College Football's Best New Starting QBs
If you’re a fan of college football quarterback intrigue, this was one fun spring and summer to follow. Across the nation, high-profile quarterback battles unfolded as teams tried to fill vacancies and find the guy who’d take them to the promised land.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Oregon, among others, all went through quarterback competitions, with varying success. With one month of the 2015 season complete, it’s an excellent time to look at the new quarterbacks and see which new signal-callers are thriving.
Here’s a look at the best new starting quarterbacks. They were selected after examining their stats and measuring their impact on their respective offenses’ success.
Baylor QB Seth Russell
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Baylor returned 17 starters from a team that went 11-2 and just missed the inaugural College Football Playoff, so Art Briles’ program began 2015 with hopes of finishing the drill. One of the only major questions was at quarterback, where prolific star Bryce Petty graduated.
Junior Seth Russell had shown flashes of his talent while backing up Petty last fall, but was he ready to carry a bigger load this fall? So far, absolutely. Russell won the job in spring and hasn’t looked back.
Baylor is 3-0 and averages 64 points per game, best in the nation. Russell has been prolific as the triggerman, throwing for 995 yards with 15 touchdowns against four interceptions and completing 62.5 percent of his passes.
It helps that Russell is surrounded with talent. Baylor returned all five starting offensive linemen from 2014, and both Corey Coleman and KD Cannon are returning 1,000-yard receivers. Russell and Coleman have made a special connection. Coleman has 17 catches for 460 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 27.1 yards per catch. Tougher tests are ahead, but Baylor is just fine with Russell at the helm.
Florida QB Will Grier
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Jim McElwain rode Garrett Grayson’s arm to a 10-win season at Colorado State, which got him on Florida’s radar. McElwain was hired by the Gators to revive a moribund program and, especially, a moribund offense that struggled under Will Muschamp’s watch.
It’ll take him a little time to rebuild the offense in his mold, but McElwain has a solid piece in redshirt freshman quarterback Will Grier. Grier is a natural pocket passer, but he faced a tough challenge from mobile sophomore Treon Harris.
However, Grier appears to have won the job after leading the Gators to a 4-0 record and Top-25 ranking punctuated by an emotional comeback win over Tennessee. He has thrown for 725 yards with six touchdowns against three interceptions, adding 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns. If Grier can build on his early success, McElwain really might have something special to develop in Gainesville.
Georgia QB Greyson Lambert
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Virginia needed a big season to save coach Mike London’s job, but the Cavaliers are 1-3 against a difficult schedule following losses to UCLA, Notre Dame and Boise State. London and Cav fans have to wonder: How did we let Greyson Lambert get away?
Lambert chose to transfer to Georgia after being passed on the depth chart by Matt Johns, and it looks like it was a good call. Despite throwing for just 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions a year ago, Lambert won a three-way battle for the Bulldogs’ starting role and looks right at home in Athens.
He has thrown seven touchdowns against no interceptions, completing 76.5 percent of his passes and setting an NCAA single-game completion percentage record against South Carolina after completing 24 of 25 passes, a 96-percent clip.
Sure, Lambert has star tailback Nick Chubb to hand off to and an improving defense to support him, but he looks far more comfortable than he did in Charlottesville. Call him a game manager if you want, but he’s in a better place this fall—and so is Georgia.
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Iowa QB C.J. Beathard
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Last fall, C.J. Beathard was the most popular man on Iowa’s roster. While playing behind game-manager quarterback Jake Rudock, Beathard was a ray of hope in a disappointing 7-6 season. He led a comeback win at Pitt and started and won at Purdue while Rudock was injured. He also started the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Beathard, who has a more multifaceted, wide-open game than Rudock, finished with 645 yards and five touchdowns against two interceptions. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz installed him as the No. 1 quarterback following the season, and he was the top dog by default after Rudock transferred to Michigan.
Beathard took the job and ran with it this fall. Through four starts, he’s thrown for 962 yards and eight touchdowns against one interception, completing 68.2 percent of his passes. He has also made big plays with his feet, rushing for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Most importantly, Iowa is 4-0 entering this week’s league opener at Wisconsin.
Hawkeye fans wanted Beathard. They got him, and they’re glad they did.
Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly
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It’s fair to say that Chad Kelly took the long route to Oxford. Kelly signed with Clemson as a highly touted dual-threat quarterback and showed flashes of brilliance as a redshirt freshman. But he was booted by coach Dabo Swinney for detrimental conduct following an on-field confrontation with an assistant coach during the Tigers’ spring game.
After signing with Ole Miss, he was arrested outside a Buffalo nightclub following a scuffle with bouncers and was charged with multiple offenses, including third-degree assault, second-degree harassment, second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal mischief after allegedly threatening to fire an AK-47 into the nightclub.
He eventually pleaded guilty to a non-criminal charge of disorderly conduct and won a three-way battle for the Rebels’ starting job. On the field, he has infused Ole Miss’ offense with excitement. The Rebels are 4-0 with a win at then-No. 2 Alabama and look like College Football Playoff contenders, averaging 55 points per game (No. 2 nationally).
Meanwhile, Kelly has shown excellent running and passing skills, throwing for 1,219 passing yards and 10 touchdowns against three interceptions while taking advantage of a deep receiver corps led by a healthy Laquon Treadwell (22 receptions, 322 yards, one touchdown).
Coach Hugh Freeze took a chance on Kelly, and it has clearly paid off so far.
Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield
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Baker Mayfield’s road to Oklahoma wasn’t easy, but it is paying dividends. Two years ago, Mayfield went from walk-on to starting quarterback at Texas Tech, throwing for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns and winning Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. He was a walk-on, and as he told USA Today's George Schroeder, he didn't expect the Red Raiders to offer a scholarship, so he transferred to Oklahoma.
“I was confident in my ability,” Mayfield told Schroeder. “It’s why I decided to walk on to a bigger school, in the Big 12, because I was confident in myself.”
But when he arrived at Oklahoma, TTU coach Kliff Kingsbury initially blocked the transfer, only relenting just before the 2014 season began. And Mayfield still lost a year of eligibility in the process.
Following a season on the sidelines, Mayfield beat out former starter Trevor Knight for OU's starting role, and he’s been a perfect fit in new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley’s air raid system (the same system Mayfield ran in Lubbock).
The Sooners are 3-0 and averaging 371 passing yards per game, No. 8 nationally. Mayfield has been dynamic, throwing for 1,062 yards with 10 touchdowns against two interceptions. Tougher tests lie ahead, but so far, it looks he made the right call and found a perfect landing spot.
UCLA QB Josh Rosen
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Following consecutive 10-win seasons, UCLA and coach Jim Mora Jr. had an excellent nucleus returning in 2015, including 17 starters. But following Brett Hundley’s early departure to the NFL, the Bruins needed a quarterback. Enter Josh Rosen. Rosen, rated as 247Sports’ top 2015 QB prospect, beat out a pair of veterans and claimed the job in August.
Although he has had his share of ups and downs (including a three-interception effort against BYU), Rosen’s pocket passing skills make him worth the inconsistency. He led a 56-30 rout of defending Pac-12 South champ Arizona and has 964 yards passing with seven touchdowns against four interceptions.
Paired with tailback Paul Perkins, the Pac-12’s returning leading rusher, Rosen can take the Bruins to the College Football Playoff. He’ll learn as the season unfolds, and he’s already pretty good.
West Virginia QB Skyler Howard
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Dana Holgorsen’s pass-happy offense is a quarterback’s dream. The West Virginia coach likes to throw, throw and throw (with a little run mixed in), and who wouldn’t love that? This fall, junior quarterback Skyler Howard is the latest to benefit from Holgorsen’s system.
Last fall, Howard started the season’s final two games after quarterback Clint Trickett’s career ended due to concussions, but he didn’t have a clear edge for the job entering spring. He beat back a trio of freshmen and won the job and has been excellent.
Through three games, Howard has 916 yards passing with nine touchdowns against one interception, completing 69 percent of his passes. That’s 305.3 yards per game, and with the defense-optional Big 12 season ahead, those numbers might be just the beginning for Howard and the Mountaineers.
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