Top-10 players outside of the Power Five conferences

10. Jeff Driskel – QB, Louisiana Tech

Okay, okay… I know what you’re thinking. Why is Jeff Driskel on this list? Well, maybe the way you formulated that question in your head had a little more profanity than the way I framed it — especially if you’re a Gators fan.

Yes, Driskel just spent four years at Florida, but let’s not pretend like all four of those years were horrendous. The guy showed promise at times. Maybe that wasn’t a promise the Gators would make it to the national championship game, but they came close during Driskel’s sophomore year.  Hell, if wasn’t for a turnover-plagued game against Georgia and a gut-wrenching, anti-heroic fail by Jordan Reed as he fumbled the ball while attempting to dive into the end zone form the 10-yard line… the Gators had a chance, okay.

It wasn’t that Driskel didn’t have the stats to back him up. In that second year, he averaged 11 yards per completion and completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 1,646 yards. The problem wasn’t Driskel. As much as Gators fans don’t want to admit it because they need a scapegoat to alleviate the pain, Driskel received too much of the blame.

Let’s face it. Florida has NEVER been good at developing quarterbacks. The most successful Gator quarterback in the NFL was Rex Grossman, and all he did was try not to turn over the ball.

The problem was that having three offensive coordinators in four years will hinder any quarterback. And when Driskel broke his leg against Tennessee during his junior season, that diluted his development even more. There is no experience like game experience, and he was robbed of that during a crucial point in his collegiate career.

He’s a fifth-year senior at Louisiana Tech now, and he’s looking pretty good to be honest. He has some weapons around him and the trust of the coaches — something he never got from Will Muschamp. In his first game- Driskel completed 12-of-15 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns. In his second game, he went 28-for-48 for 357 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Don’t forget he was the top-ranked quarterback out of high school. The only reason he’s so low on the list is because flukes are more common than we may want to believe. If Driskel gets injured or suffers a setback of some kind, then he’ll prove his critics right. But he’s flashed the potential so far, and he could play his way into being drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft — something Gators will scoff at.

Next: No. 9 Ray Lawry