Position Previews - Quarterback

The midpoint of this countdown is quickly approaching! Only 54 days left until toe meets leather, so now we’re going to start talking a little bit more in depth about each position group and the schedule. We get started today talking about the quarterbacks!

Last season, Georgia Tech broke in a new quarterback after seeing Justin Thomas graduate. Many assumed that Matthew Jordan would be the starter, as he had served as Thomas’ back-up, and even had a pretty solid spot start against Virginia Tech. To the surprise of many, then-junior TaQuon Marshall — who came to Tech as an A-back — was able to beat out Jordan.

How’d it go? Well, it wasn’t great, but it could have been a lot worse.

Obviously, Tech had a rough season, finishing 5-6, and Marshall’s stat line — in terms of passing at least — reflects that. He completed a whopping 43 passes in 116 tries last season (37.1 percent) for 927 yards. The bright side was that Marshall was able to reach double-digit touchdowns (10).

On the ground, Marshall had a better season, finishing as Tech’s leading rusher (1,146) and one of two 1,000-yard rushers. He also led the team in carries (247) and rushing touchdowns (17).

Many people, myself included, are very cautious when it comes to Marshall. Despite his offensive line forcing him to run for his life every passing play, those passing numbers are still pretty rough. It also doesn’t help him that Lucas Johnson is a more refined passer.

I believe that Marshall certainly has the tools to improve in his senior season. I’d also like to think that an improved offensive line could help that as well.

Johnson should continue to serve as a solid back-up option to Marshall. In fact, I think we could see situations where Johnson comes in as our new “Touchdown Vulture,” though it may be in a different sense, like an obvious passing situation or something.

Depth Chart

1. TaQuon Marshall
2. Lucas Johnson
3. Tobias Oliver

This was a pretty easy depth chart to put together. I don’t expect this to look any different, barring an injury. Marshall has a year of starting experience over everybody, so I’m fully confident in saying that Paul Johnson is going to start Marshall.

Next year, though, is when it gets fun, as this is Marshall’s senior year, and we’ll get to watch another fun position battle!

How do you think the quarterback position plays out this year?