Allen: Why Some Pre-Season Quarterback Rankings Are Completely Missing The Mark

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – We are in pre-season mode ahead of the 2021 college football season which means we get position rankings that are somewhat questionable.

PFF (Pro Football Focus) College released their quarterback rankings of all 130 FBS starters (or projected starters) ahead of the 2021 season. After looking through the entire rankings, let’s say some of them are questionable.

The most questionable rankings come from where they put the QB’s from the state of Utah. PFF is a data and analytics based group that posts most of their rankings and content based on numbers. I will give them the benefit of the doubt because we are all entitled to our opinions.

For reference, PFF puts the QB’s in tiers. Tier one is “The Elite” which is just Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler at No. 1. Tier two is “High-Ceiling Quarterbacks” with signal callers from No. 2 to No. 23. Then they have Tier three with “The Good, Not Great” quarterbacks which are ranked from No. 24 to No. 51. Tier four is “The Average” with rankings from No. 52 to No. 78. The fifth Tier is for the QB’s that “need to improve/more reps” and range from No. 79 to No. 102. They round out the rankings with Tier six for QB’s that “Needs Significant Improvement” ranging from No. 103 to No. 130.

🚨 RANKING ALL 130 COLLEGE QBs 🚨

🔥 1. Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma
🔥 3. D'Eriq King, Miami
🔥 20. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State
🔥 32. Jack Coan, Notre Damehttps://t.co/PSxjQe0nsA

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 12, 2021

The Bad Rankings

PFF put Utah QB Charlie Brewer at No. 71, which is in the average tier. That is very questionable and that’s putting it nicely. Brewer has the numbers to back up the fact that he is far from an average quarterback. The Baylor transfer took the Bears – which is in a Power 5 conference – to a Sugar Bowl and competed for Big 12 titles for four years.

Throwing for 9,700 yards and 65 touchdowns for a Power 5 program is far from average. That’s not all. Brewer is the lowest ranked QB by PFF in the state of Utah, among the three programs in FBS. Arkansas State transfer Logan Bonner is at No. 64, who threw for 3,166 yards, 30 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in four seasons with the Red Wolves.

On top of that, BYU QB Jaren Hall came in at No. 49. Hall has played 7 games in a BYU uniform and has thrown for 420 yards and one touchdown. If you factor in the running game, Hall has 143 yards and three TD’s.

If you are an analytics based media group, there is zero reason why Jaren Hall and Logan Bonner should be ahead of Charlie Brewer. On top of that, ASU QB Jayden Daniels is No. 72 and he is a better signal caller than Hall and Bonner. Daniels is one of the best QB’s in the Pac-12.

Could Jaren Hall work his way up the rankings if he has a couple of good seasons under his belt? Absolutely. But at this point, he should be the average tier. Not the experienced and talented Power 5 starter.

● QB Spotlight ●

Charlie Brewer – Utah

• Brewer was an excellent addition from Baylor for the Utes. He's an experienced veteran who's thrown for 9,700 yards 65 TDs and rushed for 22 TDs in his career. pic.twitter.com/H9KCkskFub

— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) June 14, 2021

The Good Rankings

PFF put Rattler at No. 1, UNC’s Sam Howell at No. 2, D’Eriq King from Miami at No. 3, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel at No. 4, Michael Penix Jr. from Indiana at No. 5. I agree with those rankings. All have a ton of potential and are set to have big seasons in 2021.

Matt Corral from Ole Miss is at No. 6, Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall at No. 7, D.J. Uiagalelei from Clemson at No. 8, LSU’s Myles Brennan at No. 9 and USC’s Kedon Slovis at No. 10 is all solid rankings.

Putting Georgia QB and former USC signal caller J.T. Daniels in the top 25 (No. 23) was a great spot. Washington QB Dylan Morris (No. 28) was a little too high in my opinion but has a bright future in Seattle.

Many of you will ask, where should PFF put Charlie Brewer then? He is top 50 for sure and probably top 40 and even top 30. You just have to go through and find which QB’s Brewer is better than, which can be done.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.

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