Better/Worse/Neutral: Quarterback

Returning: Jeff Lindquist (SO), Cyler Miles (SO), Troy Williams (RS-FR)

Losses: Keith Price

Additions: K.J. Carta-Samuels

Keith Price is a Husky legend, having written his name on every page of the UW passing record book. At the same time, you could make the argument that he'll also end up the most divisive player in program history. To some what he accomplished could never have been good enough because the team didn't win enough games when he was in the Purple and the Gold, and because he wasn't three inches taller and twenty pounds heavier and isn't currently enjoying an NFL career.

But whatever your feelings on Keith Price, he was a pretty known quantity by the end of his career, and there's a lot of value in having a consistent performing upperclassman under center. The nature of the quarterback position means that nearly all of the time you're replacing a guy with a complete unknown, and the Huskies are no exception. Price started 39 games in his career. The current QB's on the roster have started a combined 1.

Here's the rub with this position: there's a lot of hand-wringing about how whoever the full time starter will be will play down the stretch. But I don't think that that concern would be nearly as prevalent had Steve Sarkisian remained head coach of the Huskies. The masses would just defer to his authority given his track record with quarterbacks, and it would just be assumed that Cyler Miles (because if Sarkisian were still here, he would unquestionably be the starting quarterback) would step in for Keith Price and they'd keep on rolling. People seem somewhat wary of Chris Petersen because he's something of an unknown. But he's not unknown: he has a proven track record of producing quarterbacks who are more than capable at the FBS level. More than that, he's taken a bunch of quarterbacks who all have had fewer raw tools than any of the four quarterbacks currently on the Husky roster and produced some pretty dang good results.

Unknown and worse are not necessarily the same thing.

Verdict: Neutral. Replacing Price's experience and underrated arm won't be the easiest thing the new coaching staff has to do, but they've got guys who definitely have more potential than Price did. Even if they aren't as efficient as Price was, they'll be able to create numbers advantages in the run game with regularity that could make the offense every bit as good as it was a year ago. The benefit of having what is essentially six returning starters on the offensive line cannot be overstated either, which will help to ensure that the young quarterbacks are getting a chance to make plays and not forced into bad situations. Expect growing pains, but there should be a lot of excitement to accompany them.