Tennessee State’s QB1 Still Up in the Air as Saturday Approaches

Outside of head coach, deciding on who’s going to be the quarterback is one of the most important decisions for a football team. like so many other teams crossed the country Tennessee State has yet to come to the decision of who will occupy QB one.

Head coach Reggie Barlow touched on the quarterback situation in Tuesday morning’s Big South-OVC Football Coaches Call and seemed to allude to it being a three-man race for QB1. 

“[Jonathan] Palmer is a smart kid [and] we are happy to have him here. He’s been competing and doing some really good things for us. It’s about making the offense fit th skill set of the quarterback and the other players. We know what he brings to the table. He has a strong arm, and he’s a very smart quarterback. [Palmer] can get you in the right plays, has enough athletic ability to escape, and keep plays alive. 

So we are happy with his progress. We are happy with Bryon McNair and [Caleb] McCreary. 

So we have three guys that have been competing in camp. [All three] have done a good job of managing the offense and [we are] looking forward to these guys being able to go out this week and compete some more and get the keys to carry Big Blue in our first game.“

Jonathan Palmer

Jonathan Palmer is a 6-3, 203 pound redshirt freshman. As a senior at Page High School (Franklin, TN) , Palmer , the nephew of former NFL QBs Carson and Jordan Palmer, threw for 1,945 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also recording 238 yards and 3 scores on the ground. The Gardner-Webb transfer did not see action with the Runnin’ Bulldogs last season. 

Byron McNair

In his two seasons at Kansas Wesleyan (NAIA) Byron McNair completed 135-of-238 passes for 2,019 yards, 11 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. In his 17 appearances , the Coyotes compiled a 15-8 overall and 9-1 mark within the Kansas Conference, including a 5-0 mark and appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series ( the NAIA Playoffs). 

Caleb McCreary

The redshirt sophomore and Troy University transfer. As a senior at Montgomery Catholic (Montgomery, AL), McCreary completed 64% of his passes (99-155) for 1,599 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions, while also rushing for 1,171 yards and 24 touchdowns on 120 carries. That same season he led Montgomery Catholic to a 15-0 record and the Alabama 4A State Title, where he was named MVP of the Championship game, throwing for 60 yards on 9-14 passing and rushing for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 carries. Finished his high school career with 9,549 yards and 125 touchdowns through the air and added 2,607 yards and 39 touchdowns on 295 carries. He was ranked the no. 35th quarterback prospect in the nation by ESPN. 

Tennessee State kicks off the 2025 season Saturday against North Carolina A&T in the John A. Merritt Classic at 3:30 pm CST.

Related posts

Leave a Comment