Kansas’ David Beaty on picking a starting QB: ‘We’re not there yet’

Three days after holding a closed scrimmage, Kansas football coach David Beaty doesn’t appear any closer to picking a starting quarterback — at least publicly.

“We’re not there yet,” Beaty said on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re just not. I don’t see the separation that I need to see yet.”

Beaty has long identified junior quarterback Montell Cozart as the frontrunner to start the season opener against South Dakota State on Sept. 5. But for now, Beaty doesn’t appear in any rush to officially declare Cozart as the starter.

True freshmen Ryan Willis and Carter Stanley and junior college transfer Deondre Ford have taken reps behind Cozart for most of preseason camp. Last week, Beaty said he hoped to see some separation after Saturday’s scrimmage, in part so the staff could start to give more reps to the top quarterbacks on the depth chart.

On Tuesday, Beaty said Cozart did lead the first-team offense on a scoring drive during the first possession of the team scrimmage. But for now, Beaty is content to wait a little longer.

“Just when you think it’s going to narrow itself, there’s something that pops up where you’re like: ‘I need some more time.’” Beaty said of the quarterback race. “We’ll know when it’s right. It’s kind of like recruiting: Those recruits, they know when it’s right.

“Right now, we want to make sure that we’ve given every one of those guys a good opportunity to show us who they really are.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Kansas’ David Beaty on picking a starting QB: ‘We’re not there yet’."