The Future of Quarterbacks: Lamar Jackson Duels Deondre Francois at High Noon
Their college football careers began eight days apart, back when life was still ordinary and long before the biggest games of their lives.
Deondre Francois, then a 4-star pro-style quarterback out of IMG Academy in Florida, enrolled at Florida State on June 6, 2015. It was assumed that the product of such an overpowering high school team would wrestle the starting job away at some point. It was simply a matter of when.
It was clear then that he was gifted. There was the arm and the athleticism. He simply needed more polish, which he was allotted during his redshirt year.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Lamar Jackson wasn’t allowed such a luxury. He also didn’t arrive with the same type of buzz.
As a 3-star dual-threat quarterback out of Boynton Beach Community—189 miles east down Route 70 from the IMG football factory—Jackson joined Louisville on June 14, less than three months before he would start his first game.
He was raw, undersized and immensely gifted. More than merely a scrambler, Jackson clearly had abilities that could be lethal if harnessed. That much was evident in a close Week 1 loss to Auburn last year.
"That freshman quarterback is electric," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn told reporters at the time. "He's going to be tough to deal with."
One has posted video game numbers. The other, in his first-ever game, delivered one of the greatest comebacks the sport has seen. Jackson and Francois have added life to not just their programs, but also the sport they are still trying to figure out.
The paths the two players traveled to arrive to this point—to Saturday’s showdown—have been vastly different. Expectations have been different, too, despite the fact these second-year quarterbacks share some similarities.
Both are listed at 205 pounds on their official bios. Both are dangerous inside and outside the pocket, with better arms than they will probably ever get credit for. Both can create when all is seemingly lost on a given play, which is perhaps their most valuable asset.
At the moment, they are not an NFL scout’s dream, but it’s so easy to be lost in what this moment is. This is still the beginning: This is where two of college football’s most authentic young talents stand after only 15 months inside their programs, working daily with brilliant offensive minds.
Now would be the appropriate time to buy in, on the cusp of a game that will change the perception of one or perhaps both.
That said, this weekend is not supposed to be about them. Not this early. Not with Goliath matchups scattered throughout and established stars seemingly everywhere.
This weekend is about revenge, so they’ll say in Tuscaloosa. It’s about desperation, so they’ll demand in Norman. It's about the sheer magnificence of a clean reload, so they’ll claim in Columbus.
It was never supposed to be about two hyped quarterbacks still searching for their ceilings. Florida State and Louisville seemed like a nice complement to a brilliant weekend. It was a serviceable opening act for Alabama and Ole Miss. It was a way to warm up the Oklahoma and Ohio State crowds.
But now, after only two weeks, things are different. Louisville looks better than we thought. Florida State, seemingly crumbling in its first game, rebounded in spectacular fashion, led in no small way by Francois' heroics.
With Clemson slogging along early—looking unexpectedly...well, beatable, in the early part of the year—this will reset, if only for a short while, the hierarchy in the ACC.
To say the result depends exclusively on the arms and legs of the two QBs would be a disservice to two deeply talented teams. And yet, it’s hard to see beyond just how significant both players have been to their teams’ success.
It began when Lamar Jackson accounted for eight touchdowns in a single half during the opening weekend. Some would argue it started much earlier than that, when Jackson flashed in moments last season.
But eight touchdowns is something that grabs our attention. Sure, it came against Charlotte, but this is not some sort of achievement that computes regardless of opponent.
Jackson validated his Week 1 effort by totaling 610 total yards and five touchdowns in a blowout victory over Syracuse during the second weekend. He fell one rushing yard shy of being the first player in FBS history to pass for 400 yards and run for 200 yards in a single game.
Through two weeks, he has gained 1,015 total yards. As Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee noted, that’s more production than 99 FBS teams. At the moment, he is a touchdown-throwing, defense-destroying video game cheat code.
"I did good, but I still have room for improvement," Jackson told reporters following his performance at Syracuse, allowing the mind to wonder what a satisfied quarterback would look like. "I threw a lot of bad balls and had a few bad reads."
As statistically dominant as Jackson has been, no player has produced a more convincing first impression than Francois.
It wasn’t until a Sean Maguire injury that Francois was officially named the starter in fall camp. While it was assumed that he would be functional from the jump, his debut against Ole Miss was still a mystery of sorts.
Then he played, and Florida State, seemingly buried in the game, rallied from a 28-6 deficit to win 45-34.
It wasn’t simply the numbers. Yes, the 419 passing yards, 59 rushing yards and two touchdowns brought us back to Jameis Winston’s debut against Pittsburgh just three years ago.
But there was something about the way he went about it—delivering throw after throw despite taking tremendous pressure. He took the Rebels’ best shot, and it was a good one. Along the way, he led a storied program to one of the greatest comebacks in its history.
Through two games, Francois’ numbers aren’t Jackson-esque. He has five total touchdowns compared to Jackson’s 13. Still, he has shown he can be more than just a piece on a great team. He can be the tipping point.
"I'm very comfortable," Francois told reporters after Saturday’s win over Charleston Southern. "Now that I've got my second game under my belt, I feel like I can open it up more."
In his current form, neither Jackson nor Francois is perfect. They will make mistakes, as second-year quarterbacks often do.
Jackson will not stay on his current, frantic pace and score 78 touchdowns this season. His own abilities and confidence in those abilities will ultimately get him in trouble, and the notion that he can create on every play will lead to a turnover here and there.
Francois will not handle all blitzes and hurried bodies as well as he did against Ole Miss. He will miss throws, as he did against Charleston Southern on a handful of occasions, and learn from those misses.
This is a long, exhausting process for two young quarterbacks still figuring out the position. It will not be decided in a single afternoon, no matter how big that afternoon might feel.
Developing stars, and both seem to have the qualities and attributes necessary to assume these roles, demands more than a 15-month crash course. It takes experiences such as these—stages that are larger than life—that will ultimately allow both players to press forward.
Or perhaps it doesn’t. Maybe this is the Saturday that one or both of these QBs break through and abandon traditional protocol. This isn't your father's classic QB showdown. This is something different and more dynamic. And yes, in many ways a bit uncertain.
This feels like the appropriate stage for such a moment—a weekend that was supposed to be about someone else. A weekend that was reserved for the now rather than the future.
That’s just it, though. What if the future is now?
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
