The Big 10 has produced a multitude of successful quarterbacks over the conference’s history that have gone on to prosper at the NFL level. Guys like Tom Bray and Dree Brees are a couple of legends that still hold strong ties to their respective universities. Today, a new crop of guys are looking to put their stamp on the Big 10 while some familiar faces return to make an impact on their program. I will be ranking the quarterbacks of the Big 10 East based on talent and who I believe will have the most individual success. 

7. Noah Vedral - Rutgers

Noah Vedral looks to take the Scarlett Knights to new heights on the 2021 season and it seems as if the program is turning around in New Jersey. With Greg Schiano back running the show, Rutgers has a head coach who has had a great experience at both the NFL and college levels. Once a journeyman, Vedral looks to take the next step in his career as he will be returning to Rutgers for a second consecutive year as a starter. His 2020 shortened season got cut even shorter as he suffered an ankle injury late in the season but he started 7 games and threw 9 touchdowns along with 8 interceptions. While that interception to touchdown ratio is not one to brag about, 6 of them came in two games versus Indiana and Illinois and they could be avoided with some better decision making. Vedral has shown flashes of brilliance, for example, his career-high came against a close loss to Michigan last year as he threw for 381 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Scarlett Knights’ top 3 receivers are returning next year giving Vedral a chance to take his game to new heights. 

6. Anthony Russo - Michigan State

Anthony Russo is one of the more intriguing names on this list and will be a guy who might surprise this conference. Transferring from Temple University, Russo has not been officially named the starter for the 2021 season, I am going out on a limb and predicting that he will get the job. He is making a name for himself already in East Lansing as coach Mel Tucker said, “He's got a big arm, He's tall, he can make every throw, good ball placement accuracy, has clutch production, he is confident in the pocket. Russo finished his junior year at Temple throwing 21 touchdowns and almost 3,000 yards. However, he is prone to throwing interceptions at a high clip. After missing most of the 2020 season due to a shoulder injury, Russo looks to take the job in East Lansing and give the Spartans the passing attack that they have been missing for several years. 

5. Cade McNamara - Michigan

Coming off one of the most disappointing seasons at a storied program, Cade McNamara is the starter in Ann-Arbor as Joe Milton has transferred to Tennessee. McNamara saw action in only 4 games for the Wolverines in 2020 but he showed promise and went 1-1 as a starter throwing for 5 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. The four-star prospect will try to bring glory back to a program that has been nothing but mediocre during Harbaugh’s reign. As Michigan returns their best receivers in Ronnie Bell and top running back in Hassan Haskins, McNamara should be poised to break out for a big junior year.

4. Taulia Tagovailoa - Maryland

Coming in at number four is Taulia Tagovailoa. The pressure is incredibly real for Taulia Tagovailoa as he will always be compared to his brother Tua Tagovaila who is a college football champion. Tagovailoa is coming off an inconsistent 2020 season that was cut short after four games due to COVD-19. Tagovailoa threw for seven touchdowns and three interceptions along with 1011 yards. Tagovailoa showed flashes of brilliance especially when he threw for 394 yards and scored 5 total touchdowns against Minnesota in 2020. But, he flashed his inexperience versus Northwestern and Indiana where he threw 3 interceptions in each game. With some experience under his belt and the return of his top target Dontay Demus along with the emergence of former five-star receiver Rakim Jarrett, Tagovailoa is capable of being one of the top quarterbacks in 2021.

3. Sean Clifford - Penn State

After an inconsistent 2020 season, Sean Clifford is looking to get back to playing at his full potential as he did during his sophomore season. In 2019, he lead the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 record while throwing for almost 2700 yards along with 23 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He has momentum on his side as his final four games in the 2020 campaign were impressive. After Penn State dropped to 0-5 to start the year, Clifford led the team to 4 straight wins scoring 7 total touchdowns and accumulating almost 1,000 yards. Although Clifford has experienced four offensive coordinators, he might have gotten the best and most skilled play-caller for his senior year. Mike Yurcich will be calling plays for the Nittany Lions and he has incredible experience under his belt. Yurcich has spent time as a coordinator at Ohio State, Texas, and Oklahoma State. If Clifford can learn the new offense and improve on his accuracy, he should be able to deliver a solid season for Penn State.

2. C.J. Stroud - Ohio State

Although the quarterback competition in Columbus is far from over, I am going to predict that C.J. Stroud will be getting the rock to open up the 2021 season. Having big shoes to fill in replacing Justin Fields, Stroud is already sitting at the top of the Heisman odds. He has the potential to be the best quarterback in this conference but I can’t put him at number one as he has yet to start a game at the college level. The good news for Stroud is that he has Ryan Day developing him into an elite quarterback, similar to how Day developed Justin Fields. Stroud displayed his talent versus Michigan State running when he got in the game and broke out for a 48-yard touchdown run. The former 5-star prospect played well in the spring game for the Buckeyes throwing for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Stroud certainly isn’t lacking talent around him with two of the top receivers in the nation returning in Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson which will only elevate his performance level in the 2021 season.

1. Michael Penix Jr. - Indiana

After being named second-team All-Big Ten, Michael Penix Jr. is looking to become the best quarterback in the Big 10 East in 2021. Although he tore his ACL and wasn’t able to finish the 2020 season, Penix Jr. still finished with 1645 yards and 16 total touchdowns in just 6 games played. As well, Penix Jr. is not afraid of the moment and shows up in big games. Versus Ohio State in 2020, he threw for 491 yards and threw for 5 touchdowns. Penix Jr. also has one of the best weapons in the conference at receiver in Ty Fryfogle who was a first-team All-Big Ten member. Fryfogle caught 7 touchdowns and had 721 receiving yards in just 8 games. Penix Jr. is an elusive, play-making talent that has a massive impact on the outcome of a game. As long as Penix Jr. is on the field, the Hoosiers have a great chance of making noise in the conference and the nation making Penix Jr. the best quarterback in the Big 10 East. 

Stats: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb

Anthony Russo quote: https://statenews.com/article/2021/04/michigan-state-football-quarterback-breakdown

Ty Fryfogle accolades: https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/football/roster/ty-fryfogle/15364
Michael Penix Jr. accolades: https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/football/roster/michael-penix-jr-/15409

Writer

-By: Justin Howard

The 2022 quarterback class might not be quite as good as its 2021 counterpart, but it’s a whole lot interesting. We knew heading into last season that Trevor Lawrence was always going to be the first overall pick, and Justin Fields and Trey Lance were already extremely highly touted prospects going into the season. Besides Zach Wilson, the top guys were pretty much known. This year’s a bit different. There is no clear-cut #1 quarterback. There are a bunch of highly intriguing prospects who are all trying to prove to NFL teams that they are worthy of being their franchise quarterback. With a lot of questions to be asked about the prospects in the 2022 class before the season, here are the top five storylines surrounding five of the top quarterbacks in 2022. 

Can Spencer Rattler Put All Of His Tools Together?

Spencer Rattler has some of the best moments on film in the 2022 NFL Draft class. Lincoln Riley’s first truly recruited quarterback at Oklahoma, Rattler has a first overall caliber arm and is able to effortlessly throw very deep and generate a ton of velocity on throws. He's an elite level of effortless arm strength that’s reserved for players such as Patrick Mahomes and Matt Stafford. In his best moments Rattler looks like he could be the next Mahomes/Stafford level star, but those moments are just that: moments.

For Spencer Rattler all of the pieces to the puzzle are there for him, he just has to figure out a way to put them all together. There are a lot of the small but important components of the quarterback position that Rattler must learn in order to hit his true potential. As with most quarterbacks, he has to grow on the mental side of the game. He has to be able to read defenses better and diagnose defensive coverage. Rattler looks for the big play a lot and will be better off as a quarterback being ok taking what the defense gives him at times. A one-year starter, Rattler improved a ton as the season went along, and it will be interesting to see if the Arizona native can put it all together in his sophomore campaign.

How Well Will Sam Howell Develop With a New Support Cast?

Sam Howell is another contender for QB1 in 2022, and for good reason. The Tar Heel quarterback statistically lit up college football, finishing the season with 30 touchdowns and 3,586 passing yards, all while completing his passes at a 68.1 percentage. North Carolina had one of the most vaunted offenses in college football, averaging over 40 points per game. The big problem, most of those players around Howell are gone.

Dyami Brown. Dazz Newsome. Javonte Williams. Michael Carter. All four of these players were drafted this past year. All four were the top two receivers and rushers at North Carolina this year. Dyami Brown hit over 1,000 receiving yards for his second straight year. Both Williams and Carter rushed for over 1,000 yards each, and Williams scored 19 touchdowns on the ground. All of the top players around Howell are gone in the year where his development is key.

Sam Howell has a lot to work on with his overall game. There are good moments on Howell’s film. He has good arm talent and when it’s on, his deep ball is one of the best in college. He is very accurate and shows good instances of performing well off-script. There are far too many inconsistencies and down moments though for Howell, including bad decision making. Howell has to take steps forward in his game and it will be interesting to see if he does so with an entirely new supporting cast around him.

Which Kedon Slovis Will We Get in 2021?

USC’s Kedon Slovis is an interesting case. He was seen as one of the front runners to be selected first in his class after an impressive freshman campaign. Sure there were some down moments as a true freshman, games against BYU and Oregon were rough, but ultimately Slovis looked a lot more advanced than you’d expect as a true freshman. Everyone looks for players that are flashy on script, so much they forget that performing on script is just as important, if not more. Slovis as a drop-back quarterback went through reads and progressions more often than even a lot of senior quarterbacks. The Slovis train was at runaway speed, only to be derailed during last year’s pandemic impacted season.

There was a very different Kedon Slovis on display during his sophomore year last year. Just looking at the stats, Slovis had nearly as many interceptions despite playing half of a season less. Despite most of his receivers returning, you saw a lot more of the down moments that you saw previously from his freshman campaign. 

Whether it was a reported shoulder injury, the very “will they or won’t they play?” nature of the PAC-12 last season, or just a bit of a sophomore slump that he didn't have enough time to work out of, it was evident that something was off with the USC signal-caller. Which version of Kedon Slovis will we get in 2022? Will we see a return of the freshman year Slovis, a not so welcome return of his sophomore campaign, or will we see him take further strides and show an improved Kedon Slovis in 2022?

Will Malik Willis Be Allowed To Grow?

Malik Willis has the opportunity to be this year’s big grower at quarterback. It seems every year now we see a prospect come out of almost nowhere and establish himself as a top quarterback. Malik Willis of Liberty has that opportunity, but only if allowed to grow.

When looking at physical tools, Willis is someone to watch out for. Just like Rattler, Willis has one of the strongest arms you will find. Reminiscent of New York Yankees heat hurler Aroldis Chapman, Willis throws 100+ mile an hour fastballs. He can make any throw on the field in terms of arm strength, and his deep ball never seems to lose velocity. His trainer Quincy Avery, who worked this past year with 3rd overall pick Trey Lance, said that Willis had “the strongest arm of anybody I have ever seen.” On the ground, Willis has elite escapability and a great ability to make magic with his legs.

In terms of physical gifts, Malik Willis is one of the best in college football. He has a lot of questions about his game. Can he play a more traditional quarterback role that will be asked at the next level? Can he operate in a script, dropping back making reads and accurate throws? He wasn’t asked to do so a lot from Liberty. Much of the Flames offense was RPO heavy and had an emphasis on getting Willis moving out of the pocket. Willis needs to show that he can be more than just a college quarterback with NFL-level physical tools and traits, and it will be up to Liberty to see if they’ll allow their quarterback that opportunity to grow his game this season.

Can Desmond Ridder Take His Game To Another Level

Desmond Ridder is one of the most fun players in this class. Most are already familiar with the Cincinnati quarterback, with many expecting Ridder to enter the draft last season. Desmond Ridder decided to go back to college for one more year, and it was probably for the best.

Ridder might have the most appealing physical traits in the class. Ridder has grown every year as a passer and hopefully will continue to do so this year. He has a great amount of arm talent, but that overall accuracy and ball placement need to be more refined. He’s a big-arm quarterback with big size. On top of that, Ridder is an extremely good runner, rushing for over 500 yards each year in college. There is a lot of raw potential, but it’s just that: raw. He has some of the most up and down tape in the class, with flashes as bright as the sun, and down moments that will make you want to throw the first object you find. Just remember, he has steadily improved every year and still has one more extremely important year upcoming.

I see a lot of parallels between Desmond Ridders and a quarterback from this past 2021 draft class: Kellen Mond. Both Mond and Ridder seemed to be in college forever. Ridder is now entering his fourth season as a starter, something that’s almost a rarity in college today. Both Mond and Ridder have great moments that make you think they have the potential to be a big-time draft steal. There is great evident upside in both as prospects. The physical traits and arm talent are highly appealing. There are also equal moments where you aren’t sure if they are good or not. A big thing with Mond was that he never really took his game to that next level in his senior year. The big question for Desmond Ridder will be if he can elevate his game to the next level in 2022.

Writer

-By: Jacob Keppen

The collegiate career of JT Daniels hasn’t gone as storybook as it seemed it would when he arrived on campus at USC in 2018. The heir-apparent to Sam Darnold out of Mater Dei HS and the No. 2 pro-style QB in his class, Daniels was supposed to help USC break into the CFP field and put back into the championship conversation.

Instead, Daniels struggled at USC. He started 11 games for the Trojans in 2018, tossing just 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing less than 60 percent of his passes. In 2019, he tore his ACL in the opener. His replacement, Kedon Slovis, was lighting the college football world on fire as a freshman. It seemed like Daniels’ chance at USC had passed him by. Where would he go next?

Daniels chose Georgia and transferred to Athens prior to the 2020 season. After sitting on the sidelines watching for six weeks while dealing with the nagging effects of that 2019 ACL tear, he finally got his shot to start after the second bye week, the Bulldogs fresh off a blowout loss to rival Florida. He didn’t miss.

Daniels was everything Smart could’ve hoped for off inconsistent play and injury. The junior tore it up over the final four games, completing 67.2 percent of his passes for ten touchdowns and just two interceptions. He averaged over ten yards an attempt. The Bulldogs had their two highest point totals (49 vs Missouri, 45 vs South Carolina) of the season. The biggest thing? He looked healthy.

He didn’t shy away from the big game either. You can point out the poor competition in Daniels’ first three starts (Mississippi State, South Carolina, Missouri), but against eighth-ranked Cincinnati? He only threw for one touchdown against one interception, but a near-season-high 392 yards completing 68 percent of his passes against one of the top defenses in the country while getting no support from his run game (45 yards).

We are obviously going to need a larger sample size, especially against top SEC opponents, before we can really buy into Daniels. Georgia’s 2021 schedule will be tough: Clemson in the opener, and Florida and Auburn in the SEC slate.

The SEC has seen a breakout senior QB each of the last two years (Joe Burrow, Mac Jones). There’s no reason to think that Daniels can’t take that role in the 2021 season.

Writer

-By: TJ Mathewson