Brandon Chatmon, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Take Two Tuesday: Best chance to start, Jarrett Stidham or Alex Delton?

It's Take Two Tuesday, and the quarterback battles at Baylor and Kansas State are stepping into the spotlight. Both schools have 2014 backup quarterbacks who enter the spring as favorites to win the starting job in 2015, yet the Bears and Wildcats also feature a highly regarded true freshman early enrollee at quarterback.

Max Olson and Brandon Chatmon debate which true freshman quarterback, BU's Jarrett Stidham or KSU's Alex Delton, has the best chance to start this fall.

Max Olson: Jarrett Stidham

When in doubt, bet on Stephenville…right?

That’s far from the only reason why Jarrett Stidham has an opportunity to help Baylor right away as a true freshman, but those ties don’t hurt.

The gunslinger comes from the program Art Briles built and was raised on a scheme not dissimilar in style and tempo from what they’ve mastered at Baylor. That has to be advantageous. Combine that pedigree with his pure arm talent and you get a prodigy who should prove to be a quick learner as an early enrollee.

Another thing Briles loves about the rookie? “I like the way he burns. He burns hot and wants to be great.” He’ll need that competitive nature to catch up and keep up with Seth Russell and Chris Johnson this spring.

One thing to keep in mind: Concerns about being redshirted played a role (and some say a significant one) in Stidham’s breakup with Texas Tech. He did not come to Baylor hoping to sit out a few years. He came to compete and to win a job.

That doesn’t mean Briles and his staff have promised anything to Stidham. In truth, I have a hard time calling anyone but Russell the favorite to take over for Bryce Petty at this point.

All Baylor really needs is a smooth, smart operator, and I doubt Art and Kendal Briles have much interest in going back and forth and changing starters during the fall. They’ll pick their guy and roll with him. The window for Stidham to take this job might be a small one, then, but he just might be spectacular enough to earn a shot.

Brandon Chatmon: Alex Delton

Delton is the future at quarterback for the Wildcats, but does the future start in 2015?

A dual-threat quarterback in the mold of past KSU stars, Delton has enrolled early and could push to replace Jake Waters as the Wildcats starter at some point in 2015.

Joe Hubener is the favorite to replace Waters, but he doesn’t stand as the same obstacle to Delton’s chances of starting as Russell is for Stidham.

Even though any true freshman faces a long road to making an immediate impact in his program, Bill Snyder praised the young quarterback’s decision to enroll early and overall desire to improve on signing day.

“He is a hard worker," Snyder said. "I like his demeanor. He tries to invest himself. He wants to find out anything and everything that he possibly can. He is the kind of guy that we like.”

Hubener was solid in backup duty behind Waters in 2014 but hasn’t yet proven to be the type of difference maker — in the mold of Waters or Collin Klein —that has carried the Wildcats destiny on their shoulders in the past.

Delton has all the tools to be that guy if he makes a smooth transition into Big 12 football and can handle the demands of being a quarterback in Snyder’s system.

All signs point to Hubener being the guy but overall talent Delton brings to the table make him a guy to keep an eye on during the spring and could earn him some time on the field in 2015 even if he doesn't win the starting job.

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