NFL Starting Quarterbacks by College Conference (List/Table)

[BusSport]

The "http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/college-football-forum-message-board-general-discussion/172601-how-many-qbs-your-conference-will-drafted.html" thread got me curious, so I compiled a list of the starting QBs for every NFL team this season, by college conference. Now, there's the question of what to do about starters that are injured; in order to gauge overall talent level and to avoid bias by selecting any particular week in which a usual starter happened to be injured, for "starting QB," I went with the QB on the roster who would be the starter if no one was injured, even if injury has caused that starter to miss most of the season. And for some NFL teams, there's some ambiguity as to who the "starter" really is; I went with whomever the team seems to have settled upon, regardless of who was starting at the beginning of the season (examples: the Jets seem to have settled on Vick over Smith, and the Titans on Mettenberger over Locker). The results:

Total (32 NFL teams), in descending order by number of conference representatives, and within each conference, in alphabetical order by last name:

* SEC (8) - Cutler, Mallett, E. Manning, P. Manning, Mettenberger, Newton, Stafford, Tannehill

* Big10 (5) - Brady, Brees, Hoyer, Orton, Wilson
* Pac12 (5) - Foles, Luck, Palmer, Rodgers, Smith

* ACC (4) - Bridgewater, Rivers, Ryan, Vick

* Big12 (3) - Bradford, Dalton, Griffin

* MWC (2) - Carr, Kaepernick

* AAC (1) - Bortles
* CAA (1) - Flacco
* MAC (1) - Roethlisberger
* OVC (1) - Romo
* SLC (1) - McCown

It's interesting that, despite being a league not particularly known in recent years for its quarterbacks, the SEC actually still ends up coming up on top, with a full quarter (heh) of NFL teams starting SEC quarterbacks.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Ummmm...SEC?

 

[Beggs]

Excuse me? You are including Mallett, a QB who started 2 games in his NFL career, and is now out for the season? If you are going to make an accurate list, how about you make that list using the QBs at #1 on the depth chart instead of the backups.

 

[uncfan103]

Alright, so I went to here and looked at all qbs they had listed (86) and sorted them the conference they played in. I didn't give the ACC credit for Michael Vick and I didn't give the SEC credit for Blaine Gabbert and things like that.

I counted Russell Wilson as NC State and Wisconsin since he would've been an NFL QB without the transfer to Wisconsin.

ACC - 15
SEC - 13
PAC - 12
FBS (non P5) - 12
B1G - 11
Big 12 - 8
FCS - 8
Big East - 4
Notre Dame - 1
West Texas A&M - 1
Wisconsin - Whitewater - 1

 

[BTHOtu]

Technically...Tannehill is a Big 12 Quarterback...

 

[cwood]

Big 10 and Pac 12 own that list.

 

[TexasExes98]

Technically...Tannehill is a Big 12 Quarterback...

Yup, and Dalton is technically a MWC QB, too......

 

[gpm1976]

Big 10 and Pac 12 own that list.

Correct.. and you have to look at quality as well. As much as Michigan gets ragged on, they've been a farm team for NFL QBs... and Brady(as much as I hate to admit) is the best in the league.

 

[cwood]

Correct.. and you have to look at quality as well. As much as Michigan gets ragged on, they've been a farm team for NFL QBs... and Brady(as much as I hate to admit) is the best in the league.

Lol, I'd say Rodgers is the best but I won't argue too much.

 

[BusSport]

Excuse me? You are including Mallett, a QB who started 2 games in his NFL career, and is now out for the season? If you are going to make an accurate list, how about you make that list using the QBs at #1 on the depth chart instead of the backups.

Excuse you indeed, since you clearly have not been following the Texans.

Mallett WAS #1 on the depth chart for the Texans -- he was starting over Fitzpatrick until his injury.

As stated in my original post, "I went with whomever the team seems to have settled upon, regardless of who was starting at the beginning of the season." Fitz started at the beginning of the season, but then got demoted in favor of Mallett.

 

[BusSport]

I didn't give the ACC credit for Michael Vick and I didn't give the SEC credit for Blaine Gabbert and things like that.

Technically...Tannehill is a Big 12 Quarterback...

Yup, and Dalton is technically a MWC QB, too......

I thought about that, but the point of curiosity that got me started was how good the conferences, with their current institutional memberships, are at producing starting NFL QBs.

For that, you have to count the schools by what conference they're in now, not by what conference they used to be in.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

8 QBs from the state of Texas, none horns. Thanks Mack

 

[Lance Armstrong]

Nevermind, colt just took RG3's spot. Also Geno Smith is the starter over Michael Vick

 

[Codaxx]

Thinking Wilson should be ACC. 3 seasons > 1 season
Tannehill = Big 12
Dalton is MWC

you have to put players in the conference they actually played in.

 

[Wamu]

When Kaepernick played for Nevada-Reno weren't they still in the WAC?

 

[ericd7633]

It's still hard for me to believe the B1G hasn't produced a first round QB since 1995 and haven't had a QB selected in the first 3 rounds since 2008. I consider Wilson a product of the ACC.

In 3-4 years once Brady, Brees and Orton retire, the B1G will have nodoby left. I can't see anybody on a current B1G roster becoming a starting QB in the nex 2-3 years. I guess maybe Barrett, Cook or Hackenburg. It really hurts the B1G that the midwest can't produce elite level QB's anymore.

 

[The Authority]

What about the other Michigan St. QB's. Kurt Cousins and Stanton.

 

[ericd7633]

What about the other Michigan St. QB's. Kurt Cousins and Stanton.

Wouldn't be starting/have started without injuries. Which the OP was taking into account.

 

[Codaxx]

It's still hard for me to believe the B1G hasn't produced a first round QB since 1995 and haven't had a QB selected in the first 3 rounds since 2008. I consider Wilson a product of the ACC.

In 3-4 years once Brady, Brees and Orton retire, the B1G will have nodoby left. I can't see anybody on a current B1G roster becoming a starting QB in the nex 2-3 years. I guess maybe Barrett, Cook or Hackenburg. It really hurts the B1G that the midwest can't produce elite level QB's anymore.

-
Thinking it rests on Hackenburg. Michigan used to be a farm system for the NFL. They went spread and it just has not been the same.

 

[The Authority]

Wouldn't be starting/have started without injuries. Which the OP was taking into account.

couldn't the same be said for Mallet, Metenburger, and Bridgewater?

Granted I don't follow it all that closely.