, he is great. I just want to know that we have a security blanket behind him. What if Gardner or Nelson can’t take that spot? Then what??? Well just remember this: we do have a “tight end” on the roster that has played a little QB 🙂

Join me tomorrow as I bring you the Wide Receiver breakdown! Go Cards!

JR

*Some info came from gocards.com. Other QB’s on the roster, but with no bio’s on UofL’s website are Jerry Arlinghaus and Andrew Risher.