With college football season still just under 2 weeks away (with a fairly crappy list of zero week games), here is the first of our superfluous list of pre-season best of candidates, because this is what we do sometimes to fill the time! Here are my top ten Power 5 QBs returning for 2018 based on output of last season:
1. Will Grier, West Virginia
Grier averaged 317 yards passing per game in Dana Holgorsen's offense in 2017, but the only issue I have with him is whether or not he can stay on the field. His injury and suspension history is well documented, and he has not shaken the bug as of yet.
2. Drew Lock, Missouri
Lock can put up numbers with the best of them, but can he raise his profile while Missouri rises as a program in the SEC East? Being a great QB on an average to bad football team helps no one, and his draft stock could end up too high based on inflated stats in a pass happy system.
3. Eric Dungey, Syracuse
Dungey has the same issue as Grier...staying healthy and on the field. He can pump up some numbers, but like Lock, he plays on a fairly bad football team overall, and the losing hurts his overall profile.
4. Jalen Hurts, Alabama
Hurts has won a lot of football games at Alabama, but may not even return as his team's starter in 2018, as Tua Tagovailoa replaced him to win the national title game. He is a rock solid game manager, but his passing skills are suspect. Still, he wins too much to ignore.
5. Trace McSorley, Penn State
McSorley got drowned out in the noise that surrounded Saquon Barkley last season, but this is McSorley's team alone right now. He may be one of the most underrated QBs on this list, and he projects to have a big year, despite missing some targets from the offense that he had last season.
6. Ryan Finley, NC State
Finley gets ignored because he plays on a mid-tier ACC program with an 8 or 9 win ceiling every season, but he is a guy who should be looked at as a sleeper in the NFL draft next spring. If NC State does not have him at QB, they are not competing for a bowl this season.
7. Kyle Shurmer, Vanderbilt
We know how bad Vanderbilt is in the SEC East. Imagine how much worse it would be without Shurmer putting up the numbers that he does. Imagine if he was playing somewhere with weapons around him.
8. Nate Stanley, Iowa
Stanley is one of those game managers we talk about, where he might not do anything special, but he certainly gets it done, and his team would be light years worse without him under center. Stanley tossed 26 TDs to just 6 INTs last season on a run first team.
9. Jake Fromm, Georgia
This young man impressed me at every turn last season, and he never gave the job back when Jacob Eason got healthy. He is just a sophomore this season, and is being pushed in camp. Next year, he rises on this list if he can keep the wolves at bay.
10. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
While we have not seen him play, I believe that he is the starter at Clemson before you know it, and that he makes us all forget about Kelly Bryant in short order. I believe that Lawrence is light years ahead of Bryant in future potential, and that plays for something.
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