Fernando Mendoza was named the Heisman winner, and by proxy named the best college football player and quarterback of this season. But is he really the best at his position? When you look at the College Football Playoff field, there’s strong quarterback talent scattered throughout. It would be easy to say that since Mendoza won the Heisman, he has to be the best one, right?
Julian Sayin, Marcel Reed and Dante Moore would all like to have a conversation about that. Ahead of this weekend's first round games, let’s rank the starting quarterbacks for all 12 teams.
Ranking the starting QBs in the College Football Playoff
Nos. 12-8
12. Jake Retzlaff, Tulane Green Wave
Nothing against Jake Retzlaff; he’s just not the strongest quarterback in the field. Not only are his numbers some of the worst of any starting quarterback in this year's field, he’s just not as dangerous of a threat through the air. He’s a good runner, which will go a long way toward determining how far Tulane can go in this Playoff, but at the end of the day, Ole Miss isn’t going to let Retzlaff run all over them. He needs to throw better for the underdogs to have a real chance.
This year, Retzlaff has just 14 passing touchdowns with 2,862 passing yards this season. I think if he was a better passing threat, he’d be one of the best in the field, and he does have P4 experience from his days at BYU.
11. Alonza Barnett III, James Madison Dukes
Barnett isn’t bad, he just hasn’t been an elite passer despite playing lesser talent than most of the field. For me to feel more comfortable moving him higher, I feel like he should have had better numbers against a down year for Sun Belt competition. Entering the Playoff, he has 2,533 passing yards with 21 touchdowns. He also has 14 rushing touchdowns with 544 yards. I’m wary of how he’ll look against Oregon, but overall, he’s still a talented dual-threat.
10. Carson Beck, Miami Hurricanes
I have no faith in Beck, unfortunately, in this year’s Playoff. He single-handedly cost the Hurricanes a shot at the ACC title game with six picks over Miami's two losses, and his team only got in at all because of a win over Notre Dame all the way back in Week 1. Beck is way too inconsistent for me to have faith that he’ll deliver a national championship to south Florida. It’s not irrational to think that he could — he had top-10 buzz just a year or so ago at Georgia, after all — but it’s a very real possibility he throws the Canes out of the first round.
9. Behren Morton, Texas Tech Red Raiders
Morton isn’t bad by any means, but let's be honest: Texas Tech is a top-four seed because of their defense. Morton has just over 2,600 passing yards entering the CFP with 22 touchdown passes. He hasn’t had to do much for Texas Tech to win this year, just getting the ball out of his hands quickly to keep this Air Raid scheme on schedule. They are a different team without him, but he’s not the difference-maker.
8. Gunner Stockton, Georgia Bulldogs
Stockton has had a decent season, and there have been times (against Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida, especially) when he's had to throw the Dawgs back into games that they may well have lost. That said, I don’t know if I’m ready to say that Stockton is going to go out and win for Georgia when they need it. He's come a long way as a passer from when we first saw him thrown into the fire in last year's Playoff; I just don’t know if he’s going to be able to do it again. I could be wrong, but I’m not super confident in Stockton.
Nos. 7-4
7. John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners
What Mateer has done in his first season in the SEC proves that sometimes quarterbacks are simply talented and underrecruited. People questioned whether the former two-star was good enough to succeed at the top of the sport, and now he’s headed to the CFP. He’s good, a menace with his legs, and he will play a big part in whether Oklahoma goes on a run or not. That said, since his thumb surgery and the Texas game, Mateer hasn’t quite looked as strong as he did to start the year; for that, he’s bumped further down the rankings.
6. Ty Simpson, Alabama Crimson Tide
Simpson was in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy for most of the season, but kind of fizzled out toward the end of the year. He’s still good, and practically the only reason Bama is in the CFP. This team can’t run the ball, which was apparent in the loss to Oklahoma earlier this year. The pressure is on Simpson to be nearly flawless for the Crimson Tide to go on a run.
5. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss Rebels
A D-II transfer, Chambliss came out of nowhere for the Rebels and had them on a roll after Austin Simmons’ injury opened the perfect opportunity for him to start. He had seven games with at least 300 passing yards and finished with over 3,000 yards, 18 touchdown passes and three interceptions to go with 470 rushing yards. He's not the most polished in the pocket, but he takes care of the ball and keeps the offense on schedule with his legs.
4. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M Aggies
Despite a second straight rough showing against Texas and some up-and-down games throughout the year, Reed is still one of the most talented quarterbacks in this field. He has to play consistently over the next month if he wants to avenge a bad, late-season loss in the best way possible, and he’s good enough to make it happen. It will all come down to how well he protects the ball, and whether he can be accurate enough to get the ball into the hands of talented playmakers like KC Concepcion and Mario Craver on the outside.
Nos. 3-1
3. Dante Moore, Oregon Ducks
Moore has some consistency issues to my eye, but despite some of those challenges, he still has Oregon as one of the hottest teams in the field. I think he’ll start slow against James Madison and eventually pull through for the first-round win. And when it comes to the quarterfinals, I think he gives Texas Tech more trouble than they might anticipate. He has 2,733 yards with 24 passing touchdowns entering the CFP. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the field and a future top-10 pick, and he’ll prove as much over the next month.
2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State Buckeyes
It’s hard to ignore what Sayin did in his first season as the starter in Columbus, despite not pulling through in the Big Ten title game. He not only was a Heisman finalist, but he was one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the country all year. Aside from that Indiana game, he didn’t really turn the ball over and made smart decisions in what was a pretty conservative offense at times.
Not only does he have a great defense to support him, he’s one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the field. With over 3,300 passing yards, over 30 passing touchdowns and a 77% completion rate, it’s going to be tough for anybody that has to face Ohio State this postseason.
1. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Hoosiers
Mendoza being the No. 1 quarterback in the field has very little to do with him winning the Heisman . It was pretty much everything to do with his ability to simply win games. Against Ohio State, the Buckeyes were up 10-6 at halftime and had stymied Indiana’s offense; he scored the only touchdown for the Hoosiers to win the Big Ten. Earlier in the year, he led a game-winning drive against Penn State, then delivered against Oregon on the road weeks later.
I wouldn’t want to face Mendoza, because he doesn’t seem bothered by any bit of adversity. He’s even-keeled and sticks to his game, even when things aren’t going right. Indiana is the favorite to win the national championship, not just because their the No. 1 seed but because they have the one player that has proven he can beat arguably the best defense in the field.