photo by: John Young

Kansas coach David Beaty meets with his quarterbacks during the first day of spring practice on Sunday, March 6, 2016, at the practice fields north of Memorial Stadium.

I noticed recently that the Kansas University football coaching staff had extended a scholarship offer to Class of 2018 pro-style quarterback Cammon Cooper, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound Utah prospect who already is receiving interest from several big-time programs.

While it seems unlikely the Jayhawks will be the team that lands Cooper, the fact that the coaching staff is (a) identifying quality players at an early stage and (b) still hunting for a QB even though the current roster includes seven such players is a good sign for the future. After all, it’s not impossible to turn this program around without a standout quarterback, but trying to do it that way certainly makes things harder.

It does not take a genius to pinpoint the importance of the quarterback in college football, but few programs have experienced the harsh reality of a world without an elite QB like Kansas football.

By now, everyone knows what life after Todd Reesing has been like around here, where the Jayhawks are just 12-60 in the six seasons since Reesing left, including a 5-19 mark in the two seasons that immediately followed his departure.

But this is not just a Kansas problem. Down the road at Kansas State, the Wildcats went 22-4 in two seasons with former Heisman Trophy finalist Collin Klein and then 17-9 during the two seasons after he left.

Texas A&M was 20-6 in Johnny Manziel’s two seasons leading the Aggies and 16-10 in the two seasons that followed.

Those programs, and dozens of others like them, might not have fallen on the same kind of hard times as Kansas, but the drop-off is undeniable.

And that brings us back to the Jayhawks, who still are in search of a quarterback capable of elevating the program back to competitive status.

Here’s a list of the nine players to start at quarterback for the Jayhawks since Reesing played his last game as a Jayhawk in November of 2009 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.: Kale Pick, Jordan Webb, Quinn Mecham, Dayne Crist, Jake Heaps, Michael Cummings, Montell Cozart, Ryan Willis and Deondre Ford.

Pick and Webb belong to Mark Mangino. Cummings and Mecham were Turner Gill guys. Crist, Heaps, Cozart and Willis came to town on Charlie Weis’ watch. And Deondre Ford was a David Beaty pick-up.

My point? As much as the quarterback position still seems to be a major issue for Kansas football, it’s far too early to condemn KU’s second-year coach for the program’s struggles at the position.

In fact, a case could be made that incoming freshman Tyriek Starks, a 6-foot-2, 188-pound dual-threat QB from New Orleans, will be the first quarterback on which Beaty truly can be judged.

Here’s why.

As I mentioned above, Willis and Cozart were Weis recruits, so Beaty had nothing to do with bringing them on board and gets none of the blame and only a little of the credit for how those players succeed or fail on the field. Yes, it’s his job to coach them, but even that is a new development. KU offensive coordinator Rob Likens was the quarterbacks coach in 2015.

Both Ford and red-shirt freshman Carter Stanley were Beaty pick-ups prior to the start of last season, but Ford was a juco addition who simply added depth and never was viewed as a play for the future of the position, and Stanley, still yet to play a down, was a late add and very well might have been the best of what was available (at least in the pond in which KU football fishes) at the time Beaty was hired. Beyond that, at least the Stanley signing marked a move in the direction in which Beaty wants this offense to go — toward one triggered by an intelligent and mobile quarterback who can both throw and run.

Keaton Perry fits that mold but also is limited physically and athletically. The only other two players listed at quarterback on KU’s 2016 roster are walk-on Dagan Haehn, who is mobile and can throw but also is recovering from two significant knee injuries, and Starks, who reported to campus in early June.

Starks may or may not be the savior for this program, but he certainly appears to be the kind of player who will get his chance to prove it one way or the other. Not only does his skill set better line up with what Beaty wants to do, but he also was a big enough pick-up that as soon as the Jayhawks landed him they stopped their pursuit of Cedar Hill (Texas) High quarterback Avery Davis, who once sat at the top of their wish list in the Class of 2017.

Because the 2016 season figures to be another uphill climb, and also because the roster features four quarterbacks with game experience who will be ahead of him, expect Starks to red-shirt the upcoming season.

After that, though, whether it’s with Starks, Stanley, Haehn or some other not-yet-known QB, it will be time to start judging Beaty and his ability to sign and develop quarterbacks.

Then and only then.