College Football's Top 25 QBs Entering 2016 Spring Practice
Quarterback play remains the single most important aspect of any offense in college football. Without an effective passer, it's hard to succeed in today's era of uptempo attacks and prolific scoring.
Thankfully, the game is as loaded as ever with great quarterbacks, even after a good number of the best from the 2015 season have moved on.
We've ranked the 25 best quarterbacks in college football as spring practice gets underway across the country. These players are ranked based on their past performance and expected impact this fall when the games begin. Think we've got it wrong or missed someone? Let us know in the comments section.
25. Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati
1 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'4”, 215 lbs
Transfers and head injuries have made for a college career full of stops and starts but plenty of big games in between. Here's hoping Gunner Kiel can put it all together in his final season in 2016 from both a performance and health standpoint.
Originally a Notre Dame signee in 2012, Kiel didn't make his debut until 2014 with Cincinnati when he threw for 418 yards and six touchdowns against Toledo. He had 3,254 yards and 31 TDs that season, then last year had 2,777 yards and 19 scores despite appearing in only 10 games.
Kiel twice suffered head injuries that knocked him out of games in 2015, then a personal issue caused him to miss the Hawaii Bowl.
24. Lamar Jackson, Louisville
2 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'3”, 196 lbs
Lamar Jackson didn't figure it all out for Louisville until the second half of the 2015 season, which was also when the Cardinals offense went from hard to watch to can't miss. Not surprisingly, one had to do with the other.
The final numbers (1,840 passing yards, 12 TDs; 960 rushing yards, 11 TDs) don't indicate the progress Jackson made from his debut against Auburn to the Music City Bowl win over Texas A&M. Jackson's first career pass was horribly overthrown and intercepted, while in that final game he had 227 yards and two TDs on just 12 completions while also rushing for 226 yards and two scores.
Even though he hardly played in a handful of games, Jackson still led Louisville in rushing by 326 yards.
23. Tanner Mangum, BYU
3 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'3”, 215 lbs
Tanner Mangum wasn't an unknown quantity when he had to come off the bench for an injured Taysom Hill in BYU's season opener last year, but he was a forgotten one. Once he threw a Hail Mary pass to help the Cougars beat Nebraska, though, many quickly remembered that Mangum was co-MVP of a prep passing competition a few years earlier, sharing that honor with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.
A church mission had taken Mangum away from football, but his return in 2015 was well-documented, helping BYU win nine games (including several in dramatic fashion) while throwing for 3,377 yards and 23 touchdowns. Mangum had five 300-yard games, including 315 yards with two TDs in the Las Vegas Bowl win over rival Utah.
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22. Brett Rypien, Boise State
4 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'2”, 199 lbs
Brett Rypien was considered the quarterback of the future for Boise State when he joined the program in 2015. It just wasn't expected that the future would arrive so soon. But an injury to Ryan Finley forced the Broncos' hand in September, and Rypien made the move pay off almost immediately.
The nephew of former NFL passer Mark Rypien threw for 3,350 yards and 20 touchdowns in less than 11 games, going for 321 yards and three TDs at Virginia in his first career start. That was the first of five 300-yard games last season, including back-to-back efforts of 469 and 503 yards.
21. Anu Solomon, Arizona
5 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 215 lbs
Anu Solomon wasn't able to match the success he had as a redshirt freshman in 2014, unable to fully recover from a concussion suffered in late September. He still managed to throw for 2,667 yards and 20 touchdowns, but that was down from 3,793 yards and 28 TDs the season before.
With a full offseason to regain his bearings, as well as some spirited competition during spring ball from sophomore Brandon Dawkins and true freshman Khalil Tate, look for Solomon to return to his old form this fall.
20. Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee
6 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'0”, 192 lbs
With 4,005 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, Brent Stockstill had the most prolific season of any freshman quarterback in the country last year. This performance, along with leading Middle Tennessee to seven wins and a bowl appearance, helped take pressure off his coach for choosing to go with him over veteran Austin Grammer.
The Blue Raiders' coach also happens to be Stockstill's father, Rick Stockstill. Bill Connelly of SB Nation noted it "had to take a leap of faith" for Stockstill to go with his son, but "any sense of unease vanished because the young QB was a revelation."
Stockstill completed 66.7 percent of his passes and was intercepted just nine times in 490 attempts, with only one pick in 133 throws against Alabama, Illinois and Vanderbilt.
19. Quinton Flowers, South Florida
7 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'0”, 210 lbs
A switch flipped for Quinton Flowers midway through last season, coinciding with when South Florida went from a team struggling to move the ball to one that was as dangerous as any among mid-majors down the stretch. Flowers will look to carry over that momentum into 2016, when the Bulls should be contend for the American Athletic Conference's East Division title.
Flowers threw for 2,290 yards and 22 touchdowns last year, averaging 208.8 yards with 12 TDs in his final five games. South Florida went 4-1 during that stretch, its only loss to Western Kentucky in the Miami Beach Bowl.
Add in 991 rushing yards and 12 scores, and Flowers became one of the best all-around quarterbacks outside of the power conferences by the end of 2015.
18. Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee
8 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'3”, 207 lbs
Joshua Dobbs has started games in every season he's been with Tennessee, though in 2013 and 2014 that didn't happen until midway through the year. His first chance to run the Volunteers offense for an entire fall occurred last season. While the results were good, they could have been better.
Dobbs has one last shot to put it all together, a final chance to show he can win games with both his arm and his legs like he's shown in separate occasions since 2013.
"We're heading in the right direction, but our key this year is we're trying to take the next step moving forward," Dobbs told Patrick Brown of TimesFreePress.com.
Dobbs threw for 2,291 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 671 yards and 11 scores in 2015. Though he completed only 59.6 percent of his throws, he was intercepted just five times.
17. Taylor Lamb, Appalachian State
9 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 200 lbs
Appalachian State has won 18 games in its first two years of FBS play, and Taylor Lamb has been the starter for all but one of those victories. He took over the Mountaineers offense in the third week of 2014 and has held the job ever since, going 17-2 in his last 19 starts.
Lamb doesn't throw a lot, attempting 30-plus passes just once in 2015, but he's as efficient as any quarterback, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt and a TD every 9.1 throws. That includes two TD passes in Appalachian State's win over Ohio in the Camellia Bowl, its first-ever bowl victory last December.
16. Zach Terrell, Central Michigan
10 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'1”, 204 lbs
Western Michigan's rise under coach P.J. Fleck has seen the Broncos go from 1-11 in 2013 to consecutive 8-5 seasons. The “Row the Boat” mantra Fleck preaches requires strong guides heading up the river, with Zach Terrell at the head of the vessel throughout this journey.
Terrell enters his fourth season as Western Michigan's starter having posted career highs last year in passing yards (3,526) and touchdowns (29). For his career he's thrown for 8,567 yards and 63 TDs, putting him within reach of Tim Hiller's all-time school marks of 11,329 yards and 99 scores.
With consecutive seasons completing at least 67 percent of his throws, Terrell is poised to finish on a high note as Western Michigan continues its rise.
15. Nick Mullens, Southern Mississippi
11 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'1”, 196 lbs
After winning just four games in the previous three seasons, Southern Mississippi broke through in 2015 with nine victories and a Conference USA West Division title. This prompted coach Todd Monken to leave for an NFL job, but he didn't leave the cupboard bare since it still includes prolific passer Nick Mullens.
Mullens threw for 4,476 yards and 38 touchdowns last year, averaging 363 passing yards in games against power-conference schools Mississippi State, Nebraska and Washington. He'd only thrown for 4,246 yards and 25 TDs in his first two seasons.
Barring injury or a major drop-off in production, Mullens will become the Golden Eagles' career passing leader this season. Last year he surpassed the most famous passer in school history, NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre.
14. Jake Browning, Washington
12 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'2”, 206 lbs
Washington's youth movement in 2015 was led by a true freshman quarterback who set national records while in high school but needed a few games to get up to speed at the college level. Once Jake Browning found his groove, though, the Huskies became one of the hottest teams in the country and are on many "dark-horse" and "sleeper" lists for this fall.
Browning finished his first season with 2,955 yards and 16 touchdowns, completing 63.1 percent of his passes. Four of his first six starts resulted in fewer than 200 passing yards, but overall he had three 300-yard games and four with at least two TD passes.
The final stretch was Browning's best, as in wins over Oregon State, Washington State and Southern Mississippi he completed 65.5 percent of his throws for 698 yards.
13. Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State
13 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'5”, 235 lbs
Mason Rudolph was part of a unique quarterback rotation last year at Oklahoma State, doing most of the work before making way for senior J.W. Walsh to finish the job in the red zone. Rudolph threw for 3,770 yards and 21 touchdowns, but only 44 of his 424 pass attempts came inside opponents' 20-yard line.
With Walsh having graduated, though, now Rudolph has the job all to himself.
"I think he's very hungry to be the guy," OK State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said, per Kyle Fredrickson of the Oklahoman.
Rudolph had surgery in November to repair a broken bone in his foot yet still played in the Sugar Bowl, struggling to 179 yards on 18-of-31 passing. It was the first game of his career that he failed to top 200 yards and only the second time he didn't toss a TD pass.
12. DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame
14 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'4”, 230 lbs
One half of arguably the most high-profile quarterback competition of the offseason, DeShone Kizer is Notre Dame's incumbent starter. He's held that role since coming off the bench for an injured Malik Zaire in the second game of 2015, leading the Fighting Irish to a last-second road win over Virginia and keeping them in the playoff hunt throughout the year.
Kizer had attempted just one pass before he was 8-of-12 for 92 yards and two scores in that game. He finished 2015 with 2,880 yards and 21 touchdowns along with 520 rushing yards and 10 TDs on the ground.
Zaire, who should be at full strength for spring ball after breaking his ankle in September, will push Kizer to the limit for the starting job. But Kizer's play last year gives him the advantage at the outset.
11. C.J. Beathard, Iowa
15 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 209 lbs
C.J. Beathard was named Iowa's starting quarterback roughly eight months before the 2015 season began, but the early move by coach Kirk Ferentz paid off in spades. With Beathard pacing a balanced and efficient offense, the Hawkeyes went 12-0 during the regular season and reached the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years.
The numbers weren't flashy, but Beathard's 2,809 passing yards, 17 passing TDs and six rushing scores were plenty for an Iowa team that also featured a top-25 defense. Beathard was best when his team needed him most, such as his 69.8 percent completion rate and six TDs (with zero interceptions) in the fourth quarter.
Beathard had sports hernia surgery in January, though he's expected to be ready when Iowa begins spring practice in late March.
10. Patrick Mahomes II, Texas Tech
16 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'3”, 215 lbs
Patrick Mahomes led FBS in total offense last season, gaining 393 yards per game via the air and the ground. His 4,653 passing yards were fourth-most in the country, topping the 400-yard mark four times.
Mahomes threw 36 touchdown passes last year, and since taking over the starting job midway through his freshman year he's had eight games with at least four TD throws. He added 10 rushing scores last year, giving him 62 total scores in his career.
Turnovers kept Mahomes from being even greater in 2015, as he was intercepted 15 times with several coming as a result of trying to do too much. With Texas Tech's defense ranking near the bottom nationally, the Red Raiders couldn't afford not to score on every possession.
9. Josh Rosen, UCLA
17 of 25
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'4”, 210 lbs
Josh Rosen is coming off possibly the greatest season ever by a true freshman, doing so despite the kind of hype that is normally reserved for seasoned veterans. While he showed plenty of instances of being a first-year player in 2015, overall it was hard to complain about Rosen's performance in the pocket.
He threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns on 28-of-35 passing in his collegiate debut, the first of six 300-yard games and one of four three-TD efforts. Overall, Rosen finished with 3,669 yards and 23 scores, and though he was intercepted 11 times (including four games with at least two picks) he set a school record with 245 consecutive attempts without an INT.
Rosen was aided by a veteran receiving corps in 2015, one that's almost completely gone for this season. This will require him to take on more of a leadership role, which the early returns indicate he's capable of.
8. Luke Falk, Washington State
18 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'4”, 205 lbs
The reigning national leader in passing yards per game, Luke Falk averaged 380.1 yards and threw a school-record 38 touchdowns in helping Washington State win nine games for the first time in 12 years. Yes, Falk was aided by the Cougars' pass-it-nearly-every-down offense, but it's not like he wasn't doing his part with accuracy and mistake avoidance.
Falk was intercepted just eight times on an FBS-high 644 pass attempts, completing 69.4 of those throws to rank second nationally. He failed to hit the 60 percent completion rate just twice in 2015, one of those after returning from a concussion suffered in November, yet he still had 295 yards and two TDs in leading WSU to its first bowl win since 2003.
With 6,450 yards and 53 TDs in only 17 games, Falk will be a contender to break the single-season passing mark of 5,833 yards if the Cougars can reach the Pac-12 title game and play in a bowl this year.
7. Chad Kelly, Ole Miss
19 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 215 lbs
It only took Chad Kelly one season to make himself one of the best quarterbacks in Ole Miss history. Just look at the Rebels' passing records to understand the impact he had on their first 10-win season since 2003.
Kelly, who began his career at Clemson before attending a junior college, set school marks for passing yards (4,042), total offense (4,542) and total touchdowns (41), along the way beating eventual national champion Alabama with a 341-yard, three-TD passing effort. Most importantly, Kelly's turnovers weren't as costly as those by predecessor Bo Wallace.
With Ole Miss replacing possible first-round NFL draft picks on the offensive line and at wide receiver, and without much of a running game (other than from Kelly), his senior year may need to produce even bigger numbers.
6. Brad Kaaya, Miami (Florida)
20 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'4”, 210 lbs
A starter since the start of his true freshman year, Brad Kaaya is on pace to be Miami's career passing leader by the end of this season. Along the way he'll pass a slew of Hurricane greats, including Heisman winners Gino Torretta and Vinny Testaverde, as well as the quarterback who led Miami to its last national title (Ken Dorsey).
None of this was expected when Kaaya showed up in the summer of 2014, winning a quarterback competition in training camp and never looking back. In two years, he's thrown for 6,436 yards and 42 touchdowns, with consecutive 3,000-yard seasons, just the third player in program history to achieve that feat.
Kaaya's play is set for a big boost in 2016 now that he's working with new coach Mark Richt, who during his time at Georgia developed Matthew Stafford and SEC career passing leader Aaron Murray.
5. Greg Ward Jr., Houston
21 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 5'11”, 185 lbs
Houston was the non-power conference team that crashed the big boys' bowl party in 2015, and it's the odds-on favorite to make a run for the playoffs from the outside in 2016. Coach Tom Herman and a turnover-forcing defense deserve plenty of credit for this, but Greg Ward Jr.'s play stands out more than anything else.
Recruited to Houston to be a quarterback but used mostly as a wide receiver for his first two seasons, Ward has become one of the most dangerous dual-threat passers in the country. His running ability might be the best in FBS, as shown by his 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns with at least two rushing scores in seven games.
Not to be forgotten, though, is an accurate arm that produced a 67.2 percent completion rate with 17 TDs and six interceptions along with 2,828 yards last year.
4. Seth Russell, Baylor
22 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'3”, 220 lbs
We can only speculate as to what kind of season-long numbers Seth Russell would have put up in 2015 had he not been hurt in October. Same goes for how Baylor would have performed as a whole, as after Russell suffered a neck injury it started a domino effect of quarterback ailments that led the Bears to become a run-only team in its bowl game.
Russell threw for 2,104 yards and 29 touchdowns in seven games, adding 402 rushing yards and six scores, before injuring his neck against Iowa State. Damage to a cervical vertebra required surgery, though he's managed to soar through rehabilitation and is participating in Baylor's spring ball with the expectation he'll be at full strength for the 2016 season.
"I'm thinking I’m blessed to be able to keep walking," Russell told Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin American-Statesman. "That’s one thing they said; I was about two millimeters away from not walking. In the neck, two millimeters is a pretty big gap. It’s something I felt like I have to overcome, and I will."
Russell had five games with at least four TD passes last year, averaging a passing score for every 6.89 attempts.
3. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
23 of 25
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 6'1”, 209 lbs
If not for the numbers Baker Mayfield was able to put up last season, Oklahoma's fiery and cocky quarterback might be entering his final season of college with an unfavorable reputation. Instead, Mayfield's combination of production and presentation makes him quite enjoyable to experience...unless you're associated with the opposing team.
Mayfield was better than expected in 2015 in his first year with the Sooners, throwing for 3,700 yards and rushing for another 405. He produced 43 touchdowns and was intercepted just seven times on 395 attempts while completing 68.1 percent of his throws, mastering offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley's version of the Air Raid after having not played in more than a year since his transfer from Texas Tech.
The active and antic-filled style that Mayfield plays with has gotten him in trouble from a physical standpoint, as he took several hard hits in 2015 and even pulled himself from a game with a head injury. Assuming he can stay healthy, Oklahoma's offense will be explosive yet again this fall.
2. J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
24 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 225 lbs
Maybe this will be the year that J.T. Barrett is able to play a complete season of college football. Judging by what he's been able to do in partial appearances in 2014 and 2015, a full one will be fun to watch.
As a redshirt freshman, Barrett was thrown into the fire after Braxton Miller's preseason injury and proceeded to set numerous offensive school records. He didn't get to carry that momentum into the postseason, though, after breaking his ankle in November. Then in 2015 he had to share the starting job with Cardale Jones, not taking it over full time until October. When he was in the lineup, Ohio State's offense ran far more smoothly.
Barrett had 22 total touchdowns last year after tallying 45 the season before. What will he put up this year, without anything (or anyone) getting in his way?
1. Deshaun Watson, Clemson
25 of 25
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'2”, 207 lbs
Deshaun Watson is a one-of-a-kind quarterback, both from a statistical standpoint and through the way he affects the game. Because of this, he's the best at his position in the game and the best bet for a passer to win the Heisman Trophy, according to early odds posted by Odds Shark.
Last season, Watson became the first player ever to amass both 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, finishing with 5,209 yards of total offense while accounting for 47 touchdowns. On six occasions he had more than 400 yards, including in the national title game when he produced 478 of Clemson's 550 yards.
Watson's balance of running and passing makes it next to impossible to properly game-plan for him, as he completed 67.8 percent of his throws and gained more than 5.3 yards per carry.
Statistics provided by CFBStats.com.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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