5 spring football questions we have about the Big 12

Spring football is upon us, and here is part five of a week-long series on big spring questions for each league. Today, it’s the Big 12.

There are three new coaches (at Oklahoma, TCU and Texas Tech) and nine new coordinators in the Pac-12. New coaches obviously mean questions, but we’re bypassing questions about new coach “fits” because those are too easy. We’re trying to go deeper.

With that caveat, here are our biggest questions about the Big 12. We looked at the SEC on Wednesday, the Big Ten on Thursday, the ACC on Friday and the Pac-12 on Saturday, and will look at the Group of 5 and independent ranks Tuesday.

Kansas State: Is Adrian Martinez the answer at QB?

The skinny: Adrian Martinez was a four-year starter at Nebraska, and his vast experience made him an interesting addition to the transfer portal. But with that experience comes a lot of mediocre play. Above all, Martinez never led the Huskers to a winning record, with a 5-7 record in 2019 the high-water mark. Martinez threw for 8,491 yards and 45 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,301 yards and 35 more TDs. But he also threw 30 interceptions, making the same bad decisions in 2021 as he did as a true freshman in 2018. Truthfully, though, it’s hard to see him not winning the job. He will be vying with holdovers Will Howard, Jaren Lewis and Jake Rubley. Howard started for most of 2020 when the now-departed Skylar Thompson was hurt; Howard and Lewis also saw time last season. But Howard hasn’t shown anything that makes you think he can be the starter again. The idea of Martinez and Deuce Vaughn in the same backfield does conjure images of big plays, though Martinez did say in early February that running is “something I’m looking to do a little bit less here, in all honesty.” Maybe new offensive coordinator Collin Klein (promoted from quarterback coach) can curb Martinez of some of his tendencies. It needs to start showing this spring.

Oklahoma: Can new QB Dillon Gabriel adjust quickly?

The skinny: Oklahoma lost a lot of quarterback talent to the transfer portal in Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler, but the Sooners’ offense actually should be fine. That’s because UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel should be a great fit in the new offense. OU’s new coordinator is Jeff Lebby, who held the same role at UCF in 2019, when Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards, 29 TDs and seven picks as a true freshman. There obviously is a familiarity on both sides. Lebby was not the play-caller at UCF, but he held that role at Ole Miss and can add pieces of the Rebels’ offense to find what best suits Gabriel. While mobile, Gabriel won’t be asked to run as much as Matt Corral did at Ole Miss. Gabriel is comfortable throwing from inside and outside the pocket, and throws a nice deep ball, which should make OU receivers happy. Gabriel threw 70 TD passes at UCF, and that’s with missing all but three games last season. He may have a little rust, but how quickly he shakes it off and meshes with the holdover talent will be important for OU this spring.

Oklahoma State: Who’s RB1?

The skinny: Jaylen Warren was a revelation in his one season as a Cowboy, rushing for 1,216 yards and 11 TDs after transferring from Utah State (where he had rushed for 871 yards in two seasons); he was a big reason Oklahoma State finished 12-2 (and he didn’t play in the Big 12 title game loss to Baylor). But Warren is gone to the NFL, and backups L.D. Brown and Dezmon Jackson also are gone. The leading returning rusher is QB Spencer Sanders (664 yards), and a high priority this spring will be developing a pecking order at running back. The leading returning rusher among the running backs is Dominic Richardson (374 yards), and also returning is Jaden Nixon, who played in two games and had 14 carries. Four-star freshman C.J. Brown has enrolled early and will go through spring ball; he figures to get ample opportunity to show what he can do. Warren also had some receiving ability, so that is a facet that could help one of the backs separate himself.

TCU: Is Max Duggan going to keep the QB job?

The skinny: Max Duggan has started 29 of the past 32 games for TCU at quarterback. His first start, coincidentally, came in a loss to SMU in the third game of the 2019 season. SMU’s coach was Sonny Dykes, who now is coach at TCU, and he and his new offensive staff have a decision to make at quarterback. Duggan is a dual-threat guy who has accounted for 7,333 yards and 60 TDs in three seasons, including 19 on the ground. But he also has thrown 20 picks, and may not be a good fit for Dykes’ offense. In TCU’s biggest win last season, a 30-28 upset of Baylor, Duggan was injured and didn’t play. Instead, Chandler Morris threw for 461 yards and two TDs to lead the way. Morris seemingly is the better fit in Dykes’ offense. (An aside: Dykes’ quarterback at SMU last season was Oklahoma transfer Tanner Mordecai. Morris also is an OU transfer). If TCU had been playing good football the past three seasons, there might be reasons not to upset the apple cart, as it were. Instead, TCU has gone 16-18 (granted, the defense was horrendous last season). It’ll be interesting this spring to see what happens at quarterback for the Horned Frogs.

Texas: How soon will it take QB Quinn Ewers to get up to speed?

The skinny: Everything, of course, is bigger in Texas, and, man, there are some big expectations for Quinn Ewers, who transferred to Texas after one season at Ohio State. Remember that Ewers skipped his senior year of high school in the Dallas suburbs to enroll a year early at Ohio State. Ewers was the nation’s top overall prospect in the 2021 class in the On3 Consensus and possesses a big-time arm and solid athleticism. Outside of new USC QB Caleb Williams, there won’t be a transfer who’s as heavily scrutinized as Ewers. One difference: Williams actually has starred at the college level, while the extent of Ewers’ college experience is two handoffs at Ohio State in a rout of Michigan State. That adds an extra layer of intrigue to this: Ewers hasn’t taken an important snap in almost 16 months. And not that snaps in spring equate to those in a contested game, but it’ll be noteworthy to see how Ewers handles things this spring. Holdover Hudson Card, who began last season as the starter but lost his job early, will provide competition. Texas has big-time weapons in RB Bijan Robinson and WRs Xavier Worthy and Isaiah Neyor. And coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense is quarterback-friendly. This is Ewers’ job to win. He needs to show he’s up to it this spring.