Cincinnati Bearcats spring football: An early look at quarterbacks

On their first day back at Nippert Stadium after spring break, University of Cincinnati quarterbacks Brendan Sorsby and Brady Lichtenberg assessed the talent they're surrounded by in 2024.

Tuesday was just UC's fourth spring practice, but Coach Scott Satterfield has his quarterbacks constantly in motion. He also expects them to have some form of a plan.

"If they're back there holding the ball, getting sacked. obviously they don't have a plan," Satterfield said. "Everybody's getting reps. They're all getting opportunities. We're grading everything: accuracy, where's the ball placement, what's your knowledge of the play? At the end of this thing, we'll see where everybody stands."

Former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Brendan Sorsby would be the odds-on favorite, followed by junior Brady Lichtenberg. True freshmen Samaj Jones and redshirt freshman Brady Drogosh are capable playmakers and redshirt junior Jacob Hoying and redshirt freshman Will Kocher (Kings High School) are also part of the group.

The receivers at their disposal are way ahead of last year's crew according to Satterfield.

"Tony Johnson (Florida Atlantic) who just got here, the quarterbacks feel real comfortable about him coming in and making plays," Satterfield said. "They already feel good with X (Xzavier Henderson, last year's top receiver). I think Barry Jackson's another guy that's played well, AT (Aaron Turner) has had a pretty good four days. The quarterbacks just want to know where they're going to be, where the route is and (for them) to come in and make a play."

Many things can change from mid-March to the season opener Aug. 31 vs. Towson, but here's an update on your UC spring flingers.

Brendan Sorsby

Sorsby is the newest at the position here having transferred from Indiana after last season. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder has already turned some heads with his throwing, particularly when he hit former Elder Panther/Ohio State Buckeye Joe Royer for a score in spring week one.

"They're all really good and explosive and can make a bunch of plays for us," Sorsby said of UC's pass-catchers. "That play to Joe, hopefully, we have a few more of those before the spring's over and we can talk a little trash to the defense."

Sorsby played in 10 games for Indiana last season, starting seven. He threw for 15 touchdowns with just five interceptions and added four rushing touchdowns. He threw for five scores at Illinois and three at Penn State in his first career start.

Sorsby arrived in December and survived the winter workouts designed by Football Performance Director Niko Palazeti to toughen up and simultaneously bond the team.

"A couple of months in workouts makes it real easy to grow close together because you're going through some hard times pushing through workouts and learning everything together," Sorsby said.

Brady Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg saw his first serious action last season spelling Emory Jones Jr. and later splitting time with him. At 6-1, 206-pounds he played in seven games which included one start at West Virginia and a relief effort at Oklahoma State where he threw for a touchdown. He was 4-for-4 in the 2023 opener vs. Eastern Kentucky, running for a touchdown and adding a 65-yard scoring pass to Barry Jackson Jr.

"It's good for the room," Lichtenberg said of the quarterback competition. "Samaj (Jones) is doing some really good stuff and so is (Brady) Drogosh. The coaches are doing a good job handling the reps. It's not an easy thing to do when there's limited reps."

Lichtenberg calls the atmosphere of spring ball "a total 180 from last year" and recognizes last year the staff was just trying to get to know the players.

Like Sorsby, Lichtenberg pointed out FAU transfer Johnson as someone to watch as well as UTEP transfer Tyrin Smith.

"I got a text message from Johnson over spring break asking if he could FaceTime me so we could go over signals," Lichtenberg said. "Smith is not super tall (5-7) but he plays way bigger than his size. Dakarai (Anderson) and (Kale) Woodburn are some of the freshmen that are really talented. Kale is a burner."

By week's end, UC will have six practices in the books with nine dates left, including the April 13 Red and Black Spring Game at Nippert Stadium.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati quarterback candidates for 2024 assess spring practice