Top 10 college football quarterbacks going into 2017 spring practice
By John Buhler
Mason Rudolph
Quarterback, Oklahoma State Cowboys
It looks like the 2017 Bedlam Series between Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will be a real treat for football fans this upcoming season. Both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys should be in contention for the fourth annual College Football Playoff.
A big reason that Oklahoma State should be such a dominant team is the play of senior quarterback Mason Rudolph. Though overlooked at times the last few seasons, we cannot deny how talented of a passer Rudolph is in 2017. Should he play up to par this fall, he could end up being a first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
Rudolph will be a third-year starter in Stillwater for head coach Mike Gundy. At 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, Rudolph has the look of an NFL franchise quarterback. He also has the starting experience and the stats to back up that notion.
In three seasons with the Cowboys, Rudolph has completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 8,714 yards, 55 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. His yards per attempt during his college career of 9.1 is through the roof. It’s easy to see how he’ll be a potential first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Frankly, if 28-year-old Brandon Weeden was a first-round pick, why couldn’t Rudolph be a top-10 selection next year? Rudolph has to be in consideration for many of college football’s top quarterback awards heading into this season. If his Cowboys make the College Football Playoff, he might be as beloved in Stillwater as Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas were in the late 1980s.