Breaking down college football’s best quarterbacks in Week 1: Trevor uneven, Tua untested

Breaking down the top college football quarterbacks with film study to look at the Week 1 performances from Tua, Trevor, Justin Herbert and more.

The offseason brings expectations and hype for fans looking towards the upcoming campaign. Sometimes it comes to fruition when the games begin, but other times we find that development isn’t linear and it can stagnate.

Week 1 of the college football season was the start of an important journey for the nation’s top quarterbacks. Not only are Saturday’s important for their teams, but there’s always a potential NFL future looming if they perform well enough. Traits and physical skill sets will go so far, but it’s execution and mastery of the position that’ll win now and later.

We’re tracking Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jake Fromm, Jordan Love, K.J. Costello, Shea Patterson, Jalen Hurts, Jacob Eason and Desmond Ridder each week. I previewed them before the season and will continue to write them up weekly when they’re involved in key matchups.

We start with Lawrence, Tagovailoa, Herbert, Fromm, Love and Hurts in Week 1.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

I lauded Clemson’s long-locked gunslinger Trevor Lawrence as a generational talent before the season, but he didn’t live up to that lofty title in Week 1.

His play against Georgia Tech didn’t need to be perfect to justify the hype, but it was uneven. Though that’s okay, and the projection still rings true.

The raw stats on Lawrence are even a little kinder than the directional charting I do. Six of his 23 passes were behind the line of scrimmage, creating easy production. Only eight of his 17 passes beyond the line of scrimmage were catchable.

The Tigers’ offense was completely in Lawrence’s hands, as it was at the end of the 2018. He played confidently and without fear, which played into both of his interceptions. Both were deemed poor decisions as opposed to an issue with accuracy.

Below is the first one, where he stared at his predetermined decision and the defender jumped the throw.

Does this mean Lawrence isn’t the best player in the nation? No. The season-opener was sloppy but not disastrous. His upcoming games against Texas A&M and Syracuse will need to be sharper for his Heisman odds to remain high.

Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama

The nation’s returned most efficient passer of 2018 was back at it again in his season debut. The Heisman runner-up had a light workload against Duke despite attempting 31 throws. His stat line of 26-of-31 passing for 336 yards and four touchdowns continues his run of regular season dominance.

Breaking down his performance showed a reliance on playmakers to finish their opportunities. This isn’t a knock against Tagovailoa, because he’s able to take over and create when it’s necessary. His ability to get outside of the pocket is a massive positive for him.

His precision was fantastic on limited passes downfield. All of his attempts, excluding throwaways, were catchable passes. Though only two of his 25 attempts were beyond 10 yards. He wasn’t forced to attack Duke vertically but it’s not like that’s a concern with his game.

We didn’t learn much about Tagovailoa except he’s in great shape and is still a premier passer with his accuracy and intelligence. He likely won’t face an especially talented defense until mid-October when the Crimson Tide go to Texas A&M.

Justin Herbert, Oregon

There’s not a quarterback with more to gain or lose this season than Justin Herbert. The Ducks quarterback has great upside and physical tools but must match that with consistency and poise. His 2018 campaign was a disappointment in both of those areas.

The Ducks blew another primetime game in Week 1, meaning Oregon-ing should be the new Clemson-ing. Herbert was given few chances to make impactful plays as Mario Cristobal became too cautious. Oregon played scared and rightfully lost because of it.

Herbert’s play and impact was hampered by this and the fact his unit was missing its top-three receivers and tight end. While it’s not an excusing-making situation, Auburn’s defense is fast and long, and the Ducks lacked playmaking against it. But Herbert also had moments where his processing was a tick too slow against what NFL defenses will replicate in terms of speed and size.

Taking out the 47-yard gain that came on a busted deep crossing route on the opening drive, Herbert had 27 completions on 36 attempts for only 195 yards. Even his 20-yard touchdown pass was a desperation heave.

His moments to shine were brief, but he was able to highlight his impressive throwing ability outside of the pocket. He can improvise on the move but has to perform better while passing deeper. He missed three of his four attempts from 11-19 yards, all three to his left side.

It’s not all bad, but there was this feeling of wanting more from Herbert last year and this game continued it. He shows a ceiling of Carson Wentz at times, but also Blaine Gabbert-esque issues against pressure.

Jake Fromm, Georgia

The nation’s best game-manager is Jake Fromm. That’s not a title meant to be disrespectful but rather a reflection of what Georgia asks of him and the style of his play.

A rhythmic passer who excels in efficiency from a cleanish pocket, Fromm’s biggest area for improvement is improvisation and poise. He can show that this year, but did not against Vanderbilt in the opener.

Instead, Fromm was again a game manager with little true impact. Outside of an impressive deep throw off play-action from I-formation with twin receivers to his left, I left the game with the same question as before regarding his ability to deliver darts under pressure.

Just one of his six throws between 11-19 yards was catchable, and all three were missed when a defender was nearby. Nine of his 23 passes were behind the line of scrimmage. It wasn’t a game requiring much, and Fromm failed to be superb.

He has two more weeks until a showdown against a very good Notre Dame defense. It’s possible his games against the Irish, Gators, Tigers and Aggies determines his NFL outlook.

Jordan Love, Utah State

Like Herbert, Jordan Love had an actual test against a respectable defense in his season debut. Though Wake Forest allowed 35 points and 416 passing yards, their athleticism and competitiveness led to four interception opportunities. Love’s opener can only be described as a mixed bag.

The turnovers were bad and he benefitted from a dropped interception. It was uncharacteristic for a player who threw an interceptable pass on less than two percent of total throws last year.

Of course it must be considered this was his first game without running back Darwin Thompson and head coach Matt Wells. Love attempted 48 throws and 15 were beyond 10 yards. He was asked to throw the ball on four third-downs of at least 10 yards as well, a sign of failure around him despite taking only one sack.

Also, he threw a catchable ball on just five of 14 attempts when pressured. That’s a significantly lower percentage than his accuracy rate of 51 percent in 2018.

There were moments where his upside and traits were on full display as well and saved this game from being a shattered opportunity. Both his first touchdown and third touchdown featured clutch accuracy on conversion downs. Only his man had a chance at making the catch, and were the correct leverage reads for the situation.

All eyes will be on Love to improve throughout this season. He might be a year away from being ready for the jump despite the traits, but we won’t fully know until after his showdown against LSU next month and key games late in the year.

Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

What a debut for Jalen Hurts. The transfer set a school record for yards in his first game and completed 87 percent of his 23 attempts for 332 yards and three touchdowns. He also tallied 176 yards and another three touchdowns on the ground.

Statistically, he was dominant, but looking at the context matters most. The numbers back up the raw numbers, though he certainly received a massive boost from the Sooners’ excellent supporting cast and scheme. He’s part of one of the best offensive ecosystem’s we’ve seen over a four-year stretch as we’ve seen.

Hurts was excellent on the move regardless of staying inside the pocket or escaping outside of it. He showed the ability to keep his eyes up for receivers breaking free, leading to multiple chunk gains and a deep touchdown to CeeDee Lamb.

There’s not much to knock Hurts for. His deep passing will be watched carefully this season since he struggled with that aspect for Alabama, but he was good-enough this game. Two of his five passes beyond 20 yards were catchable.

His short and intermediate game was perfect, though. All 10 of his throws between 0-19 yards were catchable. It helps his line kept him clean, seeing only two pressures that led to passing attempts. He also escaped other pressures by running into open fields of grass in front of him.

He’s going to put up massive numbers this year, but it’ll be how he deals with tight passing windows and anticipating passing windows that highlight real growth. But this was a great performance to start the season with, even if we didn’t see all we wanted.