The great unknown of a college football season – greater than many others, at least – is the freshman, transfer or wait-his-turn quarterbacks who gets his first chance to lead an offense and, more than that, a program.
The new Clemson quarterback. The new Notre Dame quarterback. This is a life-changing experience – not necessarily for the better, but in all cases, very powerful. How these newcomers deal with the scrutiny of the press, the expectations of fans, and the rhythms of their teammates and coaches all factor into how well they and their teams play. Among all the new-quarterback arrivals in college football for 2017, which are in the best position to produce at a high level?
Hendon Hooker, Virginia Tech Hokies
The big realization to make is that Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente is one of the very best quarterback tutors in college football. Fuente guided Andy Dalton at TCU to the point that he was an NFL-ready quarterback with the Cincinnati Bengals. Fuente then mentored Jerod Evans and, in one season, made him good enough to be a division-winning quarterback. Virginia Tech captured the ACC Coastal Division title and moved to the ACC Championship Game against Clemson. If a quarterback is coached by Fuente, he is receiving the best quarterback instruction possible. Fuente truly belongs in that discussion with Bobby Petrino, Chris Petersen, Tom Herman, and others. Hendon Hooker is the new quarterback who could benefit from Fuente’s expertise in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Avery Davis, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
There were a lot of movements on Notre Dame’s coaching staff over the winter, but head coach Brian Kelly seemed to do well to hire Chip Long from Memphis as his new offensive coordinator. Memphis scored at a high rate for much of last season, despite losing NFL-level quarterback Paxton Lynch after the 2015 season. Long gets to coach Avery Davis, who steps into the vacuum left by the departures of Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer. Zaire will transfer, while Kizer is headed for the NFL. Long had to become the new coordinator because former coordinator Mike Sanford, Jr. took the open job as the head coach at Western Kentucky.
Notre Dame has actually had some decent quarterbacks of late, so it’s important that Davis continue to lead from the position. If not and the Fighting Irish struggle in 2017, he won’t be the only person on the team worried about his job (we’re looking at you Brian Kelly).
Hunter Johnson, Clemson Tigers
When Clemson won the 2014 Orange Bowl a few years ago, quarterback Tajh Boyd had taken the Tigers to a higher level than they had been in quite some time. A number of people wondered if that was as high as the Tigers would climb. Then came Deshaun Watson, who led the program to two national title games and the national championship this past January. Clemson finds ways to reload. Watson was and is a special player, but Hunter Johnson is plenty talented. If he beats out Kelly Bryant for the starting quarterback job, he could make his own legacy at Clemson. This will be one of the most important position battles in spring football.
Kellen Mond, Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies have shuffled through lots of quarterbacks in recent years: Kyle Allen, Kyler Murray, Trevor Knight, Jake Hubenak – there hasn’t been a lot of stability since the departure of Johnny Manziel following the 2013 season. Looking back, it’s amazing to think just how good Johnny Football was and how far this program has fallen at the position.
Last season, Trevor Knight provided some stability but he was solid, not spectacular. That’s a problem. If this team wants to get back to competing for an SEC division title, they’ll have to get much better production out of the position.
Kellen Mond offers the possibility of stability, so if he’s good enough to take the starting job by storm, he will be given every chance to put an end to the revolving door at QB for head coach Kevin Sumlin in College Station, Texas.
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