Southwick or Hedrick: Let's talk about the elephant in the room

Joe Southwick is the elephant in the room, and we have to figure out what to do with him.

I do not, of course, mean "we" as in "you and me." You and me have no say in what becomes of Southwick the Elephant. We have a say in what becomes of the name for the morning links and how many dog pictures is an okay amount of dog pictures to post on a football blog. Quarterback conundrums? Those are best left to the professionals.

Assume, then, that you and I are the professionals. We have a senior quarterback who was leading a Top 25 offense that was clicking on all cylinders, bending secondaries to its will. We have a sophomore junior sub who turned Bronco Nation on its ear by not sucking and instead running, scoring, and upsiding his way to a 3-1 record and some of the most explosive, exciting football we've ever seen.

We have a known commodity of experience and efficiency. And we have the future.

Which one do we want?

If it is Southwick, does it limit the Broncos upside in a potential rematch against Fresno State in the Mountain West Conference championship game, should both teams make it?

Could Hedrick already be better than Southwick?

This is deep, many-layered stuff. This is a complicated parfait. I don't even know if there is a right answer so much as there is an answer, and maybe not even that, should Boise State's coaches decide to platoon the quarterbacks and start them both.

For what it's worth, I have an opinion. I lean 60/40 in favor of Southwick over Grant Hedrick, which is a very odd tilt if you know me and my Bronco quarterback leanings. I'm not sure I even need to justify my opinion because for every pro I have for Southwick you can throw me an equally convincing pro for Hedrick. Blah blah blah experience. Blah blah blah explosiveness.

We're not even mad at each other, like we might have been in the Patti vs. Southwick debate (which wasn't really much of a debate now, was it). We are fascinated and torn and conflicted and intrigued, and we're all in need of some expert counseling.

Fortunately, the decision is not ours. But let's pretend that it is. Which way do you lean? Feel free to justify it or not, depending on how much you like talking in circles.