Herbert, Top 5 Draft Eligible Quarterbacks After Week 2

Another week, another dose of college football pandemonium. I love it. I’m here for it. For 11 more weeks! And even though a lot of good teams played more Trash States and Trash Techs to pump up their record, entertainment still prevailed (think Clemson-Texas A&M) . Oh, and don’t think our own Oregon Ducks aren’t a part of this crappy-team-playing Power 5 mob, because they are–evidenced by our first three games vs. colleges that get 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament. Yeah, the insignificant ones. Anyways, with another slate of games in the books, the Draft picture–at the quarterback position–has changed a little bit in my mind. Here’s the five best, according to me and only me:

All stats per ESPN

1. Justin Herbert (Oregon)

Stats: 20/26 for 250 Yards, 4 TD, 0 INT

Herbert looked the part of a Sunday-regular (and not the church kind) against Portland State on Saturday, tossing 4 for four scores while leaving the game early due to Cristobalian mercy. It’s hard to tell really (stop me if you’ve heard me say this before) how good Herbert was against PSU,but his mechanics remained close to flawless, and his completion percentage was still well above the national average. He retains the highly highly coveted number one spot (I think Will Grier is crying because he’s not number one) on this list mostly due to the fact that no one was impressive enough to pass him, and, Justin was plenty good enough in his own right.

2. Will Grier (West Virginia)

Stats: 21/26 for 332 Yards, 4 TD, 1 INT

I’m going to lose my mind if I have to keep analyzing NFL-caliber players on ranked teams when they are facing the worst possible competition possible. I hate it. I don’t (honestly) care how well guys play against Youngstown State or San Jose State or Lamar or South Alabama or any other bunnies that Power-5ers can play Let’s Pick Our Own Score against. Sheesh. Okay. I’m done ranting. Grier was great, so was his hair, FYI. He really carved up that JUCO secondary 🙂

3. Drew Lock (Missouri)

Stats: 33/45 for 398 Yards, 4TD, 0 TD

Wyoming (yawn) was unable to halt the ultra-pass-attack of Missouri and Drew Lock. Lock wheeled and dealed for nearly 400 yards through the air. My research of ‘expert’ opinions on 2019 draft quarterbacks showed me that I’m a little higher on Lock than most. I don’t know why he isn’t a first round pick? He throws the ball a million miles, he’s been able to pick apart defenses with any blend of receivers and an often underwhelming ground game to take pressure off him. Lock’s true prestige will be easier to access in the coming weeks as the Tigers gear up for conference play. For now, though, he remains at 3.

4. Ryan Finley (NC State)

Stats: 31/38 for 370 Yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

Finley is the only new name to the list, and there’s a case to be made he should be a little higher. Finley, outside of few others,  throws more passes than anyone in the country due to the less-than-ideal running back situation. Literally, outside of one 39 yard breakthrough, the Wolfpack’s longest run was 8 yards. Not even a first down. And against Georgia State. Yikes. Luckily, Finley was great and threw the ball up, over and around the GSU defense, averaging nearly 10 yards per attempt. I really can’t wait for Finley’s dual against Clemson and their star-studded D-Line. But, I’ll have to wait for that.

5. Jarrett Stidham (Auburn)

Stats: 6/11 for 113 Yards, 1 TD

In a tight and wildly unentertaining QB dual between draft prospect Stidham and Alabama State signal-caller KHA’Darris Davis (A couple things with this: 1. Fantastic name, most unique I’ve seen this year. I’d even say it’s up there with last year’s victor, Equanimeous St. Brown. 2. Alabama St. utilized 3 quarterbacks in this one. KHA was the second most effective) Stidham and Auburn came out on top 63-9. Well, Stidham wasn’t especially impressive vs. little Bama and only threw 11 total passes. What can anyone even make of this garbage? Ugh. He can be fifth because of Finley’s stellar outing.

Okay, that was rough. Literally everyone on this list faced squads that I could start for. By the way, I’m 5’8, 130, in case they (or the Patriots) are looking for a speedy slot receiver. But seriously, it’s tough to weed out the elite when they’re not matched up against parallel competition. The coming weeks should provide more insight to the nation’s top quarterbacks as the premier matchups of the college football season begin to rear their gorgeous faces.

Oregon doesn’t have their primetime matchup for another week, as they face San Jose State in Autzen Stadium on Saturday at 2PM PST.