ESPN Insider's QB Tiers

[iowajerms]

Full article attached as .pdf

College football QB tiers: Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence are stars, but who's next?

TIER 1: The Can't Miss Superstars

Justin Fields, Ohio State
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
​

TIER 2: Elite

Tanner Morgan, Minnesota
Sam Howell, North Carolina
Brock Purdy, Iowa State
D'Eriq King, Miami
Sam Ehlinger, Texas
Kedon Slovis, USC
​

TIER 3: Elite Like Joe Flacco

Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
Jamie Newman, Georgia
Micale Cunningham, Louisville
KJ Castello, Mississippi State
Kyle Trask, Florida
​

TIER 4: Big Shoes To Fill

Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
Bryce Young/Mac Jones, Alabama
Jacob Sirmon/Dylan Morris, Washington
Myles Brennan, LSU
Tyler Shough/Anthony Brown, Oregon
​

Tier 5: Non-Power 5

Brady White, Memphis
Dillon Gabriel, UCF
Levi Lewis, Louisiana
Zac Thomas, Appalachian State
Trey Lance, North Dakota State
Shane Buechele, SMU
​

Tier 6: Game managers

Charlie Brewer, Baylor
Ian Book, Notre Dame
Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
Sean Clifford, Penn State
Chase Garbers, California
Brandon Peters, Illinois​

Tier 7: Up-and-comers

Bo Nix, Auburn
Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
Holton Ahlers, East Carolina
Hank Bachmeier, Boise State
Max Duggan, TCU
Hendon Hooker, Virginia Tech
Davis Mills, Stanford
John Rhys Plumlee, Ole Miss​

Tier 8: Wild cards

Jarret Doege, West Virginia
Spencer Petras, Iowa
Tommy DeVito, Syracuse
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA
Jake Bentley, Utah
JT Daniels, Georgia
McKenzie Milton, UCF​

Tier 9: Open competitions

Joe Milton/Dylan McCaffrey, Michigan
Jack Coan/Graham Mertz, Wisconsin
Jarrett Guarantano/Brian Maurer, Tennessee​

Tier 10: We could be convinced

Ryan Hilinski, South Carolina
Jack Plummer, Purdue
Peyton Ramsey, Northwestern
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
Chase Brice, Duke
Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
James Blackman, Florida State
Michael Penix Jr., Indiana
Skylar Thompson, Kansas State​

 

[Across The Field]

Looks about right

 

[Olyduck]

Na i dont think the guys who haven't taken significant snaps yet should be included.

 

[iowajerms]

 

[The Derski]

 

[Boise4Life]

I think Spencer Sanders from OK State is going to have a pretty bad ass season/career. He’s lumped in with some pretty shitty quarterbacks. I think of him as more of an up and comer.

I really like Chase Garbers from Cal. I realize because of how Cal runs their offense he’s labeled as a game manager but that dude can straight up ball. He had them undefeated and #15 when he went down. Without him they lost a bunch in a row. Then he came back for their last three games and they won all of them. He makes really good decisions and is extremely accurate.

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

Na i dont think the guys who haven't taken significant snaps yet should be included.

Once you get past Tier 3, the other tiers aren't really rankings.

 

[Tin Man]

Jarrett Guarantano/Brian Maurer, Tennessee

Actually, Tennessee also has J.T. Shrout on the roster and Harrison Bailey coming in. It's an open competition. IMHO, either Guarantano finally fulfills his promise, Maurer matures, or Shrout/Bailey steps up. The Vols need better QB play in 2020.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

Full article attached as .pdf

College football QB tiers: Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence are stars, but who's next?

TIER 1: The Can't Miss Superstars

Justin Fields, Ohio State
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
​

TIER 2: Elite

Tanner Morgan, Minnesota
Sam Howell, North Carolina
Brock Purdy, Iowa State
D'Eriq King, Miami
Sam Ehlinger, Texas
Kedon Slovis, USC
​

TIER 3: Elite Like Joe Flacco

Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
Jamie Newman, Georgia
Micale Cunningham, Louisville
KJ Castello, Mississippi State
Kyle Trask, Florida
​

TIER 4: Big Shoes To Fill

Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
Bryce Young/Mac Jones, Alabama
Jacob Sirmon/Dylan Morris, Washington
Myles Brennan, LSU
Tyler Shough/Anthony Brown, Oregon
​

Tier 5: Non-Power 5

Brady White, Memphis
Dillon Gabriel, UCF
Levi Lewis, Louisiana
Zac Thomas, Appalachian State
Trey Lance, North Dakota State
Shane Buechele, SMU
​

Tier 6: Game managers

Charlie Brewer, Baylor
Ian Book, Notre Dame
Sam Hartman, Wake Forest
Sean Clifford, Penn State
Chase Garbers, California
Brandon Peters, Illinois​

Tier 7: Up-and-comers

Bo Nix, Auburn
Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
Holton Ahlers, East Carolina
Hank Bachmeier, Boise State
Max Duggan, TCU
Hendon Hooker, Virginia Tech
Davis Mills, Stanford
John Rhys Plumlee, Ole Miss​

Tier 8: Wild cards

Jarret Doege, West Virginia
Spencer Petras, Iowa
Tommy DeVito, Syracuse
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA
Jake Bentley, Utah
JT Daniels, Georgia
McKenzie Milton, UCF​

Tier 9: Open competitions

Joe Milton/Dylan McCaffrey, Michigan
Jack Coan/Graham Mertz, Wisconsin
Jarrett Guarantano/Brian Maurer, Tennessee​

Tier 10: We could be convinced

Ryan Hilinski, South Carolina
Jack Plummer, Purdue
Peyton Ramsey, Northwestern
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
Chase Brice, Duke
Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
James Blackman, Florida State
Michael Penix Jr., Indiana
Skylar Thompson, Kansas State​

I don't think anyone, even a hardcore college fan, seen all these dudes play. Nor have I, but I am gonna nitpick the ones I've seen often.

D'Eriq King, Miami
Kellen Mond, Texas A&M​

I watched these 2 constantly. Way overrated IMO.

Brady White, Memphis
McKenzie Milton, UCF

These 2 are way underrated.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA

Hahahahaha. He's so bad he shouldn't be on a list.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

I've seen buzz about that Trey Lance dude from North Dakota State. Not sure if its because he's actually good or just because its North Dakota State. I hope we can see him perform against Oregon.

 

[jjc2009]

How is “big shoes to fill” a tier category? It’s not based on the current player’s ability but who they are replacing. That says nothing about how good they are compared to their peers.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I was going to say. I remember being in a debate last year because these dumb ranking had Martinez as the best QB in the B10. It was dumb.

 

[Smart]

Once you get past Tier 3, the other tiers aren't really rankings.

What is the point of numbering the tiers if they aren't rankings?

I assume you are probably right, but it's sort of crazy that they put us in Tier 7, when I would take either of our potential quarterbacks over anybody below Tier 3 in a heartbeat.

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

What is the point of numbering the tiers if they aren't rankings?

I assume you are probably right, but it's sort of crazy that they put us in Tier 7, when I would take either of our potential quarterbacks over anybody below Tier 3 in a heartbeat.

I didn't create the rankings/tiers. I'm just trying to explain what the author was doing.

 

[ericd7633]

Book being in tier 6 is pretty dumb, if you're going to have guys like Trask and Costello in tier 3. Hell I think Slovis is good, but Book still had a better year than him.

I didn't read the article so if they are doing some sort of combination of on the field play + pro potential than that would make a little more sense.

 

[Boise4Life]

Book being in tier 6 is pretty dumb, if you're going to have guys like Trask and Costello in tier 3. Hell I think Slovis is good, but Book still had a better year than him.

I didn't read the article so if they are doing some sort of combination of on the field play + pro potential than that would make a little more sense.

I agree. Book is being disrespected here. That kid’s a damn good QB.

 

[ericd7633]

I agree. Book is being disrespected here. That kid’s a damn good QB.

I think he's good. He's definitely a limited QB, but as far as college producing QB's he had 38 TD's and only 6 INT's last year. I don't think his overall stats will be as good as last year because he lost some weapons at the skill positions, so it'll be interesting to see what he does. He was throwing to 2 NFL WR's and an NFL TE the last two seasons.

 

[Texas Jefe]

I do like that Sam Howell kid at NC.

Saw him make some awesome throws last year, will see what his trajectory is

 

[Boise4Life]

I think he's good. He's definitely a limited QB, but as far as college producing QB's he had 38 TD's and only 6 INT's last year. I don't think his overall stats will be as good as last year because he lost some weapons at the skill positions, so it'll be interesting to see what he does. He was throwing to 2 NFL WR's and an NFL TE the last two seasons.

38 versus 6 is money. He’s a player. Our QB had 6 INTs as well......to 9 TDs against Group of 5 competition and he’s listed as an up and comer.

 

[Boise4Life]

I do like that Sam Howell kid at NC.

Saw him make some awesome throws last year, will see what his trajectory is

High