Quarterback Battle Headlines Oklahoma State Spring Practice

Oklahoma State’s spring period is underway and finding the starting quarterback for next season will be a long process.

The Cowboys entered the 2024 season with plenty of certainty at quarterback. However, rough play from Alan Bowman and the Cowboys led to a revolving door at the position. From Garret Rangel to Maealiuaki Smith, the Cowboys exercised their options under center last season.

While none of those guys were able to lead the Pokes to success on the field, they did at least provide some optimism for the future during a tough 3-9 campaign. Add in Zane Flores and Hauss Hejny, and Mike Gundy’s team has some tough decisions to make over the next few months.

"It's rare that we have [that many] guys that we think are good players,” Gundy said. “Rangel's played some. [Maealiuaki Smith]'s played a little bit. Zane [Flores] has not touched it. Really, Hauss hasn't played much either. So, there won't be many schools in your power four that are going to have the flexibility that we do right now.”

While the Cowboys are in a unique situation with so many quarterbacks, there is still some downside. In any given game, only one quarterback will be on the field at one time, which leaves three guys on the sideline.

While practice provides different opportunities, those opportunities can be limited when there are so many players competing for one job, which could lead to major issues if the quarterback situation doesn’t resolve itself quickly.

“One thing that's not in place is enough reps,” Gundy said. “There's just not enough reps for all the quarterbacks, so between Kevin [Johns] and Doug [Meacham], they've got to do a good job of managing those reps to try to get a couple guys at least ready for August."

Still, OSU has another five months to get this quarterback situation in order. The Cowboys clearly have plenty of talent at the position, but it will be a matter of properly using that talent that decides OSU’s fate.

Considering quarterback is the most impactful and important position in football, these next few months and this quarterback battle will be critical for the short and long-term future of the program.