Today begins the start of spring football practice for Eastern.

Soon-to-be senior quarterback Cole Stinson is the No. 1 quarterback coming into spring practice. Stinson started eight games last year, and with his backup Mike Donato quitting the team in January, the job is Stinson’s to lose.

Here are three other Eastern position battles to watch for this spring football season.

1. Running Backs – Vincent Webb Jr. graduated, and with him, so did 4,233 career-rushing yards. But Webb trained his successor, Norris Smith, well. Smith ran for 651 yards last year and seven touchdowns as a sophomore. Smith will get competition at the position from returnees Ademola Adeniji, Ron Jordan and Lawrence Cannon. Throw into the mix 5-foot-8 speedster Travorus Bess, who red-shirted last year after being Eastern’s second-leading rusher in 2005, and this is one position where no spot is guaranteed.

2. Offensive Line – Replacing one all-conference performer is tough enough. Now try replacing two. This is what Eastern’s looking at heading into spring ball. Second-team All-American Jon Rueter graduated at right guard and so did Ohio Valley Conference second-team performer Eric Johnson at left tackle. Anthony Rubican, a first team all-OVC performer at right tackle as a junior last year, will look to anchor the line this year and keep Stinson off his back.

3. Secondary – The cornerback position was depleted by graduation. Ben Brown, B.J. Brown and Terrance Sanders won’t be around next year. The Panthers lost all-everything safety Tristan Burge because of graduation. More responsibility will be placed on returning safeties Ke-Andre Sams and Seymour Loftman to help shore up this unit.