By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
THOSE STEADILY DEPRESSING LOW DOWN MIND MESSING COVID BLUES
Can any conference match the SEC for quarterbacks top to bottom?
Top to bottom, there isn’t a conference in the country with the quarterback talent found in the SEC this year. There are 12 QBs with star power including the returning Heisman Trophy winner. Of the 12, only four (Bryce Young, K.J. Jefferson, Anthony Richardson and Will Rogers) are the only non-transfers. Stetson Bennett began his career at Georgia then spent a year at a junior college before returning to Georgia. Here is a rundown of the best 12 quarterbacks in the SEC for 2022.
Bryce Young, Alabama (6-0, 194, JR): What does he do for an encore? While winning the Heisman Trophy last year, he led Bama to an SEC title and the national championship game. He threw for 4,872 yards (8.9 per attempt) and 47 TDs (7 picks) despite being sacked 41 times. Alabama is everyone’s favorite to win the national title this year which would certainly put Young in the conversation to become just the second player in history to win back-to-back Heismans.
K.J. Jefferson, Arkansas (6-3, 242, RJR): Given his size and speed (4.57 in the 40), Jefferson has a chance to move into first round consideration when the NFL drafts next spring. While leading Arkansas to a surprising 9-4 record last year, his first year as the starter, Jefferson threw for 2,676 yards (9.1 per attempt) and 21 touchdowns (4 picks) while completing 67.3 percent of his passes. He also ran for 664 yards (4.5 per carry) and six more TDs.
Zach Calzada, Auburn (6-4, 208, SO): He stepped in for injured Haynes King and led Texas A&M to an 8-4 record last year which included an upset win over Alabama. Now he’s at Auburn where he won the starting job in the spring. Last season, Calzada threw for 2,185 yards (6.7 per attempt) and 17 touchdowns (9 picks), while completing 56.3 percent of his passes.
Anthony Richardson, Florida (6-4, 240, RSO): Richardson may have more pure ability than any quarterback in the league, but he’s also the most inexperienced among the top QBs in the SEC with only 220 snaps in his career. He has to have a big year for the Gators to do anything more than break even. Last year as a redshirt freshman, Richardson battled injuries but completed 39-66 passes (59.4 percent) for 556 yards (8.3 per attempt) for six touchdowns (5 picks). He ran for 401 yards (7.9 per carry) and three touchdowns.
Stetson Bennett, Georgia (5-11, 190, SR): Everybody keeps picking on Stetson Bennett but for someone who’s not supposed to be very good, he did win a national championship while throwing for 2,862 yards (10.0 per attempt) and 29 touchdowns (7 picks) while completing 64.5 percent of his passes. He also ran for 259 yards (4.6 per carry) and a TD. Maybe he will get some respect if he leads Georgia to another College Football Playoff.
Will Levis, Kentucky (6-3, 232, SR): He’s gone from Penn State backup to a decent year at UK to the point where some pro scouts think he could be the first QB taken in the draft next spring. At UK last year, he threw for 2,826 yards (8.0 per attempt) and 24 TDs (13 picks) while completing 66 percent of his passes. He also ran for 376 yards and nine TDs. His career numbers counting Penn State are 3,470 passing yards (7.6 per attempt) for 27 TDs (13 picks) and 64.6 percent completions. He has run for 849 yards (3.5 per attempt) and 15 touchdowns.
Jayden Daniels, LSU (6-3, 200, JR): Unless Myles Brennan stays healthy and wins the job in August, Daniels will be the starter. He was a highly coveted transfer from Arizona State where he started three years as a dual threat for Herm Edwards. At Arizona State he threw for 6,025 yards (8.3 per attempt) and 32 TDs (13 picks), while completing 62.4 percent of his passes. He ran for 1,288 yards (4.4 per carry) and 13 touchdowns.
Will Rogers, Mississippi State (6-2, 210, JR): This is one to watch since Mike Leach quarterbacks typically have an explosive third year in his Air Raid system. Last year, his second with Leach, Rogers threw for 4,739 yards (6.9 per attempt) and 36 touchdowns (9 picks). He completed 73.9 percent of his passes. In two years, Rogers has thrown for 6,715 yards (6.5 per attempt) and 47 touchdowns (16 picks) while completing 72.3 percent of his passes.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (6-2, 220, SO): Dart transferred in from Southern Cal where he was effective as a part-time starter. In six games at Southern Cal, Dart threw for 1,353 yards (7.2 per attempt) and nine touchdowns (5 picks). He completed 61.9 percent of his passes. Dart should thrive in Lane Kiffin’s offense.
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina (6-1, 215, RJR): Rattler is a high profile transfer from Oklahoma expected to inject plenty of excitement into the South Carolina offense where he is already the unquestioned leader. In his only full season as a starter at Oklahoma, Rattler threw for 3,031 yards (9.6 per attempt) and 28 touchdowns while rushing for six more TDs. He completed 67.5 percent of his passes. He was the Heisman front-runner starting 2021 but was benched in the Texas game. Still, in limited action in nine games, he threw for 1,483 yards (7.9 per attempt) while completing 74.9 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns (5 picks). His career numbers are 4,595 passing yards (8.9 per attempt), 70.1 percent completions and 40 TDPs (12 picks).
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (6-4, 218, RSR): At 25, Hooker is the oldest QB in the SEC. He wasn’t the starter at the beginning of 2021 – Joe Milton was for reasons no one seems to know – but once he took over the UT offense began to click. Hooker, who has excellent size and runs a 4.7 40, threw for 2,945 yards (9.7 per attempt) and 31 touchdowns (3 picks) last season while completing 68 percent of his passes. He also ran for 616 yards (3.7 per carry) and five touchdowns. Career numbers for his three years at Virginia Tech and UT are 5,839 passing yards (9.5 per attempt) for 53 touchdowns (10 picks). He has also run for 1,649 yards (4.0 per carry) and 20 touchdowns.
Max Johnson, Texas A&M (6-5, 219, JR: Johnson surprisingly transferred from LSU in the spring. Barring injury, he will be the starter when the season begins. Last season at LSU he threw for 2,815 yards (7.5 per attempt) and 27 touchdowns (6 picks) while completing 60.3 percent of his passes. His 2-year numbers at LSU were 3,884 passing yards (7.4 per attempt), 35 touchdowns (7 picks) and 59.8 percent completions.
Jimbo actually said this
While appearing on the Colin Cowherd radio show, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher unveiled his most recent recruiting pitch. After basically confirming to the world that only God and the Longhorns have more money than the Aggies, Jimbo offered this up:
“Here’s the important thing: Do you want to go someplace that’s won a national championship or do you want to be the first to do it? The people you remember, the guys that really made a difference in the world, are the guys that are the first to do it. If you go somewhere else and just be another guy, you’ll just be another guy. Come here and be the first guy to ever do it and set the standard for a new organization. Those are the ones that have statues outside that you talk about all the time.”
Here are four takeaways from that statement: (1) Jimbo should check his history. The Aggies won the national championship in 1939, so if he ever wins one at A&M, it will be the second. (2) Since Bobby Bowden won two at Florida State before Jimbo succeeded him as the HBC, does this mean they will never erect a statue of him outside Doak Campbell Stadium? (3) The Aggies have never even won the Western Division since they joined the SEC in 2012, much less the SEC title or a national title. Shouldn’t he be selling recruits on being the first ones to ever beat Alabama, Auburn or LSU for the division title? (4) Since Jimbo has been the head coach in Aggieland, Nick Saban, Ed Orgeron and Kirby Smart have all won national championships.
Kevin Warren actually said this …
The Big Ten commissioner, who spearheaded “The Alliance” to torpedo expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, is now trying to show off his pragmatic side (inject any amount of sarcasm you wish). The same guy who along with stooges George Kliavkoff (Pac-12) and Little Jimmy Phillips (ACC) expressed concerns about the length of the season, the physical toll on players, interfering with academic progress and on and on, wants us now to believe he was for playoff expansion all along.
“I’m 100 percent supportive of playoff expansion,” Warren said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. Then he added, “We need to take a holistic view. We need to make sure we protect some of the critical bowl relationships.”
Hold it right there. The guy who, for all practical purposes, just destroyed the tradition of the Rose Bowl is talking about protecting bowl relationships? Oh please.
But there was more.
“As we work through all of these, whether it’s automatic qualifiers, whatever the case may be, I’m confident as we get these new individuals in the room, get these new issues on the table, that we’ll be able to reach some resolution. And again, make sure we ask ourselves the right questions at the right time for our student-athlete.”
One ACC athletic director, speaking to Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, sounded like he had just barfed up a lung when the subject of Warren now and Warren a year ago was presented.
“He knows what he said and what he sold a year ago,” the AD told Hayes. “It just doesn’t matter. He’ll just tell you another story.”
Mizzo coach Eli Drinwitz takes a shot at the Vols
When the NCAA rolled out its list of Tennessee woes last week, the 18 Level I violations included allegations that Casey Pruitt, wife of former UT coach Jeremy Pruitt, was up to her dainty little elbows in the cheating that went on in Knoxville. That led Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz to offer this zinger while on The Jim Rome Show Wednesday:
“Me, personally, I gotta question my wife’s commitment to winning. I don’t know how much she’s committed if she’s not engaging in some of these things. I didn’t know that was fair play.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I wish conference realignments had to make geographical sense. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around West Virginia in the Big 12, Nebraska joining the Big Ten, Maryland leaving the ACC for the Big Ten and why there is no such thing as the Southwest Conference or the Big Eight anymore. I grew up loving the Nebraska-Oklahoma game but that’s no more. When I was a sports editor in North Carolina, I loved when Maryland came to Tobacco Road for basketball. I’m still bothered that the Gators don’t play Miami every year in football. Times change and because of television contracts and realignment, rivalries disappear. I understand that but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
THOSE STEADILY DEPRESSING LOW DOWN MIND MESSING COVID BLUES
Can any conference match the SEC for quarterbacks top to bottom?
Top to bottom, there isn’t a conference in the country with the quarterback talent found in the SEC this year. There are 12 QBs with star power including the returning Heisman Trophy winner. Of the 12, only four (Bryce Young, K.J. Jefferson, Anthony Richardson and Will Rogers) are the only non-transfers. Stetson Bennett began his career at Georgia then spent a year at a junior college before returning to Georgia. Here is a rundown of the best 12 quarterbacks in the SEC for 2022.
Bryce Young, Alabama (6-0, 194, JR): What does he do for an encore? While winning the Heisman Trophy last year, he led Bama to an SEC title and the national championship game. He threw for 4,872 yards (8.9 per attempt) and 47 TDs (7 picks) despite being sacked 41 times. Alabama is everyone’s favorite to win the national title this year which would certainly put Young in the conversation to become just the second player in history to win back-to-back Heismans.
K.J. Jefferson, Arkansas (6-3, 242, RJR): Given his size and speed (4.57 in the 40), Jefferson has a chance to move into first round consideration when the NFL drafts next spring. While leading Arkansas to a surprising 9-4 record last year, his first year as the starter, Jefferson threw for 2,676 yards (9.1 per attempt) and 21 touchdowns (4 picks) while completing 67.3 percent of his passes. He also ran for 664 yards (4.5 per carry) and six more TDs.
Zach Calzada, Auburn (6-4, 208, SO): He stepped in for injured Haynes King and led Texas A&M to an 8-4 record last year which included an upset win over Alabama. Now he’s at Auburn where he won the starting job in the spring. Last season, Calzada threw for 2,185 yards (6.7 per attempt) and 17 touchdowns (9 picks), while completing 56.3 percent of his passes.
Anthony Richardson, Florida (6-4, 240, RSO): Richardson may have more pure ability than any quarterback in the league, but he’s also the most inexperienced among the top QBs in the SEC with only 220 snaps in his career. He has to have a big year for the Gators to do anything more than break even. Last year as a redshirt freshman, Richardson battled injuries but completed 39-66 passes (59.4 percent) for 556 yards (8.3 per attempt) for six touchdowns (5 picks). He ran for 401 yards (7.9 per carry) and three touchdowns.
Stetson Bennett, Georgia (5-11, 190, SR): Everybody keeps picking on Stetson Bennett but for someone who’s not supposed to be very good, he did win a national championship while throwing for 2,862 yards (10.0 per attempt) and 29 touchdowns (7 picks) while completing 64.5 percent of his passes. He also ran for 259 yards (4.6 per carry) and a TD. Maybe he will get some respect if he leads Georgia to another College Football Playoff.
Will Levis, Kentucky (6-3, 232, SR): He’s gone from Penn State backup to a decent year at UK to the point where some pro scouts think he could be the first QB taken in the draft next spring. At UK last year, he threw for 2,826 yards (8.0 per attempt) and 24 TDs (13 picks) while completing 66 percent of his passes. He also ran for 376 yards and nine TDs. His career numbers counting Penn State are 3,470 passing yards (7.6 per attempt) for 27 TDs (13 picks) and 64.6 percent completions. He has run for 849 yards (3.5 per attempt) and 15 touchdowns.
Jayden Daniels, LSU (6-3, 200, JR): Unless Myles Brennan stays healthy and wins the job in August, Daniels will be the starter. He was a highly coveted transfer from Arizona State where he started three years as a dual threat for Herm Edwards. At Arizona State he threw for 6,025 yards (8.3 per attempt) and 32 TDs (13 picks), while completing 62.4 percent of his passes. He ran for 1,288 yards (4.4 per carry) and 13 touchdowns.
Will Rogers, Mississippi State (6-2, 210, JR): This is one to watch since Mike Leach quarterbacks typically have an explosive third year in his Air Raid system. Last year, his second with Leach, Rogers threw for 4,739 yards (6.9 per attempt) and 36 touchdowns (9 picks). He completed 73.9 percent of his passes. In two years, Rogers has thrown for 6,715 yards (6.5 per attempt) and 47 touchdowns (16 picks) while completing 72.3 percent of his passes.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (6-2, 220, SO): Dart transferred in from Southern Cal where he was effective as a part-time starter. In six games at Southern Cal, Dart threw for 1,353 yards (7.2 per attempt) and nine touchdowns (5 picks). He completed 61.9 percent of his passes. Dart should thrive in Lane Kiffin’s offense.
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina (6-1, 215, RJR): Rattler is a high profile transfer from Oklahoma expected to inject plenty of excitement into the South Carolina offense where he is already the unquestioned leader. In his only full season as a starter at Oklahoma, Rattler threw for 3,031 yards (9.6 per attempt) and 28 touchdowns while rushing for six more TDs. He completed 67.5 percent of his passes. He was the Heisman front-runner starting 2021 but was benched in the Texas game. Still, in limited action in nine games, he threw for 1,483 yards (7.9 per attempt) while completing 74.9 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns (5 picks). His career numbers are 4,595 passing yards (8.9 per attempt), 70.1 percent completions and 40 TDPs (12 picks).
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (6-4, 218, RSR): At 25, Hooker is the oldest QB in the SEC. He wasn’t the starter at the beginning of 2021 – Joe Milton was for reasons no one seems to know – but once he took over the UT offense began to click. Hooker, who has excellent size and runs a 4.7 40, threw for 2,945 yards (9.7 per attempt) and 31 touchdowns (3 picks) last season while completing 68 percent of his passes. He also ran for 616 yards (3.7 per carry) and five touchdowns. Career numbers for his three years at Virginia Tech and UT are 5,839 passing yards (9.5 per attempt) for 53 touchdowns (10 picks). He has also run for 1,649 yards (4.0 per carry) and 20 touchdowns.
Max Johnson, Texas A&M (6-5, 219, JR: Johnson surprisingly transferred from LSU in the spring. Barring injury, he will be the starter when the season begins. Last season at LSU he threw for 2,815 yards (7.5 per attempt) and 27 touchdowns (6 picks) while completing 60.3 percent of his passes. His 2-year numbers at LSU were 3,884 passing yards (7.4 per attempt), 35 touchdowns (7 picks) and 59.8 percent completions.
Jimbo actually said this
While appearing on the Colin Cowherd radio show, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher unveiled his most recent recruiting pitch. After basically confirming to the world that only God and the Longhorns have more money than the Aggies, Jimbo offered this up:
“Here’s the important thing: Do you want to go someplace that’s won a national championship or do you want to be the first to do it? The people you remember, the guys that really made a difference in the world, are the guys that are the first to do it. If you go somewhere else and just be another guy, you’ll just be another guy. Come here and be the first guy to ever do it and set the standard for a new organization. Those are the ones that have statues outside that you talk about all the time.”
Here are four takeaways from that statement: (1) Jimbo should check his history. The Aggies won the national championship in 1939, so if he ever wins one at A&M, it will be the second. (2) Since Bobby Bowden won two at Florida State before Jimbo succeeded him as the HBC, does this mean they will never erect a statue of him outside Doak Campbell Stadium? (3) The Aggies have never even won the Western Division since they joined the SEC in 2012, much less the SEC title or a national title. Shouldn’t he be selling recruits on being the first ones to ever beat Alabama, Auburn or LSU for the division title? (4) Since Jimbo has been the head coach in Aggieland, Nick Saban, Ed Orgeron and Kirby Smart have all won national championships.
Kevin Warren actually said this …
The Big Ten commissioner, who spearheaded “The Alliance” to torpedo expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, is now trying to show off his pragmatic side (inject any amount of sarcasm you wish). The same guy who along with stooges George Kliavkoff (Pac-12) and Little Jimmy Phillips (ACC) expressed concerns about the length of the season, the physical toll on players, interfering with academic progress and on and on, wants us now to believe he was for playoff expansion all along.
“I’m 100 percent supportive of playoff expansion,” Warren said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. Then he added, “We need to take a holistic view. We need to make sure we protect some of the critical bowl relationships.”
Hold it right there. The guy who, for all practical purposes, just destroyed the tradition of the Rose Bowl is talking about protecting bowl relationships? Oh please.
But there was more.
“As we work through all of these, whether it’s automatic qualifiers, whatever the case may be, I’m confident as we get these new individuals in the room, get these new issues on the table, that we’ll be able to reach some resolution. And again, make sure we ask ourselves the right questions at the right time for our student-athlete.”
One ACC athletic director, speaking to Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, sounded like he had just barfed up a lung when the subject of Warren now and Warren a year ago was presented.
“He knows what he said and what he sold a year ago,” the AD told Hayes. “It just doesn’t matter. He’ll just tell you another story.”
Mizzo coach Eli Drinwitz takes a shot at the Vols
When the NCAA rolled out its list of Tennessee woes last week, the 18 Level I violations included allegations that Casey Pruitt, wife of former UT coach Jeremy Pruitt, was up to her dainty little elbows in the cheating that went on in Knoxville. That led Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz to offer this zinger while on The Jim Rome Show Wednesday:
“Me, personally, I gotta question my wife’s commitment to winning. I don’t know how much she’s committed if she’s not engaging in some of these things. I didn’t know that was fair play.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I wish conference realignments had to make geographical sense. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around West Virginia in the Big 12, Nebraska joining the Big Ten, Maryland leaving the ACC for the Big Ten and why there is no such thing as the Southwest Conference or the Big Eight anymore. I grew up loving the Nebraska-Oklahoma game but that’s no more. When I was a sports editor in North Carolina, I loved when Maryland came to Tobacco Road for basketball. I’m still bothered that the Gators don’t play Miami every year in football. Times change and because of television contracts and realignment, rivalries disappear. I understand that but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
