Ranking the Starting Quarterbacks in the Big Ten Legends Division

The Big Ten Legends division will feature some new faces at quarterback in 2011, but it will have some familiar ones as well.

MarQueis Gray will be getting his first shot at quarterback for Minnesota, as will James Vandenberg for Iowa.  Dan Persa will be returning from injury to lead Northwestern again after missing the final three games of last year.  However, not everyone will be breaking in a new signal caller as Michigan, Nebraska, and Michigan State all return their quarterbacks.

Find out in what order they're ranked, and what to expect from all of them this season.

6. James Vandenberg (RS Jr.) Iowa

With Ricky Stanzi graduating, the quarterback job finally belongs to James Vandenberg.  Iowa fans have seen what Vandenberg is capable of, as he filled in for an injured Ricky Stanzi at the end of the 2009 season.  He made his first career start on November 14, 2009, in Columbus against Ohio State.  Iowa fell just short, losing in overtime, 27-24.

Clearly, Vandenberg has been tested and won't be overwhelmed as Iowa's starting quarterback.  Kirk Ferentz won't expect Vandenberg to win games with his arm, but instead to just take care of the football.  This shouldn't be a problem, as Iowa will have a very strong ground game led by Marcus Coker. 

When he is asked to throw it, though, he may not get a whole lot of help from his receivers.  Marvin McNutt is Iowa's only proven receiver, and defenses will realize that and will focus solely on him.  Another receiver has to step up, or Iowa's passing game could be in trouble.  Keenan Davis, once a highly touted recruit, is the most likely option, but he hasn't shown much yet.

Clearly, Vandenberg has some experience, and will know what to do now that the quarterback job is finally his.  Ranking him number six on this list may make it to look like he isn't a good quarterback, but he should be just fine this year.  The Legends division just has a lot of good quarterbacks, causing him to drop to the bottom of the list.

5. MarQueis Gray (Jr.) Minnesota

Adam Weber, now graduated, has started the past four years at quarterback for Minnesota, so it's been a while since the Gophers have had to break in a new signal caller.  MarQueis Gray will be seeing his first full playing time at quarterback for Minnesota, but he's no stranger to the field.  The past two years, he has actually been playing wide receiver, and has been a doing a pretty good job.

However, he will now be at quarterback full time, and this could be just the boost Minnesota's offense needs.  Last year, their offense was simply not very good, ranking 89th in the country in points scored per game.  The main problem was that they lacked a solid ground game, but with Gray now at quarterback, it should get a boost.

Gray is extremely athletic and maybe more importantly, very mobile.  He will certainly be asked to run the ball some, providing a spark to the running game.  Duane Bennett will be the main back, but just hasn't performed well in his career.  Not a whole lot is expected of him this year, but having Gray at quarterback will benefit him greatly.  If Gray can be effective running the ball, it will cause defenses to pay more attention to him, giving Bennett the chance to possibly surprise and have a big year.

Everyone knows that Gray can run, but the biggest question will be his passing.  If he could somehow develop into a great passer, he could actually be one of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten.  He has a big weapon at receiver in Da'Jon McKnight, and another solid target in tight end Eric Lair.  Beyond those two, there are some question marks, as Brandon Green and Marcus Jones need to step up and help Gray out.  Overall, his targets are solid, but not great.

MarQueis Gray could be just the answer Minnesota needs to get their offense going.  He is a very athletic, exciting player that much of the Big Ten probably doesn't know much about.  It will be interesting to see how good of a passer he is this year, but more importantly, how effective he is running the ball.

4. Kirk Cousins (RS Sr.) Michigan State

A lot of people in the media think Kirk Cousins is not only one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten, but one of the best in the country...why?  Some people will look at his numbers and then just assume he is a great quarterback.  Obviously, numbers don't always tell the whole story.

He had pretty good numbers last year because he beat up on mediocre competition.  Of Michigan State's 11 wins, only two came against opponents with a record better than 7-6.  One of those two was against an 8-5 Notre Dame team, and they needed overtime and a fake field goal to do it.

They did not face the best scoring defense in the Big Ten last year, Ohio State, and when they faced the second best, Iowa, they got crushed.  In that game, Cousins not only threw three interceptions, but he didn't even pass for 200 yards.  Fans will support him by saying that he just simply had a bad game.

However, when Michigan State faced another good defense in Alabama, Cousins did even worse.  In that game, he barely completed 50 percent of his passes and only threw for 120 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.  Michigan State was beat down in every way possible in that game, and Cousins didn't even play in the 4th quarter.

Obviously, Michigan State can beat up on the mediocre teams, but can't beat the great ones.  For them to be able to do this, Cousins needs to show up for the big games, which he hasn't done so far.

Even though Cousins can put up impressive numbers against average defenses, he needs to show that he can do it in big games before he can be considered a great quarterback.

3. Dan Persa (RS Sr.) Northwestern

Unfortunately for Northwestern, Dan Persa got hurt near the end of last year and missed the team's final three games.  Without him at quarterback, Northwestern went 0-3, and with him, 7-3.  Obviously, he means a lot to this team.  He is truly the heart and soul of the offense, and the unquestioned leader of the team.

Amazingly, he completed 73 percent of his passes last year while throwing for 2,581 yards.  He also threw 15 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.  Not only is he a great passer, but he's also a great runner.  He carried the ball 164 times for 519 yards and rushed for an impressive nine touchdowns.  Remember, he compiled all of these numbers while playing in only ten games.

Some people in the media are calling him the best quarterback in the Big Ten, while others are even calling him a Heisman candidate.  If he expects to be a Heisman candidate this year, Persa will not only have to have a great year, but Northwestern will as well.

His rushing numbers could take a hit if one of Northwestern's running backs doesn't step up.  Mike Trumpy will be the main back, but he just simply hasn't been effective yet in his career.  If the backs don't step up, defenses will focus in on Persa, which could cause his rushing numbers to suffer.

Either way, he should put up great passing numbers again this year, and defenses will have to pay close attention to his running ability.

2. Taylor Martinez (RS So.) Nebraska

Taylor Martinez could not have burst onto the college football scene last year in a bigger way.  As a redshirt freshman, he rushed for at least 100 yards in five of Nebraska's first seven games, including a 241 yard performance at Kansas State.  Through the first few weeks of the season, he and Denard Robinson were the talk of the college football world.  Some people were even labeling those two as the fastest players in football.

However, Martinez began to tail off some, as he failed to rush for 100 yards in Nebraska's final seven games.  In fact, things went downhill for Martinez in a hurry.  There was the infamous scene with Bo Pelini on the sidelines during the loss to Texas A&M, in which Pelini absolutely exploded on Martinez.  What followed was endless controversy and drama.  Rumors began circulating around Nebraska that Martinez had not only quit the team, but was also planning on transferring.  Obviously, they weren't true, but it's never good when rumors like that are flying around.

Hopefully for Nebraska, all of last year's controversy and drama is in the past, and Martinez can focus solely on football this year.  If he is completely healthy, which he wasn't at the end of last year, the Big Ten will have to focus heavily on his running ability.  If he is able to run effectively, Nebraska's offense is extremely dangerous, and almost impossible to stop.  However, if defenses are able to shut him down, which many did last year, their offense won't be nearly as effective.

If defenses are able to make him throw the ball, Nebraska's offense could struggle.  In fact, how well he throws the ball will be one of the biggest question marks for their offense this fall.  He threw for over 150 yards only twice all of last season, and one of those times was against a Kansas team that went 3-9.  He completed just under 60 percent of his passes, and only threw for 1,631 yards.  His ability to throw the ball needs to improve if defenses are going to respect Nebraska's passing game.

It will be interesting to see if Martinez can bounce back from last year's disappointing finish.  If he is able to run the ball like he did during the first half of last year, Big Ten defenses will be in for a nightmare.  If he's able to do that and be a decent passer, he could be one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

However, it is not a given that he will be the explosive player he was last year, seeing as how injuries affected him down the stretch.  Fans will watch him closely this fall to see if he is over these injuries.  If he hasn't healed completely, quarterback depth could be an issue, as Cody Green's transfer is really starting to loom large.  Fans will also be watching closely to see if anymore controversy or drama occurs again this season.

1. Denard Robinson (Jr.) Michigan

Simply put, Denard Robinson is the most electrifying player in college football.  He burst onto the scene last year as a sophomore, and immediately captured the attention of the entire college football world.  It all started with a 197-yard rushing performance against Connecticut, which eventually went on to win the Big East.  A week later in South Bend, he broke all kinds of records by amassing 502 yards of total offense against the Fighting Irish.

Through the first half of the season, the media was hailing him as the clear cut favorite for the Heisman.  However, the hype eventually began to slow down, but Robinson didn't.  Regardless of what people say, Big Ten defenses could not contain him, and he put up impressive numbers throughout the entire year.

When he faced two of the best run defenses in the country in Iowa and Ohio State, he ran for over 100 yards against both of them.  In fact, he ran for over 100 yards against three other conference foes in Indiana, Penn State, and Wisconsin.  What's even more amazing is that he put up all of these numbers without the help of a great running back, as defenses focused completely on Robinson, and barely even paid attention to Vincent Smith and Michael Shaw.

Everyone will admit that his running ability is downright amazing, but his critics will say that he is not a good quarterback because he can't throw the ball.  That statement is downright absurd, and his passing numbers will prove it.  He completed over 60 percent of his passes, threw for 2,570 yards, and tossed 18 touchdown passes.  He compiled all of these passing numbers while playing in a run-first offense.

Now in a pro style offense, nobody expects him to put up the same kind of numbers he did last year, and that's probably a fair assumption.  This year, he will be asked to take snaps from under center and stand in the pocket when throwing the ball.

However, we will still see some of the brilliance he showed last year, as Al Borges will certainly let him take some shotgun snaps, and will give him plenty of designed runs.  His numbers won't be as impressive as last year, but that doesn't mean that he won't be a better player.

Denard Robinson is not only a great football player, but he's also a great person and teammate.  Always in a positive mood, he is the perfect leader that every team would want to have.  He is the best quarterback in the Big Ten, and easily one of the best in the country.