Breaking Down the Quarterbacks for Arizona Football

The months of December and January saw many player personnel changes for Arizona Football, so take a peek at the current and incoming quarterbacks.

Grant Gunnell transferred and has moved on to the University of Memphis. Rhett Rodriguez transferred and will now play for his dad and former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez at the University of Louisiana Monroe where he is now the Offensive Coordinator and Associate Head Coach. And lastly, Clay Millen has de-committed from Arizona.

Arizona Wildcats

Now that the dust is settling in Tucson, let’s take a look at the current personnel that make up the quarterback room heading into the 2021 football season.

The Scholarship Quarterbacks for Arizona Football:

Will Plummer
Hometown: Gilbert, AZ

The 6-foot-1 inch 208-pound freshman, Will Plummer played in three games for the Wildcats in 2020, starting against Colorado and taking snaps against ASU. His first chance at playing time came against UCLA when he had to enter the game on the 2nd play from scrimmage after Grant went down with a shoulder injury that he suffered on the first play of the game.

Plummer was thrown into the fire and immediately showed toughness and grit coming off the bench. He showed his scrambling mobility and ability to gain yardage with his legs picking up 26 yards on one particular run out of the pocket when being pressured. Plummer even had a nice, 20-yard pick-up against ASU.

In his limited action, he again showed toughness and mobility, not scared to put his head down and run. His running style reminds me of the hard-nosed Larry Csonka.

In his three games, Plummer compiled a 54 percent completion percentage for 388 yards, zero touchdowns to three interceptions. Two of the INTs came against UCLA, one was a freakish tipped ball late, and the other was a miscommunication with a receiver, all fixable mistakes.

Plummer has displayed potential and has the toughness required to compete for the No. 1 QB spot. He needs coaching and will look for guidance from QB Coach and Passing Game Coordinator Jimmie Dougherty as well as Head Coach Jedd Fisch particularly on being comfortable in the shot-gun and taking charge as a leader/signal-caller and accuracy. I don’t see any issues with Plummer’s potential and development.

Will has no relation to former ASU and NFL QB Jake Plummer. Will’s older brother Jack plays QB in the BIG10 for Purdue.

Kevin Doyle
Hometown: Washington, DC

The 6-foot-4, 211-pound sophomore Doyle has yet to make an appearance at Arizona in two seasons (Doyle redshirted in 2018). He played at St. John’s High School in Washington, DC, and as a Senior he was a team captain and was named team MVP. He owns the high school’s all-time single-season passing record.

He was voted player of the year in the Washington, DC area by the Washington Post and was also the Washington, DC Gatorade Player of the Year. Doyle comes from a family of athletes, his dad and uncles played Lacrosse collegiately. Kevin is gifted athletically and he will give his best efforts competing in the Spring and Fall Camps.

Gunner Cruz
Hometown: Queen Creek, AZ

The 6-foot-5, 217-pound freshman, Cruz recently transferred to Arizona from Washington State. Cruz beat out for the No. 1 QB spot at Washington State by Gunslinger freshman, Jayden de Laura. In Wazzu’s 38-13 blow-out at the hands of USC, Cruz got his only collegiate game experience. The stats from that game are as follows: 5/7, 34 yards, 1 TD, two rushes for three yards.

Cruz was a stand-out QB at Queen Creek High School, winning the Arizona 3A championship in 2017 on a team that went 14-0. Cruz will also benefit from high-level coaching and has the potential to make a run at the No. 1 QB spot.

Jordan McCloud
Hometown: Tampa, FL

Perhaps the leader in this group by far, McCloud is the 6-foot-0 193 pound sophomore who has the most in-game experience of the six QBs. McCloud transferred from the University of South Florida, and the AAC (American Athletic Conference). The question will be, can he adapt to the Pac-12, a Power 5 conference?

Like all of the other QBs, he will benefit from high-level coaching and particularly be advised on the differences between the AAC and Pac-12 and he will have to adapt accordingly. McCloud started 17 of the 20 games he played in at USF (2 seasons) had 21 TDs, 5 of the 21 were rushing TDs. He completed 59 percent of his passes, threw for 2,770 yards, and had 10 INTs, only having two came in 2020, so it appears his accuracy greatly improved from the previous season.

USF overall has not been a good football team going 5-16 in the two seasons that Jordan was active there. His brother Ray-Ray McCloud played collegiately for Clemson and currently plays for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers. He along with the other QBs will enter camp knowing there is competition for the No. 1 spot.

But what about the walk-ons?

Brayden Zermeno
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

A 6-foot-4 220 pound recruit Zermeno is the talented three-star quarterback that de-committed from Princeton in favor of walking on at Arizona.

Playing at the talented Loyola High School in LA, I could not find stats for his senior year of high school, but it is more than likely he did not play his senior season due to Covid-19 restrictions in the state of California.

In his junior season, he played in 13 games completing 56 percent of his passes with 8 TDs to 7 interceptions. He also rushed for 323 yards on 44 carries with two rushing touchdowns, and had a breakaway run for 66 yards (his longest run).

Nick Moore
Hometown: Newhall, CA

A transfer from Oregon State, the brother of former Oregon State standout quarterback Matt Moore will walk-on with the Wildcats for 2021 according to 247Sports.

While it is unlikely Nick will win the No. 1 quarterback spot, he is at least another arm for the Wildcats that will help provide depth at quarterback.

Now a redshirt junior, he will come to Tucson with plenty of collegiate experience (although he has no registered stats). Nick comes from good lineage too, as his older brother Matt is in the NFL.

With the addition of Nick, I see nothing wrong if you’re Arizona. At best, he elevates the talent and level of play at the position, and at worst he provides more depth which isn’t a bad thing.

On paper, it appears that McCloud would be the front runner for the No. 1 QB spot at Arizona for the 2021 season. However, make no mistake about it, all six of these QBs will compete in Spring and Fall camp for the No. 1 QB spot.

As of right now, it should be an exciting Spring and Fall camp, and the competition will be fierce and tough! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!