Diego Pavia began his Sunday media session by complimenting the player standing next to him — offensive lineman Steven Hubbard.
“Most importantly, the O-line looks really good right now,” he said, before talking about his own performance. That’s one indicator of Pavia’s leadership skills for which the New Mexico State transfer is lauded.
Right now, there are still four quarterbacks competing to be Vanderbilt football’s 2024 starter, with Clark Lea and offensive coordinator Tim Beck, hired in the offseason from New Mexico State, looking to cut that down to two and then to one. Those four are Pavia, Utah transfer Nate Johnson, Drew Dickey and fellow Aggies transfer Blaze Berlowitz. Freshmen Whit Muschamp and Jeremy St-Hilaire are expected to redshirt.
The competition could well come down to who has the best ability to avoid turnovers. Turnovers plagued Vanderbilt throughout 2023 and were a factor in its finishing 2-10.
“100% ball security, taking care of the football,” Beck said when asked about the most important factors in the competition. “Vanderbilt gets better right away if we if we take care of the football, and we don’t ever want to punt the ball, but punting the football is not a crime either. Turning the ball over is, so we have to take care of the ball.”
With each of the four and Beck speaking after Sunday’s practice, here’s the skill set each brings:
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION Clark Lea gives Vanderbilt football quarterback competition update as 2024 practice begins
Diego Pavia
Pavia is far more experienced than the other quarterbacks in the mix. Now ihis final year of eligibility, Pavia spent two years at a junior college and two years at New Mexico State. He appeared in 27 games with the Aggies, throwing for 4,423 yards and running for 1,431.
“I’m a playmaker,” Pavia said. “When the play breaks down is when I’m best and then just I’ve been familiar in the offense, so just making the easy reads and getting the ball out quick.”
Though Pavia is undersized at 6-foot, 207 pounds, and doesn’t have as much pure arm strength as some others, he has shown his skill set works against SEC teams when he led the Aggies to an upset at Auburn in 2023.
Nate Johnson
Johnson played in eight games at Utah and threw for 515 yards and ran for 286. Six of his 10 career touchdowns came on the ground, as he was used as a change-of-pace quarterback. In 73 passing attempts, Johnson has never thrown an interception, but he was turnover-prone during the spring.
“Nate is a very fast player,” Beck said. “So he pulls down, pulls the ball down and around, he’s gonna go get some yards.”
Compared to the spring, Johnson said he felt his decision-making had improved and he had better grasp of the offense.
Drew Dickey
Dickey is the lone returner among scholarship quarterbacks, but he appeared in only one game the past two seasons and did not attempt a pass. Dickey also has had to learn the new offense under Beck, but he has familiarity with some of Vanderbilt’s top receivers.
“He’s learning our system from the system that he learned here last year,” Beck said. “So he’s made a lot of improvements as well, just all of them just getting better in all aspects of the game.”
Dickey’s skills may not pop out compared to a player like Johnson, but in practice he’s been a steady player who limits mistakes.
“I feel great with the offense,” Dickey said. “It’s my own now, and I feel really comfortable in it. I think it fits my play style.”
Blaze Berlowitz
Berlowitz also came along from New Mexico State, where he was Pavia’s backup. He appeared in one game, going 10-for-19 with 134 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 36 yards.
He has more size than the other quarterbacks at 6-3, 205 pounds. Though he’s shown less running ability in games than Pavia or Johnson, Berlowitz said he likes to get out of the pocket and on the run in order to stretch the field.
“Blaze just continues to get better and better,” Beck said. “He’s very young, but he’s continuing to improve.”
Part of what brought Berlowitz to Vanderbilt, he said, is that New Mexico State provided his only Division I offer out of high school. That made Berlowitz loyal to Beck and Jerry Kill, the former Aggies head coach who is now on the Commodores’ staff.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football quarterback competition: Meet the contenders
