With the assist from BBTS, was thinking about doing rankings by unit for the 2020 season (if there is one). Will need some participation to at least figure out who is returning for each team. But anyway I'm on rotation at work but there isn't much to do so I'll waste time doing this. Presumed starter in bold.
1. Ohio State: Justin Fields, Gunnar Hoak, Jack Miller, CJ Stroud
This one is probably a no brainer. Fields was all-time awesome last year, and he had only been on campus for a few months. He is destined to be the first or second quarterback in the draft next year absent some crazy injury/huge step back. The backup situation is probably better. No more Chugz, but Gunnar Hoak is on his second year in the system and the other two are highly touted freshmen.
2. Minnesota: Tanner Morgan, Zach Annexstad
Fairly easy call here. Morgan was the leading passer last year in the conference, and his rating was just a touch behind Fields. While he lost his safety valve Tyler Johnson, the Gophs return a ton of offense so there is no reason to think he will take a step back, with one caveat, as the OC Kirk Ciarocca went to Penn State. Annexstad was in competition for the starting job before injury, don't know much about him.
3. Indiana: Michael Penix, Jack Tuttle
Gets tougher here. Penix might be the clear third best quarterback - he is truly dynamic running and throwing. But he couldn't stay healthy last year. Peyton Ramsey kept Indiana in the running, but he transferred to Northwestern and the new backup is Jack Tuttle. Tuttle was fairly highly rated recruit from California who originally played at Utah before transferring. Also gone is last year's offensive coordinator Kalen Deboer, replaced by former UM quarterback Nick Sheridan, so there is potential for a step back.
4. Penn State: Sean Clifford, Will Levis
A lot of these guys are in the mushy middle - went with PSU's group here mostly on the addition of a new OC who will hopefully make things a little better for the talented quarterbacks. Clifford is the entrenched starter, though Levis looked pretty good against OSU last year. They return a lot of offense around them - biggest question mark on Clifford is his accuracy. A sub 60% completion percentage needs to come up a tick, especially with Hamler gone.
5. Wisconsin: Jack Coan, Graham Mertz
Coan was the quintessential Wiscy quarterback last year. He completed passes (near 70%, seventh in the country) and didn't throw picks. Still, there was a feeling that he struggled to make big plays. With Jonathan Taylor and Bo Cephus gone, he might need to be a bit more dynamic, so we shall see how that goes. Mertz was a top 100 recruit who will put some pressure on Coan if Wisconsin doesn't look right.
6. Michigan: Dylan McCaffrey, Joe Milton, Cade McNamara
Michigan is tough to rank because they don't have a clear starter yet. McCaffery is probably the favorite, though Milton is a real threat. Still, they are all pretty strong recruits, and Michigan's system has gotten quarterback friendly, so whoever starts should be pretty good. But not sure who that will be yet. Also a question as to when a starter would be named and whether the other guy would leave.
7. Nebraska: Adrian Martinez, Noah Vedral, Luke MCCaffrey
Also a tough one. Adrian Martinez is a talented kid, and Scott Frost is a good coach, and this should have worked a lot better than it did last year. Martinez struggled to stay healthy and struggled when he played, so it's a fair question of whether he will even be the Husker QB this year. On paper, this should be great, but we said that last year and that didn't get very far.
8. Northwestern: woah boy Peyton Ramsey, Aidan Smith, Hunter Johnson, TJ Green, Andrew Marty, Carl Richardson
So grading these by unit, Northwestern has by far the most quarterbacks. They could sustain like 4 ACL tears and still trot out a starting quarterback. Ramsey has had proven success and it seems unlikely he would have transferred there without some thought he would get the starting job. Last year TJ Green was the starter until he had a season ending injury the first game. Johnson and Smith played and were bad. Marty ended up the starter in the end. Northwestern is getting a new OC so they might look a bit different as well.
9. Purdue: Jack Plummer, , Austin Burton, Aidan O'Connell, Paul Piferi, Michael Alaimo
Purdue still trying to end their musical chair quarterback play. Plummer looks like the starter wasn't bad last year as a freshman. He (and all of Purdue) struggled to stay healthy, leading to playing time for O'Connell. Notified that Austin Burton has joined the team as a transfer from UCLA. He was their backup last year, and looking at his stats he might be all right. Completed around 69% and a lot of short passes, which might fit Purdue's offense of get the ball to twitchy guys.
10. Illinois: Brandon Peters, Matt Robinson, Isaiah Williams
Peters wasn't terrible last year, and Illinois got enough to make a bowl game. He has had concussion issues, and his backups were bad. So bad I struggled to figure out who is even on the team.
11. Iowa: Spencer Petras, Alex Padilla, Deuce Hogan
Nate Stanley is finally gone, leading to some new Iowa QB play. Your guess is as good as mine here.
12. Michigan State: Rocky Lombardi, Theo Day, Payton Thorne
Where are you ELA? Who is the quarterback this year? I still have visions of Rocky Lombardi coming in against Ohio State, looking like a cross between Tim Tebow and Hulk Hogan. Apparently that was the last time he looked good in a football game
13. Rutgers: Johnny Langan, Art Sitkowski
Sitkowski is back after sitting out most of last season with a thought towards transfer. Langan is also back after starting most of their games, though he was very bad. We shall see if Schiano can turn this around.
14. Maryland: Josh Jackson, Lance LeGendre
How to be last? Have two guys on the roster and no incoming freshmen. Josh Jackson was bad last year, completing a terrible 47% on his passes. LeGendre is a talented recruit who completed one pass last year. Everyone else in the room fled.
