Big 12 Football: Power Ranking the Conference's Best Quarterbacks

The Big 12 is traditionally full of high-octane quarterbacks led by prolific passing attacks. And 2013 has been no exception. 

Currently, four quarterbacks in the Big 12 are in the top 25 of passing yards, per ESPN. That's nearly half the league's starting quarterbacks among the nation's passing leaders. 

Check out who the Big 12's five best quarterbacks are two weeks into the season. 

*All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted

5. Trevone Boykin

Despite throwing for just 203 yards and two scores so far in 2013, Boykin is already showing tremendous improvement from last year's performance. 

Over two games and 25 passing attempts, Boykin is averaging 8.12 yards per attempt and is completing 60 percent of his passes. Those numbers are both higher than his 2012 marks, where he averaged just 7.03 yards per attempt and completed only 57 percent of his passes. 

Boykin will need to show his improvement in a big way against Texas Tech in Week 3, with fellow quarterback Casey Pachall out with a broken arm that will cost him eight weeks of action.  

4. Jake Waters

Bill Snyder's replacement for Heisman Trophy finalist Collin Klein has shown a tremendous ability to throw the ball in the Kansas State Wildcats' first two games. 

Through two weeks, Waters ranks No. 22 in the country in passing yards (558) and has three total touchdowns. 

He's also completing nearly 72 percent of his passes, which is a far cry from Klein's 64 percent completion rating last season. 

The only disturbing mark on Waters' stat line is his four interceptions. He'll need to limit those for the rest of the season if he wants to stay among the Big 12's elite signal-callers.  

3. J.W. Walsh

J.W. Walsh has proven to be a huge spark for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who had to start three quarterbacks last season because of injuries. 

Through two games, Walsh has completed 77 percent of his passes for 461 yards and four scores while adding 137 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. 

Walsh's completion rating is a marked improvement from last season, when he completed just 66 percent of passes. 

His quarterback rating of 173.9 is also nearly four points better than his rating from last year. 

Oklahoma State was picked as the top team in the Big 12 preseason poll, and it seems as though the Cowboys have pegged Walsh to lead them to a projected Big 12 title.  

2. Baker Mayfield

One of the most pleasant surprises of the year has been the Texas Tech Red Raiders' walk-on freshman quarterback Baker Mayfield. 

Mayfield currently leads the Big 12 in total offense with 862 yards and has seven touchdowns through the air with no interceptions. 

He's also led Texas Tech to a 2-0 record and is looking to upend No. 24 TCU on Thursday. 

According to Mike Graham of the Dallas Morning News, Mayfield will be the starter in Lubbock for the "foreseeable future." 

Well, if Mayfield's performance thus far is any indicator, that should be good news for the Red Raiders.  

1. Bryce Petty

No quarterback in the Big 12 has put up better numbers than Baylor's Bryce Petty this season. 

Petty currently has the second-best quarterback rating in the entire country at 249.5. He trails only Jameis Winston of Florida State, who's earned himself a 252.2 rating. 

Petty also ranks third in the country in completion percentage at 80 percent. 

What's perhaps most impressive about Baylor's quarterback is the amount of points that he has led his offense to. Last week against Wofford, the Bears had 56 points in the first half. 

Baylor head coach Art Briles said at Big 12 media days that he expects Petty to break school records for passing. Per the Dallas Morning News:

"

Bryce, a reasonable expectation, first thing that popped into my mind is break every Baylor record there is offensively, which is what we expect him to do and what he plans to do. I don't know what expectation anyone would have other than doing that, which equates to winning every football game we step on the field with, which needs to be his expectation along with ours.

"

Well, it looks like Petty is well on his way to doing just that.