The Southern Miss QB depth chart just got slimmer. Where does USM go from here?

With the status of quarterback Kwadra Griggs very much in doubt for 2018, it appears that the Southern Miss offense has been handed over to redshirt sophomore Jack Abraham.

It’s hard to see anyone other than Abraham taking the first snap when the Golden Eagles host Jackson State at 6 p.m. Sept. 1 in Hattiesburg for the season opener with Griggs, a redshirt senior, under indefinite suspension.

After USM announced Griggs’ suspension Saturday morning, head coach Jay Hopson and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson gave little indication that afternoon that they expected him to be back anytime soon. Griggs will remain unavailable “pending resolution of a student conduct matter” according to the university.

“All I can do is go with the people I’ve got,” Dawson said with a shrug.

While there’s been no public acknowledgment of why Griggs is suspended, the wording of the university’s statement indicates that his future is in the hands of the university’s administration as opposed to someone in the athletic department.

Griggs was expected to be pressed by Abraham during fall camp, but all signs pointed to Griggs retaining his role as starter.

Griggs showed promise at quarterback, but injuries and off-the-field issues threaten to limit the Greenwood native’s USM career to 10 games since arriving in the spring of 2016 out of Itawamba Community College. He was ruled academically ineligible prior to the 2016 campaign before helping lead USM to an 8-5 mark last year.

The remaining options

Leaving spring practice, Southern Miss had five quarterbacks who hoped to fight for playing time this season, including Griggs and junior Keon Howard. Griggs started seven games last year and Howard had the other six.

Howard transferred to Tulane in early August, leaving USM with three legitimate options at quarterback — Abraham, redshirt freshman Marcelo Rodriguez and freshman Tate Whatley.

Hopson has already acknowledged that Abraham is at the top of the depth chart, leaving Rodriguez on pace to be the backup. Whatley has been at USM since January, but he was prevented from taking full reps during the spring while he recovered from a knee injury. Whatley is fully healthy now and working with the third-string offense.

All three quarterbacks are good athletes and strong throwers, but Abraham has much more experience in Dawson’s brand of spread offense. He signed with Louisiana Tech out of Oxford and spent 18 months there before transferring to Northwest Mississippi Community for the 2017 campaign. At NMCC, he completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 2,949 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Better accuracy

The 6-foot, 204-pound Abraham has much to prove on the FBS level, but the offense should at least be in steady hands with him behind center.

Abraham always seemed to be the quarterback most likely to fulfill Dawson’s goal of completing 65-70 percent of passes this season. Griggs hit just 55.8 percent of his attempts last year.

In Abraham, Dawson sees someone he can trust when he wants to throw the ball down field.

“You always want to go into game staking a certain amount of shots every quarter,” Dawson said. “If I take those shots, he’s got to protect me as a quarterback. If it ain’t there, he’s got to dump it down and live to play another play.”

While Whatley is still learning the scheme as a freshman, the 6-foot-2-inch, 201-pound Rodriguez has shown progress through fall camp.

Dawson mentioned a couple of mistakes that Rodriguez made during Saturday’s scrimmage, but he’s been encouraged by the strong-armed Miami native’s play in fall camp.

“I think his camp has been really, really good,” Dawson said. “He’s been pretty daggum efficient,too.”

If the injuries pile up at quarterback, redshirt senior walk-on Carter Hankins, a former Forrest County AHS standout, and former Southwest Mississippi Community College quarterback Neil McLaurin, who is at receiver, may be asked to provide depth.

We’ll soon find out if Abraham is up to the task.

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 4:00 AM.