Clemson Football: Is Hunter Johnson or Zerrick Cooper the No. 2 QB?

Is freshman Hunter Johnson or redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper leading the chase to be the No. 2 quarterback for Clemson football in 2017?

There’s one thing that has been abundantly clear at quarterback for Clemson football in 2017. It’s that Kelly Bryant is going to get the first shot.

What that means for the rest of the season? Your guess is as good as mine.

Some believe that Bryant will hold the starting position for the entire season and have almost a Lamar Jackson-esque season for Clemson football.

Others believe that, by the end of September, true freshman Hunter Johnson or redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper will have taken over that spot and Bryant may only be seen in specialized packages or in some other way.

No one, including the Clemson coaching staff, knows what’s going to happen in the first few games of the season, but that uncertainty is making the second-string QB position that much more important.

It’s come time for the Clemson football coaching staff to make their decision.

They’ve seen the quarterbacks perform for the better part of a month now and they know what each guy brings to the table and they will be sitting down today to discuss who gets reps with each team. Essentially, fall camp has come to a close.

Here’s the case for both QBs.

Zerrick Cooper:

Cooper has the strongest arm of any of the quarterbacks. He can make some plays with his legs, but is nowhere near the athlete that Kelly Bryant and maybe even Hunter Johnson. Cooper has had a year in the system and seems to run the offense at a high level.

He’s still made some plays he wishes he could have back, but he has done a great job coming out each practice and getting better.

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Hunter Johnson:

The freshman quarterback enrolled back in January and has since taken it upon himself to spend extra time learning the playbook and getting better.

Johnson is a “pure-quarterback.” He throws the ball with great accuracy and has an extremely strong arm. He actually ran a faster SPARQ 40-time than Deshaun Watson and is more than capable of running the option when needed.

Johnson does a great job making the right reads, but is still a freshman and will make his fair share of mistakes as he learns.

BottomLine:

Normally, I have a pretty good feel of what the Clemson football staff is thinking, but in this case it’s really tough to tell.

Both guys have had stellar days and Dabo Swinney spoke of the quarterback race as if it was the tightest we have seen it. He has said over and over that neither guy has separated himself from the other.

That being said, the tie goes to the veteran.

From what I’ve seen and heard, it will be Zerrick Cooper as the No. 2 quarterback against Kent State.

Of course, that can change as I believe all three QBs will get their chance in the season opener, but the order in which the guys will come off the bench is: Bryant, Cooper, Johnson.

That could change is Hunter Johnson just goes off during the rest of the preseason, but I believe the coaching staff is going to give Zerrick Cooper his fair shake and then we will reevaluate things after the Kent State game.

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You will continue to see both guys get reps with the second team and you may even see one of them get reps with the first team every now and then. When the Clemson football depth chart is released, they may even be listed as co-backups, but it will be Cooper off the bench first.

I think one of these guys could end up contending for the starting job before it’s all said and done, but for now, this is what we are left with and it certainly will be interesting to see how this all unfolds when the season begins in less than two weeks.

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