An Early Look at the Top 2022 CFB QBs
A look at some of the QB's to watch next season
The College Football offseason can be a slow time with minimal news (outside of the evergreen NIL discussions). The extra time also allows for more in depth data analysis, which is what you can expect of this newsletter this summer. When I am in between data projects, I typically post random one-off graphs on my twitter account.
I sometimes forget that not everyone is social media savvy, so for those of you that do not spend your days on the bird app, here is a chart dump based on the thread I did yesterday on some of the QB’s to watch for the upcoming season.
CJ Stroud
First up is the odds favorite to win the Heisman and be selected #1 overall in the 2023 Draft: Ohio State's CJ Stroud. Since taking over for Justin Fields, Stroud has been about as efficient as you could ever as for in a young QB. His floor was well above the 75th percentile of QB play in 2021, and you can expect more of the same this season.
Bryce Young
Battling Stroud for the Heisman and #1 pick is the reining Heisman trophy winner, Alabama’s Bryce Young. Unlike Stroud, Bryce Young didn’t start as hot, but nevertheless grew into the Heisman winner we saw on display late in the season and in the SEC Championship game. Much like Stroud, Bryce Young will have to deal with multiple losses in his WR corp. Given Alabama’s recent run of NFL caliber WR’s, I wouldn’t imagine Young will be short of firepower.
Will Levis
If you’re one of the few draft junkies that has already looked at multiple early mock drafts, you may have seen Kentucky’s Will Levis’ name in a few of them. Levis checks every physical tool box the NFL has to offer, but his play will have to continue to grow in order to be considered a first round QB come next April.
Phil Jurkovec
Out of all of the QB’s outside of Stroud/Young, this is the guy I am most interested in watching next season. Before Jurkovec went down with an injury, he was hyper efficient as the signal caller for the Eagles. They started the year 4-0 and looked better than ever. Now that he is fully healthy, it will be interesting to see if Jurkovec can remain that hyper efficient QB, which could make Boston College a dangerous team in the ACC.
Malik Cunningham
Speaking of ACC QB’s, its hard not to mention Malik Cunningham. Cunningham has exploded onto the scene as the Cardinals QB, and has shown signs of elite play Louisville hasn’t seen since Lamar Jackson. If Cunningham somehow finds a way to break through the 75th percentile ceiling, we could see him meteorically rise up draft boards.
Tyler Van Dyke
It didn’t take long before Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke earned the nickname “Van Dimes”. Van Dyke was one of the countries leaders in PFF’s “Big Time Throw” metric, and gave Canes fans QB play they have not seen in quite some time. Van Dyke has the tools and abilities of a big time QB. The question is: can the new staff in Coral Gables correctly utilize that potential?
Cameron Rising
When the New Year’s Six matchups came out, I can imagine some people were probably confused to see Utah heading to the Rose Bowl to take on Ohio State. The biggest reason for Utah’s rise to a Pac 12 championship and Rose Bowl appearance was this man: Cameron Rising. His explosively efficient play gave Utah the life it needed on offense to propel the program to new heights. You could even argue that if he didn’t get injured, Utah might have won the Rose Bowl.
Spencer Rattler
A common misconception was that Spencer Rattler was “bad”. He really wasn’t! But his play was technically regressing, which eventually led to the emergence of Caleb Williams. Rattler has since moved on to South Carolina, armed with new talent and a coach that believes in him. The Gamecocks may not challenge for the SEC title, but they could give some of the big boys a little trouble.
Grayson McCall
Last, but certainly not least, the epitome of efficiency: Grayson McCall. NFL scouts will most likely not grade him high because of his arm strength and the offense that he plays in, but screw it: he is downright fun to watch. A triple option QB that is a 90+ percentile passer will always be fun every day of the week. Remember: it is never too late to get on the Chanticleers bandwagon!
Thats all I have for now. I was thinking of doing something like this more often, or just compiling the charts I make in a week so the non twitter subscribers can get a little bit more content. If you fit that description, send me a message if that is something you’re interested in!
If you want to dive in to the data like I do, check out @CFB_Data and @cfbfastR on Twitter, where you can learn how to get started in the world of College Football data analysis!
If you want to see more charts and one off analysis, follow my twitter page, @CFBNumbers
Thumbnail: Maddie Meyer | Getty Images