Should Kansas fans be worried about the quarterback position?

Kansas head football coach Les Miles said he still hasn’t found his starting quarterback. Given Miles’ — and the Kansas football program’s history with starting quarterbacks, there are plenty of reasons for Jayhawk fans to worry.

Les Miles is arguably one of the biggest names in the last 25 years of college football.

Yes, some of that fame is because Miles is a lovable weirdo on and off the field. But after winning one BCS National Title and 3 SEC West Conference Titles, he could have the personality of Bill Belichick and would still maintain the same respect from college football fans.

If those fans were to describe Miles, here are some of the positive adjectives they would likely use: passionate, energetic, dedicated, and successful. He may be only eight months into his new gig at Kansas, but those positive traits are already visible. Look no further than on the recruiting trail:

Kansas currently has 25 commitments in the 2020 class, which is good enough for third place in the 247 football recruiting rankings for the Big 12. In addition, there is palpable excitement and optimism within the fan base.

The Kansas football program hasn’t seen those type of achievements in years. With that being said, Miles has been borderline perfect off the field thus far.

But then there’s on the field. On the field, Miles may be struggling with the same issue he had during his time at LSU.

During that time, Miles was able to win games on the backs of NFL caliber skill players, a solid offensive line and a great defense. However, his biggest fault was his inability to develop high-level starting quarterbacks.

Despite all the advantages LSU has in recruiting, he still wasn’t able to find a consistent star at the position.

Sure, Jarrett Lee and Zach Mettenberger had several quality moments as the starter. But out of all the players he recruited, those two are the only ones that truly worked out.

This two-year-old tweet from Sports Illustrated writer Ross Dellenger speaks volumes about Miles’ track record with the quarterbacks he’s recruited:

How is this relevant to Kansas? Well, their history with quarterbacks has been much, much worse.

Comparing any aspects of the two football programs isn’t fair when given the full context. But since Todd Reesing’s senior season in 2009, quarterback inconsistency has been extremely troublesome for Kansas. The last Jayhawk to throw for 2000 or more yards was… you guessed it, Reesing in 2009.

And in Miles’ first season as head coach of the Jayhawk, his current Kansas quarterback situation appears as murky as ever.

The serious candidates for the starting job this season include:

• Carter Stanley– Senior, 6-2 198 pounds
• Thomas MacVittie– Junior, 6-5 225 pounds

Stanley and MacVittie are the clear frontrunners — which has not changed since the spring camp began — for the starting job.

Quarterback competitions are nothing new. It’s commonplace on basically every level of football. But nine times out of ten, the head coach usually has a starter in mind before the competition even begins. In Kansas’ case, judging from Miles’ recent quotes with the media, he’s still not close to naming his starter.

Last week when asked when the announcement of the starter will be, Miles answered, “When it happens naturally.”

Miles also added, “The one thing, too, that kind of mucks up the waters is that you come in with a new offense, and that guy is going to get it, but he’s not going to get it right now, and then the guy who gets it right now is maybe not as good as the guy that with time gets it well. We’re going to take the time we need to look at these guys.”

Those quotes are completely understandable. Each of these players is new to the Les Miles offensive system. And like anything in life, some people pick up things quicker than others.

But that quote was from a week ago. As of today, Kansas is only nine days away from taking on Indiana State at David Booth Memorial Stadium.

Stanley and MacVittie have had the same amount of time to get used to this new system. At this point, if neither of them can shine brighter than the other in practice, that means one of two things: One, they both look great in this current system and the coaching staff wants them to continue competing in practice. Or two, neither one of them have shown the consistency the staff is looking for in their starting quarterback.

Judging from what Stanley has shown in his career thus far, the latter is more than likely than what’s occurring.

This is why Kansas fans should be worried.

Nobody came into the season expecting an all-conference performance at the position, but everyone expected a consistent one at the very least.

To flirt with a bowl game, the Jayhawks will need both senior running back Khalil Herbert and returning All-Big 12 freshman running back Pooka Williams to be great for each game this season.

For them to have the ability to do that, Kansas needs a consistent passing game to take the pressure off of them. If they’re unable to do that, all the opposing defenses will have to do is stack the box and try to limit the Jayhawk running backs.

Luckily for Miles, playing two low-level FCS schools to start the season allows him to do a little in-game experimenting to find a trustworthy quarterback before their first true road game.

But even if Stanley gains the edge over MacVittie, it may not be in the best interest of the program to start him.

Considering the odds are against Kansas making a bowling game this year anyway, granting MacVittie a full year’s experience against Big 12 defenses will significantly improve their odds for next season.

But if Miles wants to win immediately, he needs to find a quarterback consistent enough to balance out a stellar run game. If he doesn’t, it will be a difficult opening season for the national championship-winning coach.