What the Spartan Football Kickoff means for the quarterback 'competition'
The Spartan Football Kickoff capped off a busy spring football season for Michigan State. The spring practices were headlined by an open quarterback competition that seems to have a leader in the clubhouse based upon on-field play, but head coach Mel Tucker isn’t making any declarations yet.
“We’ll continue the competition throughout the summer and into fall camp,” Tucker said to the media after the event. “Today was very indicative of what we've seen out of those guys throughout the spring.”
Sometimes it’s hard to read in between the lines of Tucker’s press conferences. However, if what Tucker said is true, then what was “indicative” of the on-field product today was that Payton Thorne played the best out of the three competing quarterbacks.
All three quarterbacks battling for the starting position, Katin Houser, Noah Kim and Thorne, talked to the media after the event concluded.
Before spring practice began, Tucker alluded to the quarterback competition being open, albeit he said that about every position on the field. Now that the spring season has concluded, Tucker said that it remains a competition. Kim likes the open competition and what it brings to the quarterback room.
“I love it because it’s going to keep all of us hungry,” Kim said about the competition being open. “You want to come to practice, you want to compete, especially at this level. It’s only going to make you a better player. It’s going to make you a better person. If it’s an open competition… we have to come every day like we want the job, all of us. That’s what I’m gonna do, and I’m expecting them to do that as well and it’s gonna make us all better.”
It was rumored that last season’s starter, Thorne, was playing injured throughout the entire 2022 campaign. He said that his injuries last fall started in the second drive of the third quarter of MSU’s first game of the season against Western Michigan. Those injuries compounded throughout the year, some lower body and some upper body injuries.
“I gave absolutely everything I had with what I was dealing with,” Thorne said about his injury-filled 2022 campaign. “I played as hard as I could and did everything I could. I didn't slack mentally in preparation for any game. So, I look back on that, I feel good about what I put out there.”
It’s safe to say Thorne was not at 100% for a very large majority of the season. While many fans called for Kim to be put in for Thorne last season, it’s hard to put even some of the blame of the 5-7 season on Thorne.
Thorne finds himself in a tough situation. He has to re-prove himself to Spartan fans who have fond memories of his play during the 2021 season overshadowed by his inconsistencies in 2022.
“I’m very motivated,” Thorne said. “I do want to get back out there. I do want to show the player I am because I feel like I’m a really good player. I know I am. I've done a lot of really good things even last year.”
The other quarterback in the competition is Houser. Houser was the only quarterback that didn’t lead the offense in a two-minute drill to end the spring scrimmage.
“I was expecting to go in,” Houser said. “I had opportunities like that a couple of practices ago just to be in a two-minute (drill), it’s something different. It’s as game-like as possible.”
Houser thinks that he excels in game-like reps like a two-minute drill. While it appears that Houser is the No. 3 guy in the quarterback room, he remains ready for his next opportunity.
“Even though I didn’t get it, that’s all right,” Houser said. “I’m just waiting for my next opportunity, and I’m going to take advantage of it.”
While the quarterback competition isn’t over, according to Tucker, Thorne appears to be the leader in the clubhouse with Kim behind him and Houser in third, unless what we saw at the Spartan Football Kickoff was not reflective of what spring practice was like behind closed doors.
It’s also important to remember that while these players are going toe-to-toe with each other now, they are all on the same team. Knowing that MSU has multiple quarterbacks that compete at each and every practice should make it easier for Spartan fans to sleep at night.