Asmussen | Who will be QB1 for the 2023 season opener? Your guess is as good as mine.

Apr. 20—CHAMPAIGN — Here is what we know about Illinois quarterbacks Luke Altmyer, Donovan Leary and John Paddock:

1. They have different styles and strengths.

2. They are from different parts of the country, Mississippi, New Jersey and Michigan, respectively.

3. And, oh yeah, one of them will be the starting quarterback at Illinois in 165 days when the Illini take the field on Sept. 2 against Toledo at Memorial Stadium in Champaign for the 2023 season opener.

Altmyer, Leary and Paddock met with the media Wednesday for the first time this spring. Note: I put them in alphabetical order. Nobody on the Illinois coaching staff is hinting which way the team is leaning.

That decision will come later. Much later. As close to the opener as possible. You wouldn't want to give the Rockets a head's up.

"I think any time there's an unknown from your opponent's perspective who the quarterback is going to be, the longer you go, that's a positive thing," Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. said. "Every day is a competition. That's how we approach it."

A year ago, there was no mystery. From the moment he arrived on campus, Tommy DeVito was the guy. If the NCAA had allowed him to play another year, he would have been the pick again.

No such luck for Bret Bielema's team. Instead, it will try to follow up its breakout 2022 season using a quarterback with no starting experience against the Big Ten. Though Paddock, while at Ball State in 2021, completed 5 of 6 passes in backup duty at Penn State.

The new guy

Altmyer joined the team in the spring after two seasons at Mississippi.

Lunney has a much better read on the Starkville native now than a month ago.

"I didn't know what to expect," Lunney said. "It was just intel and what you see on the film. There was limited film of him playing. We watched his high school film and his workout videos at Elite 11. There's no substitute to actually being there with him. I think I understand Luke and who he is and what he brings to the table pretty thoroughly at this point."

At the top of the list of positives is Altmyer's football IQ. And ...

"I think he's a really good passer and he's a really good athlete," Lunney said. "Those are good qualities for a quarterback to possess."

Altmyer saw limited playing time in Oxford. Illinois offers a fresh start in a different conference.

"It's been a lot of fun getting to do what I came here to do," Altmyer said. "It's been really cool to see my growth physically and my growth mentally of the game and picking Coach Lunney's mind, understanding what's around me and how I can be successful in it."

Altmyer admits he is his own toughest critic.

"That's an everyday battle, as well," he said. "I'm naturally an overthinker and I strive for perfection, but I'll never get there. I think that's what makes me who I am and pushes me to be where I want to go. I'm definitely hard on myself."

The young guy

At 19, Leary is the youngest of the three contenders. He is also the only one with no spring experience before this year.

"He is very consistent in his demeanor, which is a great quality at that position," Lunney said. "He's almost stoic in the way he goes about his business. Very intentional.

"He's got great relationships with the players on the team. He continues to do a good job pushing the ball down the field and very accurate when he puts the ball down the field."

Considering it is Leary's first spring, Lunney added: "He is in a really good spot."

Leary redshirted in 2022. He made the most of his practice time and time away from the field.

"He did a nice job staying tuned in and learning on his own," Lunney said.

Leary is also learning from teammate-turned-student-assistant Art Sitkowski.

"Art's awesome," Leary said. "He's with us every single day. He's always like, 'Dude, if you want to watch film, give me a call, give me a text.'"

DeVito, a fellow New Jersey native, was also a big help to Leary.

"I love Tommy. Tommy's my guy. I miss him every day," Leary said.

They still talk and text.

In his second year in the offense, Leary's confidence is increasing.

"The way I grew up, it's always been you have to have confidence to play," Leary said.

Confident, not cocky.

That doesn't fly at the Leary household, which includes older brother Devin who enters his fifth year as a Power Five starting quarterback (now at Kentucky).

"No way I could be cocky," Donovan said. "My mother would not allow that. My oldest brother would not let me be cocky. My older brother Devin would not let me. My younger sister wouldn't let me be cocky."

The legacy

Paddock likes being back in C-U, where grandpa John Wright Sr. and uncle John Wright Jr. were Illini standouts.

"I'm really enjoying my time here so far. I love Champaign. Good to have some family nearby," Paddock said. "I think we've made some progress. As a room, we've done a good job bouncing each other, pushing each other."

Competing isn't new for Paddock, who had to battle for his position with the Cardinals.

"I kind of approach them all the same," he said. "It's not about being better than the other guy. It's about being the best that you can be every day.

"The only thing I can do right now is focus on having the best press conference. I can have the best meeting. I can have the best practice in that specific rep. That's been my mindset."

Paddock has the most career college starts (12) among the Illinois contenders. He has been there, done that.

Is the opportunity what he was looking for?

"One-hundred percent.," Paddock said, "Didn't ask for any promises or any guarantees coming in. Just wanted to play my last year of ball and compete."

Change of plans

No spring game on Thursday as previously scheduled. The threat of unfriendly weather took care of that.

Instead, Illinois hosts an open-to-the-public scrimmage Friday, starting at 7 p.m.

It will look a lot like a spring game without all the bells and whistles. The score won't be kept and there will be no postgame statistics. No team introductions or fireworks after scores or on-field promotions. Just a practice.

"Obviously, things are out of our control and caused us to shift a little bit," Lunney said. "It doesn't affect our mindset what we need to accomplish. It's another for us to go grow offensively and individually at quarterback. Another opportunity to continue to master the offense and show your skills and lead and move the ball with the team.

"I'm excited to watch those guys play on Friday night now."

First-year defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said the work will be similar to earlier sessions.

"We've had two previous scrimmages that were true games for us," he said. "There's been a lot of growth in those. We've seen guys constantly get better every single scrimmage. The spring game is probably more for you guys (the media) than for us."