WASHINGTON – With less than two weeks until the 2023 season kicks off at home against Marist on September 2, GUHoyas.com will take an in-depth look at each position starting with this edition featuring the team's quarterbacks. 

"We have a full room this season with six quarterbacks," said Quarterbacks Coach Jack McDaniels. "We have a mixture of young guys and older veterans from all over the country, so it's a good combination of youth and experience in the room. We are looking for one guy to really step up and elevate this group and the offense to take this team to the next level."

The Hoyas welcome back fifth-year Tyler Knoop and senior Connor Katz as the veteran leaders for the quarterbacks along with returning sophomore Danny Lauter. The Blue & Gray gained three slingers this year with the addition of sophomore transfer Dez Thomas II and freshmen Jacob Holtschlag and Jordan Holmes. 

Last season, Knoop played in eight games for GU registering nine completions for 120 passing yards. The Texas native also collected 74 rushing yards for two touchdowns.

"Knoop is the oldest in the room and has had four years of experience learning from coach Spence and learning the offense. His veteran status has made him mentally one of the sharpest in the room. He is a great athlete as well as an accurate passer."

Katz did not see any game action during the 2022 season due to injury, but after participating in summer training and fall camp, he is expected to be available this season. 

"Katz is a hard worker. He is always on time and is always grinding his tail off. He will make a great coach in the future."

As a freshman, Lauter did not see any game action but after putting in a lot of hard work in the offseason he will be competing for on-field time this season. 

"Lauter is extremely talented and is easily one of the better FCS arms that I've probably ever seen. He has come a long way during the spring and summer as he starts to understand the offense at a higher level. He is playing some really good ball right now."

The new additions to the Hoya offense also bring a plethora of athletic ability and competitiveness behind the offensive line. Thomas brings one year of experience playing quarterback at Trinity College where he saw action in five games and  registered four completions for 53 yards.

As multi-sport athletes in high school, Holmes and Holtschlag bring diverse athletic abilities to the quarterback position. 

"All three newcomers have been with us here during June and July. They have made good strides offensively as far as their system knowledge goes and fundamentally they have gotten a lot sharper as well. Dez has a good arm and is a good dual threat quarterback. Jake and Jordan were both extremely talented high school prospects so we are excited to get working with them. We are going to see how they show up here in the fall and see what kind of players we got in them.

"It is a six man quarterback competition, there is no starter right now. The awesome thing about having a big room with a bunch of talented guys is it's probably one of the more competitive rooms on this team because everybody is pushing for that one spot. Who that is we will decide at a later date."