Ranking the five best QB rooms in college football – 247Sports

Most college football fans are aware of the best quarterbacks in the country. Not many, however, are familiar with their backups.

Injuries happen all the time in a sport as physical as football. So when a top player, a quarterback more specifically, goes down who that person has backing them up becomes vitally important to their teams future success.

With that in mind, ESPN broke down the college football programs with the most quality depth at the quarterback position. And as one might expect, the top five are among the best programs in all of America.

Clemson ranks No. 1 on the list, and it is followed by Ohio State, USC, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Trevor Lawrence, whom many consider the front-runner to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy and No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has a lot to do with Clemson ranking first in this category.

Lawrence arrived at Clemson before the 2018 season as one of the most highly-rated recruits of all time. According to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, Lawrence was the sixth-highest recruit of all time. In addition, the five-star prospect from Cartersville, Ga., was the countrys No. 1 ranked recruit overall.

His first two seasons at Clemson have been spectacular. In guiding the Tigers to back-to-back College Football Playoff National Championship Games, Lawrence has combined to pass for 6,711 yards with 66 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Lawrence did not suffer a loss as a starting quarterback until Januarys national title game loss to LSU.

Behind Lawrence is DJ Uiagalelei, who was 247Sports Composites No. 1 ranked pro-style quarterback in the nation in the 2020 recruiting class. Taisun Phommachanh was the No. 4 ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class.

Justin Fields did not start his college career at Ohio State, having transferred from Georgia following the 2018 season. The former five-star, dual-threat quarterback was the nations No. 2 ranked overall prospect in 2018, behind only Lawrence.

In his first season with the Buckeyes, Fields led Ohio State to the Big Ten Championship and a 13-game winning streak to begin the season. The Buckeyes ultimately fell to Clemson in the CFP semifinals, but not before the 2019 Heisman finalist passed for 3,273 yards with 41 touchdowns and three interceptions. Fields added 10 rushing touchdowns and 484 yards on the ground.

CJ Stroud was a member of Ohio States 2020 class, arriving at Columbus as the nations No. 2 ranked dual-threat quarterback and the No. 41 ranked player overall. Jack Miller, a four-star prospect from Arizona, also signed with the Buckeyes in 2020.

Kedon Slovis took the starting quarterback job at USC and ran with it following an injury to JT Daniels (now Slovis backup) in the season opener. All the true freshman did in 2019 was pass for 3,502 yards with 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

In 2018, Daniels had Trojans fans excited after he threw for more than 2,600 yards and 14 touchdowns. Matt Fink, meanwhile, has been with the program since 2016.

At Alabama, Mac Jones figured to be Tua Tagovailoas heir apparent after he was named the starter when Tagovailoas season ended in November because of a hip injury. But if Jones is not the guy of the future, Bryce Young just might be.

Young was the nations No. 2 ranked player overall in the 2020 class and the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback. History has shown that Nick Saban is not afraid to turn over the keys to the program to a true freshman. Speaking of Tua, his younger brother Taulia Tagovailoa is also in Bamas QB room.

For the first time since 2014, Oklahoma will have a homegrown player starting at quarterback in Spencer Rattler. Gone are the days of transfer success from the likes of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts.

Rattler certainly has credentials. He backed up Hurts last season as a true freshman and arrived in Norman, Okla., as one of the highest-ranked recruits in the nation. The Arizona native was the countrys No. 1 ranked pro-style quarterback and the No. 11 ranked player overall in the 2019 class.

Behind Rattler is the duo of Tanner Mordecai and Chandler Morris. Mordecai, a former four-star, dual-threat quarterback signed in 2018, while Morris inked with the Sooners as part of their 2020 class. Morris is the son of Chad Morris, the Auburn offensive coordinator who had been the head coach at Arkansas the previous two seasons.

See original here:
Ranking the five best QB rooms in college football - 247Sports