Bryan Bennett: The Unlucky One

With the 2012-2013 football season ending on Thursday for the Ducks, we all know who the quarterback of the future is. Marcus Mariota stepped in as a redshirt freshman, beat out favorite Bryan Bennett for the starting job, and came a game away from leading the Ducks back to a national title game.  For Chip Kelly and his coaching staff, you could have not asked for more from a young player like Mariota.

Bryant Bennett scrambling for a touchdown

Despite being beaten out by Mariota, Bryan Bennett showed us in the 2011 season, in the midst of Darron Thomas’ injury, that he has the tools to succeed as a Division I quarterback. He displayed a cannon for an arm and lightning-quick speed as he saved multiple games last year for the Ducks.

Mariota, barring any injuries or regression, will be the Ducks’ starting quarterback for the next three years. Brian Bennett may consider transferring to a new program, as he was rumored to have been considering in August. In my opinion, Bennett has a very good skill set at the quarterback position and is good enough to play and thrive at many other top-notch programs. Were he to leave, I’ll be happy for him because he deserves to start, but if he decides to stay we’ll have arguably the best backup quarterback in the nation. Bennett’s decision to stay or go this offseason will be interesting. For the Ducks, having two high-caliber quarterbacks is a good problem to have — one that hopefully will be available next season.