2022 Excellent 10 - QBs (Part 1)

[tsweezy]

Hello,

This next series is going to be taking a look at who some of the most hyped players should be at different positions this upcoming season. Installment 1 (you're reading it) focuses on the QBs. I took a broad look at the QB talent this year and tried to whittle it down to 10 players who are going to lead the hype trains. Now some disclaimers: These are not intended to be projections of the best 11 so much as they are the most hyped. There are a lot of A overall QBs who nobody has seen before that may wind up lighting the world on fire, or mediocre players last season who jump to a new stratosphere. This list contains 10 QBs who appear most primed for success and hype though.

 

Methodologically: I looked at several criteria: QB production last year, QB "Innate talent", Available Weapons, Protection, Offensive style. I graded each QB out of 10 and saw which ones rose to the top

 

QB Production - explanatory, how they did last year

QB Talent - How good do they look ratings-wise

Available weapons - How good are the WRs? Do they have a good receiving TE? Is the RB a receiving weapon out of the backfield?

Protection - How good is their OL? Will they have a lot of time to throw? Is it pass-blocking or run blocking?

Offensive style - How pass oriented do we expect their offense? If a team has a top-5 QB, but the best RB in America with all Run Blocking OL the QB could be overshadowed

 

 

Without any further ado, let's begin:

10th (27 + ? points)

Travis Knebel (Scrambler) - Baylor

 

Travis was a 5 star prospect out of Florida, who signed with Baylor, and waited a few years behind Evan Cooper. Last year he took a redshirt and Evan graduated. This is a bit of a controversial spot on the list, as Travis was RS'ing last year, and Baylor has a second A overall QB in senior Orlando Gronkowski (yes it's unfair the talent and names the Bears have). However, assuming Travis gets the start, he looks to be a long term great leader for the reigning Big 12 champs as they look for a repeat championship year.

 

Travis was an A overall last year, and improved even further. He has an A in Agility, Carrying, and strength, along with a B in Speed, Throw Power, Throw Accuracy, and Football IQ (Plus a D in stamina but hopefully that won't hurt him too much). Travis has some of the best talent in the country, and as a RS Sophomore with A/A- potential, he looks like a potential future #1 overall pick.

 

Around him, Raymond Norris is an A overall Red Zone WR, with a slew of B overalls as well, including phenom freshman Tyler Prochnow. Baylor also has a pair of B overall receiving TEs as additional targets.

The downside for Travis is that Baylor also has an A overall power back with Dietrich Smith, who could soak up a lot of short yardage situations and touchdowns. Beyond that, the offensive line is good, with 4 B players and an A pass blocking OG.

 

Overall, Travis is a very exciting player to watch for this year, and should be one of the top scramblers in the country. He may lose a few touchdowns to his RB, but he has the talent to put up some big numbers on a very good team.

 

9th (34 points)

Hiram Maronde (Scrambler) - UCLA

 

Hiram was another 5 star scrambler moving from Atlanta, GA out to UCLA. He is entering his junior year as a returning starter, having led UCLA to a 6-7 record last season as an A overall QB. Stats-wise he was ok for a scrambler. 56% completion percentage for 3000 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 INTs to go with 330 yards and 4 TDs on the ground on a 3.4 YPC clip. I'm not too well versed on UCLA's season last year so I'm not sure if he was dragging along a putrid team, or was just eh. Either way, he spent another summer progressing at an A-/A clip and comes in as one of the more talented QBs in the nation.

 

Hiram has an A overall rating broken down into: A agility, B speed, A carrying, A strength, C Throw power, B throw accuracy, and A football IQ. These are pretty good running skills, and he is clearly quite smart. Even if he can't launch bombs, as long as the gameplan is tailored correctly he won't need to. Speaking of, UCLA does have an A overall balanced RB in Dan Garcia, and an offensive line of 5 run blockers (4 B overalls, 1 A), so it's almost certain the ground game will feature prominently. The question will be how to balance the load between QB/RB, and to what extent they use quick passes. On the flip side, he does have an A overall speed WR and an A overall Vertical threat TE, so the weapons are there to go in a number of different directions. It will definitely be tough to gameplan against the Bruins this year until we start seeing what they decide to do.

 

Overall, Hiram seems to have plenty of support around him, and could lead his offense to a strong showing this year, provided that he meshes well with the chosen gameplans. I actually think he may not produce a ton of stats though if last season was any indication, so he could perhaps be lower on this list.

 

 

8th (34 points)

Brandon Smith (Field General) - Kansas State

 

The last 5 star on the list, Brandon was an A last year, and remains an A this year as he enters his senior season the leader of, and best player on, the Kansas State Wildcats. While Kansas State didn't have the greatest season last year (7-6) Brandon put up some pretty good stats and statistically was a top-20 QB (the 3rd best non-senior). He threw for over 4500 yards on 55% completion percentage with 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

 

A field general, Brandon has B's and C's in his scrambling skills, with B throw power, B Throw accuracy, and A football IQ. He only rushed 7 times last season, but he is capable of scrambling a little and moving around in the pocket.

 

One of the things keeping him lower on this list is his weapons around him. He does have an A WR, but his other wideouts are Bs, he has only Cs for TE's, and the starting running back looks like a balanced B. Luckily, he should be smart enough to figure out how to use this squad without needing a game-breaking individual target. His offensive line is also on the upper end of average with 4 B players and and A overall OG. However, even though his targets might not be great, the offense looks like it will flow completely through him so he should still be able to put up even greater stats this season.

 

Look for Brandon to bump up that completion percentage while likely still crossing 4000 yards of offense. He is absolutely capable of making some noise in the Big 12.

 

7th (35 points)

Kemoko Allard (Pocket) - South Carolina

 

A rising senior, Kemoko was the starter last season for a somewhat disappointing 5-7 South Carolina team. However, he was pretty efficient that year, despite not putting up a lot of counting stats. He went for 2900 yards on 66% Completion and 18 TDs - 8 INTs. They missed a bowl last year, but this year may be putting the ball in his hands more often.

As a pocket QB, Kemoko is not going to pick up yards on the ground, however with B agility he is mobile in the pocket. He also boasts an A throw power, A accuracy, and B football IQ as he remains an A overall player. His protection this year is also elite, with 2 A overall players on the line at OT and OG. He should also be getting a better look as the focal point of this offense with the best RB being a B overall receiving back. In terms of weapons though, they are fairly average. He does have the receiving RB along with a receiving B overall TE. At WR though South Carolina does not stand out. Only 1 other QB in this top-10 is missing out on having an A overall top guy at WR. His options are all fairly low B overall WRs, so with not a single A guy to throw the ball too, his ceiling may be capped no matter how good Allard is himself.

 

I anticipate another very efficient season out of Kemoko with a bit of a bump in completion percentage. However, without the necessary game-breaking receiving options, I don't know that South Carolina will convert that into a ton of yardage / wins, particularly in a very, very tough SEC East.

 

 

6th (36 points)

Blake Smith (Pocket) - North Texas

 

Blake Smith had an extremely successful year in 2021, leading UNT to a playoff bid and finishing 12-3. While UNT was a run-heavy team (top-10 rushing offense), Blake still put up almost 3500 yards on 68% completion rate with 34 TDs and 12 INTs, all as a true sophomore B overall. This off-season he improved to an A and enters his junior year ready to take on more responsibilities for the Mean Green beyond his top-25 season last year. Star RB Danny Broxton has graduated, and his replacement is A overall receiving back Rishard Ward, who is extremely well-rounded and was redshirted last season.

 

In addition to Rishard, Blake has extremely talented A overall WR Marco Thompson, one of the better WRs in the country. The downside here is that the talent in the WR room is very top heavy and falls off dramatically after Marco, while they only have C overall TEs in the room. Expect both Marco and Rishard to see a ton of targets this season.

 

There should be reasonably good offensive line protection with a ton of B overalls anchored by the A overall line captain at C.

In fact, Blake has all the ingredients to succeed, and will be on a well coached team, but there are still a few questions about his talent. He is only a junior, but very unathletic, and A throw power, B throw accuracy, and C football IQ are good, but slightly lag behind others on this list.

 

Overall though, he has been on a strong upward trajectory and will shoulder more of the burden this year, combined with good talent around him and a good offseason have me convinced he can lead UNT to at least another double digit win season if not further.

 

 

 

This segment will be split into 2 parts, with the top-5 QBs being revealed in the next post. Comment below if you want to take some guesses as to who will be on that list ?

[Kirby]

Kelly Jarwin, cos yano, he's stepping into some big shoes.

[PoopyRhinoPickle]

More quality content! I’m curious where dexter reed would be in this metric

[Vivid]

K-train coming to a town near you! Choo mfer Choo

[Pumph]

Hiram Maronde (Scrambler) - UCLA

I christen thee "HiramBae".