Power Ranking the Top 15 Quarterbacks Through 7 Weeks
Quarterback play remains a key factor in evaluating team success in college football. Without a good player at the position, it's often hard to consider a team a legitimate contender for a national title, and in cases like Ohio State not settling on one QB, it can also alter perception.
Earlier this season we power-ranked the country's top 15 quarterbacks, using a formula that takes into account several factors: total offense (and the percent of a team's output they're responsible for), completion percentage, yards per pass attempt, touchdown and interception rate and quarterback rating as well as how well their team is performing in 2015.
The season is halfway over, so it's time for an update to this ranking. Check it out and then give us your thoughts in the comments section.
15. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
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Dak Prescott was the main reason Mississippi State was able to get off to a 9-0 start in 2014, reaching No. 1 in the nation for the first time in school history. The Bulldogs aren't nearly as good this season, but if not for Prescott they'd be much worse.
The senior isn't producing at the same rate as a year ago, but at 279.1 yards per game, he's still MSU's best option on offense. He's the team's leading rusher, with 254 yards and four touchdowns, and he's dramatically improved his accuracy and care when throwing the ball.
Prescott is completing a career-high 65.8 percent of his passes and his 225 attempts are the most of any quarterback in the country without throwing an interception.
14. Everett Golson, Florida State
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From liability to asset, Everett Golson has resurrected his career as a senior after transferring from Notre Dame to Florida State.
Last year he was responsible for 22 turnovers with Notre Dame, most during the second half of the year when the Fighting Irish lost five of seven after a 6-0 start. He's yet to give the ball away with Florida State, and while much of that is because of what the Seminoles are asking of him, he's gradually settled in to a great comfort zone in Tallahassee.
"He's fit right in with our guys," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher told Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman.
Golson is coming off his best game yet with FSU, throwing for 372 yards and three touchdowns. For the year he has 1,449 yards and 11 TDs on 67.2 percent passing, and with him operating the offense, the Seminoles are tops in the FBS with only one turnover.
13. Patrick Mahomes II, Texas Tech
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Texas Tech will struggle to beat the best teams it faces as long as its defense continues to rank near the bottom in the country. But Patrick Mahomes II has ensured the Red Raiders can be competitive in those games, while also winning those against lesser opponents.
The sophomore is third nationally in total offense, at 407.4 yards per game, with 374 passing yards per game as well as six rushing touchdowns. A 63.8 percent passer, that's a huge uptick from his 56.8 percent rate in 2014.
Mahomes II has topped 350 passing yards in all but one game this season, including a 428-yard, five-TD performance two weeks ago in a 66-31 win over Iowa State.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
12. Kevin Hogan, Stanford
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From a statistical standpoint and in terms of pro potential, Kevin Hogan is no Andrew Luck. Unfortunately, the senior gets unfairly compared to his Stanford predecessor, and, thus, his performance gets knocked down a few pegs because his numbers haven't been as good as what Luck did from 2009-11.
But Hogan's stock is on the rise this year as he's been at the helm of the country's hottest team—one that looked pathetic in its season opener and nearly unstoppable since.
Hogan is completing 65.9 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and 214.3 yards per game, which is much the same pace he was on in 2014. But that Cardinal team went 8-5, while this year's squad is 5-1 and has averaged 45 points per game during a five-game win streak.
11. Cody Kessler, USC
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Faced with his second midseason coaching change in three seasons, USC senior Cody Kessler is having what for him is a down year, but for most other quarterbacks, it would still be a great one.
He's thrown for 1,818 yards with 17 touchdowns in six games, completing 68.5 percent of his passes. He has five interceptions, all in the past three games, while he was picked off just five times in 452 attempts last season.
The Trojans fired coach Steve Sarkisian on Oct. 12; it's the second time USC has fired a coach since 2013 (Lane Kiffin was the other coach). Kessler weathered that turmoil in his first season as a starter and should get through this change, though it's understandable if it might have an effect on his play at times.
"Has Cody Kessler dealt with more major, national controversies than any other FBS QB in college football history?," UFCFootball.com's Ryan Abraham tweeted earlier this month.
10. Luke Falk, Washington State
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No Mike Leach-coached college football team worth its salt fails to have a prolific passer, but the quarterback he has this season could be his best in years.
Luke Falk averages 395.2 yards per game, second-best in FBS, and the sophomore is also second in the country in completion rate at 72.3 percent. He's coming off a 407-yard, six-touchdown game in a win over Oregon State; it's his third 400-yard game of 2015 and fifth in nine career starts since replacing Connor Halliday midway through last season.
Halliday set the FBS single-game passing record last year, with 734 yards. Falk might be able to top that if given the chance, which is very possible since Washington State ranks 126th in rushing.
9. Deshaun Watson, Clemson
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Deshaun Watson was extremely fun to watch during his freshman year in 2014, though because of injuries he couldn't stay on the field. Following knee surgery in December, he and Clemson were noticeably careful at the start of this season, but the last few weeks have seen the bubble wrap get removed and the real Watson step forward.
With 665 passing yards and five touchdowns the last two games, Watson looks to be back to the level he was before hurting his knee. And while he's less apt to take off and run than a year ago, the sophomore still has the wheels to leg out a big run here and there and make defenses chase him.
This has helped open up passing opportunities for Watson, who last week had 420 yards and three TDs against a Boston College defense that was allowing less than 99 yards per game.
8. Jared Goff, California
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Jared Goff remains the best bet for a quarterback to get taken first in the 2016 NFL draft, assuming the California junior decides to turn pro after this season. But his reputation took a bit of a hit last time out when he was intercepted five times in the Golden Bears' first loss, a 30-24 setback at unbeaten Utah on Oct. 10.
Goff now has nine interceptions in 2015, surpassing the seven he had in total last season, though some credit has to go to a Utah defense that pressured him all night and forced bad throws.
The poor outing doesn't take away from what's still been a very good year for Goff, who averages 328.3 passing yards per game with 17 touchdowns and a career-best 66.7 percent completion rate.
7. Greg Ward Jr., Houston
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Now that Ohio State has made a change at quarterback, replacing Cardale Jones with J.T. Barrett, the defending national champions should look even more like the team that bulldozed through the competition in 2014, thanks to a dual-threat passer who was just as deadly with his arm as his legs.
Prior to the move, the best way to witness what the Buckeyes and Barrett did last year was to watch what Greg Ward Jr. and Houston. Not surprisingly, the Cougars are coached by ex-OSU offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who has seamlessly implemented his system and made Ward the country's most effective mobile QB.
The junior has rushed for 631 yards, most among quarterbacks, and his 14 rushing TDs are tied for first nationally. He has 10 rushing scores in the past three weeks, as Houston has easily won its first three games in American Athletic Conference play while remaining unbeaten on the season.
Ward's passing is quite effective, too, as he has a 71.8 percent pass-completion rate and averages 254 yards per game.
6. Matt Johnson, Bowling Green
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The Mid-American Conference has produced some big-name NFL quarterbacks over the years, including Byron Leftwich, Chad Pennington and Ben Roethlisberger. Who knows if Matt Johnson will be able to join that list, but for now he's on pace to blow their collegiate achievements away.
The Bowling Green senior leads FBS with 2,891 yards to go with 24 touchdowns. His per-game average of 413 yards is only slightly behind the pace he'd need to break B.J. Symons' national season record of 5,833 if the Falcons were to play 14 games this year, but Johnson has showed this season he's more than able to put up big numbers.
Johnson had 491 yards and six TDs in Bowling Green's upset win at Maryland in September, and two weeks ago he threw for 450 yards with five TDs. And while he throws the ball a lot, averaging 43.6 attempts per game, only three of his 305 passes have been picked off.
5. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
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Oklahoma's move to the Air Raid offense for 2015 was a natural fit for Baker Mayfield, who, prior to joining the Sooners last season, had operated the same offense as a freshman at Texas Tech. But Mayfield has added a unique element to the attack this year with his mobility, and, thus, he has far exceeded expectations.
The sophomore has thrown for 1,875 yards and 19 touchdowns and added four rushing scores, one of which came during his almost single-handed comeback to win at Tennessee and another two as part of a school-record 572 yards of total offense he had against Tulsa.
Mayfield has only three interceptions, but just one has come over the past four games. He's thrown 13 TDs in that span while completing 67.4 percent of his throws this season.
4. Paxton Lynch, Memphis
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The savvy, wired-in college football fan was well aware of Memphis junior Paxton Lynch heading into this season and plenty more have learned about what this 6'7" passer can do during 2015. Now that SEC Nation has seen firsthand what he can do, he'll no longer be able to go unnoticed.
Lynch helped pace Memphis' landmark win over Ole Miss last week, extending his team's school-record 13-game win streak with 384 passing yards and three touchdowns. He led the Tigers back from a 14-0 deficit to win by 13 points. It was the program's first win against a ranked opponent since 1996.
He has completed 71 percent of his passes for 1,919 yards with 13 TDs and only one interception, which came in the first half against Ole Miss on a tipped ball.
3. Seth Russell, Baylor
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The Baylor machine has very easy operating instructions for the quarterback position: insert player, turn switch to "On" and then watch the numbers pile up. It seems that easy, based on how prolific junior Seth Russell has been in his first season as a starter.
But that would be minimizing Russell's skills as a passer, which certainly are helped by being a part of the nation's best offense but aren't solely because of that. And following his best all-around performance yet, Russell is finding himself in the thick of discussions for various national awards.
Russell threw for 380 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another 160 with a TD in the Bears' 62-38 win against West Virginia. He'd run for 178 yards in the previous five games, but now he has accounted for 32 TDs (including 27 on just 163 passes).
"It was only the second time in school history that a quarterback had passed for more than 300 and ran for at least 100," Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin American-Statesman wrote. "Robert Griffin III did it in 2011, when he was in the midst of winning the Heisman."
2. Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky
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Brandon Doughty's sixth year of eligibility has resembled a barnstorming tour of the career passing rankings, as the Western Kentucky senior has surpassed an impressive list of former college greats this season while leading the Hilltoppers to their best start since joining the FBS in 2007.
With 2,709 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, Doughty has risen to 73rd all time, with 10,509 yards, while his 87 TDs are tied for 42nd. He led the nation with 4,830 yards and 49 TDs a year ago, but he's become far more accurate and precise with his throws.
Doughty leads the FBS with a 74.1 percent completion rate, up from 67.9 a season ago, and he's only thrown four interceptions in 266 attempts. Because of surgeries to both knees—which wiped out nearly two years of his career—Doughty doesn't run much, but he's managed to only take 46 sacks in his career.
1. Trevone Boykin, TCU
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It's looking very likely that a running back will end up winning the Heisman Trophy based on the dominant play of rushers like Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook and others. But if the quarterback dominance of this award is to continue, senior Trevone Boykin is the position's best hope, and he's certainly playing like a top candidate.
Unbeaten TCU has had a roller coaster of a season to this point, mostly because of an injury-depleted defense that has led to several adventurous road games. But none of those games have resulted in losses because of Boykin, who is set to obliterate the numbers he produced during his breakout season in 2014.
"Boykin is responsible for 30 touchdowns and 2,979 yards," Martin Rickman of Uproxx.com wrote. "There's little evidence to suggest the second half will be anything different."
Boykin's 425.6 yards of total offense per game ranks second in the country, and he accounts for more than 69 percent of TCU's production. He's completing a career-best 66.4 percent of his passes, while his 5.71 yards per rush has forced defenses to keep a spy on him at all times.
Stats are courtesy of Sports-Reference.com and cfbstats.com, unless noted otherwise.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
