Wide-open U of L QB race starts this week

Though the Louisville football team lost three starters on its offensive line and saw top receiver DeVante Parker enter the NFL draft, Bobby Petrino said Monday that, "obviously," the biggest position battle this spring will happen at quarterback.

The Cardinals, who return to practice Tuesday, have five signal callers on their roster, and Petrino said all but one will see plenty of reps over the next month. Last year's opening-game starter, Will Gardner, remains on the mend from a knee injury suffered last November.

As for the rest of U of L's quarterbacks, Kyle Bolin and Reggie Bonnafon "both played really well at times" in 2014, Petrino said. Tyler Ferguson, a Penn State transfer who sat out last year, "has a big arm. He has a lot to learn about playing the position, but he can really make the throws you need him to make." Then there's Pat Thomas, a dual-threat signal caller who redshirted in 2014, and three-star prospect Lamar Jackson enters as a freshman this fall.

The race sets up as one of the zaniest starting quarterback battles in the nation. But, noted offensive coordinator Garrick McGee, you can never have too much depth. Ohio State's third-stringer, Cardale Jones, just won the Buckeyes a national title, after all.

"We're fortunate to have the guys that we have in our program," McGee said. "They're all good friends. There's nothing going on in the meeting room where anybody's going to be torn apart. We're really just trying to get our program in a position to win, and I think each of those kids is concentrating on that and just looking forward to getting back on the field."

Petrino's in no hurry to name a starter by the end of spring. Last year, Garnder appeared a runaway candidate to earn the job, but it wasn't until the end of August that he cemented the title.

Gardner is the oldest and most-experienced of the bunch as a redshirt junior, The youngest -- true sophomore Reggie Bonnafon -- is listed right with the redshirt sophomore Bolin and redshirt junior Ferguson on U of L's spring depth chart.

"We're going to give them all an opportunity to step in that No. 1 huddle and take charge," Petrino said. "You don't step in the huddle as much as you used to because of the no-huddle, and that type of tempo, it's important to see how they handle that.

"I've always felt like the No. 1 thing we have to do is put pressure on them in practice and see how they handle the pressure -- make them uncomfortable and put them in tough situations and see who steps forward."

Gardner completed 57.5 percent of his passes last season, tallying a team-high 1,669 yards before his injury. Bonnafon played in the most games -- 10 -- while Bolin emerged late in the season, leading U of L to a win over rival Kentucky before going on to start the Cardinals' Belk Bowl game.

All the while, Ferguson watched, plus practiced quite a bit during bowl season.

"He'll be a little bit behind the other two just simply because of the reps and the speed of it all," Petrino said. "...He has video he's been studying of himself learning the plays throughout the winter, and that helps a lot."

Though he won't take on-field reps, Gardner will attend practices, have a role in meetings with other quarterbacks and, as McGee said, "can grow a lot mentally."

"It's always good to have competition," the coordinator added. "It forces everybody to really work and be competitive. Every second counts. Every rep counts. You have to really study."