Introducing the CFB Saturdays College Football QB Rankings

Over the next few weeks we will be unveiling our College Football player rankings by position. Today we start with our College Football QB rankings. A few notes before we discuss the rankings themselves.

• The rankings will be updated throughout the season.
• Players who have not played college football are not eligible for the rankings.
• Players are graded on their college ability, not their pro potential.
• We are judging players on their film, production and physical tools.

You can view the College Football QB Rankings here.

The first debate in the rankings was right at the top. Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) and Justin Fields (Ohio State) are both incredible talents and we went back and forth on who should be ranked higher. We settled on Lawrence because we feel he’s further along in his development than Fields and he won the head to head match-up in 2019 (we are aware that Fields was playing hurt). The margin here is razor thin and we could see these two battling at the top all season.

Sam Howell (North Carolina) was an easy pick at 3. He may not be on the same level as the top 2 yet, but he was phenomenal in his freshman campaign. He can make every throw on the field including a remarkable deep ball, and showed an intelligence and toughness well beyond his experience level. Howell grew as the year went on and is poised to have a monster sophomore season, one that could see him in New York as a Heisman finalist.

D’Eriq King (Miami), Kedon Slovis (USC) and Jamie Newman (Georgia) are bunched together in the rankings. If these rankings were based on NFL potential alone these three would likely be in a different order, but for the college game we settled on King at 4, Slovis at 5 and Newman at 6. King is an electric playmaker; we don’t know what went wrong last year with Holgerson, but King has shown what level of player he is and should thrive in Rhett Lashlee’s offense at Miami. Slovis is a smart QB with a good arm who always seems to throw a catchable ball. Newman produced at Wake Forest and with better weapons around him at Georgia he could really take the next step.

Tanner Morgan (Minnesota) checks in at number 7 coming off a great year at Minnesota. We love his production, he is an accurate passer, and runs Minnesota’s RPO offense to perfection. His production warranted him being ranked even higher, but we are not sure if he could be as successful in a different system. Morgan should produce again in 2020, and he could take the next step up the rankings if he shows he can dominate the game against the tougher opponents.

Sam Ehlinger (Texas) (9) doesn’t throw the prettiest ball but he just gets the job done all game. He’s a leader who wins with toughness and grit. He has the ability to win games with his arm or his legs, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to try to get the win. Leadership is critical for QBs and Ehlinger has it in spades. His play could be the key to Texas finally breaking through.

Checking in at 11 is Jayden Daniels (Arizona State). In his true freshman season Daniels grew into his role as the leader of Arizona State’s offense. There were some inconsistencies in his performance but the tools are there and he showcased his ability in a big upset win over Oregon. Overall the production was good despite some bad games along the way. Daniels’ continued growth should have Sun Devils fans really excited.

We are aware KJ Costello (Mississippi State) (14) transferred out of Stanford after injuries shortened his season and he was replaced by Davis Mills (Stanford) (19). We think this move actually works out in Costello’s favor. Costello has a lot of physical tools and Mike Leach will develop those tools and put them to work, meanwhile Mills, who also has great physical tools is in a Stanford offense that has lagged behind in the college football offensive explosion. Both QBs have a lot of physical talent, we think Costello is in the better place to harness that talent.

Kellen Mond (Texas A&M) and Michael Penix Jr (Indiana) slot in at number 15 and 16 respectively. We see both as guys who could shoot up these rankings. Mond has great physical tools; tools that could place him near the top of this list, but the production has lagged behind the tools. Penix Jr. produced at Indiana and was a catalyst for their offense, we love his game but injuries limited how often he was on the field. He will be a redshirt sophomore in 2020 and if he can stay healthy it could be a big year for the Hoosiers.

Alan Bowman (Texas Tech) ranks 22nd, and we were unsure where to place him. He played very little last year but was excellent in 2018. If he’s healthy Bowman is an accurate QB, who has excellent touch; he can really drop it in the bucket. We hoped to see him progress in 2019 but his season was cut short after just 3 games. Perhaps the year was not lost from a development standpoint and Bowman can showcase his abilities in 2020.

Dustin Crum (Kent State) is the underdog on this list. We fell in love with his performance against Utah State last year. He completes a high percentage of his passes and runs better than you would think. His accuracy, moxie and knack for finding yards on the ground make for an exciting watch in the MAC.

We considered Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma) for the top 25, he has all the tools to be a great QB, but he played very little in College so far and we just need to see more. We love the limited plays we saw from him. He is a guy who should appear on this list quickly as the season gets rolling.

We went back and reviewed the QBs in FBS and this is the current Top 25 of our College Football QB rankings. Like all lists we’re sure everyone doesn’t agree and we welcome the debate. We will update the list once the season gets underway.

For the complete Top 25 QB Rankings click here.

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