It’s been widely assumed that the battle for Kentucky’s starting quarterback job would come down to Mike Hartline and Morgan Newton.
Hartline began the 2009 season as the starter, but suffered a torn MCL in October and, with the exception of a brief appearance a month later, missed the remainder of the year. Newton played relatively well as Hartline’s replacement and set himself up to battle the incumbent in 2010.
However, new head coach Joker Phillips has definitively tossed redshirt freshman Ryan Mossakowski into the mix as well.
“It is a three-man race for sure,” Phillips said according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. “We have two (Hartline and Newton) that won games in the SEC and a third one (Mossakowski) who we think is a guy who can compete and win in the SEC. We have to give people reps early and get it down to two as quickly as we can and if the separation is not big enough, then we will have to carry out the competition among those two in fall camp.”
Mossakowski used his redshirt last season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum. Phillips expects the QB to be, for the most part, physically ready at the start of spring to compete for the job.
“I expect him to be ready to compete,” Phillips said. “From all indications from the players and the trainers, he is ready to go out and compete, and we just expect that from him. I have seen him in some drills but not the throwing drills. He looks good in the drills I have seen. Whether or not he is going full speed, we will see what happens in spring football.”
