photo by: Carter Gaskins

Kansas quarterback Miles Kendrick prepares to throw during preseason camp practice, on Aug. 4, 2018.

Miles Kendrick spent one semester at San Mateo Community College before transferring to Kansas. He hasn’t had nearly as much experience running an Air Raid offense as either Peyton Bender, who started eight games for Kansas season, or Carter Stanely, who started four.

Kendrick studies more than his playbook.

“I really just try to take advantage of those mental reps I get watching those guys,” Kendrick said. “I can only bang my head on the playbook so many times.”

He said that all three quarterbacks were getting about the same number of reps the first couple of days of practice.

Neither Bender nor Stanley had particularly strong numbers last season, but both quarterbacks showed toughness by taking so many vicious licks and getting right back up.

Kendrick is shorter, thicker and more muscular than the two quarterbacks with whom he is competing.

If one of the three quarterbacks had stood out in the spring, a starter would have been named already. Having three competitors triples the chances that one will have a breakthrough camp.

At San Mateo, Kendrick completed a so so 57.9 percent of his passes, but in a more important statistic, yards per attempt, he produced a great number (10.6). Kendrick also rushed for an average of 4 yards on 103 attempts.

As a runner, he sounds as if he might share the quality of past Kansas greats John Hadl and Todd Reesing in that he doesn’t heat up a stopwatch but tends to run one step faster than the

man chasing him.

“Pure speed, I’ve never really been a guy who when you see him out running you say, ‘That guy’s really fast.’ You can tell I’m athletic, but when those lights come on and you have big, mean, sweaty guys chasing you, it tends to speed you up,” Kendrick said. “I would say I’m more of that guy.”

And as a thrower?

“I feel like I can make every throw, every throw in the playbook,” Kendrick said. “I’ve always taken pride in that.”

It’s an interesting QB competition. Bender throws the prettiest ball. Kendrick’s probably the best runner. Stanley can do a little bit of both and has a little pep in his step that can perk up a team.

Stanley wasn’t surprised to hear that head coach David Beaty stated a preference for choosing a quarterback quickly, but only if one steps up and wins the job.

“If I were the head coach I think I would want to name a starter sooner,” Stanley said. “I think it’s an opportunity for a team to get behind that one guy and it’s an opportunity for that one guy to get true No. 1 reps.”