19 for ’19: 19 key offseason topics: No. 8. The most interesting quarterback battle in every Power Five conference.
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There are great position battles going on throughout the college football world, but the quarterbacks all take center stage.
Out of the 64 Power Five programs – let’s make it 65 if we include Notre Dame – rough half of the starting quarterback situations are as close to being settled as possible.
Most will need the fall camp to decide the issue, and some will be ongoing fights that will make-or-break a season. In the world of grad transfers and transfer portals, it’s a bigger call than ever for the head coaches.
Which Power Five quarterback situations are the most interesting? Which ones will play the biggest roles in the 2019 season? Here we go, starting with …
ACC: Florida State Seminoles
It was one of the key parts of the rebuild puzzle under head coach Willie Taggart – Deondre Francois was going to be the starting quarterback.
That’s when the James Blackman transfer rumors went wild.
Blackman stepped up when Francois went down in 2017 and had a decent true freshman season, throwing for 2,230 yards an 19 touchdowns, but he only completed 58% of his passes with 11 picks. Francois was healthy last year, Blackman was the backup, and that wasn’t going to change going into 2019.
Fast-forward to early February. Francois was dismissed from the program after being accused of an alleged domestic dispute, and Blackman was established as the main man.
However, the Noles went hard after other options. They missed out on Justin Fields (Ohio State), Tate Martell (Miami), Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma), and Nick Starkel (Arkansas), but in a massive surprise, they were able to get Wisconsin grad transfer Alex Hornibrook.
But is the veteran healthy? He missed most of the late part of last season with concussion issues, including the Pinstripe Bowl.
He has been through the Big Ten wars with a 26-6 career record, won an Orange Bowl, and he’s just the type of steadying veteran presence who can step in and make the offense move. He might have thrown 33 picks, but he completed 61% of his throws for 5,438 yards and 47 touchdowns.
Hornibrook had several options to be the missing-piece quarterback, and he’s going to want to play after graduating in May and coming to Tallahassee.
It’s Blackman’s gig for now, and he’s the QB1, but …
Watch out in August for this to heat up and become one of the ACC’s biggest storylines.
– Florida State Schedule & Analysis
NEXT: Most Interesting Big Ten Quarterback Battle
Big Ten: Wisconsin Badgers
There’s a big battle ready to roll at Illinois, and Penn State needs to hope Tommy Stevens is the real deal. Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota and Rutgers are going to have good quarterback fights, but the conference season – at least in the West – could hinge on what happens at Wisconsin.
Three-year starter Alex Hornibrook would’ve been the easy call … sort of.
He suffered from concussion issues late last season, wasn’t a sure thing to be okay right away this season, transferred to Florida State, and now the Badgers are scrambling a wee bit.
With Hornibrook out at the end of 2018, there were a whole lot of handoffs to Jonathan Taylor as the offense tried to work around then-sophomore Jack Coan. It wasn’t pretty, the 6-3, 210-pounder didn’t do anything that tough, but he went 3-2 as the starter, completing 60% of his throws for 515 yards and five scores with three picks.
He’s good. New recruit Graham Mertz is better.
It’s not going to be simply about replacing Hornibrook; it’s going to be about getting something special out of the passing game, and that’s where Mertz comes in.
The four-star Kansas native could’ve gone anywhere, chose Wisconsin as, arguably, the most talented prep quarterback to ever sign on with the program, and he got to school early.
No one’s handing him the job. Coan is still the one to beat out – at least for the moment – and Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom are decent prospects, but be shocked if Mertz isn’t the main man right away.
– Wisconsin Schedule & Analysis
NEXT: Most Interesting Big 12 Quarterback Battle
Big 12: Oklahoma State Cowboys
All Oklahoma State had to do was replace all-time great quarterback Mason Rudolph to try keeping the high-octane passing game going.
There was a battle, there were several good options, and in the end, Taylor Cornelius put up a massive season, completing 59% of his passes for close to 4,000 yards with 32 touchdowns and 13 picks. It wasn’t as good as Rudolph’s 4,904-yard, 37-touchdown 2018 season, but it was more than good enough.
The 2019 Cowboys have the receivers in place to do big things – starting with superstar Tylan Wallace – and Chuba Hubbard is about to explode as one of the nation’s best running backs.
Now they need a triggerman to make it all work.
Dru Brown left Hawaii just before it got interesting again. Instead of running the amazing run-and-shoot attack, he transferred to Oklahoma State last year, and didn’t get the job. Now this is his shot to make it all go. But …
Spencer Sanders could be the quarterback to build around.
Brown is a senior, Sanders is a redshirt freshman, and he works in the Oklahoma State system.
The former four-star quarterback isn’t huge like Rudolph or Cornelius, but he can move. He’s got a strong, accurate arm, and he’s a nightmare when he escapees the pocket.
At the very least, the Cowboys will get big production out of either option – or even new recruit Brendan Costello, if he steps in and is lights out – but expect Sanders to be too promising and show off too much upside not to be the new face of the program.
– Oklahoma State Schedule & Analysis
NEXT: Most Interesting Pac-12 Quarterback Battle
Pac-12: Arizona State Sun Devils
It’s a really, really good group of quarterbacks in the Pac-12 coming into the season.
Khalil Tate stuck around at Arizona. JT Daniels is due to get a whole lot better at USC. Steven Montez is terrific at Colorado, Dorian Thompson-Robinson is going to be better at UCLA, and Tyler Huntley is back and healthy at Utah.
Now Arizona State has to figure out its situation.
Manny Wilkins wasn’t exactly Jake Plummer, but he put up a strong 3,025-yard, 20-touchdown season as he led the Sun Devils to a bowl season. But he also had N’Keal Harry to throw to, and the top target is now off to the NFL.
Dillon Sterling-Cole missed on both his his pass attempts, but he got his chance to take over the gig in spring ball – he didn’t lock it down.
He’s got a great arm and is a pure enough passer to match what Wilkins did – at least – but four-star recruit Jayden Daniels has the size and skills to take over the job right away.
Head man Herm Edwards also signed on Joey Yellen and Ethan Long, but Daniels is the star of the trio of newbies, and Sterling-Cole has the experience in the program.
Already, former Arizona State quarterbacks are shining at Virginia (Bryce Perkins), Memphis (Brady White) and USF (Blake Barnett), and there are sure to be more in the mix soon after the pecking order is decided in August.
Until then, the job is wide open.
Sterling-Cole vs. Daniels will be Game On.
– Arizona State Schedule & Analysis
NEXT: Most Interesting SEC Quarterback Battle
SEC: Auburn Tigers
Basketball might have taken center stage this offseason, but soon, all conversation will turn towards the quarterback situation.
Jarrett Stidham was okay.
To be fair he wasn’t turned loose, but he didn’t turn the offense into a dominant force, throwing for just under 2,800 yards with 18 touchdowns and five picks before leaving early for the NFL.
Malik Willis got in a few throws, former baseball player Cord Sandberg got on the field, and 2018 star recruit Joey Gatewood threw a pass.
There’s a ton of talent to choose from – two words after the depth chart comes out: transfer portal – and the likely best of the bunch got to school early.
The 6-2 Bo Nix doesn’t have the size of some of the other options, but he’s a gunslinger, can move, and has the unflappable makeup beyond his true freshman age.
Think a more mobile Jake Fromm.
Expect the fight to last well through fall camp with all four of them able to start and be just fine.
There will only be one Bo at Auburn, but expect the new one to get the call against Oregon in AT&T Stadium on August 31st.
