Boise State football is down to its final hours of spring camp, and when it’s over Saturday night, and the summer offseason leaks into Sunday morning, most of us will continue to debate a quarterback quandary that never seems to go away.
Kellen Moore finished his college career in 2011 and left behind a messy wake – 33 players have attempted a pass for the Broncos in 12 seasons since, including 17 quarterbacks and 12 different starters.
Some of that is wonderful creativity, old Boise State style.
Some of that reeks of desperation, new Boise State style.
Quarterback competitions and controversies are engaging for fans, fun for the media, frustrating for coaches and confusing for players.
Mike Prater
Enough already.
Time to stop juggling quarterbacks.
Not sure that’s going to happen, unfortunately, based on what we’ve seen this spring.
Spring camp has had a strong quarterback vibe, with three capable players, all highly talented, all unique, all uber-competitive and all thinking they have a shot to win the starting job this fall.
Boise State has used multiple starting QBs in four of its past five seasons. The Broncos used three starters in a very messy 2023 season, and two in 2022. In those two seasons, Boise State played five quarterbacks, with four of them getting starts.
We can’t do this again, right?
Somebody has to win the job, right?
Newcomer Malachi Nelson is a fan favorite to do just that – because of his monster five-star hype and tiny USC pedigree. He’s never started a college game and struggled this spring with playbook terminology, but came on strong in the second half of camp.
Returning starter Maddux Madsen is limited with a bad knee, but is participating in practice more than expected. He said he’s 85-90 percent healthy and can’t wait for August.
CJ Tiller, who started the LA Bowl against UCLA in December, has no interest in losing the job. He could be the odd man out, based on the cruel numbers game.
What say you, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Dirk Koetter?
“We’ll get it straightened out in the fall.’’
Fair.
No one expected Boise State to name a starter this spring.
Most everyone expects Nelson and Madsen to compete for QB1 in August, with Tiller lurking in the background. And who knows what could happen with the transfer portal – the window for players to turn in their name is open until May 1.
As of today, Koetter has pros and cons for all three of his primary quarterbacks.
-On Nelson: Koetter said his throwing ability “shines through,’’ he can throw off-balance (“blessing and a curse’’), but he needs to process everything faster. “Not where we need to be right now.’’
-On Madsen: Koetter said Madsen is “bored” and “frustrated” with limited work this spring. Koetter also made it clear that he loves what a healthy Madsen can do on the field. “I have very good memories of Maddux. We have game film. I’ve seen what he can do.’’
-On Tiller: Koetter said Tiller has a knack for making hard plays, and missing easy ones. Needs more consistency. “He has enough talent to be the QB here.’’
Nelson is a first-semester player, and by program rules, isn’t allowed to meet with the media. We have no idea what he’s thinking, though he finally started to smile and interact with more of his teammates over the past few practices.
Madsen held his first spring press conference the other day, and said he’s leaning on his experience and leadership to fuel the QB room.
“There’s sometimes I’ll be a jerk to those guys because it’s a young room. We’re extremely young,’’ he said. “It’s like being a player/coach, in a way, helping those guys with the leadership I feel like I have to have.’’
Tiller joined our KTIK radio show a few weeks ago – and showed off his Hall of Fame confidence. He’s getting more practice reps than ever before. He’s embracing the competition. He believes he has a shot to win the starting job.
“My whole life has been a competition … football, family, health, myself,’’ he said. “I don’t care if God puts Tom Brady in front of me, and he’s transferring to Boise State, I’m going to give him everything I’ve got.
“That’s a crazy statement to say because it’s Tom Brady, but at the same time, I don’t care who’s in front of me. I don’t care what opponent is in front of me. I know who I am and I know what I have to do to get better.’’
Tiller said on KTIK that he’s starting the Spring Game on Saturday.
“I’m going to keep going, I’m going to keep growing, and may the best man win,’’ he said.
Hopefully, that’s the best MAN.
Not the best MEN.
One starting quarterback in 2024, please. But who will it be: Nelson, Madsen or Tiller?
Stay tuned.
Mike Prater is the Bronco Nation News columnist who co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk (KTIK 95.3 FM on Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m.) and the Boise State football postgame show (KBOI 670 AM). He is on Twitter @MikeFPrater and can be reached at mikefprater@gmail.com.
