College Football 2011: 10 Under-the-Radar QBs That Could Impact the Season
Sure, we all know about the list of QBs coming back in 2011 that should or could have solid years come this fall.
But who are the guys that could step up and surprise with breakout seasons?
Andrew Luck, Terrelle Pryor, Kellen Moore, Landry Jones? Obviously those are known guys.
What about Darron Thomas, Jordan Jefferson, John Brantley, Aaron Murray, Stephen Garcia, Kirk Cousins, Denard Robinson, Dan Persa, Ryan Tannehill, Robert Griffin, Brandon Weeden, Taylor Martinez, Jacory Harris, Matt Barkley, Nick Foles, Ryan Katz, Geno Smith, Zach Collaros, B.J. Daniels, Case Keenum, G.J. Kinne, Kyle Padron, Bryant Moniz and Dayne Crist?
Certainly those guys could end up on this list, right?
No.
We are talking about 10 players that could come from nowhere to catch the collective breath of college football fans across the nation in 2011.
Who are these fantastic and supremely talented players that could bust out in 2011?
10. Russell Wilson: ?
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A three-year starter at North Carolina State, Russell Wilson is without any doubt one of the biggest wild cards entering the 2011 college football season.
Shunned by head coach Tom O'Brien, Wilson is now looking for a place to land to end his collegiate football career.
Rumors abound as to where he will land, and Wisconsin and Auburn are seemingly amongst the leaders.
He'll be a nice pickup for whoever gets his services, as he has thrown for over 8,000 yards in his career and has led the ACC in passing TDs over the last three seasons, as well as being the passing yardage leader just last year.
9. A.J. McCarron: Alabama
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During his stay at Alabama, Nick Saban has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success. He has also seen a huge number of difference-makers riddle his roster at a number of positions.
The lone position where we haven't seen a "true" difference-maker? Quarterback.
Sure, I have a solid amount of respect for the heady and solid play of Greg McElroy, but let's be honest: The guy was nothing more than a "plug" into an offensive system with an extreme amount of talent around him.
Insert A.J. McCarron.
A bigger and stronger-armed QB than McElroy, with a tremendous amount more upside than his predecessor, McCarron can lean upon a stout defense and the running abilities of Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy before he really needs to be comfortable, much less productive, before the SEC season rolls around. And yes, that includes a trip to Happy Valley in the non-conference.
Yes, Julio Jones is gone. However, Marquis Maze, Darius Hanks, and some other extremely talented wide receivers do return, along with a bevy of talented offensive linemen.
While McElroy flourished as a solid decision-maker in the Alabama offense, McCarron could easily be his better over his next three seasons in Tuscaloosa. That career starts this fall.
8. MarQueis Gray: Minnesota
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Jerry Kill makes his debut this year as the head coach at Minnesota. Needless to say, it is a huge rebuilding process. Well, let's be honest: It isn't a rebuilding process; it is a BUILDING process.
With a new stadium and a solid fanbase to pull from, the Golden Gophers are a much-needed addition to college football lore that has been missed for a very, very long time.
Can Jerry turn this sleeping giant into a Big Ten contender? That remains to be seen, but at the very least he has an extremely talented quarterback waiting in the wings to guide his first ever Golden Gopher squad.
While it is yet to be known whether MarQueis Gray will move from wide receiver to quarterback this year, the anticipation of this move gives the long deserving Minnesota fans a glimmer of hope in 2011.
Coming into the 2011 season, we may not find a more gifted athlete at this position. Comparable to Robert Griffin at Baylor, Mr. Gray should be an exciting player this year regardless of the Golden Gophers' record.
While MarQueis may not have much around him, look for him to provide a solid amount of excitement to a rather pedestrian season for the Minnesota faithful.
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7. Tajh Boyd: Clemson
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Super sophomore Kyle Parker is gone, and thus all is lost for Clemson, right?
Not so fast, my friend.
There is a guy by the name of Tajh Boyd that could fill his position even better than Kyle has over the past two seasons.
A fantastic athlete, Boyd could be the real deal to get these Tigers over that hump in the ACC.
While the expectations in Clemson-land aren't that high, Tajh could explode this year with 16 starters returning around him, including the spectacular talent of Andre Ellington at running back and every single starter on the offensive line returning.
Circle your calendar for the weeks of September 17th and 24th and October 1st, when Tajh will take on the likes of Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech respectively. Without any doubt, those three weeks could be his coming-out party.
6. Mike Glennon: North Carolina State
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Boom or bust for North Carolina State head coach Tom O'Brien.
He let loose his three-year starter, the aforementioned Russell Wilson, in order to let Mike Glennon take over the helm for his Wolfpack.
No doubt this is a very nice sleeper team that could actually end up winning the ACC.
With 16 starters returning, North Carolina State is flying well under the radar after a season in which it won nine games and whipped West Virginia in its bowl game. The Wolfpack were competitive in every single game they played last year, and their biggest loss was an 11-point setback to eventual ACC champs Virginia Tech.
Obviously Mr. O'Brien has a huge amount of confidence in Glennon to let Russell Wilson loose.
Early-season games with Liberty, Wake Forest and South Alabama should build confidence for the strong-armed junior, and a huge season could easily be on the brink for a coach that has shown a solid amount of success in getting the best out of his quarterbacks.
5. James Franklin: Missouri
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Wanna question Gary Pinkel's success with quarterbacks during his head coaching career at Missouri?
Well, since he has been at Missouri, the list is the following:
- Kirk Farmer/Darius Outlaw (inherited players in his first year at Missouri)
- Brad Smith
- Chase Daniel
- Blaine Gabbert
That's it. Take away year one, in which he played the players he inherited, and it is obvious that Mr. Pinkel knows how to maximize the talent of his signal callers. Brad Smith was a four-year starter, Chase Daniel was a three-year starter and Blaine Gabbert was obviously a first-round selection in this year's NFL draft.
All three of Pinkel's recruited quarterbacks are now on an NFL roster. Now he puts into play his next recruit in James Franklin, who may be the most athletic quarterback he has ever had at Missouri.
With the departure of Tyler Gabbert, it is all Franklin's show to run, and if history has shown us anything, Pinkel will have Franklin playing at a very high level come the Big 12 regular season.
4. Case McCoy: Texas
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Without any doubt I'm going out on a limb with this one, as Case McCoy will have to out-duel incumbent starter and uber-recruit Garrett Gilbert.
But if Longhorn fans saw anything, they definitely heard about McCoy consistently outperforming Gilbert in spring camp and easily putting on a better performance in their annual spring game.
With the bloodlines in check, Case looks to follow in his brother's footsteps. I'm definitely taking a leap of faith here that Colt's competitiveness will leak into his younger sibling's career at Texas as well.
Texas fans are more than able to call me out on this one, but I'm going on a hunch that Case wins the job at some point in time next season and provides a much-needed spark to the completely anemic Longhorn offense we all witnessed just last year.
3. Nathan Scheelhaase: Illinois
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Haven't heard of him?
Well, it's likely if you live outside of Big Ten country that this name hasn't exactly been on your radar. A solidly recruited dual-threat quarterback, Nathan had a very under-appreciated first season as the starting signal caller for the Fighting Illini.
He had 1,825 yards passing with 17 TDs and eight INTs, as well as 868 yards rushing with five TDs.
Now coming into his redshirt sophomore season as a returning starter, Nathan will look to overcome the shadow that Mikel Leshoure cast just last year.
With nine starters returning on the offensive side of the ball, including another undervalued player in A.J. Jenkins (WR), Scheelhaase has a solid amount of experience around him along with an unheralded running back in Jason Ford more than ready to replace Leshoure.
This looks to be a very solid offensive attack that could rank in the top 20 in all the land in 2011. Keep a very close eye on this slippery, talented and very much improving gamer playing for Illinois this year.
2. Tyler Wilson: Arkansas
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Following All-American Ryan Mallett is not an easy thing to do, especially in the rough-and-tumble SEC in which Arkansas will face division rivals Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State, let alone South Carolina and non-conference opponent Texas A&M in Arlington, TX.
While replacing a legend at your school is tough, Wilson has all the tools to be successful. Not only that, he is also much more adept at avoiding pressure in the pocket.
Wilson will need to work on his deep ball throwing skills, but he does have a tremendous amount of upside with a huge amount of talent around him.
Undoubtedly he has one of the best wide receiver corps to throw to in the the entire nation along with a plow horse in Knile Davis at running back. Toss in the solid offensive mind of Bobby Petrino, and you have an absolute star in the making.
If you expect a drop-off in offensive production out of Arkansas this year with the departure of Mallett, you may be very sadly mistaken, as Wilson could surpass even Mallett's numbers from either of the past two years.
1. E.J. Manuel: Florida State
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Sure, this may not be all that climactic of a moment for most college football fans, as E.J. Manuel isn't exactly an unknown commodity.
Then again, we are talking about a first-year starter that has only shown some very solid ability in some very limited action.
E.J. had a bit of a coming-out party in last year's Chick-fil-A Bowl win over South Carolina.
Now he finds himself replacing first-round draft choice Christian Ponder with a heap of expectations thrown upon his shoulders. The Seminoles will likely be ranked in many a preseason top 10, largely due to 16 starters returning, which include a number of studs on defense and easily one of the best wide receiving corps in all the land.
If E.J. can come close to the incredible expectations laid before him, he very well could be the biggest breakout player in all the land this year in college football.
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