Big Ten Q&A: Who's the B1G's Best NFL Quarterback Prospect?
Can you hear it?
No, you probably can't.
At least not in Big Ten country, where college football has officially hit the annual doldrums of its offseason.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Even with satellite camps popping up like a whack-a-mole game you can't seem to notice before another one appears, this offseason has been a relatively quiet one for the conference—especially when compared to last spring's madness featuring an unprecedented Ohio State team and Jim Harbaugh's arrival in Ann Arbor.
Even with its league meetings taking place in Chicago, the Big Ten took a back seat to the SEC this past week, with the biggest news in college football being the arrest of Alabama star offensive tackle Cam Robinson.
Nevertheless, you have questions and I can sometimes come up with decent answers. With that in mind, let's get to this week's Big Ten Q&A.
As always, you can send me your inquiries each week on Twitter @BenAxelrod.
Let's get started.
After what appeared to be the year the Big Ten would end its 20-year drought of first-round NFL quarterbacks, the league's signal-callers struck out once again, despite Christian Hackenberg, Cardale Jones and Connor Cook each seeming to possess first-round ability a year ago.
Nevertheless, ESPN's Todd McShay—who projected Hackenberg and Cook to be 2016's top two overall picks a year ago—remains bullish on one Big Ten quarterback being a first-round pick, with his surprising selection of Minnesota's Mitch Leidner in his way-too-early 2017 first-round mock draft. McShay elaborated on his choice:
"Leidner shows some upside as a passer, but I'll be looking to see if he can improve his accuracy. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 237 pounds, Leidner has ideal size and has shown the ability to make plays with his legs off designed runs and scrambles. He's a late riser to keep an eye on, similar to Blake Bortles and Carson Wentz.
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But as we learned last month, anything projected nearly a year prior isn't necessarily set in stone. And while he may not be a first-round pick, the Big Ten quarterback with the highest upside as a pro passer, in my opinion, is Ohio State's J.T. Barrett.
Sure, Barrett doesn't look like your prototypical pro passer; I'm 5'10" and basically eye level with him whenever I interview him. But with Russell Wilson's success in Seattle, height is no longer the necessity it once was, and quarterbacks from spread systems are getting a longer look from NFL teams.
"It's not like I'm going to change who I am," Barrett said of his prospects. "So however I play right now, just probably a better version of myself."
As for the Wilson comparisons, which have become more popular as Barrett's career has progressed? "That's probably 'cause we're not the tallest cats," the Buckeyes signal-caller said.
Entering his redshirt junior year, Barrett still has two years of eligibility remaining in his college career, so it's not a lock he'll even enter the 2017 draft. But with an impressive junior campaign, there won't be much left to do to change draft evaluators' opinions of his game, as even a stronger senior season wouldn't help him grow two inches.
For now, it's Leidner and Barrett who stand out in the Big Ten's bunch of potential pro passers, although Iowa's C.J. Beathard has a chance to jump into the conversation with a big 2016 as well.
Right now, I'd bet on Leidner to be the higher pick, but Barrett to have the more fruitful NFL career.
A regulation of some sort is definitely coming. There almost has to be one after what Harbaugh's done this offseason, with 34 scheduled camps in the month of June alone.
That's what Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell told me this week, and it's tough to disagree. A 34-camp tour—including stops in Australia and American Samoa—probably is a bit much and something the NCAA wouldn't be able to regulate on a yearly basis.
As far as what the limit would be, I think what would make the most sense is either a limit on camps held or miles traveled each summer.
For example, if there was a limit on stops, Harbaugh, or any coach, could hold camps anywhere in the country—or world for that matter—but would only be able to do so X amount of times (probably somewhere around 10) each offseason. As far as a limit on miles, that could get a little more complicated, as coaches would then have to balance taking a national approach with fewer camps or a more local look with more.
When it comes to the impact of the camps, it was limited last year, according to Farrell, but this year, no one knows. With such an increase in camps from not just Michigan, but other schools across the country, it's hard to imagine satellite camps not playing a significant role in this summer's recruiting landscape.
But for as crazy as this offseason's been from a satellite camp standpoint, it seems clear that changes are coming. What exactly they'll be remains to be seen, but this storyline isn't going away anytime soon.
You could probably find an example of this in a division or conference nearly every year, but this year more than most, I see schedules shaping the race for the Big Ten West.
For example, take the onslaught Wisconsin's about to face, with games against Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa opening the Badgers' Big Ten slate, with three of those four games being played away from Madison. I like a lot about Wisconsin's roster, but with that murderers' row ahead, as well as games against Nebraska and Northwestern, it's just hard to imagine the Badgers emerging as the division champs.
And then there's Iowa, which, while returning much of last year's team that found itself one game away from crashing the College Football Playoff, hasn't been a program that's prided itself on consistency under head coach Kirk Ferentz. But a year after the nation's 60th-ranked regular-season schedule, per Team Rankings, helped propel them to a 12-0 regular-season record, the Hawkeyes again have a more than manageable path ahead, although a Nov. 12 date with Michigan should be tougher than any game they played a year ago.
Even then, that game will be played in late November and inside the friendly confines of Kinnick Stadium. By that point, Iowa could probably afford a loss and remain in control of its Big Ten West destiny heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Based on the combination of what they bring back and their favorable schedule, it's tough not to consider the Hawkeyes the Big Ten West favorites in 2016. Nebraska could give them a run for their money in their regular-season finale, which unsurprisingly will also be played in Iowa City.
I sense some shade being thrown in this question, but it hits on what could be one of the biggest wild cards in the Big Ten this season.
How will Mark Dantonio handle the quarterback competition to replace Connor Cook, after doing the same with Kirk Cousins in 2012 proved to be a two-year process?
After the Washington Redskins selected Cousins in the same draft they took Robert Griffin III, Dantonio was left with a plethora of options for his replacement, ultimately settling on Andrew Maxwell for the majority of the 2012 campaign. The results, however, were mixed at best for the former highly touted signal-caller, as the Spartans struggled to a 7-6 record.
The competition wound up carrying over into 2013, with Cook ultimately grabbing the reins and never looking back. Two Big Ten titles, two major bowl wins and an appearance in the College Football Playoff later, and Michigan State finds itself in a similar position, with Tyler O'Connor, Damion Terry and Messiah deWeaver battling it out to be Cook's successor.
Right now, O'Connor has a clear lead as the upperclassman and following an impressive spring. It certainly doesn't hurt that he helped quarterback the Spartans to their biggest win of the year in 2015 as Cook sat out with an injury, a road win over Ohio State to seize control of MSU's playoff fate.
But O'Connor will have to carry his momentum into 2016, or as this question alludes to, Dantonio could have a quick trigger with other options available. But if O'Connor can find a way to negate the drop-off from the most accomplished quarterback in Spartans history, Michigan State should find itself right in the thick of another Big Ten East title race.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. Recruit rankings and info courtesy of 247Sports.
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