With the season just one season away, the Arizona State Sun Devils are still searching for a back-up quarterback. The Sun Devils have four other quarterbacks on their roster behind starting quarterback Brock Osweiler: Mike Bercovici, Michael Eubank, Taylor Kelly and Danny Lewis.
Bercovici and Kelly figure to be the two contenders for the back-up gig. Neither one, though, is swaying Coach Dennis Erickson. Erickson responded as follows when asked about the ongoing competition between Mike Bercovici and Taylor Kelly for the back-up gig: "Nobody's stepping up and taking it. That's disappointing."
Bercovici is a freshman out of California who was impressive early on in camp. He drew strong reviews from coaches and reporters alike but has dipped off since then. If Bercovici can recapture his performance from a few weeks ago, he should move past Kelly and secure the back-up job.
Taylor Kelly, meanwhile, hails from Idaho and was rated the top quarterback in the state by Scouts.com when he signed with ASU. He spent last season with the Sun Devil scout team and is working his way up the rotation this year as he eyes the No. 2 spot.
Whichever of these two QBs can come up big in practice over the next week will likely become the team's back-up QB entering the 2011 season. Whether it be Bercovici or Kelly, let's hope that one of them impresses so that Coach Erickson can enter the season confident in his No. 2 signal-caller.