OT: The Best Quarterback Money Can Buy
Fluff piece about Ole Miss QB Kelly who, despite washing out at Clemson, thinks he's the best there ever was!
Honestly, this feels like a down year at the quarterback position with a few exceptions. I'm not sure I'd put Kelly in that group. Maybe it's not really that outlandish a claim?
I would agree with Watson being #1, but maybe not "a clear #1". There's this guy named JT Barrett at OSU who's pretty good. Kinda like #1b good.
My jaw was on the floor watching him in the playoffs. I think he'll be able to single-handedly get them back in this year. He'll need help to win it all, but he's one of the best I've ever seen.
agreed. barrett has earned praise as hes a very good college QB, just not 1b. watson belongs at the top, alone - at least until someone overtakes him on the field (if they can).
this year may lack ample early round nfl talent but there are some decent QBs. the pac 12 and big 12 have a few solid ones (as usual), miami has a talented QB, lamar jackson at lville can ball, i think kizer at nd has a chance, houstons QB ward is a great athlete likely to dominate his league, russell or whoever starts at baylor (and similar places) will put up #s just like mayfield at ou, etc.
watson is clear #1 and #2 isnt close, especially in terms of draft stock. while pro scouts may not be fighting over them, theres a capable group of returning QBs (including barrett) and surely several youngsters (or previous unknowns) will step up and shine (hopefully okorn / speight enter the convo by seasons end) - chiefly though, the modern game and spread Os allow QBs w/o serious nfl futures to ball out and succeed playing an exciting brand of football.
itll be awesome to watch as always though!
yeah, barrett isn't on the same level as watson
Notre Dame also has two really good QBs. Both Malik Zaire and Deshone Kizer played great.
Those are the obvious two that come to mind. After that there's . . . umm.
Barrett is not in the same league as Deshaun Watson. PFF rated Barrett an even 0.0 as a passer last year, the absolute average. His strong performance against Rutgers was the only thing that actually got him there, too. He rated -0.5 passing for the other games he played in.
Both players are extremely dangerous on the ground, but Barrett is (statisically! don't @ me!) nothing but an average college QB throwing the ball. Watson is a true dual-threat.
Watch his film. He's so robotic. All's he does is stare down his slant route to Michael Thomas. If that's not open bubble screen to Jalin Marshall.
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Was there really any chance of him not being a douche with an inflated head?
_____ Henne
I mean we're all Michigan fans here, but I've heard from a lot of places that Chad Henne was kind of a douche.
Yeah, Chad Henne honestly never struck me as the sort described above (at least not in the extreme), although I will be fair to MonocleSmile and say that I have have an inordinate number of less-than-pleasant experiences with people named Chad in my life as well. I am not sure that it is entirely the name so much as those people also happened to be very, well, not friendly. Conincidence, I am sure.
He picked me up by my neck and threw me on the ground one time.
To be fair, my buddy and I had hit him about six times in the face with snowballs. Oh, the nerd/athlete South Quad/West Quad rivalry. We really should have built a catapult or something.
you knew that before you clicked the link.
DeShaun Watson, JT Barrett, Baker Mayfield, Seth Russell, Greg Ward, Brad Kaaya, Josh Rosen, Malik Zaire, Anu Solomon, and Patrick Mahomes will all be better than Kelly in 2016.
Also Josh Dobbs, CJ Beathard, Luke Falk, and future super bowl winner MITCH LEIDNER!
I agree with at least everyone on that list, but it's a bit of a shame Texas Tech isn't very good and that Mike Leach isn't there any more. I watched Mahomes in the bowl game and had no idea how that kid flew (mostly) under the radar of the talking heads.
Plus, Chad Kelly's rap game sucks. No flow at all, yo.
My money on dark horse emerging QB this year is Max Browne from USC.
I don't see O'Korn as a dark horse. I expect that he will excel under Harbaugh.
Can't be worse than last year. Look at the QBs that got drafted this year: Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Paxton Lynch, Christian Hackenberg, Jacoby Brissett, Cody Kessler, Connor Cook, Dak Prescott, Cardale Jones, Kevin Hogan, Nate Sudfeld, Jake Rudock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, & Brandon Doughty. Not exactly an awe-inspiring list, especially the QBs from Power 5 schools.
The two QBs that finished in the top 5 of Heisman voting, Deshaun Watson & Baker Mayfield, are still in school.
A lot of those guys weren't that productive in college. Cardale Jones lost the starting job. Rudock was forced to transfer after losing the starting job. Hackenberg would have lost the job if there were anyone else at PSU that could throw a football. Cody Kessler had a pretty mediocre career by USC standards.
I guess some productive QBs like Trevone Boykin & Vernon Adams were not included above because they were undrafted, but I don't think adding them changes the discussion much.
Chad Kelly is by far and away the best quarterback in the SEC this year. The SEC is so bereft of quarterbacks right now it's stupid.
By the way on Kelly, Richard Cross of the Ole Miss IMG Sports Network said on the air on the Chuck Oliver Show (local southeastern college football only show) that Kelly suffers from severe ADD. Not sure if I was Cross I'd have put that out there, but okay. It helps explain his dismissal from Clemson.
Dobbs is a dual threat at Tennessee but he needs to make several more plays with his arm to win the close games Tennessee will need to win this year.
DeShaun Watson is probably the best quarterback in the country.
Lamar Jackson at Louisville is a rising star. We'll be hearing more from this kid this season, especially running Petrino's system.
Kaaya at Miami and Trubisky at N Carolina will put up good numbers for their coaches this season.
Greg Ward far and away in the AAC is tops, but as an M-related topic, keep your eye on Central Florida's Justin Holman. If he clicks in Scott Frost's Oregon offense, he could put up some numbers.
Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma is an absolute baller. Love watching that kid play.
Assuming Barrett is back to form for Ohio State, there may not be a better one in the conference. Whoever M's new QB is will need the first 2-3 games to get acclimiated before they know what they really have there.
Chase Litton probably puts up huge numbers for Marshall in Doc Holliday's system.
Notre Dame's quarterback situation is beyond doubt in my mind. Either Zaire or Kizer can do the job.
James Knapke has already played significant snaps for Bowling Green when Matt Johnson got injured, and Mike Jinks will certainly keep their fast-paced offense that Dino Babers installed.
Brett Rypien out at Boise State might be the next Kellen Moore, and he's only a sophomore.
Sefo Liufau, while on a not great Colorado team, will add tremendously to his career numbers this year as a senior. MacIntyre can run an offense.
Dakota Prukop is expected to win the job at Oregon, so he'll likely be productive and exciting in that system.
Jake Browning and Luke Falk carry the banner for the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars, respectively, into 2016. Browning was a top freshman in 2015.
Josh Rosen at UCLA, yeah, he'll be good again.
If you aren't an overall college football fan, yeah, it might seem like a down year for quarterbacks. But there are hidden gems all over the landscape that will continue to emerge as the season goes on.
I mean, Kelly's a really good QB. He certainly was helped by having a huge target in Treadwell, but he's probably the top QB in the SEC. But Watson, Mayfield, Zaire, Russell, just off the top of my head, are as good or better.