Coming in to the spring, the quarterback situation at South Carolina couldn’t have been more complicated.

Would it be the starter at the end of the year, Perry Orth? Or perhaps the guy who started the opener, Connor Mitch? Or maybe a guy who started a couple of games in the middle (Lorenzo Nunez)?

Could true freshman Brandon McIlwain come in and win the job?

Those questions haven’t been answered definitively, though McIlwain certainly took a couple of steps forward.

Earlier this month, Jake Bentley, a four-star verbal commitment and son of USC assistant Bobby Bentley, announced he plans to reclassify and join the Gamecocks this summer.

His decision adds another name to an already crowded race for the starting job.

“They said I had a fair chance to start,” he told the Charleston Post and Courier. “I want to start just like every other quarterback in that room wants to start. I’m going to work my tail off when I get there and competition is going to make all the quarterbacks better and is going to make the whole team better.”

It doesn’t sound like he’s coming to watch the other quarterbacks battle it out, does it?

But does he really have a chance to earn the starting job? Let’s break it down:

THE CASE FOR BENTLEY

He has the classic quarterback frame (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) and he put up big time numbers at Alabama’s Opelika High last year as a junior.

He’s also the son of a coach, which means he’s well schooled at the position.

“I think mentally is where I have a big advantage over a lot of other quarterbacks,” he said. “Being a coach’s son and being around football so much I feel like I have a very high IQ for the game. Physically I feel like I can make every throw, but it’s going to take some time to get used to the receivers there. We will put in a lot of work there this summer.”

The fact that he’s walking into a situation that’s far from settled also works in his favor. If they’re comfortable handing the reins to McIlwain, why wouldn’t they hand them to Bentley if he shows out this summer?

THE CASE AGAINST HIM

Although he turns 19 this fall, Bentley will still be a guy that should be a senior in high school.

He also wasn’t around for the spring, where Kurt Roper was teaching the rest of the quarterbacks his offense. McIlwain, in particular, got plenty of reps and used them to great effect in the spring game.

There’s no denying his talent or his football smarts, but it’s unlikely that he can learn the offense and play well enough to jump four other guys who know the system better and win the starting job in such a short time frame.

THE VERDICT

It’s tough to imagine that he can possibly be ready to start the season opener against Vanderbilt, but he wouldn’t be coming to Columbia early if he didn’t have an indication that he might have a chance to play.

If the guy who starts the season with the job (McIlwain or Orth are the best bets) struggles, Bentley, who spurned Alabama, LSU and Stanford, may wind up with his chance to play later in the season.