Big Ten Football Top 150 Players, No. 103: Andrew Maxwell, Michigan State QB

No. 103: Andrew Maxwell, No. 10, QB, Michigan State
2011 Stats: 18-26, 171 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; 5 rushes, -4 yards, 0 TD

Strengths

Maxwell is a former Elite 11 quarterback prospect who earned four stars from Rivals.com as a high school senior and has spent the last three seasons learning the playbook and refining his skills under Kirk Cousins.

It's Maxwell's time to shine now, and both his mechanics and his grasp of the offense are solid enough that he's got a death-grip on the starting role.

Weaknesses

The glaring flaw on Maxwell's resume at this point is that it's painfully light on experience.

Kirk Cousins was obviously good enough that Mark Dantonio wasn't going to bench him ever, but the fact remains that Maxwell has no career starts.

The knee injury he suffered at the beginning of spring practice which kept him out of action for the session will be fine by September, but it still robbed him of badly needed drill time and reps.

2011 Prediction

Maxwell is unlikely to be a focal point of this offense from the get-go in 2012, given that Le'Veon Bell and the offensive line are strong enough that the Spartans can just go power all day long.

But Maxwell's probably going to be put in position to win or lose games by the midpoint of the Big Ten season, and he's talented enough that Michigan State's going to be in good shape this year.