2024 Draft - QB Watch

well, PAC 12 had another good day but did suffer a few losses yesterday. Next week is when the challenges begin but here are some of the stats for the QB to help you out Uncle.

C Willaims vs Stanford - 19/21 for 281 yds, with 3 TDs and 0 INTs. He had 1 rush for 21 yds and 0 sacks. His QBR was 98.3 and this was in only one half of the game. I watched the first half of this game and he looked practically flawless.

Penix vs Tulsa - 28/38 for 409 yds, with 3 TDs and 1 pick. He had 2 rushes for 11 yds and 1 sack. His QBR was 90.4 and while I didn't get to watch this game, he was pulled again toward the end of the game, so this isn't a full sample size, just like Williams.

Nix vs Tx Tech - 32/44 for 359 yds, with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. He had 9 carries for 46 yds and 1 sack. His QBR was 78.0 against a pretty good Red Raider team that gave Oregon a fight to the very end. Only got to see the 4th quarter but Nix had a nice long go ahead drive with several 3rd down conversions and a 13 yd run which just showed me he has grit for the next level.

Ward vs Wisconsin - 20/32 for 212 yds, with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. He had 17 carries for 43 yds and also got sacked 4 times. His QBR was 68.2 for those who care about ESPN's rating system (not sure yet myself).

Sanders vs NEB - 20/32 for 393 yds, with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. According to ESPN, he ran 11 times for -30 yards with 8 sacks. His QBR was the lowest of the 5 at 68.0. Another good outing for Prime JR. against a pretty good team in Nebraska.

Cam Rising of Utah is still out this past week

22/25 for 278 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks with 3 rushes for 38 yds. He's had a very efficient start to his 2023 season, but he's faced East Carolina and UNLV at home. He gets another "cupcake" this weekend when Michigan faces off against Bowling Green, again at home.

Michigan has a relatively "easy" schedule this year and we may not get a good idea of how McCarthy has developed until November when Michigan travels to Penn St and has their annual rivaly game vs Ohio St.

Updated table after Week 2:



Risers/Fallers:

Risers:
- Quinn Ewers, Texas: the best game I've watched from Ewers by far. In one of the toughest road environments you'll ever play in, for him to remain as poised as he was and deliver some great passes in the 2nd half was impressive. Zero picks and not many bad throws at all. I still remain skeptical on his arm strength as there were times he threw it over the middle and because of his "soft" delivery the 'Bama DB was able to defend the pass. Still, if he plays this well throughout the season, he's easily Day 2; I'm just not as convinced he's Day 1 material, though.
- Shedeur Sanders, Colorado: followed-up a brilliant Week 1 performance with a similar one at home. I'm not putting him Day 1 yet as there are still a few questions I have on arm strength and overall athleticism, but he's in command of the pocket and the offense and it's impressive.
- Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss: very solid 2nd half in a big road win vs a very good Tulane defense. I'm not the biggest fan of Dart's game (too much RPO) but he did have some impressive throws outside the pocket in the 2nd half to seal that game away in a tough road environment. 
- Tyler Van Dyke, Miami, FL: he and the team needed a "statement" win and Van Dyke delivered it vs a decent Texas A&M team. Now, can Van Dyke keep this momentum going?
- Will Howard, Kansas St: continuing his solid play from the 2022 season, he's earned a place on Day 3 of the Top 25 list. The upcoming Week 3 game @ Missouri could tel us more.

Fallers:
- Jeff Simms, Nebraska: he didn't have to win @ Colorado, but he needed a better showing. I just can't justify keeping him on the Top 25 list at this point with so many other solid Draft eligible QB's playing better at the moment.
- Kurtis Rourke, Ohio: came back for the Week 2 game vs FAU after missing Week 1 and didn't have a good enough game to keep him on the Top 25 list: completing just 62% and throwing 2 INT's to just 1 TD. The reigning MAC Player of the Year is going to need to play his way back into Day 3 status.

Week 2 Notes (Games I Watched: Nebraska @ Colorado-partial; Ole Miss @ Tulane; App St @ UNC-4th qtr only, Texas @ Alabama; Wisconsin @ Wash St-final 5 min only):
- I continue to be impressed by how Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders commands the offense and the pocket. I'm not seeing him take off if his first read isn't there; he buys time with moving around in the pocket and is impressive when he's rolling out. It's obvious he's well-coached but his in-game skills are impressive. He hasn't had to use bigtime arm strength and I still have questions about his ability to zip balls in tight windows, but he's been very accurate in the short, intermediate and downfield passing game. 
- The game I was really looking forward to was Ole Miss @ Tulane and was disappointed when Tulane's Michael Pratt was a scratch, but I did get to see Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, who I thought was solid. Tulane's Front 7 was nullifying Lane Kiffin's running attack and Dart wasn't able to overcome that in the 1st half but some halftime adjustments to get the ball out quicker did the trick and Dart made some impressive throws outside the pocket in the 4th to seal the game. He gets his shot at Alabama in a few weeks and if he has the type of game Quinn Ewers did, then I might consider moving him up to Day 2.
- Speaking of Texas QB Quinn Ewers, it was by far the best performance I've seen from him. I thought he stunk in the Texas Bowl vs Washington in the 2022 (last time I saw him) and I couldn't see what everyone saw. I'm still not sold on his arm/delivery - it's like he "feathers" every single pass, and there were a few times he tried to "feather" one over the middle only for the 'Bama DB to break it up due to the ball arriving a bit too late - that will not work at the next level. Nonetheless, the poise, command and accuracy he did display all night - especially in the 2nd half to pull away from a tough 'Bama defense - was impressive. 
- Watched the last bit of the App St/UNC game and again, I came away not impressed with UNC QB Drake Maye. Yes, he scored the winning TD in the 2nd OT, but the defenses were basically gassed and getting gashed left and right so it wasn't as impressive as other QB runs I've seen this season. I love the athleticism, but as of right now, I'm seeing an athletic ACC QB with a solid physical frame and not seeing a QB2 in the 2024 Draft. 
- Watched the end of the Wisconsin/Wash St game and Wash St QB Cam Ward seemed to "will" that victory for Wash St. I think Wisconsin was playing zone a bunch and Ward wasn't taking the bait so he just ran and moved the chains for the last bits of the game that I saw. 

Stat Takeaways:
- Shedeur Sanders is the only QB on the Top 25 list to have taken double-digit sacks through 2 games.
- Michael Penix, Jr is back on top of the APY per game avg thru 2 games. 
- Caleb Williams and Sam Hartman are the only QB's to have reached double-digit TD passes - they've also each played 3 games.
- Riley Leonard and Joe Milton are the only 2 QB's on the list to not average at least 7.0 yds per pass attempt
- Not counting Michael Pratt (since he's only played 1 game), there's only 2 QB's on the list completing at least 80% of their passes: JJ McCarthy and Spencer Rattler.

Week 3 Matchups to Watch:
- Spencer Rattler (South Carolina) @ Georgia: a bigtime road test for Rattler. He's off to a solid start in 2023, but let's see how he fares against the toughest team he'll face all season. I hope the OL problem from the Week 1 "Battle of the Carolinas" game was fixed where he "ate" 9 sacks. 
- Will Howard (Kansas St) @ Brady Cook (Missouri): Missouri's Brady Cook first came to my attention when the Tigers nearly upset Georgia last season and he played great. He's a late Day 3 / UDFA type of prospect at this point but let's see if he can climb the Day 3 charts with a big game over Will Howard and a solid KSU team. 
- Austin Reed (Western Kentucky) @ Kyle McCord (Ohio St): Reed is a relative unknown at the national level, but a bigtime performance here would certainly get the attention of scouts. It's possible Reed outduels Kyle McCord, even if McCord has better weapons. 

Great stuff here, idavike . We'll get a chance to see Nix next week during Week 4's 1st "Couch Potato Week" when Shedeur Sanders and Colorado travel to Eugene to face-off against Bo Nix and the Ducks...

I liked what I saw out of Nix for the most part in 2022: he was out-dueled in Eugene by Penix, Jr. and Washington but had a very solid Holiday Bowl game when he out-dueled UNC QB Drake Maye. The downfield throws are definitely something I'll keep an eye on with Nix.

Didnt see it but he is my guy and his stat line was horrible 👎

I need to correct this, Nix is 1-7 on deep balls. I forgot about his first TD which was a pretty pass for 49 yards. Still, the 2 he missed stood out because he overthrew the WR by about 2-3 yards. I do think he is a baller who should fix this as the season progresses, it's just interesting the PAC 12 announcers pointed this out.