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NASHVILLE—There’s still an open quarterback competition brewing on West End, Clark Lea says, and that may be the case for the entirety of fall camp.
Lea says he’s not expecting any quarterback on his roster to be Diego Pavia right away, but he says the competition in the room is healthy at this stage
“There's no more important position than the quarterback position,” Lea told Vandy on SI prior to the spring. “We've learned that here firsthand and so what we wanna do is select the guy that best positions our team to win.”
Here’s a look at where the room stands coming out of the spring.
Jared Curtis
Lea was careful to avoid setting expectations too high for Curtis as he went through the spring in the midst of a quarterback battle, but Curtis often did it to himself with a number of throws that popped.
Curtis, though, isn’t near a finished product at this stage of his development. He’s not unreliable, but he is prone to mistakes that force him to take a figurative step back after wowing everyone in the building.
“He believes in himself, he has courage, he has the physical traits to get himself out of trouble,” Lea said. “I think from the physical trade standpoint, he's there. From the mental processing standpoint, that's where we got to cover ground, and that's where we focused. And for me, that is both his process, pre snap and post snap, the creative elements will be there, and they'll be dynamic, but, he has to consistently own the operation.”
If Curtis is Vanderbilt’s starter against Austin Peay and keeps the role, he’s likely to have a highlight reel as good as any Vanderbilt quarterback in recent memory. How productive of a season he has will be determined by his consistency and ball security, though.
If the season were to start today, it’s not a guarantee that Curtis would start—although he should be labeled as the favorite at this stage. Lea said that Curtis was pressing in Vanderbilt’s spring game, but the outing as a whole promoted the idea that he should be the starter on day one.
Curtis didn’t come here instead of Georgia to sit, but he will have to earn it.
Blaze Berlowitz
Berlowitz is still firmly a contender to start Vanderbilt’s week one game against Austin Peay at this stage, but he has to be better than he was in the spring if he’s going to hold off Curtis.
The advantage Berlowitz has is that–despite not starting a game and only having thrown 17 passes since arriving at Vanderbilt in 2024–he’s the most experienced in the room. Berlowitz has the system experience and has closely watched Pavia operate the offense for a number of seasons. Now he’s got to do it himself, though.
With Berlowitz it’s not a question of arm talent or ceiling as much as it’s a question of whether he can be counted on to not lose Vanderbilt a football game if he’s on the field. It’s hard to believe that Lea and company would feel comfortable banging on the table for Berlowitz because of his previous ball security and decision making issues. Berlowitz’ first two drives included a number of the types of throws that he hoped were left in his past. His most noteworthy example was an interception that he threw on the second drive of the afternoon that was floated up and landed in the chest of a safety. The moments that weren’t all that noteworthy still included Berlowitz leaving a few balls in compromising positions for receivers.
Berlowitz may have had the most impressive throw of the day in Vanderbilt’s spring game, but he put the ball in harm’s way far too many times. That performance was likely Berlowitz’ worst of the spring, but it brought to light the reasons why he’s yet to secure the starting job at Vanderbilt despite his age.
The good thing for Berlowitz is that he did put good things on tape for a number of practices early in the spring–which were among the best he’s had since arriving in Nashville a few springs ago–but he appeared to come back to earth a bit down the stretch. He’ll have to build on that if he’s going to win the job.
Jack Elliott
Vanderbilt’s coaching staff remains bullish on Elliott after his first spring as a member of its program, but it may be too early in his development for the former three-star quarterback to become Vanderbilt’s starter.
Elliott’s improvements likely would have allowed him to jump Drew Dickey and Jeremy St. Hilaire on the depth chart had they returned to the program, but he appears to have been recruited over as a result of Vanderbilt’s addition of Curtis.
For now, Elliott appears to be on track to be the third-string quarterback for this Vanderbilt team. There is value in what he does, though.
Elliott doesn’t often turn it over. He’s a physical runner. He appears to be picking up the scheme, as well. He’s everything that this staff values, but he may have some room to go still.
“He's done a really good job up to this point,” Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck said this spring. “That's part of the reason we wanted to make sure we went live on the quarterbacks, 'cause we knew Jack would be able to show some things that he, maybe can't show if we don't go live and he's done well when we had those live opportunities. He's still got some areas that he's got to get better at and stuff, but we're really happy with his progress up to this point.”
Whit Muschamp
Muschamp has flashed at times, but he appears to be in the process of being passed by Elliott on the depth chart and is likely to be the No. 4 on the depth chart by the end of fall camp.
The idea that Muschamp could be the No. 4 is a testament to Vanderbilt’s depth at quarterback relative to what it’s had in the past, but when reps are cut at the midpoint of fall camp, he’s the most likely candidate to be on the field less.
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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