Coming into the 2016 season, Kentucky’s starting QB spot was about as settled as any position on the team. Sophomore Drew Barker would start, and given the lack of experience behind him, no other player figured to see many snaps. But a funny thing happened on the way to Kentucky’s seven-win season and Tax Slayer Bowl appearance. It didn’t quite work out that way.

Barker, a 6-3, 225-pound 4-star recruit who had started two games as a redshirt freshman in 2015, was essentially handed the job when former starter Patrick Towles transferred to Boston College. Kentucky ran a pass-first offense around Barker in 2016. For one half, it was brilliant. Kentucky led Southern Miss 35-17 at halftime of the opener, and Barker was 11 for 19 for 287 yards and four scores — in the first half.

Unfortunately, Kentucky blew that game, was crushed by Florida in a 45-7 game that wasn’t as close as the score, and when Barker threw his last pass of the year on the third play of the third game, against New Mexico State, since that golden half, he was a total of 7-of-17 for 47 yards and five interceptions. Somewhere along the line, Barker aggravated a back injury (widely thought to have occurred before the season). And just like that, Kentucky’s season turned drastically.

Enter Stephen Johnson, a junior JUCO QB from  Grambling and College of the Desert. The 6-3, 183-pound dual-threat bomber was recruited by Kentucky over Arkansas State and Hawaii, as last-second protection for Barker given the equally last-second transfer of Towles. Johnson was charitably described as a 2-star prospect, but figured to see the field sparingly, if ever.

Instead, he was handed the keys to the offense, and promptly led the team to seven wins in a staggering comeback of a season. It wasn’t always pretty — sometimes, the mid-range game deserted Johnson, and he won ugly — for instance, against Vandy, he was 10-for-24 for 49 yards passing, but did rush for another 55 yards and managed the game well enough to win.

For the season, Johnson passed for 2037 yards, 13 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He rushed for another 327 yards and three scores. As the year wore on, he displayed a surprisingly nice touch on deep passes, and outplayed Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in Kentucky’s upset of Louisville, passing for 338 yards and three scores, and adding 83 yards more on the ground.

Kentucky ran an offense keying around 1,000 yard rushers Stanley Boom Williams and Benny Snell, with Johnson’s run-pass options and timely deep passes as a change of pace.

So it’s Johnson’s team in 2017 then, right?

Well … maybe.

In the immediate aftermath of the TaxSlayer Bowl, Mark Stoops was asked about the QB competition and stated, “Every position, we compete every day.”

With Williams heading for the NFL, Kentucky might not be so quick to hand the job back to Johnson. Barker underwent season-ending back surgery, and if he is healthy, he will doubtlessly get a long look in the spring. Barker is a much more refined pocket passer than Johnson, although he lacks the latter’s experience, and is less adept as a runner.

For that matter, the picture is even more cluttered. Freshman Gunnar Hoak redshirted in 2016, but showed talent in the spring game last year, going 4-for-5 for 57 yards and a touchdown in his appearance. Danny Clark, a 2017 early-enrollee from Ohio, is a dual-threat prospect with an impressive resume. Fellow early-enrollee Walker Wood has been promised a shot at QB, but will likely end up moving to another position.

Still, unlike 2016, when the position was more or less considered settled, there’s plenty of activity to watch in the Kentucky camp this spring for the QB spot.

Johnson figures to be given the first crack. Can he refine his short and mid-range passing game, and improve on his 55 percent completion stat from 2016?

Will the loss of deep-ball threat Jeff Badet to transfer hurt his confidence?

Can Barker even play again? If so, does he look like the accomplished pocket passer who was expected to star in 2016? Will Kentucky’s coaches attempt to work both players onto the field?

Expect many of these questions to linger into fall camp, and perhaps into the season opener against Southern Miss. At this point, the only certain point in the UK quarterback battle is that nobody knows how the matter will end up.