ACC Football: Updated QB Rankings After Everett Golson's Transfer to FSU
In the end, the one-day delay in Everett Golson's transfer announcement only prolonged the inevitable. The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback is indeed heading to the Florida State Seminoles for his final year of eligibility, according to a statement obtained by Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports.
How does Golson's arrival shake up the ACC's quarterback picture? It's not clear yet, as it could have a huge impact or barely one at all. That depends on whether Golson is even named the starter for the Seminoles. He'll battle with Sean Maguire during preseason practice for that job.
Golson's career to date has been marked by extreme highs and lows. When he's on, he can be a prolific and entertaining passer. When he's off, he's a turnover machine getting benched.
As we try to make sense of Golson's future in Tallahassee, here are the updated power rankings for the ACC's quarterbacks based on last year's results along with possible 2015 outcomes.
10. Michael Brewer, Virginia Tech Hokies
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Texas Tech Red Raiders transfer Michael Brewer was all over the place for the Virginia Tech Hokies last season. At times, Brewer looked fine. He helped Virginia Tech pull a stunning win over the Ohio State Buckeyes by throwing for 199 yards and a pair of scores (along with two picks).
Other times, Brewer and the Hokies offense had trouble getting off the ground. He averaged 4.5 yards per attempt in a miserable loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and threw 15 interceptions over the season.
Brewer was named the offense's most improved player this spring, so that's an encouraging sign. Now, it's just a matter of him capitalizing on that improvement.
9. Sean Maguire, Florida State Seminoles
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Maguire is unlike many other quarterbacks on this list in that he doesn't have extensive game experience. For that reason, there's little we can go off of when it comes to ranking him.
Maguire started one game last season—against the Clemson Tigers while Jameis Winston sat with a suspension—and played pretty well. Against one of the top defenses in the country, Maguire threw for 304 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
According to head coach Jimbo Fisher, Maguire has been excellent this spring, as well. However, it didn't show up in the spring game. Maguire started slow with a pick-six and ended sloppy. Briefly, in between, Maguire got into a rhythm, but he didn't stay there.
The addition of Golson makes things interesting. Maguire is a big kid with a bigger arm—the kind of player Fisher loves at quarterback. He also knows the playbook. That counts for something.
Maguire has the chance to shoot up these power rankings throughout the season since there's so little game tape on him. However, he could drop out completely if Golson wins the job.
8. Chad Voytik, Pittsburgh Panthers
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Chad Voytik certainly isn't flashy, but he's a good field general for the Pittsburgh Panthers offense. He doesn't need to be flashy, either. When James Conner is in the backfield, there's not much else to do other than hand the ball off.
In fact, Voytik threw fewer than 20 passes in eight of 13 games last season. When Voytik does throw, he has one of the ACC's best receivers in Tyler Boyd.
Voytik won't ever put up video game numbers. That's just not the offense Pitt runs. However, he doesn't make a lot of mistakes, either. He's a bit underrated in that regard.
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7. Reggie Bonnafon, Louisville Cardinals
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The Louisville Cardinals' quarterback competition will continue into preseason camp. That said, Reggie Bonnafon had himself one heck of a spring, as noted by David Hale of ESPN.com:
"Bonnafon looked sharp throughout most of spring practice, with his footwork vastly improved and his reads much sharper. He looked downfield with success, and with Gardner sidelined with a knee injury, the spring ended with Bonnafon as the likely winner of the three-man competition to head up the Louisville depth chart.
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Bonnafon is a tremendous athlete and can make plays with his feet, but the spring game showed he's made strides as a passer, as well. After going 4-1 as a starter in 2014, he's looking to lock down the full-time job. Will Gardner was the Week 1 starter for the Cardinals a year ago, but Bonnafon's momentum could change that for this season.
6. Jacoby Brissett, North Carolina State Wolfpack
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Florida Gators transplant Jacoby Brissett made the most of his first year of eligibility with the North Carolina State Wolfpack a year ago. As a redshirt junior, Brissett accounted for 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions, plus 241 yards per game of total offense.
Not to mention he had one of the most incredible plays of any quarterback last season against Florida State.
Brissett struggled with inconsistencies at times, and at one point, NC State lost five of six games. However, with most of the Wolfpack's offense returning in 2015, and with yet another year of experience under his belt, Brissett's power ranking could go way up in six months.
5. Everett Golson, Florida State Seminoles
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And here, we finally have Golson.
His ranking is unique, to be sure. He hasn't played a down of football for the Seminoles. Who knows, maybe he never will. The fact is Golson has to beat out Maguire for the starting job, and that's not a guarantee.
But wait: Golson's ranked ahead of Maguire. Yes, he is—based on his career at Notre Dame. Golson had turnover issues last season (22 in all); for that reason alone, he's not ranked higher. However, he's a two-year starter and has a nice arm. Say this for Golson: He's an effortless thrower.
None of that means, though, that he can come in and earn a starting job from a locker room veteran in three month's time. As Hale of ESPN.com noted, FSU's playbook is complicated. Golson will be asked to do a lot right away. That's one advantage Maguire has over Golson.
Either way, the competition is on.
“It's an open competition, and I communicate with everybody,” Fisher said via Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel. “We're going to do what gives us the best chance to be successful.”
4. Marquise Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels
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North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams was a one-man show last season. He finished second in the ACC behind only Winston in total yards per game (296.6). To put that into perspective, that's a little more than two-thirds of the Tar Heels' yards per game total.
In all, Williams accounted for 35 touchdowns.
A hip injury sidelined Williams for spring practices, but he should be good to go for next season. He's a perfect fit for head coach Larry Fedora's up-tempo spread offense.
3. Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
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It's been said before on here but is worth repeating: Justin Thomas is the best quarterback Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Johnson has had since arriving in Atlanta. At the very least, Thomas is the best passer of any Yellow Jackets quarterback who has come through the option attack.
Last season, Thomas completed about 51 percent of his passes for 1,719 yards, 18 touchdowns and just six picks—solid passing numbers for that offense. He also led the team, and finished fourth in the ACC, in rushing with 1,086 yards at 5.72 yards per carry.
Georgia Tech has to replace a ton of production off of last year's offense, so how Thomas looks in 2015 remains to be seen. However, you could argue no ACC quarterback finished hotter than he did.
2. Brad Kaaya, Miami Hurricanes
9 of 10
Technically, Miami Hurricanes sophomore quarterback Brad Kaaya was the ACC's best passer a year ago with a 145.88 rating. (For what it's worth, he barely beat Winston, who had a 145.53 rating.)
Kaaya showed a lot of wisdom beyond his years as a freshman in 2014. Although he had inconsistent moments—he completed under 50 percent of his passes in three games—he also displayed great arm strength and the ability to go through his reads.
Kaaya could be the ACC's best pure passer in 2015 and beyond, but how he plays without key elements of the offense remains to be seen. Running back Duke Johnson, receiver Phillip Dorsett and left tackle Ereck Flowers are all gone.
1. Deshaun Watson, Clemson Tigers
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Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson had injury issues as a freshman. He played the South Carolina Gamecocks game with a partially torn ACL and sat out of spring drills to recover. However, there's no one in the ACC with a higher ceiling than him.
Watson was remarkably efficient as a passer, throwing for 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions in eight game appearances. He also completed nearly 68 percent of his passes at 10.8 yards per attempt. On top of that, he proved himself as a viable rushing weapon as well with five touchdowns on the ground. The offense simply moved with Watson on the field.
Assuming he can stay healthy, Watson should easily be the ACC's best signal-caller. He certainly has the supporting cast on offense to make that happen.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
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