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Returning Players: Jeff Lindquist (RS-Fr), Cyler Miles (RS-Fr), Keith Price (Sr)
Losses: None
Additions: Troy Williams
Keith Price has been discussed ad nauseam. We have him as our #6 top Husky for 2013. The question of "which Keith Price will we see?" has been pounded into everyone's skull. There's not much more to be said about him; we know what he can do, good and bad, now we have to just wait and see. Is his head right? Will his offensive line give him time to be comfortable? Will his pass catchers give him more help? Will the addition of Marques Tuiasosopo to the coaching staff help him? Does the no-huddle truly play to his strengths. A lot of reasons to be optimistic, but the stink of 2012 lingers.
The guys behind Keith, however, continue to grow and impress. Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist are battling it out for the right to be QB#2, and right now Miles has taken the lead. But if he doesn't continue to improve, he's going to get passed, because the guy coming up behind him has the tools to be the real deal. And Troy Williams is lurking in the background as well.
Something we should see more of this year than we have in the past is the backup quarterback. Not because Price should be pulled, but because there should be more games where the Huskies are comfortably ahead and can give their younger guys some reps in live action. The end of the Keith Price era is nigh, and the wetter his successor can get his feet before he's in the spotlight, the better off the program will be for 2014 and beyond. I'm not sure that playing a young QB for an entire series during a close game is a smart move - and that's never been something that Steve Sarkisian has ever done in his coaching career - but a package of plays that use the size and mobility of Miles/Lindquist might be something that the Huskies should look into trotting out.
The Verdict: Better. It seems reasonable to suggest that what we saw from Keith Price in 2012 was his basement, and that regression to his mean (at the very least) is due in 2013. Add in that the depth behind him is more talented than it was in 2013, and you've got a better unit at the top and all the way down through to the bottom.