When the ASU football depth chart came out on Monday, there was one peculiar finding: Both Manny Wilkins and Brady White were listed as the starting quarterback.
No matter who head coach Todd Graham picks as the starter, he'll be picking someone who hasn't proven to be a reliable quarterback so far in college — neither signal-caller has completed a pass in the collegiate level.
Fortunately for the Sun Devils, Graham isn't the only Pac-12 coach that will go into the season with some uncertainty at the quarterback position. Almost every Pac-12 school is relying on a new face, a transfer or a returner that not everyone is in love with.
Only four Pac-12 schools have returning starters under center going into week one: UCLA with Josh Rosen, Washington with Jake Browning, Washington State with Luke Falk and Colorado with Sefo Liufau. Everyone else in the Pac-12 is just hoping that they have the right guy.
Starting off with the 2015 Pac-12 champs, Stanford is turning to senior Ryan Burns in their week one game versus Kansas State. Burns beat out redshirt sophomore Keller Chryst in training camp and did not see much playing time due to Kevin Hogan's success in Palo Alto. Stanford comes into the season ranked eighth in the AP poll, so Burns will have to deal with lofty expectations, but having Christian McCaffrey as an offensive weapon always helps.
Why Christian McCaffrey will be even better this season pic.twitter.com/pquwxWw2wn
— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) August 31, 2016
USC always has some of the best athletes in the nation, but in 2016 they will roll into the season with an unknown at quarterback. Redshirt junior Max Browne was named the starter after winning the job in camp over Sam Darnold. A huge recruit out of Sammamish, Washington, Browne was named the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year during his senior year of high school in 2012. Browne will have a tough test in week one, as the Trojans travel to Dallas to face the Alabama Crimson Tide, the defending national champions.
The Oregon Ducks took a bit of a step back last season with senior transfer Vernon Adams Jr. as quarterback, but will employ the same strategy by starting redshirt senior transfer Dakota Prukop from Montana State.
Sticking with the Beaver State, Oregon State will start redshirt junior transfer Darell Garretson after he sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Garretson, a Chandler High School product, played at Utah State during his freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring in 2015. Interestingly enough, Garretson will throw to the Beavers' quarterback from last season in Seth Collins, who switched positions to wide receiver in the offseason.
After losing Jared Goff to the NFL, the Cal Golden Bears leaned on Texas Tech transfer Davis Webb in their 51-31 win over Hawaii. Webb played well, throwing for 441 yards and four touchdowns, so it appears that the quarterback transition has gotten off to a good start for Cal. But putting up great numbers against Hawaii is one thing, so it'll be interesting to see how Webb plays when Pac-12 play heats up.
Davis Webb is looking good with 4 TDs for @CalFootball. pic.twitter.com/95fxkdjDbQ
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) August 27, 2016
Ever since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, they've generally relied on their defense and running game, and expect the Utes to do the same in 2016 with junior transfer Troy Williams set to start week one against Southern Utah.
Williams is not new to switching schools, as he played at Washington during his freshman season and played at Santa Monica College his sophomore year. The Sun Devils have seen Williams before, as he played as a backup against ASU in 2014 when he was with Washington.
The most interesting quarterback situation in the Pac-12 may be transpiring just down the road at the University of Arizona. Although Anu Solomon helped the Wildcats win the Pac-12 South in 2014, he has not secured the job through camp. Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez took the same approach as Todd Graham by listing both Solomon and Brandon Dawkins as the team's starting quarterback, so Solomon is by no means the go-to starter just yet. Dawkins has had limited snaps, but played well in the Territorial Cup.
ASU definitely does not have the best quarterback choices, but they are in the same boat as most other teams in the Pac-12. If you look on the bright side, at least the Sun Devils aren't relying on a transfer to step in and take the reigns. Wilkins and White may be inexperienced, but they have been with the team for a while and have a good grasp of the playbook, whereas a transfer may not perform the same way in a new environment.
Lastly, it appears that the quarterback battle has more than likely been decided. Reports from practice say that Manny Wilkins has been taking first team reps on offense.
Manny Wilkins takes first team reps on offense-only team tempo.
— Matthew Tonis (@Tonis_The_Tiger) August 31, 2016
Graham also said that the players know who will be the starter against NAU. It looks like Wilkins is the leader, but Graham has yet to confirm it.
While question marks at the quarterback position are never a good thing in football, it makes things more manageable when most of your opponents have those same concerns.
Reach the columnist at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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