College Football- Other Quarterbacks to watch in 2009 ~ Beat By The Nudge- No, You're Dumb!

7/8/09

College Football- Other Quarterbacks to watch in 2009

Do you like this story?

The Other Quaterbacks to Watch in 2009

By now, with only two months to go before the next go around in the college football universe, we’ve heard time and time again about the so called “Three Amigos” or the media’s version of the greatest collection of college quarterbacks ever competing in the same season. These three I’m talking about are Timothy Tebow, Sam Bradford and the “Awe Shucks Kid from Tuscola” Colt McCoy. But barring the fact that one of those guys, you know, the one with two national championships already, is arguably the greatest quarterback in our generation, and that the other two play against conference competition that is arguably the worst pass defenses in the history of Big Twelve football; there are a couple of other exciting to watch QB’s out there that not so many people have heard of.

Now I know what you are saying, “Did this guy really just knock the two golden boys of Big Twelve Football, Mr. and Mrs Red River Rivalry.” Answer, yes….yes I did. I would really pay big money to see how those guys perform in the SEC, playing against Bama’s and LSU’s D on a weekly basis. I’m not knocking their talent, or the talent that they have around them. Texas and Oklahoma have awesome skills and are tremendous programs. Colt and Sam have great skills and are natural competitors. So cool down for a second. I’m knocking the fact that outside of the TCU game, neither team faced a defense in the 2008 regular season that could have resembled anything other than a lower tier SEC defense. Granted, that’s not Colt’s or Sammy fault, so there’s no knock on them by me.

But anyway, I digress. The point of the article is about other Quarterbacks that might be flying under the national media radar and are exciting to watch. Now if you are a college football junkie, these names aren’t going to surprise you. In fact, you’ll probably think that I’m an idiot who needs to have his head examined because you’ve been following this or that former five star recruit ever since he got to your favorite college program and what the Hell am I talking about. If that’s the case, then go and find some other piece to read and rant on. This is for the casual fan who might not know what player is taking over for former three year starter at Alabama or who lead their team to a real exciting loss in the 2008 Motor City Bowl.

Now, I’m gonna throw out a couple of names outside of the three amigos right off the bat only because they are getting national media attention. These names off the top of my head are Jevan “Damn it’s great not to be a Longhorn” Snead, T Pryor, Zac Robinson, Juice Williams and Colin Kaepernick. All great players to watch, all exciting, but a little too well known for this piece of garbage you’re reading.

To start it off:
1) Robert Griffin III- Soph, Baylor- Playing in former Houston and now Baylor Head Coach, Art Briles offense has been incredibly good for Mr. Griffin. During draft analysis, a lot of people asked me about Baylor Left Tackle Jason Smith and how good of a player I thought he was. My answer, good I guess. They said to me, “Nudge, didn’t you watch every Baylor game last year?” And my answer was yes, yes I did, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of watching Robert Griffin. I really couldn’t tell you how well Baylor’s left tackle played cause the only person on the field I could watch was this kid. To put it mildly, he’s electric. He’s like an eel. On one play your saying he’s a running quarterback, on the next play your amazed that he has so much accuracy. Needless to say, for a freshman playing on an otherwise bad team, Griffin was outstanding. He’s the type of player that makes the other players around him think that they could win games that they shouldn’t. Griffin, as a true frosh, passed for 2,091 yards and 15 TD’S and rushed for another 843 yards and had 13 ground TD’s. Baylor went 4-8, but really, they should have went 6 and 6. They should have won against Uconn and they played Nebraska, Ttech and Mizoo tough. In 2009, Griffin gets his three starting receivers back, along with his starting RB and TE. Look out. The Bears are poised to pull off an upset this year and Griffin will be the main reason why.

2) Tyrod Taylor- Jun-izzle, Va Tech- Va Tech and Frank Beamer finished off an incredible 2008 season with an ACC Championship (which unlike other pundits, I still think is a huge deal) and a big, big big BCS Bowl win in the Orange Bowl against an upstart Cincinnati Bearcats. Great right? Nah, not really. With Taylor's talent, they underacheived cause it took so long to just get him out on the field and not wait to hold his eligibility for another season. So really, this is just the beginning for the Hokies. And Taylor is the major reason why. Va Tech has talent all around the ball, especially Darren Evans, the super soph at running back. But it’s Taylors athleticism and arm that keeps the defenses honest. In 2008, Vatech lost close games to BC, FSU and Miami, all away games. In 2009, the Hokies play Miami and BC at home and don’t have to face off against Chrisitian Ponders FSU. The Hokies face two out of conference programs that would cause anyone fits in Bama and NeBraska, facing off against two of the best defensive minds in all of football in Saban and Pellini. But outside of that, if Taylor could remain healthy, this baby’s gonna ride. Look for the Hokies to make a run at a second consecutive ACC Championship, and look out for more than a few people to start mentioning Taylor’s name in the same breath as man’s best friend’s worst enemy, Michael Vick.

3) Christian Ponder, Soph-more, FSU - Don’t try and stop me, don’t you dare. I’m gonna say it, I’m gonna tell the whole world and I don’t care who hears it, and the consequences just don’t matter. Ponder is for real….let that sink in for a little bit there Seminole Nation. You very proud and accustomed to winning bunch of you. Ponder is the real deal. He has actual talent, and is going to help your team and program win games rather than do his best to lose the close ones. That actually might take a little time to get used to for your entire fanbase. I actually didn’t like Weinke. I know, how can you knock the guy with the Stiff Arm trophy and the National Championships and all. I know, I know. I thought he was good. He led the team well and was a very effective game manager, but you guys didn’t give the Stiff Arm to Kenny Dorsey, and he was a much better game manager than Weinke ever was. I guess I’m a little biased here, no one has ever loved Charlie Ward more than me. But anyway, the program really hasn’t been the same since Joe Mauer decided he would rather hit baseballs than win the ACC. Really, the guy has some nerve. Every time he comes up to the plate, I’m hoping that the pitcher nails him with a fastball….oh, don’t sit there in judgment Seminole Nation, I know you’re thinking the same thing. Chris Rix and Drew Weatherford weren’t the answer. Despite what their recruiting reports said about them, they couldn’t win games that Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke would have won. Ponder is the answer. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that FSU competes for a national championship in Ponder’s senior year. Why? Because I’m really, really high on freshman Willie Downs. I just hope they use him on offense and let his game breaking speed take over games.

4) Ryan Mallett- Redshirt Soph, Ar-Kansas Razorbacks- You heard it here first, Razorbacks are going to spoil someone’s national championship aspirations in 2009. Right now, there not even a blip on the radar screen of 2009 opponents Georgia, Bama, Florida or LSU. But mark my words, by the end of the season, people will be mentioning Mallett’s name in the same breath as Tebow’s and Snead’s as the best quarterbacks in the best conference in college football. Mallett has number one NFL pick written all over him. And nothing will help him out more than playing in Bobby Petrino’s air attack offense. Razorbacks are for real, regardless that their best wide receiver is actually their tight end. Mallett is going to make everyone around him better. He has a rocket arm, with a very quick release, and I really haven’t been impressed more by anyone coming out of the high school ranks in the past five years at the position more than he has impressed me. His throwing is going to open up a lot of holes for tiny running back Michael Smith, and the Ar-Kansas Razorbacks are going to beat a couple of teams that no one thinks they could. If you really want to watch someone come from seemingly nowhere right into the national media spotlight this year, watch a couple of Ar-Kansas game.

5) Andrew Luck- Fresh-Meat, The Tree- Alright, I’m a self avowed Jim Harbaugh enthusiast. I cant get enough of the fella. No one has done more with less than Harbaugh. Why? Cause I know first hand that Stanford is not messing around with their academics. Not for football, not for bowling, not even to keep Tiger Woods on their Golf team. So basically, it’s kind of as if MIT had a football team and played in the Pac 10. And that wouldn’t be pretty. With Luck, Harbaugh finally has a poised pocket passer to really open up his San Diego offense with. Luck doesn’t have the experience, heck he doesn’t even have the starting job yet. But from everything that I’ve seen Harbaugh saying in interviews, I think he is really, really excited to turn over his offense to the freshman. Look for the Tree to build on their 2008, 5 and 7 record, and at least make it into a bowl game this year based almost entirely on the arm and accuracy of Luck.