College Football 2010: Who Are the Most Overrated and Underrated Quarterbacks?
Not just in college football, but in all sports, hype tends to outweigh merit.
If a team gets pumped through the hype machine the nation begins to believe in its greatness.
The same goes for players. Preseason Heisman hopefuls are glorified in the early goings of the season and even as they falter are awarded the benefit of the doubt others are not.
It's exactly the opposite for your under the radar, run-of-the-mill players. They are scrutinized for their mistakes and don't get nearly enough credit when things go right.
This logic holds truer at the quarterback position than any other, so with that note here are the most overrated and underrated college passers in the nation.
No. 5 Underrated: Darron Thomas, Oregon
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Jeremiah Masoli who?
Darron Thomas has proven that not only can he keep the team afloat without Masoli as the starting quarterback, he can win the big games for the Ducks and get Oregon in the national championship picture.
Thomas has over 1,000 yards passing and 13 touchdowns through the first five games of the season and while he's not known for his running skills he can move the ball on the ground as well.
In Oregon's 52-31 victory over Stanford, Thomas had 238 yards through the air, 117 yards on the ground and four total touchdowns.
No. 5 Overrated: John Brantley, Florida
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Brantley is at a bit of a disadvantage because he will undoubtedly be compared to Tim Tebow and there's no way he can ever succeed in that regard.
But even if you take Tebow out of the picture, Brantley is still getting too much credit for his performance thus far in his short career.
He's viewed as a blossoming star with a very high ceiling, but all we've seen so far is potential.
Coming into the year, the word out of Florida was that Brantley was the real deal, but so far he's been average at best. Take away the Kentucky game and Brantley is averaging 163.5 yards passing per game.
No. 4 Underrated: Nick Foles, Arizona
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When fans think of the top teams in the nation Arizona seems to get dismissed, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Nick Foles doesn't get enough love as one of the nation's top passers.
Well here's the truth, the Wildcats have earned their No. 9 ranking by going undefeated and winning a massive game against Iowa earlier this year.
True, the rest of the schedule, even Cal, has been a little week, but wins are wins and Arizona is getting them. Foles is as big a part of that as anyone.
Against the Hawkeyes, he passed for 303 yards and pair of touchdowns with a completion rate of over 70 percent.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 4 Overrated: Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M
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Coming into the year Johnson had to be considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation after his 3,600-yard, 30-touchdown season in 2009, but so far he hasn't shown it; especially in the last two games.
Johnson threw only eight interceptions all of last year, but he's matched that total in just his last two games.
He looked solid against Stephen F. Austin in the opener and was even better against Louisiana Tech, but then had a miserable four-interception game against FIU and nearly cost A&M a win.
Against Oklahoma State, he turned the ball over five times and this time he did cost A&M the win.
No. 3 Underrated: Greg McElroy, Alabama
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Greg McElroy falls into the same category that quarterbacks like Ken Dorsey were reduced to. He's considered more of a caretaker for a supremely talented team more than its leader.
Graned, McElroy does have the benefit of arguably the nation's top running game at his disposal as well as a very scary defense, but he's been a staple of consistency the last two years and deserves way more credit than he's received.
With a quarterback rating of 140.55 in 2009 and a rating of 166.67 though the first five games of 2010, you'd be hard-pressed to find much of anything wrong with the way McElroy has played.
Take him out of the equation and Alabama is significantly weakened.
No. 3 Overrated: Jacory Harris, Miami
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Jacory Harris came into the year as a Heisman hopeful and many observers expected him to have a breakout season in his second full year as the starting quarterback.
Through four games, Harris is tied for fifth in the country in interceptions and can't seem to go very long at all without turning the ball over.
He was great in limited minutes against Florida A&M, but really hurt the Hurricanes with his four interceptions against Ohio State.
Even in victories over Pitt and Clemson, Harris managed to throw a couple of picks in each contest.
No. 2 Underrated: Kirk Cousins, Michigan State
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Cousins is in the same boat as Nick Foles, he and Michigan State just don't get enough credit. It seems like most of the college football world is just waiting for the Spartans to falter rather than give them credit for what they've accomplished.
MSU is 5-0, including 34-31 overtime win over Notre Dame and a shocking 34-24 victory against Wisconsin last week.
Throughout it all, Cousins hasn't been spectacular, but he's been consistent, smart and steady-handed.
You can't ask much more from your quarterback, especially when he's putting up solid numbers against ranked teams.
No. 2 Overrated: Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech
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Tyrod Taylor had to be considered a top three quarterback in the country entering the year, but through the first five weeks of the season he and Virginia Tech have arguably been the biggest disappointment in the game.
The loss against Boise State was understandable, the loss against James Madison was anything but. Taylor was bad in both and didn't play much better against East Carolina or Boston College.
He finally picked it up against N.C. State last week, but one good game out of five and a record of 3-2 isn't even close to where we expected he and the Hokies to be at this point of the year.
No. 1 Underrated: Colin Kaepernick, Nevada
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Nevada is starting to get a little recognition from a national perspective after starting the season 5-0 and beating Cal and BYU, but you still aren't hearing anything about Colin Kaepernick.
You can partially blame the likes of Denard Robinson and Cam Newton for the lack of attention Kaepernick is receiving; they're dual-threat quarterbacks at major programs putting up some seriously impressive numbers.
Kaepernick's numbers aren't far behind though and a lot more credit is deserved. Through five weeks he's passed for 1,048 yards and seven touchdowns with 548 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
No. 1 Overrated: Jake Locker, Washington
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If Locker hadn't just led Washington to a huge victory over USC this discussion would be much more cut and dry, but there's a pretty good argument in his favor after his performance against the Trojans.
But look at how he played against Nebraska, a team with a very good defense, instead of his numbers against USC, a team with a not so good defense.
Locker has been bad in losses and good in wins, but even though he was solid against USC you can't help but linger on a really, really ugly outing in Washington blowout loss to Nebraska.
We still believe he's a top 10 quarterback, but this was a player people were talking about being the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and a frontrunner for the Heisman.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
