Who’s It Gonna Be?

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

Big thanks to Anthony Slater (O’Colly), Carson Cunningham (KOCO), and Matt Amilian (friend…and…uh…PFB contrinutor) for joining me to have a little roundtable discussion about who Gundy is going to choose to be the signal caller tomorrow.

Kyle: Okay guys, who’s it going to be on Wednesday?

Carson: I drove to Stillwater Saturday convinced it was a two man race with Chelf and Walsh. But I did a 180 when I talked to two different people who watch practice – both said Lunt is the guy. I was stunned. Apparently Chelf and Walsh have trouble getting the ball past the line of scrimmage (We saw several batted passes at the line from Chelf/Walsh Saturday). Lunt has the best arm of the three and fits the Weeden offensive mold Gundy covets. Amazingly, I think Gundy gives the keys to an 18 year old.

Slater: The Todd Monken factor is often overlooked. Publicly, he can sound unsure in his position (for the first time). But I think his mind his made up. People forget that Monken inherited Chelf and Walsh, but went into Illinois and hand-picked Wes Lunt as the future quarterback of his offense.

And you can bet that come Wednesday, Gundy will be listening to a man he respects and calls one of his closest friends. Plus, if you haven’t noticed, Monken isn’t afraid to express his strong opinions.

Amilian: I agree. I was disconnected from everything this weekend so all I know from the spring game is what I’ve read via Twitter, which is that Walsh was the best QB Saturday. Prior to this weekend I was going with Lunt and a spring finale isn’t enough to change that.

So Walsh can run a little bit. I don’t see how that fits with the direction our offense has been going and we don’t need that skill in a QB as long as Joe Wickline is around. It has seemed that when considering the QB for the future, Lunt is the preferred choice over Walsh and Chelf. We’ll face three weak defenses to open up the season and then will have two weeks to review those games and make adjustments in preparation for Texas. Given how close the race is, I don’t think any of these 3 guys will hurt us this season much more than the others. If Lunt starts for four years, he’s breaking records, which means a little more to me than it does to Gundy I’m sure.

Kyle: Amilian nailed it: if there’s no real separation, don’t you start the youngest guy with the highest ceiling (or some variation of that)? If you don’t think Lunt is going to make you go 6-6 then start him, take your 8-4 (or whatever) and gear up for another Big 12 title run in 2013. By the way, is the loser of this race going to transfer?

Carson: I like Anthony’s theory. What Monken wants, Monken !@$&% gets.

Assuming Lunt wins the job, I think J.W. eventually transfers. Chelf stays. Walsh may stick around this season to see if Lunt falters. But if J.W. doesn’t play much this year, I bet he transfers next year. Why would he want to hold a clipboard for 4 years? (or those wacky picto-gram, Zac-era boards. Are those drawing dust in Gundy’s garage?) Especially considering how highly recruited he was, I doubt he sticks around if Lunt’s the guy.

Kyle: That’s what’s perfect about Chelf…where’s he going to transfer to? He’s the ideal 2nd string QB for a middle to upper tier Big 12 team like OSU. Small town hero goes to school down the road with his brother and is just good enough to make the squad but not nearly good enough to be the starter? Yes, we’d love for you to be our perpetual four-year backup, actually we’re begging you. He’s like the Rex Grossman of college football.

Carson: And just think how much sympathy Chelf will get on campus with coeds when he loses the job. I think you’ll have to kidnap Clint to get him out of Stillwater.

As for J.W. I agree with Kyle: I just don’t see it with him. He was this all-everything QB, star of the Elite 11 Camp. But 1) He’s not very big 2) He’s mobile, sure, but not exactly Cam Newton or RG3 on the run 3) Not great arm strength and 4) That Tebow-esque throwing motion. I think Monken screams obscenities in his sleep about that throwing motion.

Slater: And really, you couldn’t blame Walsh if he transferred. Or Lunt for that matter (assuming he loses the job). Both should stay through the season and fight for the keys to the OSU program. At the end there should be an obvious winner (if there’s not, OSU has bigger problems). The odd man out should transfer because they are both high-level D-1 starters. In this case, I think Walsh will be gone. Lunt fits the offensive system in Stillwater. Walsh would fit well in plenty of other places.

Amilian: We’re all on the same page regarding transfers with Lunt/Walsh. Stick it out through this year and see if there’s a chance for you to compete and steal the starting job. If you don’t do it in year one, you’re not doing it next spring. Let’s not count out Chelf transferring though. Again, who wants to hold a clipboard? If he realizes he doesn’t have a future in football, who’s to say he doesn’t transfer to an FCS school where he can undoubtedly start?

Will Holder try to limit transfer options when Lunt or Walsh decide to transfer?

Kyle: I just don’t think Chelf cares about football enough to transfer. I think he like OSU and he’s comfortable there. Maybe Langston needs a signal caller though?

Carson: Chelf could follow Aso Pogi’s footsteps to UCO, but I’m betting he likes Stillwater too much. (Didn’t all of us? Slater, go to Murphy’s for us Thursday).

Gundy says he has “an opinion” on who he wants to name but wants to talk to the coaches before deciding. We’ve gone over who Monken likes. Which way do you think Gundy is leaning? Do you think his experience playing as a true freshman sways him to Lunt?

Kyle: For whatever reason, I think he likes Walsh. I think he (and possibly the other coaches too) puts stock in the “who leads the offseason workout” thing which could lead to the awkward “we’re naming Walsh the starter but unless Lunt just doesn’t show up to anything this summer he’s going to be the guy on Sept. 1” scenario…

Slater: It’s all a strange situation. And I still have no idea why they are SO adamant on naming a starter now. Whoever is the best in Fall camp will start the opener, regardless of Wednesday’s decision.

Carson: I don’t understand the rush to name a starter, either. I like Bob Stoops’ method of waiting until the season. It keeps all the QB’s motivated all through the Summer & Fall practices. And it eliminates the possibility of discontent and/or a transfer. Do Joseph Randle or Jeremy Smith need CheWaLunt to tell them to lift weights and run sprints 100% in the offseason? I think not.

Kyle: I just got a great mental image of Lunt walking up to Smith this summer, “hey, uh, Mr. Smith…do you think you could…um…run one more suicide, I was watching and you didn’t touch the line with your hand on that last one.”

Amilian: Jeremy Smith then eats Lunt and Walsh cleans up the remains. Chelf laughs and hands Jeremy a beer to wash him down

Carson: One thing we can all agree on: OSU was spoiled with Weeden the past two years. Watching the offense in the Spring Game showed just how good Weeden was. For instance, all 3 QB’s missed on a few comeback/out routes. Those were a given with Brandon. I didn’t even really think much about them because they were always completed. Now you see they are not a given.

Does Gundy worry you, considering Cate was in front of Weeden? That is truly one of life’s greatest mysteries. We watched Weeden outplay Cate in two Spring Games, yet he was still 3rd string (until Cate completed more passes to Colorado than OSU). Is Monken trying to talk Gundy out of Walsh, to Lunt?

Kyle: Maybe, but I’ll always contend OSU orchestrated Cate’s first half disaster against Colorado before turning to the savior. There wasn’t a pass play called for anything less than like 22 yards! Why they felt like they needed to start him, I’ll never know, but I think they always wanted it to be Weeden. Is it scary that we might trust Monken more than any other football coach right now?

Also, I did a podcast with Andrew Mitchell last year and he said nobody in the locker room understood why Cate played over Weeden either. There was something else going on there, I think.

Carson: I love conspiracy theories. I’m all in on this one. Wasn’t Cate’s dad very wealthy? We all know Gundy was underpaid …

No doubt they truly threw Cate to the wolves. No screens or swing passes. All deep throws. All INTs (or near INTs). And in the same game, Weeden throws that bomb to Blackmon for a TD in the same game. You mean to tell me Weeden wasn’t doing Weeden things in practice?

That said, I don’t think Gundy will make the same mistake again.

Kyle: Oh let the conspiracy theory live!

Carson: Monken has been a revelation (both in the booth and on the microphone). But it’s times like these you wonder: What would Dana do?

Amilian: If Walsh’s arm is comparable to Taylor Martinez in any fashion, we’re not having this conversation right now if Dana was in town.

Slater: To wrap this up, are we all on record with an endorsement of Wes Lunt?

Amilian: Yep, we all WANT Lunt and agree that Gundy will go with him.