Quarterback Anu Solomon’s announcement Tuesday that he’s transferring from Arizona shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following along. It was a matter of when, not if.
The Wildcats’ quarterback situation had been trending away from Solomon for a while. It goes as far back as the Colorado game last season, when Rich Rodriguez benched Solomon in favor of Jerrard Randall, who helped the Wildcats edge the Buffaloes.
Solomon returned from his second concussion to play in and win the New Mexico Bowl. Then came the offseason battle with Brandon Dawkins that dragged into the regular season. Even after Solomon started the opener, he remained a “co-starter” with Dawkins on the depth chart. That designation never changed.
Even when the offense was struggling and Solomon seemed to sparked it coming off the bench, it took until the next-to-last game against Oregon State for Rodriguez to start him. Fittingly, Solomon didn’t last a half, suffering a foot injury in the second quarter that would keep him out the rest of the night and force him to miss his second straight Territorial Cup.
My first game on the UA football beat (one year ago today!) was the New Mexico Bowl; that’s when I first started watching Solomon closely and interacting with him in interview settings. My colleagues who covered his first season as a starter say he was never quite the same after getting banged up last year; concussions can do that to you.
Solomon has an interesting personality. He isn’t the alpha-dog type you’ll often find in the quarterback room. Media “scrums” make him uncomfortable, especially when the cameras are rolling. He’s also a practical jokester whom his teammates profess to adore. Check out linebacker DeAndre' Miller's reaction to Solomon's departure:
😩😫😥😥😥😥😥😥😥 https://t.co/lo9N4ZECqc
— D' Legynd (@Urban_Legynd) December 13, 2016
Maybe in time Solomon’s accomplishments at Arizona will be appreciated more than they are now. He was pretty phenomenal in 2014, up until the postseason. (Some say he was never the same after taking that sack at the end of the Fiesta Bowl.) He ranks among the Wildcats’ all-time leaders in multiple offensive categories, despite all the games he missed.
Had he stayed, Solomon would have been embroiled in another quarterback competition, with as many as four players vying for one spot. You can understand why he wouldn’t want to go through that again if he didn’t have to.
His departure doesn’t clear up Arizona’s quarterback situation, but it makes it a little cleaner. Dawkins heads into the offseason as the favorite, but Khalil Tate will be given every opportunity to overtake him. Incoming freshman Braxton Burmeister will as well.
Despite rhetoric to the contrary, Dawkins is the anti-Solomon in many ways. Dawkins is outgoing, fearless to a fault as a runner and overly reliant on his athletic ability. Whether he ever develops the ability to read the whole field will determine how long he holds onto the job.
Tate showed flashes of ability before crashing violently into the freshman wall. He remains raw as a quarterback, and it remains to be seen how much progress he can make in a year’s time. His athletic ability is unquestioned. I like his disposition too.
A segment of the fan base – and the media – believes Burmeister is capable of winning the job as a true freshman. I’m skeptical until I learn more about him. It’s one thing for a freshman to come in and play tailback or safety; it’s quite another for an 18-year-old (or 17-year-old in Tate’s case) to come in and play quarterback at a level Rodriguez would find acceptable.
Arizona’s quarterback situation is going to be interesting next season. It’ll be slightly less so without Solomon.
