When will BYU football name a starting quarterback?

PROVO — For the first day of training camp ahead of the 2021 fall season, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was — in some ways — brutally honest when he was asked about the quarterback play Thursday.

The first-year offensive coordinator at BYU knew he would get the question, and every time he faces a microphone or a reporter from now until the Sept. 4 opener against Arizona in Las Vegas, he probably will, as well.

After all, Roderick is the one tasked with selecting the starting quarterback for the Cougars' 2021 start, a position that will follow in the footsteps of Zach Wilson, now the highest NFL draft pick in BYU football history after he went No. 2 overall to the New York Jets in April.

Wilson's replacement will come from a pool of veteran redshirt sophomores Jaren Hall and Baylor Romney, or possibly the high upside of former four-star Alabama recruit Jacob Conover, who is technically a true freshman after running the Cougars' scout team last year.

And the performance from day one, for those three and the other quarterbacks who took a handful of reps definitely didn't leave Roderick comfortable making the final call on the depth chart.

"Good, not great," he said bluntly. "But it's day one; we did a lot of good things. Since the install is kind of limited, some of your best days aren't in yet."

He then added, as if a partial justification: "We have a really good defense; our defense is going to be good."

Roderick hopes to have the quarterback race decided in the next two weeks, stating specifically that he wants at least 7-10 days to prepare for the neutral-site opener against the Wildcats. But it could be earlier than that, and the coaches aren't married to a specific decision date, either.

When it's decided, it will be decided, he said. He'll also receive input from head coach Kalani Sitake and other assistants, including passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake.

But the final decision will be primarily up to Roderick. The head coach is primarily focused on effort and energy as the Cougars open fall camp after a summer of player-run practices.

"My general feel from practice is that I really liked how the players worked during the offseason," Kalani Sitake said. "They took care of themselves, got themselves ready; you can see they got themselves in shape and run well. Things were a lot cleaner than I've seen, but we still have a lot of work to do, a lot more install to go."

Roderick also said quarterbacks won't be hit during camp, a notion Sitake confirmed, with both adding that it was the way the Cougars practiced a year ago. In addition to the three potential starters, the Cougars also added a number of quarterbacks to their depth through the offseason.

That includes freshman Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters; former Utah walk-on Nick Billoups, a freshman from Long Beach, California, who was contemplating a position change on the Hill; former Boise State quarterback Cade Fennegan, a returned missionary from Dallas who got the bulk of his playing time with the Broncos last year against BYU; former Pleasant Grove standout Jake Jensen; and Rhett Reilly, the cousin of former Utah linebacker Trevor Reilly who reportedly entered the transfer portal in the offseason but decided to return to Provo.

"The guys have to learn to work together and against each other. They are being physical and competing hard, even without the pads on," Sitake said. "I love that our guys can learn to be physical but also play smart and take care of each other."

That's not a knock on any of the three quarterbacks, though Hall seemed to have a slight advantage based on the number of reps and strong plays he made in limited viewing opportunities for the media.

The former Maple Mountain standout hit wide receiver Neil Pau'u in stride down the right sideline for a long touchdown during that opportunity, though taking too much out of the final 15-30 minutes of practice should be done with a grain of salt.

A generous estimate would be that the media is allowed to see 10% of practice in a given day. What they see during that 10% can be manipulated, as well.

But Hall, no doubt, will have an edge on the competition in terms of experience. Were it not for an injury and history of concussions that cost him the 2020 season, he'd enter camp as Wilson's true backup and a sizable edge on the competition (Romney was the primary backup through most of 2020, as such).

But the former BYU baseball outfielder isn't thinking too much about that himself. He knows the competition will continue for as long as is necessary, and all he can do is put his best foot forward each day.

"My mindset is to go and win against Arizona," Hall said. "Whatever happens, that's my mindset. Focus on game one, and prepare for that."

Having that name and date — the Wildcats on Sept. 4 in a brand-new Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders — is a step up from last year, when BYU opened training camp with its schedule blowing up by the hour amid cancellations among other conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At one point, the Cougars were the only program west of El Paso, Texas, playing college football. And while the increased normalcy of the upcoming fall is reason to be optimistic, they also have a newfound appreciation for preseason training camp.

"Just putting a face and an opponent is a little different," Hall said. "Last year, we were practicing because we loved the game; we didn't know if every day was going to get canceled. In that aspect, knowing who you are going to play, to scheme for, to think about them, it's different.

"It's the same mindset of getting better every day, though."

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