Spring Preview | Quarterbacks
A promising returner and two Portal additions highlight the group
With spring football set to start, all eyes will be on quarterback rooms across the country and it’ll be no different in Amherst, where UMass has multiple players competing to be the guy for the Minutemen in 2025.
The room is certainly crowded with both returners and newcomers and while it may not be quite as packed a year from now given the Transfer Portal Era, depth shouldn’t be a problem for UMass in 2025.
But, it’s not just a deep room. It’s a room with talent, probably much more than the new staff initially recognized.
AJ Hairston is the only returner who has seen extended action and the Florida native was still able to preserve a year of eligibility since he only appeared in four games as a freshman in 2024.
Ryan Jankowski transferred to UMass from Akron a year ago, but was injured for much of last season and didn’t play. Will Perry, who joined the team as a freshman preferred walk-on a year ago, saw some action in the final game of the season against UConn, completing 7 of 11 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Still, with only one guy with any meaningful on-field experience, head coach Joe Harasymiak and offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian knew they’d have to hit the Portal to shore up the position by bringing in at least one more quarterback.
In the end, they added two.
Brandon Rose comes from Utah, where he worked under Bajakian, while Grant Jordan is a graduate transfer from Yale, where he started in 2024.
Even with Rose unlikely to participate in spring ball after suffering an injury against BYU back in November, as the staff has had a chance to get to know their personnel over the past few months, it seems like the coaches have realized they have plenty of capable signal-callers on the roster now.
Sources have told Minuteman Command that this will be a true competition - likely one that extends at least until August, when Rose could be ready to return.
Nobody has been promised anything.
When a school brings in multiple transfers, that generally isn’t a great sign for those who are already there.
But, that’s not quite the case here, especially with regard to Hairston.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder showed flashes in four games in November, when he completed 40 of 73 pass attempts for 480 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. Hairston is athletic, but he’s definitely a pocket passer.
Even sources who saw what Hairston put on film in 2024 have been even more impressed by watching him up close this winter. Even though he didn’t see any action until the later part of the season, Hairston should be viewed as the incumbent in this race.
In terms of just this spring, we expect Jordan to provide the biggest push to Hairston.
Jordan displayed a command of the Bulldogs’ offense last season, when he completed 166 of his 250 pass attempts for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns with only three interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound New Orleans native has also proven to be an effective runner when the opportunity presents itself, rushing for 360 yards and five touchdowns on 77 carries last season.
Jordan is the kind of player who can be counted on to learn the system quickly and run it effectively while being more of a playmaker than a game manager.
The other signal-callers, including Jankowski and Perry, will be looking to solidify their spots on the depth chart this spring as well, but as we said, this isn’t a competition that can be concluded until Rose gets a say.
Of all the quarterbacks on the roster, we here at Minuteman Command believe Rose has the highest ceiling.
Rose has the arm talent to make every throw on the field along with the athleticism to be a true threat on the ground with the ability to break tackles and make people miss. He also has the kind of QB1 swagger that can get a team to rally behind him when things are going well.
But, it remains to be seen when Rose will be ready to compete and exactly what he’s capable of doing once he does.
“I think the number one thing is we've just created a whole lot of competition, so that brings out the best in everybody,” Harasymiak said back in January of the quarterbacks.
“There's a lot of good, talented guys on our roster. We wanted to make every room as competitive as we could.”
With spring ball almost upon us, the quarterbacks - save Rose - will have their opportunity to show what they can do.
“There's not going to be any hiding anymore. We're going to go out and see who gets it done.”
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