Georgia Tech backup quarterbacks Matthew Jordan and TaQuon Marshall are at different stages in their development and possess different skillsets for the position. Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Bryan Cook wants both to have a playing role behind starter Justin Thomas this season.
“That’s what you would hope,” Cook said Monday following the team’s fifth preseason practice, the first in full pads.
Marshall, who was switched from A-back to quarterback midway through spring practice, is learning the technical elements of the position but is a “make-you-miss sort of guy,” Cook said. He could be a change-of-pace alternative to Thomas, perhaps using a small package of plays.
Save a brief turn at A-back early in the 2015 preseason, Jordan has been a quarterback since he came to campus in 2014, redshirting that season and backing up Thomas last year. He played extensively in the Miami game when Thomas went out with an upper-body injury.
At 208 pounds, Jordan is seen as a short-yardage and goal-line possibility, similar to the role played by Tim Byerly in the 2014 season. Marshall and Thomas are both listed at 185.
“Matthew, he’s a big, tough kid that plays strong, and he plays fast,” Cook said. “There are some things that TaQuon’s better at and Matthew’s better at some other things.”
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