BYU football: Jake Heaps, Riley Nelson front-runners at QB

PROVO — BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall knows choosing a new quarterback won't be easy, but he's happy with the candidates vying for the job.

"It's going to be a very difficult decision," Mendenhall said during the Mountain West Conference coaches teleconference Wednesday. "Each of our quarterbacks has very nice leadership ability. They're exceptional in terms of how they handle their teammates. To this point, they all are staying very close together and not dividing our football team, which is something we've really emphasized to them ... I'm very comfortable that we have the talent, the leadership and the poise and the preparation to have a player be our starter at that spot. I just don't know who it is yet."

Mendenhall was asked how comfortable he'd be with starting true freshman Jake Heaps.

"Comfortable is too strong a word for a normal freshman coming into the college level. What's happening, especially in Jake's case, because as high profile of a recruit that he was, because of all the unique scrutiny he's already had and the number of times he visited our campus and what he's already demonstrated in the spring, I'm more comfortable now than I was before spring.

"I'm going to stop short of saying I'll be comfortable, because I also know what the Division I game is like, what our conference is like, and what it's like especially to play on the road, but also handle the expectations at home. With any other player other than the one that I've seen this spring, I'm not sure I could be even close to being comfortable. But I've been pleasantly surprised. Jake is an exceptional young man, a very good talent. He's picked up and grasped our offense very well and moved our football team this spring. So I'm further along toward my comfort than I thought I would be. That's making me rest a little bit easier."

Heaps is battling with junior Riley Nelson and sophomore James Lark to become the Cougars' next starting quarterback. Mendenhall reiterated that lacking healthy offensive linemen during spring drills hindered somewhat the process of selecting a starter.