CHICAGO -- Between now and when the Rutgers football team opens the 2017 season on Sept. 1 against Washington, Chris Ash figures to be asked roughly 1,743 questions about the quarterback position.

But don't expect the Rutgers coach to rush the decision.

On the day he arrived for the two-day Big Ten Media Day event, Ash said he doesn't have a timeline on when he wants to name a starter.

"The sooner the better but there's no timetable,'' said Ash, whose squad reports for training camp this weekend. "We have a long training camp. We've got basically almost five weeks before we play. That's a long time. That's the longest I've ever been a part of so there's no rush.''

Rutgers has a wide open competition between returning starter Gio Rescigno, Louisville grad-transfer Kyle Bolin and freshman Johnathan Lewis. Ash didn't rule out Zach Allen, but said the fifth-year senior needs to clear some hurdles physically after electing to rehabilitate an ACL tear in his knee rather than undergoing surgery last spring.

"It's going to be a competition with whoever gives us the best chance to win,'' Ash said. "Right now we're having a lot of conversations about the best way to split up the reps in practice to make sure we give everybody an opportunity to show what they can do. But I like that room right now.

"Kyle coming in has added a level of maturity and intelligence and leadership. And Johnathan Lewis has added another dimension from a skillset-standpoint. And Gio continues to improve. Zach Allen had the ACL injury during the spring. He's done a great job rehabbing. He's back to basically what they consider to be full-go for training camp without having surgery. So we'll see where he's at once he gets started.''

Ash said all of the aforementioned quarterbacks will have "an equal opportunity ... at least early on.''

"They'll be split up throughout each day,'' the Rutgers second-year coach added. "Everyone will have an opportunity to be with the 1s or the 2s. We want to make sure that everybody is having a fair and equal opportunity to show what they can do.''

Rutgers has a few open competitions on offense this summer, including at running back (where Miami grad-transfer Gus Edwards will look to unseat co-starters Robert Martin and Josh Hicks) and at right guard (where fourth-year junior Marcus Applefield, fourth-year junior Zack Heeman, redshirt freshman Nick Krimin and redshirt sophomore Zach Venesky are competing).

But Ash said "quarterback is the most important thing right now.''

"I think we're a different team in terms of our talent, but we're a different team in terms of our investment and our commitment,'' Ash said. "We're a very close team. I just think it's a completely different team. Each year is different. Obviously we went through our challenges last year but that year doesn't determine this next season. We're a different team. We're a different staff. We have a different energy in our program right now.

"So I'm excited to go out and see the improvement we've made and continue to make as we go through training camp.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.