Wake Forest’s Search for a Quarterback

Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert has a season-defining decision to make this week. Which quarterback is going to be the Demon Deacons’ starter this year?

The offense has an All-American caliber running back in Demond Claiborne and a wealth of talent behind him. The receiver group lacks the one marquee name that it has had in years past. But that is made up for in pure numbers of potential impact pass catchers. The tight end position, which, by the history of offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, is going to get a lot of use, has numbers. And Dickert proclaims faith that the offensive line is eight to nine players deep, although the consistency is still a question mark for some.

Wake Forest’s Search for a Quarterback

But who is going to be running the offense? The choices have come down to two transfers, Robby Ashford and Deshawn Purdie. One is in his final year of college football, while the other is still learning to play the college game.

Ashford

Wake Forest is the fourth school in six years for Ashford. He spent his first two seasons at Oregon, where he played in more baseball games (20 as a centerfielder) than he did football games (zero).

In 2022 and 2023, he was at Auburn. In his first year there, he started nine games and played in all 12. He was just shy of 50% passing while throwing for 1,613 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. It was good enough to be named Auburn’s Offensive Player of the Year. Injuries and a change in the coaching staff at Auburn limited his playing time in 2023. He was 14 of 27 passing for 145 yards.

From there, it was on to South Carolina for a season. He was the backup to LaNorris Sellers. He started one game against Akron (Sellers was injured), and went 15-of-21 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns. Purdie also rushed 16 times for 133 yards and a touchdown against the Zips.

Because of the Covid exemption year, plus redshirt year, Ashford is in his sixth and final year of college football.

Purdie

Behind door number two is Purdie. He enters his sophomore season after having played one season down the interstate at Charlotte.

Purdie started six games for the 49ers and played in nine. He was 100 of 200 passing for 1,802 yards and 10 touchdowns with six interceptions. Purdie was originally a three-star recruit out of Milford Mill Academy in Maryland.

The Challenging Decision

There are distinct differences between the two when watching them live. Purdie is listed as 6’-4” and has a delivery motion that could best be described as a three-quarters delivery. He has struggled in the pocket at times throughout camp, with some of his best accuracy coming while throwing on the run and whipping his arm across his body.

Meanwhile, Ashford, at 6’-2”, has a more traditional throwing motion both in the pocket and while rolling out. He also has had a little more success with designed tuck-and-run plays.

The thing that makes the decision hard for the staff is something that has been lacking throughout camp for each of them: consistency. They both have moments of moving the offense well, followed by some decision-making that leaves one scratching their head. Neither has shown a consistent propensity to stretch the field with long passes. But they have both shown an ability to run Ezell’s offense, which moves with a short and intermediate passing game.

Progress

Dickert has called the evolution of the players and his evaluation a process. Last Friday, he said he went back Thursday night and watched the tape of the first practice of Spring camp to make himself feel better about the development of the position and the team as a whole.

Friday, after the final scrimmage of camp, he said he was much happier with the red zone offense from both quarterbacks. It was a marked improvement from just six days before in a live scrimmage when neither finished the job inside the 20-yard line. Part of that, according to Dickert, is confidence. It is not hard to tell when Ashford is displeased with his performance. Dickert has said that Ashford goes to him before every practice, asking for “One more thing” to work on. Dickert said it is about following that up on the field. He has, during camp, called both of their skill sets “Elite.” But the consistency to do it not just day to day, but even within one practice has been a challenge.

Neither quarterback has been made available to the media during either camp. So their thoughts on the competition for the position remain largely unanswered.

With Kennesaw State as the opening game opponent, it is likely that both quarterbacks are going to see playing time. But from there, the process starts to narrow. Western Carolina figures to be a tougher opponent than Kennesaw. And then in week three, it is NC State. What Dickert called the process has been long, going all the way back to the beginning of Spring camp. And now the calendar narrows greatly, not only for a decision from the staff but for one of the two to step up and own the position.