Rutgers names Gavin Wimsatt starting QB

College QB news - July 26, 2023

Photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics

I’ve spent much of the week scrubbing through media day press conferences to see if coaches say anything meaningful when it comes to the quarterback room. From what I’ve gathered so far, every FBS program had a great offseason with a very promising future ahead.

“Every position is an open competition” has become my new most hated coaching interview cliche. Not only is it not true, but it makes my job of tracking all 133 QB depth charts more difficult, which is what’s most important.

My heroes of the day are Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and Louisiana’s Michael Desormeaux. They let me know who the starting quarterback will be this fall and to celebrate, the Week 0 and Week 1 QB depth charts/injury reports page will be unlocked to all for the next 24 hours.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL QB REPORT

Quarterback Central | Teams | Players

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano named Gavin Wimsatt (Stats) the starting QB, he told NorthJersey.com’s Chris Iseman. The Scarlet Knights used three quarterbacks last season, and Wimsatt won the offseason QB battle over Evan Simon (Stats). He’ll open the season as the backup with true freshman Ajani Sheppard (Stats) third. Wimsatt signed with Rutgers as a 2021 4-star prospect from Kentucky with three years of eligibility remaining.

Louisiana QB Ben Wooldridge (Stats) has been fully cleared for camp and will be the starter, head coach Michael Desormeaux said during Sun Belt Media Days. Wooldridge suffered a torn ACL last November, and there was a concern he wouldn’t be available till after the season starts, but he’s back. Desormeaux said there is no open competition at starting quarterback, but the battle to watch for is the backup spot with Chandler Fields (Stats) and Zeon Chriss (Stats) competing.

2025 4-star QB Husan Longstreet (CA) has a number of premier programs after him, he told 247Sports’ Greg Biggins. Longstreet made trips to see Louisville, LSU, Michigan and Ohio State this spring and summer. He has seen UCLA and has plans to visit the in-state program again this fall. Longstreet also mentioned Oregon as a team going after him hard at this point and is looking to plan a trip to see the Ducks.

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DEPTH CHART & INJURY REPORT

Week 1 College football QB depth charts & injuries

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras (Stats) will not play this season, according to The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman. Petras played a ton of games for the Hawkeyes over the last three seasons but wasn’t expected to be a factor in 2023 especially after adding Michigan transfer Cade McNamara (Stats). Petras left the regular season finale with a torn rotator cuff and labrum with a lengthy recovery time expected. According to the report, he’s expected to be around the program but is no longer on scholarship with a year of eligibility remaining if he wants to use it in 2024.