It’s that time again! The summer months are upon us and our favorite way to pass the time is by speculating on how specific positions will shape up in the Big 12. The Heartland Sports writers give their take on each position group, ranking them from first to worst. Then they are asked to defend their top three and bottom two rankings.
The consensus rankings come from a points system. A first place selection is worth 10 points, second place is 9 points, and they continue in descending order with tenth place equaling 1 point.
| Heartland Sports Consensus Quarterback Rankings |
| Ranking | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Iowa State | 38 |
| 2. Texas | 34 |
| 3. Baylor | 31 |
| 4. Oklahoma State | 27 |
| 5. Oklahoma | 25 |
| 6. Texas Tech | 22 |
| 7. TCU | 18 |
| 8. Kansas State | 13 |
| 9. West Virginia | 8 |
| 10. Kansas | 4 |
Unanimity – The only teams that we found complete agreement on were West Virginia and Kansas. Unfortunately the agreement was that they are going to be the two worst teams in the conference when it comes to quarterback play.
Almost Agreed – We were pretty close to agreement on Iowa State with three of us placing them as the top team in the conference. There was one defector who placed them at #3.
All Over The Place – I guess when it comes to Baylor and Texas Tech we really just don’t know. They both received rankings as high as #2 and as low as #5. The Bears did trend higher across the board though with an average ranking of 3 while Tech was at an average of 5.25.
Individual Thoughts And Rankings
Craig
1. Iowa State | During his sophomore year, Brock Purdy set pretty much every single-season record at Iowa State that he possibly could have. Returning as an upperclassman, I expect Purdy to have his best season yet.
2. Baylor | Charlie Brewer isn’t just a good quarterback, he might be the best leader in the Big 12. He can rally his troops better than anyone. On the flip side, he takes a ton of damage. The Bears need to do a better job at protecting Brewer to reap the full benefits of his talents.
3. Oklahoma | Lincoln Riley has produced some of the best offenses of all-time during his few years at Oklahoma. This is largely due to the quarterback position and the air-raid offense. I know there are many schools with more experience at the quarterback position than the Sooners in 2020. That being said, if you think there will be better quarterback play at those schools than at OU, you’re crazy.
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma State
6. TCU
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. West Virginia | WVU will be looking to Jarrett Doege to lead the way in 2020. Doege played in only four games last season, and threw for 7 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. It just doesn’t seem like the Mountaineers have a lot to work with this season.
10. Kansas | The Jayhawks do not have a QB1 at the moment. It looks as if they will be having a battle for the quarterback position. With little known about the Jayhawks offense in 2020, it’s hard to rank them any higher than dead last.
Zack
1. Texas | Sam Ehlinger is highly touted as the Big 12’s best returning player, and nationally, he’s considered one of the top returning quarterbacks. While he’s nothing more than an average passer, he can be a menace running the ball.
2. Texas Tech | After a solid freshman year, Alan Bowman was set up for success last season before sustaining a season-ending injury after just 3 games. After all of that, I anticipate he will have quite the comeback season.
3. Iowa State | Brock Purdy is very similar to Sam Ehlinger when it comes to his skill set. He’s a mediocre passer with a solid vision for running the ball, but the Cyclones don’t have the surrounding talent to shoulder some of the load. Still, Purdy is coming into his third year as a starter in Ames, so he will continue to build on what he’s already done.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Oklahoma
6. Baylor
7. TCU
8. Kansas State
9. West Virginia | It’s a mess in Morgantown. Despite redshirting, Jarret Doege was probably the best quarterback for the Mountaineers last year, and he will likely be the starter over Austin Kendall to kickoff the 2020 season. He performed well in his 3 starts, but I’m not sure if he’s good enough to carry this team out of the Big 12 basement.
10. Kansas | In his first year in Lawrence, head coach Les Miles was able to scrape up 3 wins for the Jayhawks, but he’s going to start this year off with yet another new face running the offense. Miles Kendrick saw limited action last season as a sophomore before redshirting the season. It could be another rough season for Kansas football.
Rich
1. Iowa State | Possessing possibly the strongest arm of the group, Brock Purdy set numerous school records. Now heading into a third season as the signal caller of the Iowa State Cyclones, the quarterback should have unquestionable command of the offense. With the game on the line, there’s no other quarterback in the league that I’m placing more trust in than Purdy.
2. Texas | The most experienced of the bunch, no quarterback shoulders the same level of responsibility as Sam Ehlinger does each and every week. While a proven runner with the tenacity of a running back, the signal caller must now learn Mike Yurcich’s offensive scheme. Can the arm and accuracy of Ehlinger keep up with the demands? That remains to be proven despite entering a senior year.
3. Baylor | Can one fault the talent of a quarterback due to a lackluster offensive line? I certainly won’t when it comes to the likes of Brewer. One of the most accurate passers in the league when given time to throw, the Baylor Bears signal caller can cause damage at any given moment. The willingness to take unnecessary risks may be the one downfall of Brewer which pushes the QB to number three on my list.
4. Oklahoma State
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas Tech
7. Kansas State
8. TCU
9. West Virginia | Ending the season on an upward trend after replacing Austin Kendall, the situation at quarterback is far from secure. For the moment Jarrett Doege looks like the leading candidate to earn the job in 2020. Despite flashes of success, the QB never really showed signs of complete control over the offense. Consistency will be key for whoever wins the job moving forward. Until that is proven, any WVU signal caller will sit at No. 9.
10. Kansas | In a shortened off-season for team workouts, I’m not certain Miles Kendrick will win the starting job with the Kansas Jayhawks. Given that single fact, I’ve placed the signal caller at the bottom of the list.
Matt
1. Iowa State | I’ve got Brock Purdy as the most NFL ready quarterback that the Big 12 has to offer in 2020. He set ISU record-breaking numbers last year and will most likely have a tough decision to make, regarding his future, at the end of this season.
2. Baylor | There’s a knock against Charlie Brewer in terms of concussions and injuries. The 38 sacks he took last season would indicate that the head trauma wasn’t his fault. There probably isn’t a more accurate deep passer in the conference than Brewer. It’ll be interesting to see how he does without star receiver Denzel Mims and the tenacity that head coach Matt Rhule brought to the team.
3. Texas | Sam Ehlinger enters the 2020 campaign as the most accomplished and experienced quarterback in the conference. He’s been a touchdown scoring machine over the last two seasons (80 TDs in the last 27 games) and will be working with new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich this fall.
4. Oklahoma State
5. TCU
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. West Virginia | Jarrett Doege took over for former Sooner Austin Kendall last fall and the lack of a spring practice severely limited Kendall’s opportunity to win the job back. The Mountaineers have some young talent at receiver but they are still going pretty anemic offensively.
10. Kansas | I believe that Les Miles is going to get the Jayhawks out of the Big 12 basement, they were close last year, but until that happens you gotta start looking at the bottom of these lists for information regarding the Jayhawks.
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Am I the only one who has high expectations for Alan Bowman? I get that he barely played last year because of injury, but no way is he worse than whoever TCU (probably Max Duggan) is going to put on the field.
I said on our podcast that Bowman could actually end up being the best passing QB in the Big 12 this season. The problem is his injuries though. He’s yet to complete a season. Two season-ending injuries in two years has caused me to pause on ranking him very high.
That’s fair. I was high on him last preseason as well, and obviously that didn’t pan out.
Maybe we need to move Oklahoma up to No. 1 seeing that Spencer Rattler checks in at No. 3 in the Heisman odds ahead of Sam Ehlinger and the rest of the Big 12
That is a slippery slope my friend.