A Tale of 4 Washington Husky Quarterbacks: Who's Your Starter?

Jacob Sirmon, Dylan Morris, Ethan Garbers and Kevin Thomson make it a four-player competition to see who starts against Michigan. Nothing is certain. Anything is possible.

Dan Raley | Jun 19, 2020

OK, so Kevin Thomson has signed on for a season or at least an audition with the University of Washington football team.

Or is that a couple of seasons, considering how successful he's been at hanging around college football forever?

So what happens now?

Can he wrestle the job away from Jacob Sirmon, Dylan Morris and Ethan Garbers?

Will there be a ripple effect if he does?

Will his presence send one or more of those holdovers running to the transfer portal?

Will it send Sirmon back to the portal?

After all, Sam Huard joins the UW program for the 2021 season and a lot of people already have anointed him as the next Jake Browning. Four-year starter. Immediate presence. Immovable object. Target of hype.

So let's look at the pros and cons of the current-day Husky quarterback candidates.

After all, it's 76 days until the Michigan opener at Husky Stadium, virus permitting.

There's actually not a lot to go on with these guys at this level, since only Sirmon has taken a live UW game snap, and not many of them.

The school doesn't permit younger players to address the media, so we don't know what they're thinking.

And Thomson, a two-star recruit, played for Sacramento State, for Pete's sake. That's Pete's sake, as in league rival of UC-Cal Davis, the alma mater for former Husky coach Chris Petersen.

The fact that the UW is putting in a new pro-style offense, and doing it in a rush because of the pandemic, gives everyone an equal shot at winning the job. Everyone should struggle at times, too.

It's who can settle down and settle in.

Here's a QB handicap sheet, noting that a lot of this is pure observation and wild speculation:

Jacob Sirmon

Pro: Sirmon has been in the program for two seasons. He knows his way around the locker room. The weight room. Where the tunnel is.

Con: He didn't push Jacob Eason for the job last season. He watched.

Pro: The former four-star recruit stands 6-foot-5.

Con: Sirmon didn't appear overly mobile in his brief mop-up roles.

Pro: The job is his to lose.

Con: He put his name in the transfer portal in 2019.

Pro: He took his name out of the transfer portal in 2019.

Con: Sirmon's presence alone didn't deter the Huskies from pursuing grad transfers.

Outcome: The Huskies turned to Jacob Eason instead of him. He hasn't received a vote of confidence with Eason gone. He nearly left once. Maybe this job isn't for him. He's still the favorite going in.

Ethan Garbers

Pro: He's the brother of Husky-beater Chase Garbers.

Con: He's not Chase Garbers.

Pro: Garbers is a state-championship quarterback.

Con: He missed out on spring football.

Pro: The four-star recruit has the arm strength to succeed.

Con: He's not Chase Garbers.

Pro: Before the pandemic, he might have played right away.

Con: Because of the virus, he's likely not in the running.

Outcome: Garbers redshirts but he begs the Husky coaching staff to let him start the California game in Berkeley on Oct. 31. He promises to be the better Garbers.

Kevin Thomson

Pro: He's 15 days older than Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahones. Both turn 25 in September.

Con: He's still playing college football.

Pro: He's a productive dual-threat quarterback.

Con: He has trouble staying healthy.

Pro: Thomson accounted for nearly 4,000 yards of total offense in 2019.

Con: He did it for Sacramento State.

Pro: He took the Hornets to the FCS playoffs.

Con: Thomson couldn't beat Arizona State or Fresno State.

Outcome: He wins the starting job but he can't keep it. He gets dinged a few times. He retires from football and takes a pension. He makes everybody better around him.

Dylan Morris

Pro: Morris signed on for this competition, undeterred by a lot of QBs already on scholarship.

Con: He's 6-foot, if that.

Pro: Others left (Jake Haener to Fresno State, Colson Yankoff to UCLA) and he stayed.

Con: He would become the smallest starting UW QB in 30 years.

Pro: The former four-star recruit is right on schedule to start.

Con: He's 6-foot, barely.

Pro: He's the wild card in the competition.

Con: His presence didn't prevent the UW from seeking grad transfers.

Outcome: Morris passes up Sirmon and begins the season as the backup. He takes over as the starter at midseason for Thomson. Everyone christens him the next Tim Cowan.

Summary: Husky fans notoriously are hard on their quarterbacks. They booed Warren Moon. They tired of Jake Browning. They chastised Eason. Three of these four guys on the roster now will battle furiously for the Michigan starting assignment. Sorry Garbers, but the absence of spring football immediately ruled you out. Sirmon, the job is yours if you want it. Whether or not Thomson wins over the position, he provides comfort in bringing a productive college quarterback to the mix, no matter what level he performed at. Sirmon might feel the most pressure. Morris might feel the least. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

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Published Jun 19, 2020

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.