Eastern Washington opens preseason with Nate Bell taking first-team quarterback snaps as QB battle takes shape

Eastern Washington began preseason practices Wednesday, and in early team drills the first quarterback to take first-team snaps was redshirt junior Nate Bell. While the session does not set anything in stone for Eastern Washington’s opener, it is a clear early reference point for the competition unfolding in camp.

The context for Bell’s turn matters. Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best, speaking through the preseason framing, pointed to a season where the offense cycled through multiple quarterbacks. According to the report, Best saw his team use four different quarterbacks during a 5-7 year, and that experience has pushed the staff to treat the starter question as a priority rather than an afterthought.

Bell’s role at the front of the first-team reps places him in the familiar preseason situation where coaching staff and players are trying to stabilize the quarterback group early. Even if the depth chart remains fluid, first-team work in the opening days of practice tends to reflect what the staff wants to see most, particularly around decision-making, timing with receivers, and command in team settings.

The report also places Eastern Washington’s camp decision against the backdrop of the Big Sky Conference. Other teams in the league, it notes, are returning experienced players at quarterback. That matters for how quickly the Eagles need to sharpen their offense. In a league where week-to-week matchups can hinge on early execution, a quarterback battle that lingers too long can leave a team playing catch-up through the first portion of the schedule.

For Eastern Washington, the stated goal is not simply to find any quarterback who can throw, but to sort out who can consistently run the offense with the kind of rhythm needed for game conditions. Best’s emphasis on the importance of having two options at quarterback indicates that the staff expects both competition and readiness, rather than a single, permanent answer emerging from day one.

What to watch next is how the quarterback reps are distributed as camp progresses. The key is whether Bell keeps receiving the first-team look across the bulk of team drills, or whether another quarterback pushes him by matching or exceeding performance in areas the coaching staff values. Just as importantly, it will be worth tracking how the staff manages the second option, given the stated emphasis on having a functional backup that can step in and sustain the offense.

Eastern Washington’s first scheduled opponent, referenced in the report, is Northern Arizona. The opener is not named with additional specifics in the account, but it remains the most immediate checkpoint for Eastern Washington’s quarterback process. Until the staff makes that decision, the preseason battle will be defined less by headlines and more by who earns trust with repeated execution from the first snaps of practice through the later phases of camp.