Recruiting Position Rankings - QB

[tsweezy]

With the end of the second recruiting cycle at hand, I wanted to take some time and see which teams have been loading up on talent at each position. Where are the future stars going to come from, and where have people been focusing their efforts? This will be an X-part series depending on how many positions I want to do. First up will be possibly the most important position: QB

 

A quick note on methodology here. I have a very un-official system of scoring each recruit according to their projected junior year overall. So it takes stars, overall, and potential into account. I ranked all croots at each position and considered the top X players at each position that each school signed to get a holistic picture of which room is the best. So signing only 1 QB in 2 years can still be a top room if he's the #1 QB whereas if you only sign 1 WR in 2 years even if he's a 5 star A overall that won't be the best overall grouping.

 

Without further ado: the quarterbacks:

 

5th place

 

BYU

 

BYU is the only team in consideration with just one QB signee but wow he is a doozy. Dick Richards is the #1 generated QB prospect for these cycles. A unanimous 5-star hailing all the way from Anchorage, Alaska, Dick showed the world why he has that #1 overall rank as he destroyed the Elite 11 camp winning MVP honors. His recruitment was much less tumultuous than expected, as he locked in on BYU early and never wavered, giving them the QB of the future with a pocket-style 5-star B overall, A- potential player. You have to assume he's going to win a bunch of awards en route to a #1 overall selection in the draft 4 years from now. Honestly just with Dick BYU might deserve a top-3 slot but there is no depth besides him so they are in a world of trouble if he does get hurt.

 

2022 Signee:

Pocket QB Dick Richards: 5-star, B overall, A- Potential, Elite 11 MVP. (#1 overall)

 

 

4th place

 

:northcarolina: North Carolina :northcarolina:

 

Many people may disagree, but I have UNC at the 4-spot due to their pair of signees. Last year they snagged Tavarres Washington, the 2nd best 2021 QB prospect. Tavarres is more of a balanced player than a sling-it prospect and has almost no holes in his game, even if he doesn't possess quite the arm of a Savage or Dick. He started the year backing up senior scrambler Jake Conner, but quickly showed he was too talented to keep off the field and won the starting job in game 2. While he showed a ton of talent, his actual statistics were a bit up and down as he threw for 2500 yards on 54% completion with a 7:12 TD:INT ratio. Still, he is an undeniable top QB in the class and will be contending for an all-conference QB slot sooner than later.

This year they signed his back-up of the future: Alberto Graves, a 3 star B- potential Field General. Given that Alberto should only see the field of something goes terribly wrong, I like the signing as he is smart as a whip and should be able to contribute in film sessions.

 

2021 Signee	Balanced QB Tavarres Washington: 5-star, B overall, C Potential, Elite-11 Runner-up (#3 overall)
2022 Signee	Field General QB Alberto Graves: 3-star, C overall, B- Potential (T-#105 overall)

 

 

3rd place

:purdue: Purdue :purdue:

 

The top-3 schools all followed a similar story of signing a 5-star and convincing a 4-star to come to campus as a likely backup. Purdue's main QBOTF is Edward Laakso, a field general C- potential player. Laakso took runner-up awards at the Elite 11 camp behind Dick and was ranked the number 7 player in the country. Smart as a whip, he should be able to grasp the playbook quite quickly and start whenever he wants.

Purdue somehow also managed to snag a second QB in the 2022 class after passing on one in 2021. For the 2nd fiddle position they got scrambler Max Benson, a 4C D+ potential player who has all the athletic tools you could ask for, but is a very raw passer. I think its a good complement as he can sit and redshirt, and there is speculation that if he sees no path to the QB1 slot he could change positions to RB if needed. Either way, Purdue is in great shape for the future.

 

2022 Signee	Field General QB Edward Laakso: 5-star, B overall, C- Potential, Elite-11 Runner-up (T-4th Overall)
2022 Signee	Scrambler QB Max Benson: 4-star, C overall, D+ Potential (#T-71st Overall)

 

Runner-up

 

:lsu: LSU :lsu:

 

LSU is basically a carbon copy slight upgrade of Purdue. Their 5-star was also a field general C- potential in David Scott. He was just narrowly edged out by Laakso and took 3rd at the Elite 11 but is ranked 6th in the nation so they are going to be nearly the same in my opinion.

The difference between them and Purdue is they signed a 4 star scrambler last year, and Sean Kirven has a B potential, as coaches think he has a much higher chance of panning out as QB. Ideally they won't need him to, but he is a very, very good insurance option in case something happens to Scott.

 

2021 Signee	Scramber QB Sean Kirven: 4-star, C overall, B potential (T-20th overall)
2022 Signee	Field General QB David Scott: 5-star, B overall, C- Potential, Elite-11 3rd place (T-4th overall)

 

Top Position Group

 

:tennessee: Tennessee :tennessee:

 

 

Yeah, yeah, you know who's writing this. I challenge you though to come up with an alternate team.

Tennessee had the coup of last years recruiting as 5-star Elite 11 MVP Brandon Savage hailed from in-state Decatur TN and while he flirted with some other options early, he ultimately wanted to be a hometown hero (and frankly has been). I'm not going to regale you too much with his stats this year but I will highlight a few:

Savage ended the year with the 6th highest QBR in the country (and was the only underclassment in the top-25), took his team to the playoff semifinals, threw for over 4000 yards at a 66% completion pct clip, and had a 24:8 TD:INT ratio. He was easily the fresman of the year nation-wide and will almost certainly be a #1 overall pick when he graduates. With Ynoa leaving this year, Savage basically IS Tennessee football for the next 3 years.

 

This cycle TENN was content to pass on a QB, but ultimately had some mutual interest and signed 4 star B potential balanced QB Mark Koch. Koch was probably under-recruited as he battled a few injuries and was not invited to the Elite 11. However coaches have said they think he has the talent and potential to be an above-average P5 starter in just about any scheme which is high praise. He will likely take a redshirt to put another year between him and Savage and could potentially be in line for a year or 2 of starting once Savage goes pro.

 

2021 Signee	Pocket QB Brandon Savage: 5-star, B overall, C+ Potential, Elite 11 MVP (#2 overall)
2022 Signee	Balanced QB Mark Koch: 4-star, C overall, B Potential (T-20th overall)

 

If you've read this far, thanks and make sure to post a comment, hit like, and subscribe ? also let me know if you want to see anything different or additional info as we go through the next position groups! @BabaYaga @cmcgill @Curby4 @Tryggr congratulations on this position recruiting

Edited November 21, 2022 by tsweezy

[Kirby]

Where da fook is Colt McIntyre

[Kirby]

Colt > Lil Dicky

[Kirby]

That's Focussed Film Room Genius Colt McIntyre btw

[Weeze]

Regretting his terrible life choice to go to that ugly garnet and gold school.

[Kirby]

Mans about to get laid though #NoMoreVPlates

[cultur3]

Wow Tennessee with that savage koch

[BabaYaga]

I can't disagree here. I will say, I am planning to RS Laakso this year and probably start Benson unless Laakso comes in with stud attributes, but even then I will probably RS because I don't have any WR talent.

 

But, if Benson also sucks, which he probably will, my recruit from last year Austin Cooper (3 star, B potential) will probably slide into that #1/#2 role and Benson will be banished to RB room.

[Curby4]

You forget I’m getting ready to sign a star (2 star) Kevin Geis, who will hold kicks for the next 4 years lol