By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATHENS -- One is known for his legs, one for his arm and one for a dislocated ankle.

The high-profile competition begins in earnest Thursday, the first day of spring football practice at Georgia. As tight end Aron White put it, the quarterbacks "come into spring ball with guns blazing, everybody trying to let it loose and prove they're the guy."

The combatants:

• Logan Gray, last season's little-used backup, is a junior from Columbia, Mo., who brings speed and athleticism to the competition.
• Zach Mettenberger, from nearby Oconee County, is a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman with an arm so strong that, according to White, "everybody says he's like the second coming of [Matthew] Stafford."
• Aaron Murray is a redshirt freshman who gained near-legend status in Tampa by unexpectedly returning from a dislocated ankle/broken fibula and leading his high school team to a state championship while still clearly hobbled.

"The way we're viewing it going into the spring," UGA offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo said of the competition, "it's wide open."

All three candidates embrace the challenge. All three say it will be a battle among friends. All three say they expect to win the job.

"It's definitely a big spring for us three quarterbacks," Mettenberger said. "We’re all really excited about the competition, and we're all pushing each other to do the best we can. ... I think in everyone's opinion, Coach Bobo and us three, we're all tied right now."

Said Murray: "It's not going to be, you know, go out there and cut each other's throat off or anything like that. It's going to be ... nice friendly competition, and in the end the best guy is going to play."

Georgia returns starters at the other 10 positions on offense, but its three quarterbacks have thrown only 12 passes in college games -- all by Gray.

For all of their high school accolades -- all three were invited to the prestigious Elite 11 camp for the best-of-the-best quarterback prospects -- it is perilous for an SEC team to enter a season with so little experience at such a critical position.

"It's a difficult situation," Bobo said. "You never want to start a year when you've got an unknown at the quarterback position, but at the same time I look at it as a great opportunity for a bunch of young guys."

Coach Mark Richt said he's willing to declare a starter at the end of spring practice, which runs through the G-Day intrasquad game April 10, if one candidate separates himself convincingly. But Richt said it's more likely that the competition will continue into the summer.

His best advice for the candidates: "Have a healthy respect for the football."

Complicating the decision is that the quarterbacks won't be competing with the same weapons. Gray brings mobility. Mettenberger brings the big arm. Murray is a hybrid -- less mobile than Gray but more mobile than Mettenberger, not as strong-armed as Mettenberger but perhaps more accurate.

"Maybe you'd see exactly where everybody stood if we all had the tall [frame], strong arm [of Mettenberger] or were a fast guy like maybe me," Gray said. "I think ultimately the coaches are looking for who is going to be the most consistent, who's going to be a leader of this team, who's going to be able to provide playmaking skills that will help us win ballgames. Whether you get it done one way or the other way, whoever is getting it done best is going to be the guy."

The quarterbacks know their competition will be much-discussed and much-dissected throughout Bulldog Nation.

"Everyone is going to have their opinion," Murray said. "There's going to be ... people rooting for Zach or Logan to start with. You just can't let that affect [you]."

White, who admits partisanship for high school teammate Gray, sums up the competition well:

"Logan brings so much more to the table than sitting in the pocket. I think if you don't incorporate him carrying the ball and getting out on the edge every once in a while, you'd be doing him and our team a disservice.

"Mettenberger, if it was up to me, is a guy who would just sit back in the pocket all day. Because that's a guy who has just got a cannon.

"Murray is a little more of a balance between a pocket passer and someone who can break the pocket. He's obviously a very athletic guy.

"I think they all give us a good chance of winning. It's just [a matter of] which one the coaches feel gives us the best chance of winning."
AJC