Power Ranking Pac-12 Football Starting Quarterbacks
The Pac-12 has long been considered the gold standard when it comes to quarterback play, and this year should be no different.
Though half of the conference must find a new full-time starter this season—including Oregon, who must replace 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota—the league has more talent at the position than any other conference.
USC's Cody Kessler was second in the Pac-12 in 2014 in passer rating, touchdown passes and yards per pass attempt, trailing only Mariota in all three categories. Cal's Jared Goff ranked second in passing yards with 3,973 last season and was ranked by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 1 junior QB prospect for the 2016 NFL draft. Arizona's Anu Solomon started every game as a freshman last season and led the Wildcats to the Pac-12 championship game, throwing for 3,793 yards and 28 touchdowns in the process.
Even with some new faces expected in 2015, the conference is not lacking in proven stars. But how do the league's 12 projected starting quarterbacks stack up to one another?
In forming the Pac-12 passer pecking order, the most heavily weighed factor was past performance. Players who posted big stats and played well in big games were given an edge over unproven players. For freshmen who have yet to play in college, the evaluation was more subjective and based largely on recruiting scouting reports and projections.
For teams who have not yet announced a starter at quarterback, a bit of reading the tea leaves and educated guessing was involved. This typically hurt an individual's ranking, since it's not yet clear if he's even the best quarterback on his own team.
Do you think your team's starting quarterback was ranked too low? Fire away in the comment section.
Here are the Pac-12 quarterback power rankings for 2015.
12. Seth Collins, Oregon State
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As an early-enrollee freshman, Seth Collins needed to provide a spark for the Beavers during the spring in order to grab the attention of his coaches and teammates. During Oregon State's spring game, he did just that when he hurdled and flipped over a defender in the game's opening minute.
Collins is competing with redshirt freshmen Nick Mitchell and Marcus McMaryion for the starting job, but the true freshman from San Diego has all the momentum and positive vibes, per ESPN's David Lombardi.
"I want to show my team that I'm a leader," Collins told Lombardi. "If I do win the job, I want them to know that they can depend on me. If it comes down to it, they need to be able to look at me and know that I'm ready to go full gear."
Collins was a 3-star recruit and ranked as the No. 55 dual-threat quarterback in the country, according to ESPN's recruiting services. He comes in at No. 12 on the list because, while he's certainly created some buzz so far in his young career, he has not had a chance to show what he can do in a real game and hasn't even won the starting job yet.
Collins already appears to be able to handle the attention and scrutiny that would come with being the starting quarterback, according to Gary Horowitz of the Statesman Journal, and if he continues his strong play, he'll get the opportunity to show it sooner than later.
11. Jeff Lindquist, Washington
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The Washington quarterback competition might be the most contested one in the Pac-12 this summer.
Competing with redshirt junior Jeff Lindquist are freshman Jake Browning and redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels, and there is virtually no separation between the three with the season less than four weeks away.
Lindquist appeared to be the front-runner to win the job at the end of spring practice, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, but Browning has surged early on in summer camp, and Carta-Samuels has also impressed.
Browning was ranked as the nation's No. 5 pocket-passing quarterback, according to ESPN, and was the highest-ranked player in the Huskies 2015 recruiting class. The 19-year-old early-enrollee freshman has displayed great touch on deep throws and appeared poised and mature talking with the media, according to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times.
Lindquist gets the nod as the Huskies projected starter because of his experience. He's entering his fourth season with the program and already has one career start, though it was a lackluster performance in a 17-16 win against Hawaii last season. Lindquist completed 10 of 26 pass attempts for 162 yards and one touchdown.
10. Luke Falk, Washington State
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If his first career start is any indication, redshirt sophomore Luke Falk will have no trouble maintaining his composure as Washington State's next starting quarterback. On the road against Oregon State, Falk completed 44 of 61 pass attempts for 471 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Falk earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for his performance, and now his goal is to seize control of the starting job and lead the Cougars back to a bowl game. Falk is competing with redshirt freshman Peyton Bender and appears unfazed by the challenge.
"I like it," Falk said in April via ESPN's Ted Miller, referring to the team's quarterback competition. "If guys think their job is secure, they get complacent. This allows us to keep working on our craft and feel like there's pressure behind us so we keep working hard. That's one thing I love about (Mike Leach). Competing is one thing that gets a program to the next level."
Falk put up big numbers in a short period of time last season. He threw two passes in a blowout win against Portland State, then entered the game against USC in the first quarter when Connor Halliday went down with an injury. In about four games of action, Falk threw for 1,859 yards with 13 touchdowns.
If history is any indication, Falk will put up big passing numbers in Leach's system; whether that leads to more wins for the Cougars remains to be seen.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
9. Josh Rosen, UCLA
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Josh Rosen arrived on campus at UCLA as the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2015, according to Yahoo Sports. Though he hasn't been named the starter yet, it seems to be only a matter of time before he's calling the shots in Westwood, at least according to Mike Waldner of the Daily Breeze.
Rosen has the look of an ideal quarterback—he's 6'4", 210 pounds and was named to multiple high school All-America teams. The Bruins return experience and talent at every position besides quarterback, and it seems that when Rosen is finally named the starter, he'll have all the necessary tools around him to succeed quickly.
The reason Rosen is listed at No. 9 and not higher is because of the very small track record of true freshmen quarterbacks finding instant success. According to Grantland's Matt Hinton, nine true freshmen have started at quarterback for teams that finished ranked in the AP Top 25 since 2000, and their numbers were mostly mediocre and only occasionally very good.
Regardless of personal statistics, only one of the nine led his team to a top-10 ranking—Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor in 2008, when the Buckeyes finished No. 9. Many of the quarterbacks on that list went on to be stars, but most went through growing pains during their debut seasons. Rosen has the potential to thrive immediately, but recent history suggests that he might face some ups and downs in 2015.
8. Jeff Lockie, Oregon
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It speaks to the strength of the Oregon football program that they are ranked No. 5 in the preseason coaches poll despite losing last year's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and having no proven or highly recruited option to replace him.
Jeff Lockie was a 2-star recruit out of Monte Vista High School in 2012, according to ESPN, and has no experience in college aside from a handful of garbage-time appearances. That would be cause for concern for most programs with national title aspirations, except that Oregon has a strong history of getting the most out of unheralded quarterback prospects.
Marcus Mariota was ranked a 2-star recruit by ESPN with very little recruiting interest out of high school. Darron Thomas, the Ducks' starter in 2010 and 2011, was ranked a 2-star prospect by Scout.com, and Jeremiah Masoli, Oregon's starter in 2008 and 2009, was not even ranked by ESPN or Yahoo Sports.
Adding intrigue to the Ducks' QB situation is the pending arrival of Vernon Adams. Adams was a three-year starter at Eastern Washington and transferred to Oregon after the 2014 season as a graduate student, eligible to play in 2015. He has yet to finish all his coursework at EWU and has not practiced with the Oregon team at all. He is expected to take his last test this week, according to Sports Illustrated's Lindsay Schnell.
Adams is a two-time runner-up for the Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, and undoubtedly has talent. With his arrival not expected until at least Thursday (or a little over three weeks until the Ducks' season opener), it would be surprising if Adams was named the starting quarterback.
Lockie gets tabbed in the No. 8 spot, higher than more experienced or more ballyhooed players, because of his familiarity with his team's offense and Oregon's track record of getting the most from the position. Oh, and having the embarrassment of riches that is the Ducks' offensive skill player group doesn't hurt either.
7. Sefo Liufau, Colorado
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Colorado's 6-18 record over the past two seasons has resulted in the Buffs being largely ignored on a national, or even conference-wide, scale. Which is a shame, because starting quarterback Sefo Liufau has quietly proven himself to be among the more talented signal-callers in the league.
Liufau was the gem of Colorado's 2013 recruiting class, the first class signed under current head coach Mike MacIntyre. In 12 games last season, he finished second in the conference in completions (325), tied for fifth in passing touchdowns (28), sixth in passing yards (3,200) and seventh in completion percentage (65.3 percent).
Those numbers are impressive, but the Buffs record with Liufau at the helm has not been. For Liufau to gain some notoriety—and make this ranking seem too low—he'll need to lead Colorado to some impressive wins this season. The team came close last year in games against Cal (59-56 loss in 2OT), UCLA (40-37 loss in 2OT) and Utah (38-34 loss) but couldn't get the job done.
Liufau's numbers in those three tough losses were impressive: 65 percent completion for 1,018 passing yards, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also ran for a combined 104 yards on 22 rushes. If he can help the Buffs get over the hump in those close games, he'll start to turn some heads and earn the Buffs some much-needed attention.
6. Travis Wilson, Utah
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Based on statistics alone, Travis Wilson did not have the most impressive 2014 season.
He was 12th in the league in completion percentage (60.7 percent), 11th in passer rating (134.7) and 10th in passing touchdowns (18). He briefly lost his job midway through last season and had just three games with over 200 passing yards.
Yet Wilson earns the No. 6 spot on this list because of his performance in close games. After getting pulled in favor of Kendal Thompson against UCLA—a game in which the Utes won, 30-28—both Wilson and Thompson struggled in a road win over Oregon State. Wilson was tabbed the starter the following week against USC, and he turned in perhaps the best performance of his career, leading the Utes on a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minute of a 24-21 win.
Wilson led the Utes to wins in three of their last four games, including an overtime win at Stanford and a 45-10 drubbing of Colorado State in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. The Utes went 9-4 last season, their best record since joining the Pac-12, and were 8-3 with Wilson as their starter.
His biggest asset is taking care of the football—he threw just five interceptions in 313 pass attempts last season, or about 1.6 percent of all throws. If he continues to protect the football and keep Utah in contention in the loaded Pac-12 South, Wilson will prove himself worthy of such a high ranking.
5. Kevin Hogan, Stanford
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In his first two seasons as Stanford's starter, Hogan led the Cardinal to two Pac-12 championships and a 16-3 record. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes, averaged 8.3 yards per attempt and had 29 touchdown passes with 13 interceptions. With Hogan at the helm, Stanford beat Oregon twice and finished both seasons ranked in the top 10 in the AP's poll.
Last season, however, Hogan and the Stanford offense ranked 77th in the nation in total offense and 79th in scoring offense, according to CFBStats.com. Stanford lost its first five games against ranked opponents—USC, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oregon and Utah—and averaged just 13.4 points per game in those losses.
Hogan and the Cardinal finished the season on a high note with three straight wins, including a 31-10 win over then-No. 8 UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Hogan went 16-of-19 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He also showed off his athleticism with 46 rush yards on seven carries.
No other quarterback in the conference has a more impressive career resume than Hogan does. Stanford has had an enormous amount of success with Hogan under center, and though he doesn't posses the same pocket-passing ability as some of his peers, his experience and big-game performances earn him a top-five ranking.
4. Anu Solomon, Arizona
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In a somewhat under-the-radar fashion, Arizona found itself atop the Pac-12 South standings when the dust settled, an impressive feat considering it did so while leaning on a redshirt freshman at quarterback and a true freshman at running back.
Anu Solomon started all 14 games for the Wildcats last season, leading the team to a 10-4 record and a top-20 finish in the AP poll. He finished in the top five in the conference in passing yards (3,793), completions (313) and passing touchdowns (28).
Though he has just one season under his belt, Solomon was one of the most electric freshmen in the country last season. For the first time since Rich Rodriguez became the head coach, the Wildcats will have a returning starter at quarterback, a fact that has Rodriguez excited for 2015, according to ESPN's Kevin Gemmell.
If Solomon can improve upon an impressive debut season, the Wildcats can repeat as Pac-12 South champs and maybe have a better showing in the conference-championship game than they did last season.
Solomon earns the nod at No. 4 over Hogan because of the way he led Arizona's offense last season, as well as the expectation that he'll be even better as a redshirt sophomore.
3. Mike Bercovici, Arizona State
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Mike Bercovici has the least amount of in-game experience of any quarterback in the top five, but that does not mean he's inexperienced. The redshirt senior has been a fixture in the Sun Devils locker room for a while now, and last season he finally got a chance to show what he could do on the field.
Bercovici made three starts last season and finished with 1,445 yards and 12 touchdowns with just four interceptions. In the regular-season finale against Arizona, he came off the bench and nearly led the Sun Devils to a fourth-quarter comeback but fell short in a 42-35 loss.
Despite his limited playing time, Bercovici ranked sixth in the conference in yards per pass attempt (7.8) and led Arizona State to wins over USC and Stanford. Though he has little in-game experience, there are already high expectations for him in his final season, according to Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic.
Bercovici has all the talent to be among the best quarterbacks in the conference. Like Solomon, his No. 3 ranking is justifiable using a little bit of projection based on the limited sample size his career has provided.
Bercovici has displayed his talent, and with a starting position locked up and plenty of talent surrounding him on offense, the sky is the limit.
2. Jared Goff, California
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Like Sefo Liufau, Jared Goff starts at quarterback for a team that hasn't compiled many wins in the last two seasons. Unlike Liufau, Goff has received plenty of attention despite his team's struggles.
Goff ranked fifth nationally last season in passing yards (3,973), completions (316) and touchdowns (35) and nearly led the Golden Bears to a bowl game. Cal was on the wrong end of several close games last season, including games against Arizona (49-45 loss on a Hail Mary), UCLA (36-34 loss) and USC (38-30 loss on the road).
Cal is expected to make big strides in Sonny Dykes' third year as head coach. The Bears were picked to finish third in the Pac-12 North behind Oregon and Stanford and seem poised to snap a three-year streak of losing seasons.
To do that, the Bears must improve on defense after finishing 123rd last season in points allowed. They'll also need Goff to be just as spectacular, if not better, than he was last season.
With a host of offensive skill players returning, including leading running back Daniel Lasco and receivers Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs, Goff has plenty of weapons around him to excel in 2015.
1. Cody Kessler, USC
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With the exception of Marcus Mariota, no quarterback in the Pac-12 could match the statistical season that Cody Kessler had.
He finished the 2014 season ranked third nationally in completion percentage (69.7 percent), fourth in passer rating (167.1) and fourth in touchdown passes (39). Among the 20 quarterbacks with at least 450 pass attempts, none threw fewer than Kessler's five interceptions.
The knock on Kessler last season was that he didn't play his best in big games, a claim that's supported by the numbers. In four games against teams that finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25, USC went 1-3, and Kessler's numbers sagged—he completed 66.7 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and three interceptions and averaged 6.6 yards per pass attempt, all worse than his seasonal averages.
Kessler is well aware of his struggles in big games and is intent on improving in that aspect in 2015, according to ESPN's Ted Miller. He's garnered significant Heisman Trophy hype heading into the season and has the chance to lead the Trojans back to national prominence.
Kessler earned the top spot on this list because of how good he was last season and how good USC is expected to be in 2015. The team returns its entire offensive line and has plenty of dangerous offensive skill players despite the departures of Nelson Agholor and Buck Allen. With Kessler at the helm, the Trojans are poised for a special season.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
