TrojanNYC.com

Thoughts on Matt Barkley Being Named the Starting QB

Earlier today I was absolutely shocked by the announcement of Matt Barkley winning the starting QB job, but after reading Scott Wolf's latest report on Aaron Corp's injury status, the choice makes absolute sense:

It was apparent during Thursday's practice that Aaron Corp's leg bothered him. What's ironic is it looked worse than it did Tuesday or Wednesday. Was it the result of being demoralized over the QB announcement?

"It's going to be awhile (with Corp),'' Carroll said. ``I can see it. He's not OK. I thought about it in terms of being his dad. I need to protect him longer.''

Although Aaron put together solid practices this week, reports did come out stating that he looked visibly uncomfortable when planting on certain throws, especially on the run.  Even his quote after Tuesday's practice seem to acknowledge his limitations:

"I can do everything right now that playing quarterback at USC [requires] me to do,"

At the end of the day, despite Aaron's admirable desire to fight through pain to earn the starting QB job, it does no one any good to have a injured player starting at the most important position on the team. We all saw what happened at the Coliseum in 2007 against Stanford when John David Booty tried to play through a pinky injury on his throwing hand (for those that lived under a rock: he ended up being picked off 4 times including one late in the game that eventually set up the winning drive for Stanford).  To me it's clear, you go with a healthy Barkley over a hobbled Aaron Corp.

Congrats to Matt.

MRI Results Show a Cracked Fibula in Aaron Corp's Leg

From the Official Blog:

Quarterback Aaron Corp has a small crack on the head of his left fibula and will be out for one to two weeks, doctors determined after an MRI today. 

The redshirt sophomore, who entered camp as the starter, was rolled onto by a lineman during Monday's practice. Team doctors determined he has no ligament damage and will not need surgery. 

"This is an unfortunate setback for Aaron but we're encouraged by the diagnosis and that he's going to return quickly," Coach Pete Carroll said.

Corp said he was thankful the injury is fairly minimal.

"It's the best-case scenario for this situation," Corp said. "I'll keep rehabbing and hopefully be back soon."

Definitely good news considering how serious the injury could have been. Sanchez had a far more serious injury last season and was fine for the season opener, so this should be a minor setback.

Barkley will push hard to try to take over the #1 spot, but I still think Aaron has the starting spot on lock as long as he remains steady.  I just don't see the coaches handing the ball to a high-risk/high-reward freshman over a player that is known to be a game manager and has a extra year in the system.  It didn't happen with Leinart-Booty, Booty-Sanchez, or Sanchez-Mustain and I don't see it happening with Corp-Barkley.