The quarterback competition is on for Vanderbilt football, with returner Blaze Berlowitz and 5-star freshman Jared Curtis the leaders for the starting job.
Curtis was the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2025 and flipped from Georgia just before signing day. He'll have to earn the starting job, though, as Berlowitz has waited his turn after backing up Diego Pavia for three years.
Coach Clark Lea said he hoped to name a starter after the first scrimmage, which will take place Aug. 15.
The Tennessean was able to view the first week of the Commodores' practices while focusing on the performances of the quarterbacks, and while media rules prohibit sharing specific details of plays, general takeaways are allowed.
Here, were are focusing on the quarterbacks
as passers. It does not evaluate their running ability because so many of the practice reps have been 7-on-7 with no rushers, and even in reps with rushers, the quarterbacks have been non-contact.
Jared Curtis' strengths and weaknesses
Curtis has a very strong arm and is comfortable testing it downfield. He can make throws that no one else on the team can make, and both his longer and shorter throws are generally accurate. He's not afraid to leave the pocket or go on the move to try to find open receivers. Curtis plays with a high level of confidence and is typically not tentative, believing in his ability to make plays.
On the flip side, Curtis' decision-making needs work. His confidence can work against him as he sometimes attempts throws that he shouldn't while facing pressure, resulting in turnovers or turnover-worthy plays. Lea likes to preach that sometimes taking a sack or a throwaway is a better option than forcing a throw. This issue is fixable, but it may not come right away, and there's the potential of some poor decisions in games leading to bad plays before Curtis figures out his decision-making.
Blaze Berlowitz's strengths and weaknesses
Berlowitz has been at Vanderbilt for the past two years and has played under Tim Beck longer than that. He's learned the playbook and had first-hand experience watching Diego Pavia.
Berlowitz is generally considered the higher-floor option than Curtis, but through the first few practices, that has come into question. Though he usually makes better decisions than Curtis, he too has had a number of turnover-worthy throws. He often throws high on short passes, forcing receivers to jump up and catch them. That is fine in a 7-on-7 rep, but in a real game it could lead to a lack of yardage after the catch. He also sometimes simply misses throws that he should be able to make.
Compared to Curtis, Berlowitz doesn't attempt as many 50-50 balls downfield. An offense with him would likely be heavily focused on the run game and controlling the clock, while an offense with Curtis would likely have more downfield gambles.
Who should Vanderbilt football start at quarterback?
Though neither quarterback has looked particularly polished through the first week so far, the primary issues that Curtis has had seem more fixable with time and experience, even if it might lead to some bad plays at first.
Berlowitz's proneness to turnovers and bad plays has been a concern. If he wants to win the starting job, he will need to clean up his operation and make more accurate throws to prove that he is actually the higher-floor option.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football QB competition update, how Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz look
