Mississippi State Football: Breaking down the 2019 QB battle

Battle is down to two candidates

Up until a few months ago, Keytaon Thompson seemed to be the for sure next guy up for Mississippi State with Nick Fitzgerald’s departure. In his limited playing time behind Fitzgerald over the last two years, he has shown potential to being an effective downfield passer. However, things have changed and he is now in a competitive quarterback competition.

Tommy Stevens, who recently transferred from Penn State after spring ball, also seemed to be the for sure next guy up with Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley off to the NFL. He had limited playing time behind McSorley, but demonstrated his athletic talent and his ability to make plays with his legs.

Like Thompson, a lot has changed for him in the past few months and he now finds himself in a competitive quarterback competition at Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs also have two talented freshman on the roster. Redshirt freshman Jalen Mayden got his feet wet briefly last year as he saw action in a few games. He was one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks out of Texas a few years ago. Garrett Shrader is a true freshman who was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports. He does a lot of things well as a quarterback and will be in contention to be the quarterback of the future.

While both of these guys have potential to be the starting quarterback at some point down the road, Thompson and Stevens will be who we will break down in this article as it will most likely be one of their jobs to lose.