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Army announced yesterday that they will start sophomore quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw for the 2015 campaign.
Bradshaw beat out A.J. Schurr, who had lost the previous two training camp quarterback battles to Angel Santiago, for the starting position.
Head coach Jeff Monken clarified that Bradshaw's performance during camp and Schurr's injury led him to making this decision, which is a good sign because it is the best decision Monken could have made for the most vital position in the triple option.
Schurr has experience running the Black Knights offense, but has proven time and again that he isn't the most steady at the position. Turnovers were often a concern for Schurr, especially in his two outings against Navy. In his 21 games, Schurr has 469 rushing yards on 90 carries and seven touchdowns. Through the air, he has 568 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
With Bradshaw, Army is looking towards the future with the younger, more athletic quarterback. But there's another more important rationale to giving Bradshaw the nod.
Bradshaw operated out of the shotgun in his high school offense. So he knows his way around throwing the football.
However, as such, he is not a pure option quarterback. Army has been teaching him the triple option, which is a similar recruiting and coaching style that Navy utilizes.
Such a system has provided the Midshipmen with quarterbacks like Ricky Dobbs and Keenan Reynolds.
Right now, Army would absolutely love a Reynolds-type quarterback. They may just have one in the Ellerson-regime recruited quarterback. His potential to both run the option and throw the football effectively is far more promising than giving Schurr another go.
Schurr will likely see some action this season anyway. A triple option quarterback doesn't stay healthy for too long. But ushering in the Bradshaw era helps point the program in a better direction. It helps provide Army with a clear cut starting quarterback not only for this season, but for the next three seasons.
Army needs stability at the quarterback position as the rotation of Schurr and Santiago did not go very well. Especially during the 2013 Army-Navy game when Schurr was given the start and yanked for Santiago. Then the next year, Santiago started and was swapped out for Schurr, who fumbled on the Navy 40 in the third quarter with the Cadets down 17-7.
Army doesn't need to relive those moments again. They need to move on and they're choosing to do so with Bradshaw.