I thought I would do an update of the Top Ten Returning QB’s article I wrote earlier in the year.  How are some of those QB’s doing anyway?  Have you ever heard of Nate Davis?

1.  Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Sam was spectacular Saturday night against Texas Tech, and, well, has been all year.  Remember, he has one more game left with Oklahoma State before he plays in post-season play.
Numbers: 193.76 QB Rating, 68.2%, 3,710 and 42 touchdowns, 6 INT’s and a 193.76 rating.

2.  Tim Tebow, Florida
Tebow started slow, but he and Florida cranked it up after Ole Miss.  Tebow also hasn’t had to worry as much about running the ball as Florida has found other ways to run it.  He is, however, still a threat.
Numbers: 175.19 QB Rating, 65.8%, 2,114 yards passing, 427 yards rushing, 22 passing TD’s and 11 rushing TD’s.

3.  Todd Reesing, Kansas
Kansas has struggled after their Orange Bowl year.  The Jayhawks will make another bowl, but it won’t be as pretty.
Numbers: 144.99 QB Rating, 64.8%, 3,200 yards, 24 TD’s, and 10 INT’s

4.  Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic
I expected more from Florida Atlantic this year, but then Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger found himself a marked man after talking like Texas wasn’t very physical.  The Longhorns whipped them in the first game, and they were never the same.
Numbers: 123.30 QB Rating, 54% 2,529 yards passing, 17 TD’s and 13 INT’s.

5.  Nate Davis, Ball State

Davis just helped Ball State to a perfect 12-0 record and the MAC West Division Championship. David Letterman will be very proud.  I wonder if Davis will end up doing a “Tonight’s Top Ten” on Letterman.
Numbers: 168.98 QB Rating, 67.2%, 2822 yards passing, 24 TD’s and 7 INT’s.

6.  Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
A dream season for the Red Raiders in spite of the loss to Oklahoma.  Texas Tech has a legitimate shot at a BCS bowl game.  Harrell and his receiver, Michael Crabtree, are possible Heisman Trophy finalists.
Numbers: 164.96 QB Rating, 70.5%, 4,438 yards passing, 39 TD’s and 6 INT’s.

7.  Chase Daniel, Missouri
The Tigers were number two in the country before losing at home to Oklahoma State.  Then, they went to Austin and lost, but have been winning ever since.  We all know that Chase was playing well.
Numbers: 171.18 QB Rating, 76.5%, 3,592 yards passing, 30 TD’s and 11 INT’s.

8.  Trevor Vitatoe, UTEP
Vittatoe is a poduct of Euless Trinity High School in Texas and he has just been a great QB for UTEP.  Unfortunately, the Miners haven’t matched his play.
Numbers: 149.08 QB Rating, 59.2%, 2,961 yards passing, 31 TD’s and 6 INT’s.

9.  Colin Kaepernick, Nevada
Nevada gave Boise State everything that it wanted and some more Saturday before bowing out to Boise’s perfect season.  Kaepernick runs Chris Ault’s Pistol really well, and he still young.
Numbers: 128.03 QB Rating, 54.4%, 2,082 yards passing, 1,087 yards rushing, 15 passing TD’s and 4 INT’s, 16 rushing TD’s

10.  Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State
Robinson has led Oklahoma State to one of its best seasons in years, and a win Saturday against Oklahoma would mean 10 wins.
Numbers: 178.02 QB Rating, 67.2%, 2,481 yards passing, 21 TD’s, 7 INT’s and 418 yards rushing.

I have worked the past few weeks narrowing down the teams that we debut in the CFTT Preseason Poll.  Of course, we narrow it down to the Durty Dozen, and now it is narrowed down to the top ten.  Just like the last couple of years, we will list the teams in descending order, numbers 10 through 6 in the first post, and then numbers 5 through 1 in the final post.

My philosophy is trying to decide who I think is the best team as the season starts based on a number of factors.  So, without any further chatter, here we go.

10.  University of South Florida–These guys burst on the scene in 2008 winning 6 straight to debut number 2 in the BCS Rankings.  That’s right, I said number 2.  They eventually stumbled down the stretch to finish with 9 wins which were the same as the year before.  The Bulls return QB Mike Grothe and CFTT Defensive Player of the Year George Selvie.  A little more experience (62 returning lettermen) just might put USF in a place to win the Big East title.

9.  Missouri–The Tigers return Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel to a team that drilled the Razorbacks in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Year’s Day.  They also have among the most talented receivers in Jeremy Maclin and TE Chase Coffman.  You can learn more about Missouri football here and here.  Follow Inthebleacher’s podcast preview of the Big 12 here.

8.  Oregon–The Ducks were on their way to a national championship game appearance and a Heisman Trophy presentation when QB Dennis Dixon went down.  Oregon struggled to find a QB, but finally, one emerged and the Ducks went on to beat USF in the Sun Bowl.  The Ducks have made the switch completely to the Spread Offense led by Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly and have been explosive.  Their secondary begins the season as one of the best.

7.  LSU–The Tigers are the reigning National Champions, and they return a lot that could help them be a top ten team.  Most notably, the offensive (Ciron Black) and defensive lines are among the best, not just in the SEC, but the entire country.  That should be helpful in easing in a new QB.  The defense just might be nasty.  While they lose Glen Dorsey, they return DE’s Tyson Jackson and Kirston Pittman along with DT Ricky Jean-Francoise who was a monster in the BCS Title Game.  They are deep in the backfield, and LSU will find an adequate QB when they name either Jarrett Lee or Andrew Hatch the starter.  You can keep up with the Tigers here, here and here.

6.  Clemson–Tommy Bowden’s Tigers are the favorites to win the ACC, and with good reason.  Everyone thinks that Clemson’s skill positions are as loaded as any in the country.  They return a very good duo at RB and QB Cullen Harper came on to be one of the most dependable in the country.

To Be Continued

While compiling this list, I constructed a rating system for returning QB’s.  I pulled out my trusty Phil Steele magazine and crunched the numbers.  This list is skewed in that it does not take into account the QB’s running ability hurting QB’s such as Pat White or others who play in a very run dominated offensive system.  That being said, it is interesting to note that a few good running QB’s ended up on this list.  A dual QB is only as good as his ability to pass.  My system took into account total yards passing, QB efficiency, yard per attempt, TD’s and INT’s.  Because I didn’t want the fact a QB passed for 4000 yards to be too much of a weight, I averaged those stats with QB efficiency.  Basically, you had to be really good in all of these areas to make the list.  The need for a dangerous QB becomes more important with each year.  An offense really needs more than just a “bus driver” to win championships.

1.  Sam Bradford, Oklahoma–Sooner fans should be happy.  This time last year OU didn’t know who would start, now Bradford has become a phenom.  He is big and strong with a rocket arm.  This year we might see him run the ball some from the Spread.  He led the nation in efficiency last year as a Redshirt Freshman.  When Bradford struggled, the Sooners lost.

2.  Tim Tebow, Florida–Tebow won the Heisman with his famous 20 TD’s and 20 TD passes mark.  His efficicency was slightly below Bradford’s as the two rated the same in my system.

3.  Todd Reesing, Kansas–Do you think that Kansas might be good again?  If they are, they can thank Todd Reesing.  Reesing is undersized and very ungalmorous on the field, but he gets results.  Kansas runs what I call the Blue Collar version of the Spread Offense, and Reesing is the catalyst.

4.  Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic–Who is the second best QB in Florida?  Rusty Smith.  He is also the fourth best returning QB.  Look for a FAU game this fall and see what others have seen.  Smith and FAU absolutely throttled Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl.  Who’s their coach?  Howard Schnellenberger who has a national championship to his credit.

5.  Nate Davis, Ball State–I didn’t seen this one coming.  I didn’t even know the Ball State threw the ball.  But Davis’ numbers are good across the board.  Davis had 3667 yards passing, 30 TD’s and only 5 INT’s.  Don’t know anything about him?  Me neither.  I gues we can find out more.

6.  Graham Harrell, Texas Tech–Harrell was last year’s CFTT Offensive Player of the Year.  He threw for 5705 yards and 48 TD’s.  It does help when you can throw the ball to Michael Crabtree.  He may pass for 5000 yards again unless Texas Tech finds a running game.

7.  Chase Daniel, Missouri–The pride of Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, TX was a Heisman finalist last year.  Daniel burst on the scene two years ago when everyone thought Mizzou had a big chore replacing Brad Smith.  Never mind.  Daniel will do just fine, thank you.

8.  Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP–That’s the University of Texas El Paso for those who don’t know the initials.  They are the Miners.  Vittatoe had very good numbers as a Freshman for the Miners, and he should only get better.

9.  Colin Kaepernick, Nevada–Kaepernick was a sensation for the Wolfpack in his first year starting.  His best stat, only 3 INT’s in 247 passes.  He finished the season with a 150.8 efficiency rating.

10.  Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State–Lost in the fiasco involing head coach Mike Gundy’s rant was the fact that Robinson was living up to his potential and making plays for the Cowboys.  Robinson will be the clear cut starter this year and should see his stats improve even more.

Here is my Top Ten Heisman Trophy Contenders.  Most of these guys are already on the radar.  This list is in no particular order.

1. Tim Tebow, Florida–He’s the defending Heisman Trophy winner, and the fist Heisman Trophy winner as a Sophomore.  And, he may have more websites dedicated to him than any other college football player.
2. Chase Daniel, Missouri–He is important to the Missouri offense, so if he stays healthy, he is a part of the, um, chase.
3. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech–The Air Raid offense at Texas Tech has never had this much talent.  He is big, strong, and fast.
4. Pat White, West Virginia–WVU will depend even more on White to lead its offense with the departure of Steve Slaton.  The Mountaineers already have a website for White.
5. James Laurinaitis, Ohio State–There is always one defensive player everyone wants in the conversation, well this him.  Destined for stardom in the NFL, not the WWE.
6. Chris Wells, Ohio State–Wells opened the BCS National Title Game against LSU with a 65 yard TD run ending the game with 146 yards rushing.
7. Knowshon Moreno, Georgia–Moreno had a stellar Freshman season, and he only started half the games.  He really is a superstar.
8. Graham Harrell, Texas Tech–Last year’s CFTT Offensive Player of the year.  His stats were astounding, but his efficiency may be even more so.
9. Percy Harvin, Florida–Electrifying.  Fast.  If Harvin can stay healthy, his stats will be big.
10. James Davis, Clemson–O.K.  I am listening to everybody else here.  I don’t know much about Clemson, but everyone seems to think that Davis will have a big year.

Possible Surprises

Mike Goodson, Texas A & M
Todd Boeckman, Ohio State
Joe McKnight, USC
LeSean McCoy, Pitt
Ian Johnson, Boise State
C. J. Spiller, Clemson

Most people have the college football magazine that they love.  This can be seen in some of the results of my favorite college football magazine poll.  Some are die hard Phil Steele fans.  Others, it seems, are more of a Street and Smith fan (which is now, of course, just Sporting News).  Regardless, I set out to waste as much time as possible to flip through the four big college football magazines and jot down a few notes so that you would be well informed about stuff in which you probably already knew.

I decided to note the features present, and I have chosen four which are present in all four magazines, to some extent or another.  All have some kind of Heisman preview, or at least they all refer to it.  Athlon, it seems, wants you to go to its website to check out their Heisman preview.  The only place that I saw Heisman mentioned was on page 9, which is essentially a big advertisement for Athlon’s website.  On that page, it explains that you can keep up with the “Heisman Hopefuls” throughout the season at AthlonSports.com.  A quick check, however, shows that the “Heisman Hopefuls” section isn’t ready yet.  Oh well, we can always click on HeismanPundit.com.

The next feature is coaching changes.  Well, at least all four have something to say about it.  The Sporting News and Lindy’s does a coaching changes/coach hot seat kind of thing.  Phil Steele seems to delve into the philosophy and all of the scenarios involving coaching changes including, you guessed it, numbers.  Athlon also has a section which it calls “Coaching Carousels.”  Of course, there are other places you can learn about coaching carousels or hot seats.

The third feature is All American Teams.  All four have one.  And, drum roll please, Tim Tebow is Preseason First Team All American QB by all four magazines!  Popular choice for Second Team seems to be Pat White and Chase Daniel.  Chris Wells and Knowshon Moreno is choice by all four as First Team All American at running back.  It is also important to note that Lindy’s, Athlon and Phil Steele rank either positions or units or both.  This is really interesting and an opportunity for bragging rights.

Finally, there is recruiting.

Sporting News reviews recruiting for many of the schools.  Sporting News also lists:

• Top JUCO’s (those moving on and the Super Sophomores)
• Top 50 High School Seniors
• Other Seniors to Watch
• Top 50 Juniors to Watch

Lindy’s lists include:

• Top 25 Recruiting Classes
• Top 100 Incoming Freshmen
• Top 100 for High School Seniors

Athlon also has a fairly comprehensive Recruiting preview.

• Rank each team by conference with the top 20 incoming freshmen in each conference.
• list a Top 50 Recruiting Classes
• list an “Athlon Consensus 100,” which is basically a top 100 incoming freshmen.
• list their “Top Rising High School Seniors”

Phil Steele:

• Top Frosh where lists the top 525 freshmen
• lists a Top 25 Recruiting Classes for the last 5 years
• Top 75 2008 “Frosh Recruiting Ratings,” which also includes JUCO’s
• “Conference By Conference 2008 Recruiting Ratings”

Continue to Part Two