Phil Steele Blog • March 9, 2017

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2016 Top 50 True Freshman QB's and their Impact on the season.

Here is a look at the 2016 Top 50 true freshman quarterback signees and how many of them made an impact last year. Also listed below them are my Top 50 rated quarterbacks for 2017.
Of the Top 50 quarterbacks, a total of 11 earned passing stats during their true freshman campaign. Of the 11 that played, three stood out the most, each throwing for more than 2,000 yards. PS#12 Shane Buechele had a great 1st year, throwing for 2,958 yards with a 21-11 ratio. I had him as my projected starter for Texas. PS#16 Jalen Hurts came in #2 with 2,780 yards, taking Alabama to the National Championship game. Coming in 3rd was PS#1 Jacob Eason, who threw for 2,430 yards.

Normally when you look at true freshman quarterbacks you see a lot of interceptions. The best ratio in this group came from Alabama QB Jalen Hurts, who posted 23 TD’s to 9 interceptions. On the other end there were two quarter backs with 1-4 ratio’s in Dillon Sterling-Cole of Arizona St and Keon Howard of Southern Miss.

The best Completion percentage (over 10 passes) belonged to Austin Kendall of Oklahoma at 72.7%. The lowest percentage came from Khalil Tate of Arizona at 40.0%.

Overall the Top 50 true freshman from 2016 threw for 12,333 yards, completing 56.3% of their passes with 89 touchdowns and 50 interceptions. Of those true frosh quarterbacks that did not play last year, you can expect many of them to see action in 2017.

2016 Red Shirt                   Other Stats
Top 50 INFO NAME TEAM Att COM PCT YDS TD INT QBR Info
1 Jacob Eason Georgia 370 204 55.1 2,430 16 8 120.3 Rush 33-(-45)-(-1.4)-1
2 Shea Patterson Mississippi 132 72 54.5 880 6 3 121.0 Rush 41-169-4.1-1
3 RS Malik Henry Florida State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Will Transfer
4 RS KJ Costello Stanford 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
5 RS Feleipe Franks Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
6 RS Dwayne Haskins Jr. Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
7 RS Jawon Pass Louisville 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
8 RS Brandon Peters Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
9 RS Jarrett Guarantano Tennessee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
10 Brandon McIlwain South Carolina 118 62 52.5 600 2 1 99.2 Rush 63-127-2.0-2
11 RS Jack Allison Miami (FL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
12 Shane Buechele Texas 391 236 60.4 2958 21 11 136.0 Rush 96-161-7.2-1
13 Austin Kendall Oklahoma 22 16 72.7 143 2 0 157.3 Rush 6-8-1.3-0
14 RS Xavier Gaines Marshall 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
15 Khalil Tate Arizona 45 18 40.0 243 3 3 94.0 Rush 49-237-4.8-1
16 Jalen Hurts Alabama 382 240 62.8 2780 23 9 139.1 Rush 191-954-5.0-13
17 RS Patrick O'Brien Nebraska 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
18 RS Chazz Surratt North Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
19 RS Messiah deWeaver Michigan State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
20 RS Devon Modster UCLA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
21 Dillon Sterling-Cole Arizona State 55 28 50.9 388 1 4 101.6 Rush 15-10-0.7-1
22 RS Seth Green Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
23 RS Max Gilliam California 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
24 Zach Smith Baylor 196 116 59.2 1526 13 7 139.3 Rush 25-(-26)-(-1.0)-1
25 RS Jake Zembiec Penn State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
26 RS Tristen Wallace Oregon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moved to WR
27 RS Zerrick Cooper Clemson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
28 RS Matt Fink USC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
29 RS Woody Barrett Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
30 RS Skylar Thompson Kansas State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
31 D'Eriq King Houston 3 2 66.7 20 1 0 232.7  
32 RS Matt Lynch UCLA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
33 RS Logan Byrd North Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
34 RS Thomas MacVittie Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
35 RS Ian Book Notre Dame 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
36 RS Lindsey Scott Jr. LSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
37 RS Anthony Brown Boston College 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
38 RS Rex Culpepper Syracuse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
39 RS Nick Starkel Texas A&M 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
40 RS Joshua Jackson Virginia Tech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
41 RS Keaton Torre Northern Colorado 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
42 RS Victor Viramontes California 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
43 RS Brennen Wooten TCU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
44 RS Gunnar Hoak Kentucky 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
45 RS Jett Duffey Texas Tech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
46 Avery McCall Coastal Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dismissed from TM
47 RS Jamie Newman Wake Forest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
48 RS Tony Poljan Central Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
49 RS Armani Rogers UNLV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
50   Keon Howard Southern Miss 50 22 44.0 365 1 4 95.9 Rush 44-150-3.4-2
Total 1764 1016 56.3% 12,333 89 50

Here are the Top 50 Rated freshman quarterbacks for 2017.

2017    
Top 50 Player Team
1 Hunter Johnson Clemson
2 Davis Mills Stanford
3 Tate Martell Ohio State
4 Dylan McCaffrey Michigan
5 Jake Fromm Georgia
6 Tua Tagovailoa Alabama
7 Shawn Robinson TCU
8 Sam Ehlinger Texas
9 Tristan Gebbia Nebraska
10 Kellen Mond Texas A&M
11 Lowell Narcisse LSU
12 Ryan Kelley Arizona State
13 Bailey Hockman Florida State
14 Chadarius Townsend Alabama
15 Sean Clifford Penn State
16 Chris Robison Oklahoma
17 Jack Sears USC
18 N'Kosi Perry Miami (FL)
19 Deejay Dallas Miami (FL)
20 Keytaon Thompson Mississippi State
21 Braxton Burmeister Oregon
22 Myles Brennan LSU
23 Avery Davis Notre Dame
24 Chase Brice Clemson
25 Lynn Bowden Kentucky
26 Kasim Hill Maryland
27 Danny Clark Kentucky
28 Jake Allen Florida
29 Mac Jones Alabama
30 Connor Neville Washington State
31 Daulton Hyatt Arkansas
32 Jack Coan Wisconsin
33 Hendon Hooker Virginia Tech
34 Tyler Lytle Colorado
35 Tommy Devito Syracuse
36 Rocky Lombardi Michigan State
37 Chase Garbers California
38 Jelani Woods Oklahoma State
39 Taylor Powell Missouri
40 Johnathan Lewis Rutgers
41 Malik Cunningham Louisville
42 Matt McKay NC State
43 Chase Cord Boise State
44 Lindell Stone Virginia
45 Jason Shelley Utah
46 Ty Brock Sam Houston St
47 Tracin Wallace Oklahoma State
48 Tayler Katoa USC
49 Nick Sipe Purdue
50 Kadarius Toney Florida