Arizona Football: Will Rich Rodriguez start Anu Solomon or Brandon Dawkins?

Will Rich Rodriguez and the Arizona Wildcats go back to Anu Solomon as the starting quarterback or is it time to turn the offense over to Brandon Dawkins?

In 2014, the Arizona Wildcats won the Pac-12 South title thanks to a then-freshman quarterback, Anu Solomon. As a freshman, Solomon took the college football scene by storm as he tallied 425 yards and four touchdowns in his collegiate debut. Throughout the course of the 2015 season, Solomon completed 58-percent of his passes for 3,793 yards, 28 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Entering last year, Solomon was seen as the future of Arizona football. The expectations for him and the Wildcats were high. But neither met them as Solomon suffered injuries–that led to him missing two full games–throughout the course of the season.

The battle with injuries caused Solomon’s numbers to be up and down in 2015. He finished the year completing 62.1-percent of his throws for 2,667 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. Not only did his numbers digress, but the outlook of him being the future of the Arizona football program is in question.

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One of the games that Solomon missed in 2015 was the in-state rivalry game against the Arizona State Sun Devils. And in that game, head coach Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff got a sample of what backup quarterback Brandon Dawkins can do when he is the man under center.

In the game against the Sun Devils, Dawkins nearly engineered a comeback as he tossed two passing touchdowns for 305 yards and rushed for 78 yards.

So entering the 2016 season, the Wildcats have a predicament on their hands. That predicament being, do they want Solomon or Dawkins under center when they take the field against BYU on Sept. 3.

Both quarterbacks have a similar style of play. Solomon and Dawkins can both be described as dual-threat quarterbacks–which is the sort of quarterback that Rodriguez wants and fits in his system.

However, it’s the potential of Dawkins in one corner against Solomon’s experience in the other that is creating this quarterback dilemma.

Dawkins has better size and athleticism than Solomon–that is no question. The upside for Dawkins is high. He is a physical specimen. He’s well built, standing at 6-foot-3 and around 200-pounds who possesses great mobility. And to add onto that, Dawkins can take some hits.

However, there is nothing wrong with Solomon’s ability as well. He makes the right reads, limits turnovers and can run the offense effectively. The only knock on him is his durability concern, which is a big key to a quarterback’s success. And his offensive line doesn’t help with that concern.

Also, Solomon isn’t given the credit that he is due considering how well he played through his injuries.

The notion is that Solomon’s 2015 season was disastrous. But at second glance, it really wasn’t. At one point last year, Solomon attempted 210 passes before he tossed his first interception in a loss to the Washington Huskies. Not only did it take until Solomon’s seventh game last season for him to toss his first interception in 2015, but entering the 2016 season Solomon earned Pro Football Focus’ No. 9 passing grade.

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So back to the question at hand. Who is Arizona’s starting quarterback when they open the 2016 college football year?

The logical pick is to go Solomon due to experience, considering how high profiled the non-conference game against BYU is. And in Rodriguez’s system, the talent is there for him to take the next step and become an All-Pac 12 caliber player. To add onto that, when healthy, Solomon is seen as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.

However, if Solomon were to go down or if Solomon shows any hints of possible being hurt, it wouldn’t be shocking if Rodriguez would pull Solomon out of the starting lineup and put in Dawkins. If that were to happen, it would be up to Dawkins to prove to the Arizona coaching staff that he is ready to be a full-time starting collegiate quarterback.

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In reality, this quarterback competition is too close to call and probably won’t be figured out until the Fall. But looking at the two quarterbacks, the Wildcats seem to be in good hands whoever Rodriguez decides to put under center.