In a move that may only be a surprise because of its timing, Texas A&M redshirt sophomore Nick Starkel has decided to transfer.
Starkel, who lost out a tight competition for the starting job to Kellen Mond, played very little this season, completing 15 of 22 passes for 169 yards and 1 touchdown in A&M's season opener. His snaps came mostly in mop-up duty, save one against eventual national champion Clemson where he was rushed onto the field, was sacked and fumbled deep in Tiger territory.
2017, was a different story for Starkel. He won the starting job in fall practice and had the Aggies cruising in the season opener at UCLA before breaking his leg. The Aggies collapsed and lost 45-44, and Mond was forced onto the field. When Starkel returned, he eventually took the starting job back and threw for 416 yards and 4 TD in a little over a half against New Mexico. He racked up 499 yards and 4 TD in A&M's 55-52 Music City Bowl loss to Wake Forest, ending the year 123-205 for 1,793 yards, 14 TD and 6 INT in 7 games.
The firing of Kevin Sumlin and the arrival of Jimbo Fisher reopened the quarterback competition, however, and Mond started all 13 games while throwing for 3,257 yards, 25 TD and 9 INT.
Where could Starkel end up?
That's pretty open-ended, because he has the arm talent to play just about anywhere. Since he will be a graduate transfer, he will be eligible to play in 2019. Had Arkansas not taking Chad Morris favorite and forrmer SMU QB Ben Hicks, the Razorbacks would be a reasonable destination. He would easily be the best quarterback on Kentucky's roster. But the school who may make the most sense is Oklahoma State, which nearly landed him three years ago. Mike Gundy runs a wide-open, pass-first offense and needs a quarterback.
Who fills the void?
With Starkel's departure, the Aggies have very little game experience behind Mond but three players with very big arms. Soon-to-be redshirt sophomore Connor Blumrick has thrown the only pass of the backups, and showed good mobility in his very limited game action. Redshirt freshman James Foster didn't play last year, but may be the favorite to win the backup job as he's a quarterback Fisher recruited personally last year. New arrival Zach Calzada arrives with a cannon for an arm and plenty of praise from his new coach, but asking a true freshman to be ready in the SEC is pretty tough, as we saw in 2017.
