Colorado State will have 3-man QB battle in 2013

The Colorado State Rams have plenty of time between now and when the 2013 college football season kicks off. But who will line up under center is far from clear right now, with three possible candidates looking like they could take the reigns, as the Denver Post writes.

Following a 4-8 season (3-5 in the Mountain West, good for seventh place), the Rams could go with either Garrett Grayson, Conner Smith or freshman C.J. Leonard next year. First-year head coach Jim McElwain now has a full season under his belt and said he'd like to know who will guide his offense by the time next year's slate of games begins:

"I'd love to have that position solidified, to be honest," he said Wednesday. "Yet the flipside of that is, competition at every position is where you want to be."

Grayson won the job this season in the preseason and was injured in Week 5. After backup M.J. McPeek also got hurt, Smith took over and guided the Rams to a 3-1 record down the stretch while starting four of the team's final five games.

McElwain also made sure to put Leonard in the mix after he was impressive on the scout team this year, even after having knee surgery:

"He's a guy, even with that knee, who has kind of sneaky escapability [...] I didn't know he had that in him, to be honest. Of course, being on the scout team with that line, it was better to have that. He throws an accurate ball."

McElwain went on to say that Leonard knows about taking responsibility for himself and those around him.