Who Is John Wolford? Through 3 Weeks, Arizona QB Leads AAF in Passing TDs

Through the first three weeks of the inaugural Alliance of American Football season, one quarterback has stood out among the rest when it comes to putting the ball in the end-zone.

John Wolford of the Arizona Hotshots has thrown seven passing touchdowns so far this season, two more than second-place Garret Gilbert of the Orlando Apollos. Wolford has thrown for 596 yards and has a completion percentage of 63 percent.

But Wolford is not a household name, leaving some folks to wonder who this guy shredding AAF defenses is.

Wolford, 23, grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended Bishop Kenny High School. Football runs in his family, as his uncle Will was a three-time Pro Bowler, playing in the NFL as an offensive tackle with the Bills, Colts and Steelers.

Tabbed as a three-star pro-style prospect, Wolford was recruited by several major college football programs, garnering offers from Penn State, Mississippi State, FIU, Harvard, Air Force and Wake Forest, among others.

According to 247sports, he was also offered a scholarship by East Carolina and was recruited by Lincoln Riley, when the now-Oklahoma head coach was East Carolina's offensive coordinator.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons landed Wolford, and he became the first player in school history to start all 12 games as a true freshman. Wake Forest went 21-29 during Wolford's tenure under center, and he led them to wins in two bowl games.

One of his best games came as a senior against Louisville. Going head-to-head with now-Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson, Wolford torched the Cardinals defense, completing 28-of-34 passes for 461 yards and five touchdowns. Wolford also ran for another score, leading the Demon Deacons to a 42-32 home victory.

Also in his senior year, Wolford led the Demon Deacons to a 55-52 bowl win over Texas A&M. According to Sports Reference, he is the only player since 2000 to total at least 400 passing yards and 65 rushing yards without throwing an interception in a bowl game.

For his career, he became just the eighth ACC quarterback to accumulate at least 8,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.

Wolford left Wake Forest with 8,794 passing yards, 1,120 rushing yards and 78 total touchdowns for his career. He's 16th in ACC career pass completions and 12th in career touchdowns scored in the ACC. Wolford set single-season Wake Forest records for passing yards (3,192) and passing touchdowns (29).

After going unselected in the 2018 NFL Draft, Wolford landed with the New York Jets as a free agent and saw some action in the preseason, but he was cut by the Jets before the regular season.

He ultimately lost his spot on the Jets' depth chart to Christian Hackenberg, who is now playing in the AAF with the Memphis Express.

Without football for a bit, Wolford put his Wake Forest finance degree to work. According to his LinkedIn page, he had been working as an analyst for Teall Capital—a private equity firm based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

But Wolford kept working out, and in November, the AAF called, and Wolford went to San Antonio, Texas, to participate in quarterback camp.

Wolford was named AAF Offensive Player of the Week after the season opener, in which he threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns on 29 attempts. He was also successful on four two-point conversions.

Through three weeks, Wolford has the Hotshots in first place in the West Division with a 2-1 record.