It’s hard to imagine any quarterback in the ACC living up to the production, or hype, of former Florida State signal caller and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. After all, for much of his career in Tallahassee, Winston’s life was scrutinized in every way imaginable.
For many of the conference’s quarterbacks, the 2015 season is a chance to bounce back from previous disappointments, whether it be performance or injury related. Such is true for GMS’ top three ACC quarterbacks coming into the season.
Deshaun Watson, Clemson: Watson was one of the best freshman players in America a year ago, throwing for 12 touchdowns (he added three more on the ground) and just two interceptions before injuring his knee–an injury that would later require surgery–against Louisville on Oct. 11, a game the Tigers barely held on to win. Clemson lost just once with Watson taking the majority of the snaps, an overtime heartbreaker against Florida State, and they’re hoping to have similar results next season…you know, without the knee injury. Watson is an electric player, and one that could help led the Tigers into the College Football Playoff should be stay healthy, and not try to prove his worth by forcing things.
Jacoby Brisset, NC State: Sitting out his first year in Raleigh due to transferring from Florida, Brisset burst onto the ACC scene with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions as a junior, leading the Wolfpack to an 8-5 record. With nine total returners on offense, NCSU looks poised to topple that number, should Brisset compete at the same level (or better) than a year ago. Something of note: Brisset threw interceptions in just four games, including a 56-23 loss to Georgia Tech in which he tossed two of them. What does that mean? Outside of one ugly performance for the entire team, Brisset was (excuse me) pretty damn good.
Brad Kaaya, Miami: The ACC sure likes its young quarterbacks, huh? Another freshman who stood out in year one was Kaaya, whose 3,198 yards and 26 touchdowns gave Hurricanes fans, all five of them, hope that he could be the QB that led UM back into the national spotlight. Now, his 12 interceptions were of concern, but with a strong sophomore campaign, we’ll be willing to chop those up to first-year blunders.
