College football quarterback film study: Joe Burrow overtakes Justin Herbert as QB2

Breaking down the top college football quarterbacks with film study to look at the Week 6 performances from Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and more.

The meat of the college football schedule is finally here. We’re learning more about the best prospects in the nation each week, including Week 6. Rivalry games and conference battles give us the high-stakes situations we love to analyze.

It’s the evaluations that matter more to the NFL than direct results. Franchises are quarterback-driven, and thus always keeping an eye out for their next star.

Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa were on bye weeks, giving the opportunity to showcase second-tier stars. Included are Jacob Eason, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Justin Fields and Jake Fromm. Basically, if your first name starts with a “J”, chances are good you’re one of the most skill passers in the nation!

Joe Burrow, LSU

LSU quarterback is now my QB2 when it comes to the 2020 NFL draft. Though he’s preparing for his first major test since Texas as Florida awaits this week, he’s shown so much polish and improvement with his decision-making and downfield throwing to this point that I’m comfortable moving him up. His performance against Utah State reinforced that thought process.

Though the Aggies failed to really challenge Burrow and the LSU offense, he stuck tight-window throws and showed terrific timing against their zone defense. His processing allows him to quickly identify defensive weak spots and his accuracy rarely lets him down. His directional passing breakdown highlights that he only struggled throwing to his right when he escaped the pocket.

Just one pass really got away from him, but he recovered with a dominant run after his interception. His deep passing complemented his short precision, and he allows his playmakers to finish at the catch point as regularly as anyone not named Tua in the nation. His mobility in the pocket was notably good as well.

There’s a naturalness to his game this year that’s easy to love. He’s able to avoid a good amount of pressure even though he’s not nearly as athletic or shifty as dual-threats. He has the confidence to step up within the pocket and attack downfield even as pressure nears.

He’s the biggest riser of the season thus far and been the second-best quarterback in the nation.

Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

There’s something about Kansas that brings out lesser performances from Oklahoma quarterbacks under Lincoln Riley. Though Jalen Hurts wasn’t bad, his deep accuracy was off and he was less comfortable against the Jayhawks’ man coverage. This game helped show it was evident that Hurts is still developing despite his leap.

Just one of four deep passes was accurate, including an interception that was underthrown and ripped away by the defender. It’s not the end of the world to see some struggle from Hurts finally, especially when he still had positive timing plays from the pocket on intermediate attempts.

The offense creates a lot of layups and easy looks for Hurts. While he’s improved, he still needs to stay patient and operate within the offense when his early read isn’t there. It’s becoming a trend in this offense that the quarterback panics against quality man coverage but dices up zone.

All eyes will be on Hurts against Texas this Saturday. We’ll learn more about where he sits in this class against their athletes, even if the Longhorns’ passing defense ranks near the bottom of the country.

Justin Herbert, Oregon

There’s something about playing Cal that brings out conservative game plans from Pac-12 teams with future NFL quarterbacks. After seeing Jacob Eason dink and dunk his way to a loss earlier this year, Justin Herbert was a little more aggressive downfield but lacked real impact in this game. He failed to register a touchdown and had a bad interception to go with another dropped pick.

Herbert’s mediocre play in this was disappointing because he performed better against Stanford last week. He was only one of five going beyond 20 yards and failed to throw a catchable pass outside of the pocket on four attempts. For some reason, it’s hard for him to have a complete game where he feels like a franchise quarterback.

His play within the pocket was good enough to give him an average grade for the week. He got rid of the ball quickly and was accurate under pressure excluding the two pressured deep balls from the pocket. That’s been an area of concern, so reacting well to quick interior hurries can boost his stock.

He drops, though, to my QB3 in this class as Joe Burrow is on fire. There’s a difference in attitude and feel for the game between them, and that matters on Sunday. Hopefully, Herbert doesn’t appear as ho-hum in the coming weeks.

Jordan Love, Utah State

I figured a rough game was coming for Utah State’s Jordan Love as Group of Five team would be way overmatched against LSU. It’s difficult to expect too much in these situations because Love can’t realistically overcome such an athletic difference. But he could’ve still shown poise, solid decision-making and accuracy that at least gave his playmakers a chance.

Love had his moments before things snowballed into three interceptions. Unfortunately, four drops and one dropped touchdown robbed him of some highlights, but his arm talent was on display with a handful of quality pocket throws and one deep rollout pass. It wasn’t enough to overlook the poor decision-making though.

The mistakes went beyond his two poor reads and one bad accuracy interception. His third and long play was abysmal, throwing only one accurate pass on four tries. And his intermediate passing was also only one of four. His processing wasn’t nearly as quick as LSU’s defense.

The jump in competition explains some of his struggles. He’s likely never faced someone like Derek Stingley Jr. or Grant Delpit, so it’s okay he wasn’t a knockout performer. But his 2019 hasn’t been a step forward as a whole, so this game only reinforced questions as to whether Love’s mentally ready for big-time football.

I have my doubts.

Jake Fromm, Georgia

Jake Fromm turned in another efficient game this week, completing 24 of 29 passes for 288 yards and two scores. The Bulldogs roared back from a slow start against Tennessee for a blowout win, and there was a lot of praise given to Fromm on social media. Some of it was justified, while some of it was overstated.

Fromm rarely goes downfield and that happened again this week. Just seven of his attempts were beyond 10 yards, while five were behind the line of scrimmage. He had excellent accuracy in general though and made the most of his opportunities.

Because Georgia won’t fully open the offense and allow Fromm to go into Air Raid-mode, I’ll likely remain somewhat skeptical he’ll be more than an Andy Dalton-type prospect. Though he hit an impressive deep pass to the left side in the second quarter and engineered a one-minute scoring drive before the half, there’s always a feeling of wanting more from him.

But Fromm passed this week with a strong performance. He brings value as a game manager who avoids turnover-worthy throws and finds open targets regularly. I’m just stuck waiting until a showdown where a defense makes him win the game and prove his upside.

Justin Fields, Ohio State

After starting his career on an absolute tear with top-notch performances, Justin Fields finally faced adversity against a great Michigan State defense. The Spartans limited Fields to his worst deep throwing contest yet and forced him to move off his throwing platform throughout the game. His response had some terrific moments but also signs of immaturity.

That’s okay since he’s a true sophomore and this was the first jump in competition he’s faced. Overall he was stellar in situational play, throwing four accurate passes on as many attempts on conversion downs, and was 10 of 11 off play-action. He was tricked once into an interception while under pressure as the roaming defensive back swooped in front of his target.

It’s encouraging he kept his eyes downfield despite missing all but one of his six deep throws, four of which were under pressure. He has a terrific ability to run but plays like a true pocket passer as much as he can. I love that mindset and think that’s a foundation of a great NFL prospect.

The short and intermediate game continues to be strong for Fields even as he’s learning to deal with zone coverages. Experience will continue to help him identify weaknesses in zone throughout the season. But expect defenses to use it more to deal with his explosiveness and Ohio State’s deeply talented receiving corps.

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