JOHN ADAMS

John Adams: Inexperience might not hold Jarrett Guarantano back

John Adams
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

The possibility of starting a redshirt freshman quarterback once sent tremors through a fan base. Not anymore.

Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano warms up before the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, 2016, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

Quite the opposite, in fact. Winning the quarterback job as a redshirt freshman is now seen as a testament to the player’s talent.

So if Jarrett Guarantano starts for Tennessee next fall, fans shouldn't be wringing their hands. They should be encouraged that the Vols signed a player of that caliber.

It’s not as though Guarantano will be handed the job after redshirting this past season as a freshman. Quinten Dormady, a former four-star recruit, has backed up starter Joshua Dobbs the past two seasons. Sheriron Jones, another former four-star recruit, also will compete for the job.

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But Guarantano's talent is no secret. And if a proven quarterback like Dobbs hadn’t been around last fall, who’s to say Guarantano wouldn’t have had a shot at the starting job as a true freshman?

SEC fans have become conditioned to precocious college quarterbacks.

Freshman Jalen Hurts made first-team All-SEC while leading Alabama to the national championship game this past season. Freshman Jacob Eason started for Georgia, and freshman Jake Bentley became South Carolina’s starting quarterback in late October.

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Tennessee has a recent history of relying on freshmen at the game’s most important position. Since the 1993 season, quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Casey Clausen, Erik Ainge, Tyler Bray and Dobbs all started at least part of their freshman season.

But at the national level, there has been a notable distinction between freshman and redshirt freshman quarterbacks. You can see it in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Two of the past five Heisman Trophy winners – Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M and Jameis Winston at Florida State – won the award as redshirt freshmen.

Oregon’s Marcus Mariota didn’t win the award as a redshirt freshman, but he flashed the skills that would enable him to win the Heisman two years later. He wasn’t bad as a redshirt freshman, though, throwing 32 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. He won the Heisman two years later in 2014.

Southern California’s Sam Darnold made a name for himself as a redshirt freshman quarterback this past season. After USC started out 1-2, Darnold replaced Max Browne as the starter and the Trojans won nine of their last 10 games while he completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,086 yards and 21 touchdowns.

He will enter the 2017 season as a strong Heisman candidate. Moreover, NFL teams likely already are salivating over the possibility of drafting him.

Although many college quarterbacks now seem capable of playing as true freshmen, there are advantages to redshirting if a program can afford the luxury. By the time a quarterback has a shot to compete for the starting job as a redshirt freshman, he at least has made the transition from high school to college and had a chance to learn the offensive system.

And don’t underestimate the advantage of having a year in a college strength and conditioning program, especially for someone like Guarantano, who starred in high school as both a runner and passer.

He might have been talented enough to play as a freshman. But he will be better prepared as a redshirt freshman.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnAdamsKNS.

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