Leach says Rogers, other Bulldogs must win jobs once again
Will Rogers finished last season as the No. 1 quarterback for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that he will keep that position. MSU head football coach Mike Leach said after the first practice of the spring last week that Rogers starts with a clean slate with the other signal callers.
Although Rogers is considered the favorite for the Bulldogs at quarterback because of the way he handled the offense down the stretch of the season, there are others on the roster who would like to get the majority of the snaps behind the center.
“We’re going to look at all of them to see who separates themselves,” Leach said last Thursday. “I would like to get it down to two. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that because there is a point where they do separate themselves where you like to get more reps to your better two guys. We’re right in the thick of it to see who can do what. We got some good film (during the first practice). I’m encouraged with how they threw the ball. Several of them have good knowledge for a first day.
“As we get through the installation, we’ll see on that. We are in the starting stages of teaching as much as we can so they can put their skills out there on the field and try to pair it down. You try to coach them up and teach them as much as you can and try to get their best effort to the surface and sort out which effort you like the best.”
The competition at MSU won’t be limited to the quarterback position. Leach also sees battles among the offensive line, wide receiver, the secondary and defensive line.
If Rogers has something going for him, it’s interest.
Leach said Rogers is one of those players that “you trip over him in the film room all the time,” and considers that a good quality for a quarterback to have.
“(Rogers) is definitely one of those self-starters when he works,” Leach said. “He’s got to win his job too. That’s what spring is all about. All jobs are open and they fight it out. We’ve got some good quarterbacks on campus and they are teeing it up. We repped three guys with the ones and with the other group we repped two more.”
Even though Rogers comes into the spring with several other quarterbacks in the room, Leach believes he can be one of the Bulldogs to emerge as a leader for the team along with Aaron Brule, Martin Emerson, Charles Cross and Cole Smith.
“There are good guys out there either by their own work ethic or their general commitment to the program are just good examples,” Leach said. “When you are in the locker room next to them or play next to them, you get more out of them. Because you trudge around in the routine of your day and all of a sudden you hear something and somebody has a little more enthusiasm that it inspires me too.”