Is New Oregon QB Vernon Adams the Best QB in the Pac-12 North?

It’s difficult to proclaim that a player who has never started for an FBS program is going to be the best quarterback in the nation’s most offensive conference. 

That being said, it’s not everyday that a player with the talent and experience of Vernon Adams Jr. moves up to play with the big boys.

Adams, the best QB ever at Eastern Washington and one of the most dynamic in FCS history, committed to play his final season of college football for the Oregon Ducks on Monday, per Bob Rickert of OregonLive.com. He is a two-time runner-up for the FCS highest honor: the Walter Payton Award.

In his three years at Eastern Washington, Adams led the team to a 28-6 record and was named Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014. During his career, Adams completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 10,438 yards, 110 touchdowns and 31 interceptions in 34 games. His 110 touchdown passes are the most in conference history and ranks No. 10 all-time at the FCS level. 

Adams is also an elusive rusher, though he’s not going to be mistaken for Marcus Mariota when he escapes the pocket. In his career, Adams has rushed for 1,232 yards and 11 touchdowns.

While the Oregon coaches will expect Adams to come in and compete for the job, there’s little doubt that the senior from Pasadena, California, will be the QB come Sept. 5 when the Ducks face, you guessed it, Eastern Washington.

As for Adams’ plans for when he gets to Eugene: "I'm going to try to win this starting spot and lead Oregon back to the national championship," Adams said, according to Andrew Greif of The Oregonian. "And win it."

While you have to admire his lofty goals, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is still a QB who is jumping up from the FCS to a team that was just quarterbacked by one of the greatest QBs in Pac-12 history.

The real question here is how good can Adams be, and is he already the best QB in the Pac-12 North and one of the best in the Pac-12. 

The Pac-12 has been kind to QBs in the past, and 2014 was a banner year for them in the conference. Five of the 12 starting quarterbacks in the conference were ranked in the top 12 in terms of passing yards, while six of the 12 ranked in the top 20 in passing touchdowns. 

However, the conference has lost Mariota, Brett Hundley, Taylor Kelly, Sean Mannion and Connor Halliday, meaning there is room for some new blood to take over.

Here’s a look at the 2014 stats for the presumed Pac-12 starting QBs in 2015:

Player	School	Completion %	Yards	TD	INT	Yard/Att.
Jared Goff	CAL	62.1	3,973	35	7	7.8
Kevin Hogan	STAN	65.9	2,792	19	8	7.9
Cyler Miles	UW	66.6	2,397	17	4	7.3
Luke Falk	WSU	64.2	1,859	13	7	7.7
Luke Del Rio	OSU	44.4	141	0	0	7.8
Vernon Adams Jr.	ORE	66.1	3,483	35	8	10.3
Anu Solomon	ARIZ	58.0	3,793	28	9	7.0
Mike Bercovici	ASU	61.8	1,445	12	4	7.8
Cody Kessler	USC	69.7	3,826	39	5	8.5
Josh Rosen	UCLA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sefo Liufau	COL	65.3	3,200	28	15	6.4
Travis Wilson	UTAH	60.7	2,170	18	5	6.9

While Adams’ 2014 stats, which came in just 10 games, are certainly inflated due to the level of competition he faced at Eastern Washington, it’s worth noting that he’s had incredible success in two starts against Pac-12 opponents.

Adams first made national headlines in the first game of the 2013 season, when EWU stunned Oregon State 49-46 in Corvallis.

In that game, Adams torched the Beavers for 411 yards passing, 107 yards rushing and six touchdowns—four passing, two rushing.

While that performance and victory was remarkable, his play against Washington in 2014 was even more impressive.

Against a Washington defense that featured some of the best defenders in college football—Danny Shelton, Shaq Thompson, Andrew Hudson and Hau’oli Kikaha, to name a few—Adams was 31-of-46 for 475 yards and seven touchdown passes. Seven!

Despite Adams’ limited experience playing against FBS teams, he has proved he’s capable of single-handedly keeping his team in a game against top-tier opponents.

No Pac-12 QB played as well as Adams did against Washington, not even Oregon’s 2014 Heisman winner.

It’s a small sample size, for sure. That being said, it looks as though Adams’ only competition in the Pac-12 North for the title of “Best QB” is California’s Jared Goff and Stanford’s Kevin Hogan. In terms of the rest of the Pac-12, the only other players who sniffed Adams’ numbers were USC’s Cody Kessler and Arizona’s Anu Solomon.

Based on experience within the Pac-12, I have to think that only Kessler, who's an early 2015 Heisman candidate, and Goff may be able to outperform Adams in 2015, especially considering the weapons Adams will have around him.

No QB in the country will have as many assets at his disposal as Adams will. The Ducks return players like Royce Freeman, Thomas Tyner, Darren Carrington, Devon Allen, Dwayne Stanford, Evan Baylis, Byron Marshall and Bralon Addison.

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

If there is one flaw in Adams’ plan for Pac-12 domination, it’s the amount of time he will get with the Oregon program before the season kicks off on Sept. 5. 

In order to officially transfer to Oregon, Adams needs to complete his degree at Eastern Washington, which he will do in early June. That means Adams will enroll at Oregon sometime in mid-June, leaving him about 12 weeks to prepare for the biggest test of his college career.

So, the question becomes will Adams have enough time to learn Oregon’s offense and develop a rapport with his new wide receivers, tight ends and running backs? If he’s able to do so, the sky is the limit. 

Adams may not have a ton of time with the skill position players, but from a pure talent standpoint, this is an experiment that should work out splendidly for the Ducks.

Adams, seemingly prepared and excited for the challenges that lie ahead, is ready for his spotlight and believes Oregon is where his dream finally will become a reality. 

"I just thought this would be a great opportunity for my family and myself to accomplish things that I've been dreaming about since I was little," Adams said, according to Andrew Greif of The Oregonian. "Heisman, national championship, playing at the Rose Bowl and playing at Oregon. I love it here at Eastern, but this is what I've been dreaming about." 

There’s no doubt Adams will be one of the most talented QBs in the Pac-12 the moment he steps foot onto the turf at Autzen Stadium. 

Talent doesn’t always translate into production and success. There’s a chance Adams won’t be able to adjust to the Oregon system, the Pac-12 or the FBS in general.

That being said, I don’t think that’s the case here. Adams may struggle a bit through the first month of the season, but by the time November rolls around, it would be shocking if Adams wasn’t considered one of the top quarterbacks in America, let alone the Pac-12.

Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise stated. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.